The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1919-03-27

dropped out Of sight In the Dveon
swell thnt rocked our raft aud dlngey.
A. for me. ] confess my nerves wers
strangely shaken. But was scarce-
y more than green diver % yet.
whereas Wenry thrilled his lIsteners
land himsclf-with well-told tales Of
raised treasures and strange spbma-
rine encounters In which. be II Known.
he spared himself little Of the com
mendation due to achievements.
Within twelve minutes after Gar
rick went down, the body Of Conu0rs
had been recovered In FUR state Of
preservation. Harkinpon. an okd.tin-
er. too. had after all allowed himself
to be frightened on the job BY s0me
fool. subaqueous phenomenon whose
phases he had been studying all his
precious life.
wenry's superstitlous mind was In
came back into his face. and had BE-
gun to feel less Of the anxiety expert
enced by one ut work with near
maniac for q companion. when hll at
once Garrick startled US with fierce
ly tugged "up" signal. He was num-
bling strange sounds before we got
his helmet on. and when the light fell
on his face II revealed mask OF ter
ror unspeakable. His features were
drawn and scanned unbelievably. and
speech had deserted him altogether.
Some awful emotion shook his great
tody like an aspen.
Il was two long hours before We
knew his story. All that Harkinson
had seen In the Helena's cabin, Gar
rick. too. had beheld--the same 10 all
IT. blood-chlllIng details.
The affair began to nag my nerves
with Q vengeance. would have
staked my very existence on the grip
Of 0arrick's big Jaw. almost wished
that ! had done 40: for wsnry and
were the only avaiIables nov, and
knew beforehand that Wensy. e
detailed. would refuse to 20 down. Il
was time when one must be man
or mouse; when = white feather b.
comes white DAG. and . white Dag
means the surrendering Of q career.
am . natural coward. but possess
| underlying qualities Of resolution.
could live without this JOB. thought:
and. too. !, unlike 0arrick. ives
blessed with no womau's love save Z
mothers: but her comforts were my
| pleasures, her self-denials my heart
aches. went downi
i went down-down. down, down
until my cumbsous feet met the slimy.
slantfng deck Of the Inflated Helena.
The water was ~ clear - might b.
at like depth. Everywhere was .
confasion Of wreckage. Il had besa Z
snashins gale that wrought Ill th1e
demolit,on. made "a. the cabin.
half-hlddsn under Z tangled mass oe
wrsckase. and worked my WY 70 ~
debris-barred door. l avoided ~
keen sdgs of . long knife which spsDe
whim ~ the storms fury ~ nDo1
firmly In . piece Of broken mast. The
edge turned outward. menacins ny
lines. and gaspsd. The mystery q
Connors' death was laid bare. Hls
hose had doubtless caught On the
knife blade; he had tried to haul ie
after him, and-i
had to crouch low to pass under
the barrier at the door. Tue cabia
windows were clear. and ln The cell-
Ing was huge, spar.torn hole which
admitted light. ! stood erect inslde
the cabin. and-i AZ the opposite
side Of the room . second diver u
full dress had Risen before ms, ~
tionlsss. but ersct with the conndoat
polse Of life. A nervous, Insane curl
osity seissd me; Z ysarnins 70 know
Il the diver that faced ne were oe
hesh and blood. or-or some4hing
else. advanced toward the appari-
tion; and then my nerve all but broke.
for Il followed my example and came
forward to meet mel I hesltatsd only
for the space Ct Z heartbeat: thea
] threw myself forward wildly, hands
clutching. but on the greasy, slime
coated floor my feet dew from under
me with the effort. and ! crashed
! DOWN.
4 The fall dAsed me. only knew
that my hands. In the instant Of ny
falling. had slipped over . smooth.
hard surface exactly where the ap-
partition had stood. From the door
y strained my eyes upward. The
strange diver had dlsappeared. tot
tered to my feet; and then the dee.
peratiOn of fright sent my hand to
my sheath-knife. for % I gained my
feet the vanished figure again cou-
fronted me. drove the knife With