Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1924-07-11


that their queen was gone
Never had such a spectacle been
seen by man before. The entire face
of the inland sea was a tumult of
fighting monsters. The dead grew into
visibility as they became thicker. The
floating patches of white almost OBJ
scured the waves. And stlll the fight
became more frenzied.
They tore each other and them
selves, they dashed the waves into
foam; animal debris foated from end
to end of the ford. AS the dead drift
ed toward the shore the struggle be-
came more furious In the heart Of the
sea.
Gradually it subsidized. The last of
the herd was gone. The battle that
was to decide the fate of the world
had been a civil one, and fought out
without mans agency.
The lash of the waves drove the
light motorboat toward the cliffs. 1t
stranded not five hundred feet from
where Donald and his friends, awe
| struck, had watched the progress of
the titanic conflict. They ran toward
1t and pulled Ida from the thwarts. 1t
had seemed incredible that she could
have survived.
For a long time she lay motionless.
Drenched with the brackish water, her
hair unbound, she seemed to sleep in
Donalds arms, while he and Davies
worked frantieally to revive her.
Davies raised his head at last and
looked at Donald lxedly. Donald re-
fused to meet his gaze.
They set to work again. For two
hours longer they went through the
movements of the resuscitation of the
drowned. They stopped at last, ex-
hausted. Davies laid his hand on DON
AIDS shoulder; this time 1t was he
who could not meet his friends look.
Suddenly they heard Clouts shout
ing, mad with JOY.
Look, sir Mr.. Davies, lookw he
screamed.
They swung around. The girls eyes
had opened, and there was recognition
in them.
She drew the first faint breath; her
weak arms stole round Donald's neck.
And in the universal joy nobody
minded Clouts' mouth organ, as he
blew "Home, Sweet Home"
"Hoorayl" he yelled, tossing up his
cap at the finale. 'Mr. Davies, sir, it's
just as l told you, isn't It? We've
brought her back TO life, and now we're
going to wake up ourselves"
"What do you mean, Cloutsr asked
Davies.
"Why, sir don't you seer We've
just been picked up and landed from
the Beotia. And we've been dreaming
all sorts Of deliriums about sea mon
sters, and suchlike. If might be al
lowed, sir, I'll put 1t to Captain Paget.
Amt we just been rescued after tor
pedoing the cruiser, sirT" he asked.
Saint the whole thing dream?"
Donald looked up. 81 don't know,
Clouts," he said. 81 think you may be
right. But it's happy one"
Davies looked at him in dismay.
do you really mean that, Donald"
he asked. "Do you honestly think that
we have dreamed all thisT
'It's as plausible as any other ex-
PLANTATION" Donald replied. II can't
see why we shouldn't have. It's too
preposterous-all that about the sea
devils and that harmless crank Mac
Beard, who used to have newspaper
rows with poor old Masterman. AS
likely as not Wen see him haunting
the Inventors club when we get back,
quite ignorant of the part he has
played in our lives. You know dreams
do do that-they put inconsequential
people into absurdly important posi-
TONS"
"But-hang 1t, Donald, how does
Miss Kennedy happen to be hereT
"Why, wasn't she on board the Be
otiaT Donald replied cat any rate,
If it's all true, what have we got to
show for tit"
He had placed his arm across his
breast, and at that moment he felt the
crinkle of dampened paper in his inner
pocket. He pulled out-the two pages
of Masterman's letter.
Donald unfolded 1t. 1t was quite
leglble, in spite of the stains Of sea
water; but now for the first time he
realized that he held not one page, but
two. They had become stuck together
in some manner, and Donald had not
perused the second page.
1t was in the form Of a postscript, |
and was the last sheet Of the original |
which Masterman, in his
way, had inserted after
the first. He had written:
But thank God, Donald. my boy, man
will triumph after all. thought the mon /
sters were invulnerable, that nothing |
could oppose them. But the Lord knew 4
what he was doing when he made them.
There will be only three weeks OF suf-
fering for man, Donald-three weeks.
For the creatures live for their queen
they can hardly be said to have indepen-
dent life. They are sterile, like the bees,
and the queen has a llfe-span Of three
weeks alone. When she dies the old
swarm destroys itself. II the queen can
be captured, all will be well. The queen
has three weeks In which TO grow 70 ma
-urity, fulfil the purpose of her existence,
and die.
What a tragedy OF course time may
seem longer to her, but we deem our sew
.nty years ali too short. We are saved,