f the long
periods of silence.

Tommy did not answer; he did not hear him, for he was busy at the key.
Suddenly he leaped to his feet.

"God, Jimmy," he cried, "that devil's making good his threat! The
swarm's in South Australia, destroying every living thing, wiping out
whole towns and villages! And they--they believe me now!"

He sank into a chair. For the first time the strain of the awful past
seemed to grip him. Haidia came to his side.

"The beetles are finish," she said in her soft voice.

"How d'you know, Haidia?" demanded Dodd.

"The beetles are finish," Haidia repeated quietly, and that was all that
Dodd could get out of her. But again the key began to click, and Tommy
staggered to the table. Dot--dash--dash--dot. Presently he looked up
once more.

"The swarm's halfway to Adelaide," he said. "They want to know if I can
help them. Help them!" He burst into hysterical laughter.

Toward evening he came back after an hour at the key. "Line must be
broken," he said. "I'm getting nothing."

* * * * *

In the moonlight they could see the huge compound eyes of the beetle
guards glittering like enormous diamonds outside. They had not been
conscious of thirst during the day, but now, with the coming of the cool
night their desire for water became paramount.

"Tommy, there must be water in the station," said Dodd. "I'm going to
get a pitcher from the kitchen and risk it, Tommy. Take care of Haidia
if--" he added.

But Haidia laid her hand upon his arm. "Do not go, Jimmydodd," she said.
"We can be thirsty to-night, and to-morrow the beetles will be finish."

"How d'you know?" asked Dodd again. But now he realized that Haidia had
never learned the significance of an interrogation. She only repeated
her statement, and again the two men had to remain content.

The long night passed. Outside the many facets of the beetle eyes.
Inside the two men, desperate with anxiety, not for themselves, but for
the fate of the world, snatching a few moments' sleep from time to time,
then looking up to see those glaring eyes from the silent watchers.

Then dawn came stealing over the desert, and the two shook themselves
free from sleep. And now the eyes were gone.

But there was immense activity among the beetles. They were scurrying to
and fro, and, as they watched, Dodd and Tommy began to see some
significance in their movements.

"Why, they're digging trenches!" Tommy shouted. "That's h