yes whose presence Captain Wilkins had felt--and his
men, and the poor terrified ape! He deliberately put from his mind the
thought of this; no use to start the day with morbid fears. He went
below to examine the cabins. But he carried the heavy elephant gun
with him wherever he went.

* * * * *

Below decks the signs of the marauder were everywhere, yet there was
little to be learned. The slimy trails dried quickly and vanished, but
not before Thorpe had traced them to the uttermost depths of the ship.

There was not a nook or corner that had gone unsearched in the
horrible quest for human food. And one thing impressed itself forcibly
upon the man's mind. He found a lantern, and he used it of necessity
in his explorations, but this thing had gone through the dark and with
unerring certainty had found its way to every victim.

"Can it see in the dark?" Thorpe questioned. "Or...." He visioned
dimly some denizen of the vast depths, living beyond the limits of the
sun's penetration, far in the abysmal darkness where its only light
must be self-made. But his mind failed in the attempt to picture what
manner of horror this thing might be.

Even in the hold its evil traces were found. There were tiers of metal
drums that still shone wet in his lantern's light. Calcium
carbide--for making acetylene, he supposed--marked "Made in U.S.A."
The _Nagasaki_ must have been westward bound.

* * * * *

He went, after an hour or so, to the wireless room, and only when he
relaxed in the safety of his improvised fortress did he realize how
tense had been every nerve and muscle through his long search. He
tried the wireless and got an instant response from the destroyer.

"Don't shoot it too fast," he spelled out slowly to the distant
operator: "I am only a dub. Just wanted to say hello and report all
O.K."

"Fine," was the steady, careful response. "We have had a little
trouble with our condensers--" There was a short pause, then the
message continued, this portion dictated by the commander. "Delay not
important. We will be back as agreed. Have picked up _S. S. Adelaide_
bound east in your latitude. Warned her to take northerly course
account derelict. See you later. Signed, Brent, commanding _U. S. S.
Bennington_."

The man in the barred room tapped off his acknowledgement and closed
the key. He suddenly realized he had had no breakfast, and the hours
had been slip