dared reply, for somehow, although there was no foundation for his fears, he was filled with a terrible dread of these under-sea workers, these unknown mysterious divers who had lifted the om

though he could be as easily seen as if on land, and that, if he spoke, his words would at once betray his whereabouts. But he also realized that Frank's voice

nd down his spine as he heard distinctly the sounds of low-toned words in the same guttural tongue, and he was certain, positive, that his voice had been heard, that the others were striving to locate him, and that at any moment Frank or Henry might become curious or impatient and speak. In his terrified mind he could picture those big, sickly green, distorted bein

ike a nightmare, a dream in which one is powerless to move or to cry out; where one cannot compel muscles or mind to function; where one feels that it cannot be real, cannot be possible and yet is filled with sweating, blood-curdling terror that it is. And then, after what seemed hours of torture, but was barely ten seconds from the time the men had emerged from the sewer, their voices ceased and to Tom's inexpressib

awlins' whisper and

arely audible words. "No danger.

nd rather reassured by the sound of his companion's voice and word

but it also served to betray their whereabouts and to conceal Tom and Rawlins as well. For some distance-several hundred yards Tom thought

tly halted, waiting to see if those they were trailing had come to a stop

that a step might carry one a few inches or several feet or not at all, depending upon the current, and he wondered vaguely if Rawlins knew his way, if he could find his way back, or if he intended to bob to the surface to get his bearings when he finally decided to return to

a stop and, as the sediment drifted off and the dim green light filtered through the water, Tom peered into the vast illimitable void. It was like looking through thick green glass or like glass made half-opaque by one's breath upon it and for a time Tom could see nothing. Then, as the water became still clearer, he saw the faint ou

ion, but rather like some sort of boat. Yes, that was it-like the hull of a boat-it reminded him of a picture of a sunken wreck. Perhaps it was. Yes, now that the thought had entered his head, he could see that it was a wreck; he could make out the stump of a mast, the remains of deck houses, something like portions of rails. But what was it doing here? Why should a

sea as ever as to the distances under water. He could not tell whether the wreck was fifty or five hundred feet away. He was not at all sure that, if he reached out, he could not touch the old hulk or even the

unconsciously, "they

rds. "Wreck! That's no wreck. That'

no idea how such a craft would appear under water. He did not realize that the narrow deck almost awash, the tiny superstructure and conning tower which are all the landsman sees are but a very small portion of a submarine's whole; that out of sight, and never exposed above the

r the hulk of a steamer or ship, for submarines were the last thing in his mind and

tower; what he had thought were shattered deck houses and rails were the superstructure; and

rse, Tom knew there were plenty of the navy's submarines forever knocking about, and for an instant it occurred to him th

hat they had carried a mysterious object to the trapdoor in the sewer,

licable, puzzlin

recalled him

t to find out who and what she is. You

final caution for the boy not to follow or move

w foolish he had been, to be sure! No doubt, he thought to himself, it was the unexpected appearance of the men and their grotesque forms which had aroused his imagination. There was Rawlins, still moving away a

dreamlike. He wondered what Frank and Henry would think of his long silence. He wondered if they could hear him or he could hear them. Surely there would be no danger in speaking now. Even if those in the submarine heard him they could not tell

dream that others possessed the apparatus and would have assumed that the speakers were on shore. There was no

t of him as Rawlins had slipped around the blunt bow. But now Rawlins suddenly appeared, backing into view, waving his arms to maintain his balance and flound

ashed through Tom's mind when, from behind the submarine, the two figures appeared, clutching arms pawing at the water as if swimming, bodies bent far forward,

inexpressibly uncanny to see the three men evidently exerting every effort and yet moving so silently and slowly, seeming to float like weightless bodies in some semi-transparent, green medium. It reminded Tom of a

bled over an upjutting stub of spiling, the hatchet flew from h

aloud and the next instant, like a voice f

s wrong?" came in troubled, wor

hin reach of those ashore and in terse,

hat no one knew where he was or where to send help even

ubmarine-fighting with Mr. Rawlins! They're attackin

rigid, watching with staring eyes the struggle taking place beneath the river. Rawlins had arisen; by a tremendous effort he had flung aside one man, but the other

ce from the submarine and the very instant Tom n

and was slipping rapidly from its resting place. Although the man struggled desperately to reach it he might as well have stood still,

ling in a half-circle, his arms waving helplessly, while his companion had broken away from Rawlins and was standing,

the words of surrender, the words which had become so familiar to thousands of men in

spoken as if to himself or as if

l surrender. All right, right about face and forward march and

red out. They had heard his cry for help, had heard him tell Frank to summon police. How could they know that their whereabouts was not known, that it was mere chance that he and Rawlins had stumbled upon them? No doubt they imagined they had been watched, trailed and surrounded and the submarine, rather than run the risk of being c

a hand. This chap's hurt somehow. Can't get an answer out of him

possible the fight had taken place so close? But he had no time to think on this matter. The second man was hel

an grasping the other, while Rawlins kept a hand on Tom and directed the way, the strange under-sea proc

again heard

ur father's coming. How can th

answered Tom. "We're com

had thought they had wandered far, but they had not been two hundred yards

low started to mount the rungs. Evidently the words were heard by the anxious, waiting boys above

ng footsteps, shouts and cries and Tom's brain reeled. What was happening? Had the men's confederates learned of their capt