Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1924-06-06
SYNOPSIS.

r1ne, meets at Washington an old frien
and distinguished though somewhat &c
: centric scientist, Captain Mastermar
Masterman has just returned from a
exploring expedition, bringing with him
member OF the strange race, the existenc
or whose species, he asserts, menaces tn
human family.
CHAPTER II-At the club. the 'Marcl
Hares," Masterman explains his theor.
to Paget. The recital Is Interrupted b!
the arrival Of a lifelong enemy OF Mas
terman, Ira MacBeard, and the former Il
seized with fatal paralytic stroke.
CHAPTER III-From Masterman's body
Paget secures documents bearing upor
the discovery and proceeds to the home
of the scientist. There he discovers the
specimen OF the strange race which Mas
1t Paget is struck down by MacBeard
who had followed him. MacBeard robs
r. Paget Of the documents, and escapes. The
specimen dies.
CHAPTER IV-Paget proceeds to sea
on his submarine the F-55 He encoun-
tiers and sinks a German cruiser which
had just destroyed the steamer Beotia, on
which Ida Kennedy, Pagets fiancee, was
a passenger. Ida escapes from the Beotia
In a small boat
CHAPTER V-Paget swims to the boat
and attempts to reach the submarine
His progress through. the water is
strangely impeded and he discovers that
a horde of the creatures which Master
man had discovered had surrounded the
boat. They are invisible while alive. One
invades the boat and Paget kills it. At
death the creature becomes visible. Paget
and Ida are picked up by the submarine.
"We1l have to jump, STRIP Clouts
painted. 'Tn go down first and catch
you. Pass along the lady when you
hear me CALL"
Donald heard him leap into the tor
pedo room below. A moment later his
voice came up the funnel. 'T'm ready
for the lady, sir !" he called.
Donald raised Ida in his arms and
lowered her through the tube.
"After you, sir" said Davies.
81 have assumed command, Davies"
Donald replied.
"Very well, sir" said the MILDLY qui-
city, and descended. Donald followed
him. AS he jumped for the floor of
the torpedo room, he heard the scrap
Ing sound of flippers on the floor above.
But the creaking of the coming tower
door had ceased.
"We're saved |" cried Donald. "Da-
vies, they can't force the coming
tower. OF course not. That sound is
one or two of the beasts who have
come down the matches. You closed
them?"
"No, sir. There wasn't time"
"Then they tried to get through the
coming tower, and hadn't reason
enough to know that they could get
through the hatchesl" cried Donald
joyfully.
"Their reason won't get them down
the tube, sir, unless they've got bodies
as slim as ours" said Clouts. "And
they feel like-like barrels, sir" he
added.
Overhead, the scraping continued,
sometimes approaching the tube and
then receding. Presently there came
the sound of a commotion. Donald
inferred that the sea devils had found
the one that he had injured, and that
they were satiating their horrible can
nibalistic instincts. He heard body
dragged this way and that, and a
dreadful rending.
After a while the swishing began
again, and a faint tapping Of f1ippers
against the walls, as If the creatures
were endeavoring to explore the in
terror of the ship. Occasionally a
faint, phosphorescent luminosity was
visible at the top of the tube. But the |
made no attempt to descend
into the torpedo room. An Idea came
to Donald.
Davies Listen to meI' he said.
They don't know we're here"
mo, sir. was thinking" {
"That they have no sense Of SMELL" |
"Yes, SIR" {
"And little hearing. At least, that J
hey distinguish sounds only as vibra- I
IONS" |
Eyes, sir. And of course their sense
If sight must be extremely limited. S
And so, roughly, that leaves them only T
he use of taste and touch, but prob 4
IDLY developed far above our own" Y
"We'll beat them, Davies" il
'If that's true as they can't hear
much, think, If / might, sir, I'll play n
bit on my mouth organ" said Clouts. 0
Just low, humming, sir" d
Fright, Clouts," answered Donald. t
oul viii llAC hASb III
otes there came from above singu-
ar sound. 1t seemed to be very far Ii
way it was single, mellow note, the n
! Of a violin, and exquisitely true. 1t Il
hight have been a distant warning s.
10Y anchored amid the tides. t
whats that, DaviesT asked Don t
Id.
II don't know, sir. The lighthouse 81
topped operating when the war broke t.
ut, and the buoys were taken up" hi
Once more the sound was heard. Il
nd suddenly Donald knew that he had &C
card 1t before, the same note, though m
lfinitely less powerful. 1t was the K
Ound of the finger on the bowl OF as
'ater within the house In Baltimore. III
The scraplng In the passage ended ri
/ scurry and did not recur. All Il
trough the night they crouched in1
lie torpedo room, watching and sleep IN
g by turns, and the silence was bro mr.