The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-05-28
The Treasure Divers
By Charles Frederick Hoder-copyrghted by Dodd Mead
& Co.. Publishers, New York
CHAPTER VI.-(Continued) T.
Descent Into the Deep Sea-

They all began to feel the cold, the profess
sor held up his Thermometer, which ingenious
device to resist pressure, to the electric light
which he carried, he that the temperature
about "a degrees Fahr,-not very freezing,
which is probably the average temperature
NAL regions of the the world AS they moved
on, strange creatures started mud-singular
fishes calling to mind the angler with mouth.
with NOV
suddenly they appeared to be surrounded by curious
fishes that had gathered in group about a luminous
cloud that lowered over the
to he engineer on the Dolphin
The brilliant light imperceptbly faded away and
for the first time the three appreciated
lutte darkness meant nearly half mile beneath the
The window of the vessel cleaned brightly star
against the gloom but elsewhere backness that
appeared like wall Of night shutting them in. So
appalling was its density that they stood
ments in silence, a region where sound had never
been heard AS they looked strange lights began to
appear all about them; soft nebulous haze that took
shape and mimic flashes They were, as the
professor said, "in the phosphorescent world
When their eyes were fully accustomed to the
Of f. hes s1o 1 o a
every fish crab luminous. Fishes bearing lumi-
trains dashed by. crab which Ralph picked
had luminous and another which the professor
caught in his net slowed like living coal IN MS ar
mored hand.
Suddenly captain touched Ralph's arm and
and appeared to be the edge of a
preston in which shone mimic nebula. Imagine
cornied at midnight, when each husk or the tuft of
each burns and bazes with lavender-hued light,
some conception of viii burst
may be obtained The light was so vivid thai it caused
the luminous cloud which they had The professor
gazed moment in ecstacy,s then reckoning to the
Others walked as rapidly the circumstances would
TT is forest of Alcyonarians" he called thru his
telephone "a forest of living lights, field of Umbe-
lularias; and pungng into the strange forest
cited naturalist pushed the marvellous lights aside and
with his ilumined by their radiance stood
moment lost in amaZement at the beauty of the scene
AS far as the eye could reach the delicate slender
in mon nted NV uroin
tips of lilac hue, stood minging with other,
swayng gently in the tideess sea- They had the an
Of vast of torches standing the floor
of the deep
Ralph pulled up several Of these living candles and
grouped them together He found that one con-
sisted of twelve huge luminous polyps, having
frnged arms forming graceful cluster. It with
difficulty that the naturalist could be induced
this as standing in their midst he had lev
hem fora was
ing the marvellous fishes that moved in among
the lights, evidently attracted by them.
The pressed forest Of light-givers a
distance, then withdrew skirted light
seemed to attract other animals, fishes kinds
had discovered an Alcyonarian colony and doubtless
the extraordinary light attracted fshes-a feature
which the professor said probably prevailed everywhere
in the deep sea- the animals collecting in colonies about
the brightest fixed ight-givers
Not far from here the explorers left the ooze and
walked to what appeared to be carpet of fire; a
bright yellow light seemed to hover the rocky
tom which the professor found to be caused by
shrub-like form with thin wre-like axis its
hght-gving gorgonlas This field Of lilac light
stretched away as far as they could see and as thew
moved it and crushed the poyps it to
part them still greater splendors The captain caught
a bunch with his pike like fam
ing torch while Ralph gathered armful of the
colored fire. bodies which gave his armor spectral ap-
pearance.
Farther other lights appeared, the seapen Paw
onia whose long pink stems and fringed poyps cleaned
with light while clinging to them starfish one
lght-giver evidently preying the other The light
of the sea-pens also lilac and constant Nearly all
the animals luminous; the Veritillun,
which resembles quill pen emitting brilliant orange
penetrating that later
emitted sufficient light to print by in the cabin.
starfshes everywhere beneath their feet,
outlined In fire against the
were stars, Ophiurians One, which the pro-
lessor pronounced a Brisinga elegans had nineteen
branching out from red central body, all of
which wildly phosphorescent