| Show 0 TH I 1 lis aa I 1 D ED LLA ma PE TD IL by VICTR brusseau copyright by W G chapman CHAPTER XI continued 13 of course I 1 I 1 love ove you he responded sadly somehow his heart was utterly overcast it was as if he had looked looked into the face of immortal beauty of course I 1 love you wont you try to sleep ida he asked yes she che answered releasing herself but you dont love me donold donald I 1 knowl know ill and slowly she withdrew into her cabin leaving donald a brej prey to intense bewilderment and despair who 10 was she this almost invisible beauty had she followed him here aboard the ship or swimming behind the submarine was she another species cies of the sea devils suddenly for the first time since their conversation lie he recalled master mans words 1 I brought my specimen home with me think of that bladl she want to eat they dont eat after they are mature donald now it cameto came to donald with conviction that the old captain had had reference to this woman I 1 and straining ills his eyes through the darkness he saw her but this thia time there was visible upon her face nn an expression so pitiful that it almost brought the tears to donalds eyes she was watching him with a dumb yearning of inexpressible rI pathos bithos thos that look reminded donald of the old legend of the mermaid who could obtain EL a soul only from sonic some human lover an idea came to him he would go up into the conning tower in that narrow space lie he could see her better and understand what she was but as lie he stood in the pa passage asage at the bottom of the trapdoor clouts clonts appeared before him it occurred to donald afterward th that at ho be had been there for a considerable time its all right sirl sir said clouts clonts you told me to call you when you was to go on duty and its nil all right Wl ints all right demanded donald its all right sir mr I 1 understand such things said clouts clonts clouts clonts Cl outs what the devil tire are you talking about its all right sir replied clonts clouts for cor the third time pointing before him and in the passage not more than a dozen feet away donald saw the womans comans form his anger vanished ile he took the sailor bailor by the arm clouts clonts Cl outs he said do you yon suppose we could get her into the conning tower 1 I dont know sir said clouts clonts shaking ills his head if ashes willing to to go sir the question sir clouts clonts Cl outs donalds voice sank to a whisper you must understand that this a woman at least not a human one ashes quite so it if I 1 might say so or thereabouts said clouts clonts 11 A and nd do you think you could get her there clout s scratched ills his head 1 I suppose so BO sir he answered but shed have to come out again you know what I 1 intend said donald desperately back into In the water through the airlock push her in sir lead her in clouts clonts put on ni my y coat and let her follow you then n when youve got her inside put on the last divi diving g dress and see that she that she come back I 1 dont mean you to hurt her she can live under the water you know and while youre about it clouts clonts you might see if you can adjust the rudder for a moment clouts clonts and his bis captain looked hard into each others eyes then clouts clonts grim face softened putting his hands to his pocket he drew out his mouth organ and the soft strains of annie rooney booney went up into the air clouts clonts played it t through with quiet resolution ru ill do it sir he said donald turned and saw that the woman of the sea stood exactly where she had been throughout that interview she had not stirred he waited while clouts clonts found the tast last diving suit in the storeroom and then the two went back into the presently clouts clonts emerged encased in his cylinder and holding the glass mask in his hand about his shoulders he wore donalds coat donald waited within he heard the conning jower bower trapdoor close and after that he could hear bear nothing he waited as indefinite time suddenly a soft sp of water told him that the loer levels of the sea were being agitated by the condensed oxygen in the airlock there followed sl st lenca the sounds were cut off abruptly and tor for a long time donald waited his nerves were so tense tease that when clouts clonts opened the door he started violently he peered into the sailors Bai lors face ive done it sir said clouts clonts she followed me like like a dog sir and I 1 saw her eyes when I 1 pushed her into the water and I 1 dont want to see a look like that again it felt like mur ader der sir or I 1 nonsense 1 exclaimed donald an you know perfectly well clouts clonts ali at sho she on board when we started therefore she must have come in with us its from the sea bottom 1 I know lehow sir said clouts clonts Cl outs shaking his lend head mournfully then unable to control himself lie clapped his hand to his mou mouth thorgan orean and donald waited alone sleepless while the she dreary night wore on CHAPTER XII afloat and ashore lie ire mus must t have fallen into a light doze at last for lie he awakened to find davies tit at his side the voice cleft the thick darkness dar kneas like a knife were done for old man I 1 he whispered wed better not awaken her usten listen I 1 heretofore no sound from without had penetrated the thin plates of the submarine but now donald distinctly heard a cracking noise as it if some pressure were being exerted against the sides of the vessel were breaking up sir you mean 1 T its that gang of devils donald do boll mind letting me grip your arm a minute sir or its in a way disturbing the grew louder tiie the plates were groaning under pressure and it seemed every instant that the rivets would start and the water rush in its the weight of the ocean over us davies said donfild donald without the faintest faith in this diagnosis but this pressure Is horizontal not vertical donald and water has no horizontal pi assure tit at nil all donald was silent he would not voice what was in ills his own mind bl he knew that his explanation was nonsense meant to deceive not only davies but himself also the sea monsters must be pushing against the bottom of the to break her by their own weight and get at their prey within maddened by hunger in those barren solitudes of darkness they were a frenzied army of destruction he wondered whether clotts clouts get act was in any way the cause of this new activity the pressure increased