And then Omega determined to try another plan--he would electrically
charge the water of the lake. He hoped that this would reach the monster
in his watery lair and kill him instantly. So he constructed two giant
magnets and placed one on each end of the lake. Then harnessing all the
electrical energy at his command he sent a tremendous current through
the water with high potential, alternating it at ten second intervals
for an hour.

Two weeks later he watched for the carcass of the beast to rise. He felt
now that his problem was to get rid of it so that it would not pollute
the water, but it did not appear.

With fear and trembling Omega observed that the water of the lake was
receding inch by inch. Then by chemical action on the coral beds and on
the rocks, he created a dense cloud and caused it to form over the lake,
thus in a measure protecting it from the sun's rays. But day by day,
despite the sheltering cloud, the water receded. Day after day Omega
moved his gauges hoping against hope that somehow and somewhere nature
would again awaken and bring water upon the earth.

During all these days and months the monster did not raise its head
above the surface of the lake--Omega was certain of this, for had the
water been disturbed ever so little his water seismograph, as well as
his cameras, would have recorded it. The monster was dead at last and
they were profoundly thankful. They were the undisputed masters of the
earth's last water! Now Alpha could play about the shore and swim in the
shallow water in peace and safety. So the dangerous fence was removed.

* * * * *

Omega knew that in the beginning the Creator had made man master of his
own destiny. He had endowed him with reason and given the earth into his
keeping. Omega thoroughly understood the Ruling Power of the universe.
He read aright His commands, blazoned across the breasts of billions of
worlds, and by the same token he knew that humanity on earth was doomed.
Yet he was urged on by that unconquerable spirit which had made man king
of all. He set up his rain-making machinery with the smile of a
fatalist. For hundreds of miles its sinuous beams sprang into the sky,
writhed about like great, hungry serpents with their tremendous sucking
and receiving maws, then coiled back to earth bringing not a drop. But
one day the Mirror again showed small, faint clouds upon its surface.
They were scattered over various parts of th