Through singing foam and broad,
green, glassy depths, by whispering sandy channels atrail with seaweed,
and on, on, out into the vague, cool sea, I sped, rising to the top,
sinking, gliding. Then at last I flung myself out of water, hands
raised, and the clamour of the gulls filled my ears. As I lay, breathing fast, drifting on the sea, far out beyond the gulls
I saw a flash of white, and an arm was lifted, signalling me. "Daisy!" I called. A clear hail came across the water, distinct on the sea wind, and at
the same instant we raised our hands and moved toward each other. How we laughed as we met in the sea! The white dawn came up out of the
depths, the zenith turned to rose and ashes. And with the dawn came the wind--a great sea wind, fresh, aromatic,
that hurled our voices back into our throats and lifted the sheeted
spray above our heads. Every wave, crowned with mist, caught us in a
cool embrace, cradled us, and slipped away, only to leave us to another
wave, higher, stronger, crested with opalescent glory, breathing
incense. We turned together up the coast, swimming lightly side by side, but our
words were caught up by the winds and whirled into the sky. We looked up at the driving clouds; we looked out upon the pallid waste
of waters; but it was into each other's eyes we looked, wondering,
wistful, questioning the reason of sky and sea. And there in each
other's eyes we read the mystery, and we knew that earth and sky and
sea were created for us alone. Drifting on by distant sands and dunes, her white fingers touching
mine, we spoke, keying our tones to the wind's vast harmony. And we
spoke of love. Gray and wide as the limitless span of the sky and the sea, the
winds gathered from the world's ends to bear us on; but they were
not familiar winds; for now, along the coast, the breakers curled and
showed a million fangs, and the ocean stirred to its depths, uneasy,
ominous, and the menace of its murmur drew us closer as we moved. Where the dull thunder and the tossing spray warned us from sunken
reefs, we heard the harsh challenges of gulls; where the pallid surf
twisted in yellow coils of spume above the bar, the singing sands
murmured of treachery and secrets of lost souls agasp in the throes of
silent undertows. But there was a little stretch of beach glimmering through the
mountains of water, and toward this we turned, side by side. Around us
the water grew warmer; the breath of the following waves moistened our
cheeks; the water itself grew gray and strange about us. "We have come too far," I said; but she only answered: "Faster, faster! I am afraid!" The water was almost hot now; its aromatic odour filled
our lungs. "The Gulf loop!" I muttered. "Daisy, shall I help you?" "No. Swim--close by me! Oh-h! Dick----"

Her startled cry was echoed by another--a shrill scream, unutterably
horrible--and a great bird flapped from the beach, splashing and
beating its pinions across the water with a thundering noise. Out across the waves it blundered, rising little by little from the
water, and now, to my horror, I saw another monstrous bird swinging in
the air above it, squealing as it turned on its vast wings. Before I
could speak we touched the beach, and I half lifted her to the shore. "Quick!" I repeated. "We must not wait." Her eyes were dark with fear, but she rested a hand on my shoulder, and
we crept up among the dune grasses and sank down by the point of sand
where the rough shelter stood, surrounded by the iron-ringed piles. She lay there, breathing fast and deep, dripping with spray. I had no
power of speech left, but when I rose wearily to my knees and looked
out upon the water my blood ran cold. Above the ocean, on the breast
of the roaring wind, three enormous birds sailed, turning and wheeling
among each other; and below, drifting with the gray stream of the Gulf
loop, a colossal bulk lay half submerged--a gigantic lizard, floating
belly upward. Then Daisy crept kneeling to my side and touched me, trembling from
head to foot. "I know," I muttered. "I must run back for the rifle." "And--and leave me?" I took her by the hand, and we dragged ourselves through the wire grass
to the open end of a boiler lying in the sand. She crept in on her hands and knees, and called to me to follow. "You are safe now," I cried. "I must go back for the rifle." "The birds may--may attack you." "If they do I can get into one of the other boilers," I said. "Daisy,
you must not venture out until I come back. You won't, will you?" "No-o," she whispered doubtfully. "Then--good-by." "Good-by," she answered, but her voice was very small and still. "Good-by," I said again. I was kneeling at the mouth of the big iron
tunnel; it was dark inside and I could not see her, but, before I was
conscious of it, her arms were around my neck and we had kissed each
other. I don't remember how I went away. When I came to my proper senses I was
swimming along the coast at full speed, and over my head wheeled one of
the birds, screaming at every turn. The intoxication of that innocent embrace, the close impress of her
arms around my neck, gave me a strength and recklessness that neither
fear nor fatigue could subdue. The bird above me did not even frighten
me; I watched it over my shoulder, swimming strongly, with the tide now
aiding me, now stemming my course; but I saw the shore passing quickly
and my strength increased, and I shouted when I came in sight of the
house, and scrambled up on the sand, dripping and excited. There was
nobody in sight, and I gave a last glance up into the air where the
bird wheeled, still screeching, and hastened into the house. Freda
stared at me in amazement as I seized the rifle and shouted for the
professor. "He has just gone to town, with Captain McPeek in his wagon," stammered
Freda. "What!" I cried. "Does he know where his daughter is?" "Miss Holroyd is asleep--not?" gasped Freda. "Where's Frisby?" I cried impatiently. "Yimmie?" quavered Freda. "Yes, Jimmie; isn't there anybody here? Good heavens! where's that man
in the shop?" "He also iss gone," said Freda, shedding tears, "to buy papier-maché. Yimmie, he iss gone to post bills." I waited to hear no more, but swung my rifle over my shoulder, and,
hanging the cartridge belt across my chest, hurried out and up the
beach. The bird was not in sight. I had been running for perhaps a minute when, far up on the dunes, I
saw a yellow dog rush madly through a clump of sweet bay, and at the
same moment a bird soared past, rose, and hung hovering just above
the thicket. Suddenly the bird swooped; there was a shriek and a yelp
from the cur, but the bird gripped it in one claw and beat its wings
upon the sand, striving to rise. Then I saw Frisby--paste, bucket, and
brush raised--fall upon the bird, yelling lustily. The fierce creature
relaxed its talons, and the dog rushed on, squeaking with terror. The
bird turned on Frisby and sent him sprawling on his face, a sticky
mass of paste and sand.