Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1924-05-30
CHAPTER v.
The Sea of Jelly.

The Sea of Jelly.
He sank like a stone. No glimpse OF
him could be had. No rescue was pos
sible.
Donald chung to the edge of the
boat and scrambled in. He saw the
amazed recognition flame out on Ida's
face. He knew then that she loved
him, and his impulse to seize her in
his arms was almost ungovernable.
But at the same instant looking
past her into the sea, he experienced
the same illusion that had beset him
within the house in Baltimore, and
again outside .it-that of a woman's
misty form outlined upon the water !
! Donald made a cup of his hands.
"Davies, fling out a rope" he
bawled.
But the submarine was some dis
lance away, and in a moment a wall
of fog came down, blotting her out.
Ida Kennedy watched Donald with
approval. She had always liked him
shaken as she was now, his advent
seemed the work of Providence. She
had questioned her heart before she
sailed, for she had known that her
future was of her own choosing,
whether it was to be spent with him
or no.
Donald continued to call loudly, but
the F55 was drifting in the mist and
quite invisible. 1t was in fear Of this
sudden happening that Donald had
told Davies to make for Fair island
if he could not get a rope to the boat.
Fair island, less than six miles
away, was the secret rendezvous
where the oil-ship and biplane were
to await the F55, the former to re-
plenish her fuel supply, the latter to
accompany her back to the moth@
ship.
Donald picked up a pair of oars
from the bottom. He realized that he
would have to pull toward Fair island .
alone as soon as he got an inkling of
its direction, with the chance of being
picked up by the submarine when the
fog cleared. But it was approaching
shutdown, and the probabilities of their
spending the night in the boat seemed
strong.
He sat with the oars in the row.
locks. AS he allowed one to drift
through the water he discovered, to
his surprise, that it was apparently
plunged into a mass of some jellylike
substance. He dipped his hand into
it and scooped some Of it up.
The water was apparently eurdled,
like thickened milk, and on both sides
Of the boat, which rolled in it heavily
md high in the viscous medium.
As he withdrew the oar Donald had
he sensation of pulling it from be-
.ween the clinging fingers of a child.
He looked down. 1t occurred to him
hat he might have got the blade en- :
angled in some marine growth; but l
he water was clear, almost black. and
# the same strange, jellylike consist
ncy everywhere.
Then, to his amazement, he realized
hat the boat was movingl G
1t was not like the pull of a tow {
me, which is a sequence of crescendo p
nd diminuendo, of starts and jerks, a
s the rope grows tight and slack al g
1t was a constant impulse. g
was an intelligent impulse. 81
1t was beginning to grow dark, and
} row seemed useless until the fog o.
ispersed. 1t was impossible to gauge It
lie direction. Besides, to pull against o
lat force would have been arduous, fe
ld to pull with it might have led to In
lexpected difficulties. b.
Donald backed water in experiment. b'
he felt the force increase.
was an effortless, persistent push, n
-ronger than his own powers, and p,
onald realized that he could not re-
st It. :,
Suddenly he felt a singing sensa- n
on on the back of his hand. He n
llled in the oar. Five small, red =
,ots had sprung out on his wrist, and ~
e flesh seemed to have been cupped. ID
onald clapped his other hand down
/ it, and encountered something no
ammy and cool, which seemed to
ip away. 1t was lilse the fipper of 20
tie seal, or again, like the hand Of -
child or monkey.
At the same instant Ida screamed.
Onald saw that she seemed to be m,
ruggling with some invisible adver- no
ry. The boat was tipping danger n,
sly. Donald flung his weight over, M
d he heard the thud Of soft body
ainst the bottom. ba
The thing-whatever it was-was in mr.
e boatl mn
Donald leaped forward and clasped nc
a about the waist. She writhed in or.
e clutch of the monster, and there fol
IS a-look of intense horror upon her :
ce. She seemed to be lifted bodily ho,
ward the water. Donald felt the oh,
ppery fingers of the invisible being IN,
lde his grasp. His hands moved up &
d down over q smooth, blubbery on,
dy. no
And then he knew what it was. 1t oh
S such a creature as he had seen !