Amazing Stories, Vol. 3, No. 2 — page 22: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE OCTOPUS CYCLE ten minutes she was right among the breakers, pounding in the surf, but there was no sign of officers, crew, or lifeboats. It was late in the afternoon before he could secure a native dhow to get out to the wreck. When he stepped on the slanting deck of the wrecked boat, Weyl found what he had feared. There was no one on board—only a blood-stain here and there. Eyery man in the settlement was quite capable of visualizing: what had happened. Writhing, black-grey tentacles reaching up out of the midnight sea, the swarming of hide- ous bodies over the ship, relentless grop- ing arms searching out the screaming seamen, the fatally prehensive embrace of repulsive flesh... That very might Fort Dauphin re- ceived notice that it was under close siege, A mile out on the northeast beach two natives were taken by an octopus that came unexpect- edly out of the water on them, and on the oppsite side of town a soldier was pur- sued along the sand right up to the walls of the fort. Later the report ran in that one of the sentinels on the west side had disappeared. But neither Weyl nor Major Larivet was quite prepared for the bold attack on the fort two days later. Twilight was just blueing the edges of the jungle a quarter mile from the bas- tions of the fort, and the three white men were smoking gloomily over their coffee, when a shot and a shout from the sentry brought them to their feet. They hastened to the bastion. Out of the jungle in the same regular, military order they had preserved on that fatal night of the first attack, came the octopuses, huge ugly heads bobbing above, undulating tentacles ~ below. Larivet, with a gleam in his eyes at being at last able to come to grips with the enemy, snapped sharp otders as the artillerymen swung the two “seventy- fives” into position. Duperret and Weyl watched breathlessly, heedless of the wild cries of alarm that Reproduction of a photogtaph of a giant octopus. meaning eight in Latin and Greek) tentacles, give it its name. uPast is taken from the Greek for “foot.” 117 issued from the natives who had seen the octopuses. The mouth of the gun swung down slowly, An order. Brief motions, the crash of the discharge, and right in the center of the advancing line a terrific burst of flame and dust. An octopus staggered, stumbled with wildly flailing arms ahd flopped inertly to the ground. Crash! The bright flames from the two guns mingled, and in the flare of the explosions three more of the monsters went to oblivion. They were not invulnerable, then! There was a ray of hope! Weyl found him- self cheering franti- cally. He felt a pres- sure at his shoulder and saw a couple of natives beside him, their courage re- vived. The black ar- tillerymen worked like mad. They could not miss at that point-blank range. All down the octo- pus line were gaps, and the wounded beasts strove to right themselves, They wavered, broke, and in disorderly flight headed back into the jungle, pursued by the avenging shells of the seventy-fives till they had passed from sight. The natives were crowding about, shouting with emo- tion and hurling epithets after the re- treating monsters, They were saved—at least for the time be- ing. But the conference of the three white men that night was grave. : “We have not really accomplished very much,” said Weyl, “except to show them that we have weapons against which they are not invulnerable. I don’t think they will attempt to rush the fort again, but they are terribly intelligent. They may try a surprise attack at night or from the sea, or may even give us a regular starvation siege.” “No, they will not soon approach your guns again,” agreed Duperret, “but what are we to do if they at- tack the town from the other side. The fort surely cannot hold all the people you have here.” “Gentlemen,” said Larivet gravely, “in that case we can only do our duty. I shall have one of the guns toved to the other side of town. Meanwhile we can conmmicloboolkks.conn The eight (‘focto’’