July 17th, 1947

  Another day gone by.

  Didn't really have to do much work today, good thing too, as I didn't get a heck of a lot of sleep last night.

   I found the rocking of the ship comforting, but my cabin mates were keeping me awake. First off, I could hear Muggy, giggling to himself, all night.

  Tully kept talking in his sleep, mumbling things like "No!, Not again!" and "I'm sorry". I think he said several names of dames he knew, names like Gwen, Alonka, and Lisa .....at least that's what it sounded like to me. And he kept tossing and turning like some kind of wild beast!

   Finally I got up and decided to stroll around on deck and wait for the sun to rise.

  Before I left the cabin I noticed Commanch, wasn't in his bunk. Later I found out where he was, but I'll have to get to that.

  The stars are so clear, when seen from the ocean.

  I wish I could remember all those Gods and Heroes, that connecting the stars are supposed to make pictures of. My son knows them all, and likes to tell me all about them.

  I like that he's so smart.

  I wandered around, hoping to find a pot of coffee, brewing somewhere.

  I finally spotted an open door, with signs of activity. I walked in, and saw that it was the ships, radio room. Commanche Stone, was inside, and get this, he was using all that expensive equipment to talk to dames.

  Commanche was startled when he heard me shut the door behind me.

"Durants gonna have your head on a platter if he catches you doin this Commanch!" I said.

  Same old Commanch, he cant keep his mind off of the fairer sex, for one second.

   He likes to spend hours chatting with lonely broads, who own ham radio sets, he's been doing this for years.

  I remember when he first got his own set, awhile back. Commanch said it was for business reasons, figuring to set up an underworld, pipeline, in code.

  It was a good idea. The `Mad so and so' needs thugs for such and such mission.
 

 He said this might make him a Big Boss some day. He had visions of sitting in the Big Chair, and barking out orders, and one day ruling the world, but so far, he has mostly just spent his hours on the airwaves, talking lovey dovey to broads he's never met.

  I wasn't exaggerating with my warning to him, Durant will kill him, if he finds out.

   Durant has become more of a monster then ever since Horseshoe got bumped off, and he became the field boss.

 But getting back, I soon realized Commanch wasn't going to be much company, so I left him to his own devices.

  There just wasn't much life on board so I found a deck chair, stretched out on it and took a snooze.

  I was awakened by a combination of the sun, and Muggy, not five feet away from me, making a racket with, bucket and other various and sundry cleaning supplies. Muggy was down on all fours, scrubbing away at the deck.

  "What gives?" I thought, the deck wasn't particularly dirty, and we just started this voyage.

  I looked up and understood. Durant was leaning against the rail, not to far away, flicking the ashes from his cigar, and smiling smugly at Muggy.

  I just have to say, there is evil, and there is EVIL!

  I couldn't watch any more, I lit a smoke of my own, and headed off.

  I wandered for awhile, this time I did find coffee, in the ships galley.

   All the mugs were there, Champ, Tully (still brooding) Fresno Dan, etc. Plus Durant,(Guess he got tired of giving Muggy, guff) Prof. Sanders and that tall and tan, Nesta Reynolds dish.

  Commanch was trying to make a play for Nesta, with no luck.

  What would all his ham radio gal friends think if they knew he was trying to two time them? That Commanch!

  Bay City Bottems, saw me come in, and before I could even finish pouring some joe, into my cup, he started in.

  "I was just tellin the fellas who weren't in Boneport, about the Grey Fog. You were actually there when it happened, tell us about it!"

  I noticed Durant was in the room, so when I told the tale, I left out the fact, that the Fog and cohorts, were mostly dames.

  When I got to the part about the long haired war paint guy, Prof. Sanders took an interest.

  "Please repeat, as best you can what this savage fellow said to you" the Prof. asked.

  "Eetah, Da Na kootu!" I replied.

  "Hmmmmm." the Prof. hmmm'd and stroked his chin.

  "Very interesting"
 

 "What do you make of it, Professor?" I asked.

  He replied "Well if you are pronouncing this phrase correctly, it appears to be a dialect of ancient Mu!"

  "Moo!!!???" all of us asked at once.

  "Like what a cow say's?" Filmy Flourney squeaked out.

  "No, not M-o-o ...." The Prof. corrected"....M-u, a fabled continent, now sunk beneath the waves like Atlantis....."

  We all just kept listening, as he continued.

  "But this seems to be impossible, as I myself witnessed the destruction, of the last colony, of Mu, that existed in North America, albeit far below the Earth's surface!".

   He pondered a bit, then added

  "But I suppose, there could have been a straggler or two...."

  At this point, I don't think he was even talking to us anymore, as he didn't take us to be very smart. He was just thinking out loud.

  "I believe, the phrase `Eetah, DA NA kootu' translates to `For you I strike, Mother of the moon and stars' or `I slay on behalf of the Queen of the Universe' take your pick."

  Durant, who I didn't even know had been listening, suddenly piped in,

  What a bunch of malarkey! sunken continents, and the like! you read too many books Professor!"

  Durant started laughing, a loud, fake laugh, just to cheese off the Prof. Then Captain Finn, joined the conversation

  "I, myself, believe the tales of Ancient Mu....you would do well to pay heed to the old legends Mr. Durant, considering our destination..."  

  Durant, took a big drag off of his cigar, and just glared hatefully at him. The Capt. went on,

  "Yes! on Farou isle, and other nearby islands, such as Mondo..." He paused, and got a far away look in his eyes.

  "There are many things waiting below, Mr. Durant, Tulu, and Tanawa! Why one of Tanawa's spawn is said to watching and waiting, somewhere near Farou island."

  "Tulu, Tanawa?" Prof. Sanders interrupted, "Yes, I've read the legends....Great octopoid creatures, mentioned in ancient tomes!"

  "Aye!" Capt. Finn responded "I call them the Dirty Creatures."

  Durant, walked past us, and out the door, with a mocking grin, just to let us know that he thought the Captain and the Professor were full of hooey.

  I however, tend to give them the benefit of the doubt, I've seen a lot of strange things in my line of work, plus the I've read the journals and memoirs, of my father, grandfather, and on. They saw stuff, in their lifetimes..... Heck, just reading GrandPappy's descriptions of El Head, gave me the willies.

  Well, not much to write about the rest of the day, I just relaxed and took it easy, and stayed out of Durant's way. Tomorrow, we make the pick up at Marya Island.