Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-08-08

ed 1t. The dabbing required and the globe
sWayed and ground against the spindle
over which the wire was rolled. He stood
in the blackness and peered out into the
everlasting night of the abyss. And pres
emily he saw. very faint and remote, other
phosphorescent quasi thurman forms hurry
ing toward him. Hardly knowing what he
did, he felt about in his swaying prison for
the stud of the exterior electric light ard
came by accident against his own small
glow lamp in its padded recess. The
sphere twisted and then threw him down:
he heard shouts like shouts of surprise
and when he rose to his feet he saw two
pairs of stalked eyes peering into the lower
window and rejecting his light
In another moment hands were dabbihR
vigorously at his steel casing, and there
was sound, horrible enough in his posi-
ton. Of the metal protection of the clock
work being vigorously hammered. That
Indeed. sent his heart into his mouth. for
II these strange creatures succeeded in
stopping that, his release would never oc-
cur. Scarcely had he thought as much
when he felt the sphere sway violently and
the floor of 1t press hard against his feet.
He turned off the small glow lamp that lit
the interior and sent the ray of the large
light IN the separate compartment out into
the water. The sea floor and the man-like
creatures had disappeared, and a couple of
fish chasing each other dropped suddenly
by the window.
He thought at once that these strange
denizens of the deep sea had broken the
wire rope and that he had escaped. He
drove up faster and faster, and then STOP
ped with a jerk that sent him flying against
the padded roof of his prison. For half q
minute. perhaps, he was too astonished to
think.
Then he felt that the sphere was spinning
that 1t was also being drawn through the
water. By crouching close to the window
he managed to make his weight effective
and roll that part Of the sphere downward,
hllf hn nnr1l6
of mis- light striking down ineffectively into
the darkness. 1t occurred to him that he
could see more If he turned the lamp off
ana allowed MS eyes to grow accustomed to
In this he was wise. After some minutes
the velvety blackness became a translucent
blackness, and then far away and as faint
as the zodiacal light Of an English summer
evening. he saw shapes moving below He
judged these creatures had detached his
cable and were towing him along the seq
bottom. And then he saw something faint
ana remote across the fluctuations Of the
submarine plain, broad horizon of male
luminosity that extended this way and that
way as far as the range of his little window
permitted him to see To this he was being
towed. balloon might be lowed hv rna1
out OF the open country into a town Ne
approached 1t very slowly, and yery slowly
the dim irradiation was gathered together
into more definite shapes
1t was nearly o'clock before he came
over this luminous area, and by that time
he could make out an ARRANGEMENT sue
gestive of streets and houses grouped abo1t
a vast roofiess erection that was Erotesoue-
ly suggestive of a ruined abbey, It was
spread out like a map below him. The
houses were all roofess Enclosures of wallis
and their substance being, as he afterward
saw. OF phosphorescent bones. gave the
place an appearance as If it were built of
drowned moonshine. Among the inner caves
of the place waving trees of crfnoids
stretched their tentacles, and tall slender
~rlD~ hot lly@
and lilies of filmy light out of the general
glow of the city. In the open spaces of the
place he could see a stirring movement as
of crowds of people, but he was too many
fathoms above them to distinguish the in
dividuals in those crowds.
Then slowly they pulled him down. and
as they did SO the, details of the place crept
slowly upon his apprehension He saw that
marked out with beaded lines of round OH
jects. and then he perceived that at several
points below him IN broad open spaces were
forms like the erscrusted shapes of ships.
Slowly and surely he was drawn down. and
the forms below him became brighter. clear
| er and more distinct. liHe was being pulled
down. he perceived towards the large build
ing in the center of the town, and he could
catch a glimpse ever and again Of the null
titudinous forms thar were Juggling at his
cord. He was astonished to see that the
such a prominent feature of the place was
crowded with a host Of gesticulating figures
regarding him. and then the walls Of the
great building rose about him silently and
hid the city from his eyes.
And such walls they were! of water
logged wood. and twisted wire rope, and
iron spars. and copper. and the bones
and skulls of dead men. The skulls ra n
| In zig-zag lines and spirals and fantastic
curves over the building, and in and out
Of their eye sockets. and over the whole
| surface Of the place lurked and played
multitude of suvery little fishes. sud
denly his ears were filled with a low shout
ing and q noise like the violent blowing
of horns, and this gave place to a fan
the huge pointed windows. through which
he saw vaguely great number Of these
| strange ghost-like people regarding him.
| and at las" he came to rest, as 1t seemed,
ON q kind Of altar that stood in the center
| OF the place.
And now he was at such a. level. that