out its shores, but one afternoon the
impulse came to wander that way again. He was amazed that the water was
disappearing so rapidly. The body of the monster now lay more than
fifteen rods from the water's edge, though it had been killed on the
edge of the lake.

With an indifferent and melancholy gaze Omega looked across the lake.
Suddenly his stare became fixed and wild, like that of one stricken
dumb. About twenty rods out the water was suddenly agitated as though by
the movement of some great bulk along its bottom, and then for a
fleeting instant he glimpsed a dark, shining form heave above the
surface, then sink out of sight before he could grasp its details.

"My God," he exclaimed hoarsely, "there is another sea-monster! Likely
it is the mate of the one Thalma killed. I might have known there would
be a mate. We were dealing with two of the beasts all that time. And now
this thing disputes my right to the water!"

Omega's face grew grim and stern as he glared out over the water and his
heart-beats quickened. The latent combativeness of humanity was once
more aroused in him. He had considered himself the last representative
of life on earth. He should remain the last. No beast should claim that
honor. He would kill it.

Then for two weeks he waited and watched for it to reappear, waited with
all the terrible atomic weapons at hand, but he saw it no more. The
Grinner sleeping in the sand was the only form of life to be seen, and
at last he became weary of the hunt. He figured that some day he would
charge the lake, but there was no hurry.

At last Omega lost all interest in the things about him. The Grinner
came and went unhindered and almost unnoticed. He continued to grow, but
Omega gave him little thought. Even the treasures in the airship had
lost their lure for him. Disconsolate and hopeless, yet clinging grimly
to life, he passed his time in the company of his dead.

He had not left the cottage for several weeks, when one cold morning
after a sleepless night, something impelled him to go in search of The
Grinner who had been absent all night. As this had become a frequent
occurrence during the past two months Omega's curiosity was aroused. As
he glided toward the lake he wondered why his interest in his
surroundings had been aroused by thoughts of The Grinner, and once more
he thought of killing that other sea-monster in the lake. The lake! He
stopped and stared and stared. The lake was gone! Only a po