the steel plates crackled as trees snap in zero weather donald looked up and saw ida standing in the doorway Is anything wrongs wrong she asked coming coining forward to donald ite he could not answer her and she did not repeat the question but stood N N looking over the rocks they saw a man in a large Motor motorboat boaL looking intently at the two men who watched each other it was impossible that ida could help understanding the meaning of the sounds without she camo came close to donald forgive me for what I 1 said dear she whispered clinging to his arm 1 I was so BO afraid not of death dearest but of the loneliness in that room I 1 was afraid for you ile he patted her arms without speaking and led the way to the conning tower again it was preferable that they should die if they must by suffocation fo rather than in the maw of the monsters within those stout walls of steel they could at least hope to find a perpetual tomb there the pressure was still increasing the floor of the conning tower began to tilt surely this was the end but the floor righted tilted righted once more A sense of movement succeeded that of pressure then to their utter amazement ment a white light shot hot through the observation port hooding the inside of the conning tower and the scraped the rocks rock donald grasped at davies davies Da we ave are at the surface again I 1 he cried there was no doubting it the moonlight flooded the interior of the tower and before their eyes seen through the port were the rugged outlines of fair island the monsters must have raised the submarine by the united force of their massed bodies this time said donald we are going ashore to stay ament Aroe nl said davies solemnly and the three grasped hands A few moments 1 tier they emerged upon the drying deck of the DOS she sha was back in lier her old position upon tho tha shelving bench beach nt at trio the very edge of the avea waves the moon which rode high in the sky was already paling before the increasing luster of tile the dawn wheres clouts clonts Cl outs asked donald suddenly lie he below queried davies dales donald raised raided ills voice and shouted ile he ran below calling for C clonts clouts hut but th re came no answer it soon became trident evident that clouts clonts was vias not on thi submarine good lord I 1 said Donn donall ll it occurred to him then that lie he had told clouts clonts to look tit nt the rudder but lie he had bad never supposed ed that flint the ilie man would be able to adjust it had he forgotten gone back to adjust it aud and failed to return ile he took a couple of revolvers and gave one of them to dagles they went ashore tile the firm rocks underfoot seemed the most delicious part of their strange fortune and gave reality to what was still hardly more than a dream vhey knew that there was vas no danger of attack in the moonlight nevertheless they remained near the hont boat and each of them thein culled called for clouts clonts firing his revolver reher and listening for any response but there was vai no response it was evident that for some soine reason unknown clouts clonts had bad gonn into the sea they went vent to n cave and began to make a quick nick examination of it in the midst of this work ork a sound came to their ears cars it was that of a gas engine looking over oer the rocks they saw a ma man in a large motorboat motor bont hurrying round the promontory donald hailed balled him with alth a yell ell there came no answer but the boat continued to make mak e toward them tile the man in tile the boat raised his head it was Mac Beard ile he stopped the engine and lay to about a couple of hundred yards away anay ile he drew n handkerchief from ills his pocket and the d n rogue muttered davies dalles raising ills revolver rc oher it was indeed professor Mac Beard and lie appeared distressed at least lie he flew the distress or 01 p pirley arley signal and ills his movements seemed altogether more agitated and his demeanor less bland than on the preceding afternoon whatever his nocturnal work lind had been it seemed to have been cut short uy oy the dawn which had driven tho the monsters to seek shelter in the ocean depths dept lis he seemed to have come from the other side of the alie island truce I 1 lie he seemed to shout although the sound echoing from rock to rock was not clearly audible truce I 1 he waved the handkerchief frantically donald and davies fired together they saw the bullets strike tile the water Mac Beard crouched down behind the engine there could be no parleying parl eying with such as he they emptied their weapons in their fury Mac Beard was just out of range he started the engine again and came to a halt fifty yards farther at sea truce I 1 I 1 want to speak to you he he yelled they aimed their empty revolvers Mac Beard started for safety ills his boat disappeared round a distant point of the island the devill devil said donald then he turned to davies well take on supplies at any rate lie he said one thing Is sure those ul devils 4 might inight raise the submarine but they can never sink her once the tanks are blown they were blown when we submerged sir answered the middy the deflected rudder kept us down but we cant go down unless we try to start her miss kennedy Kenn edyl donald called to ida who had bad disappeared within the cave she lid did not answer him and the two men approached to summon her but just within the cave they saw something that revived for a moment the old horrors which they had escaped they were two human skeletons with fragments of clothing near near them donald stooped and picked u up P a morsel e khaki government khaki I 1 he said 1 I wonder who hut but the explanation became too obvious when projecting from behind a rock near by they saw the wing of an airplane the missing aviators had been een found and the manner of their leath death was only too clear they m must I 1 have are been seized while sleeping by the sea devils the airplane which was of the hydroplane type had evidently been drawn within the cave and left there by the aviators A hasty examination showed donald that it was uninjured perhaps Mac Beard lial had intended to make use of it or it possible that he had not seen it for it was wag h hardly ardly distinguishable among the shadows miss Kenn kennedy edyl 1 called dorall donald ida I 1 where are you dont go too farl far ill no answer came and they began to grow uneasy M TO BE i |
