Evening star., 1918-01-13

GlViiS lnan he tlau SHOW1l III
anything SO far. The trawler was out
fitted most completely as a tender, hav-
ing been anchored over the exact spot
at which the descents were to be made,
held by four strong cables.
| saw him cast a quick glance at the
others. For the moment Dominick,
Gage and Kinsale seemed to have for
gotten US in their interest in Norma.
He seized the occasion to make an even
closer examination of the complicated
apparatus. So carefully had accident
been guarded against that even a de-
vice for the publication Of the air had
been installed in the machine which
forced the fresh air to the diver. 1t
was this apparatus which | saw Ken
nedy studying most, especially one part,
where the air was passed through a
small chamber containing a chemical
for the removal of carbon dioxide. /
saw peculiar expression on his face.
Quickly he removed the chemical. leav-
ing the tube eInpty.
IT think the air will be pure enough
without any such treatment, he re-
marked. glaneing about to be sure no
enc had observed. You know, air is
IL mechanical mixture OF gases, mainly
oxygen and nitrogen. Here's something
that gives it an excess of nitrogen and
a smaller percentage of oxygen. Nitro
gen is the. more dangerous gas for one
under COMPRESSED air. 1t is the more iner..
nitrogen that refuses to get out of the
blood after one has been under pressure
that forms the bubbles of gas which cause
all the trouble, the bonds'-compressed
air sickness, you know"
Then that is how Traynor died?" I
whispered Some one placed the
wrong salt in there-took out oxygen.
added nitrogen. instead of removing
carbon dioxide?"
sI think so,'' was all Craig replied.
A moment later the group joined us.
NO one has been down on the wreck
yet? 2" inquired Craig, at which Everson
turned quickly to the three companions
he had left in charge, himself anxious
to know.
NO" replied Kinsale. 'Mr. Dominick
thought we'd better wait for you"
"1rhen I should like to be the first"
cut in Craig. to my utter surprise
Remonstrance had no effect on him
Our objections seemed rather to con-
firm him in his purpose.
Accordingly, in spite of the danger,
which now no one knew more than he,
all the preparations were made for
the first dive. With the aid of Kin
no more so than Craig, he donned the
heavy suit of rubberized canvas, had
the leads placed at his feet and finally
was fitted with the metal head and the
"bib'-the whole weighing hardly less
than 800 pounds. 1t was with serious
misgiving that + saw him go over the
side and shoot down into the water.
The moments that he was down ap-
peared interminable. Suspiciously 1
watched every move that the men
something. ] longed for the technical
knowledge that would have enabled
me to handle the apparatus l tried to
quiet my fears, yet | felt that at least
a show of vigilance on my part might
bluff any one off from an attempt to
tamper again with the air supply.
I don't know when l felt more relief
than ] did at seeing his weird head
gear appear at the surface. AS he
ran to him. Craig's back was turned
to the others. and when realized the
reason stood aghast. He had brought
up a skull. and had handed the grew
some thing to me with a motion of
the descent and returned so success
fully must be a surprise to some one.
Kennedy lost no time in getting back
to the Belle Aventure with the skull.
which had concealed for him. In our
cabin Kennedy set to work Immediate
IL, after opening his travelling labora-
tory l saw that he wished to be left
alone and retired. determined to en-
1t seemed as If our arrival had been
succeeded by a growth of suspicion
among the little party. Each was now
ON HIS guard, and remembering that
Kennedy had OFTEN said that that was
der such circumstances that even the
cIeyerest could not help discriminating
himself Finally 1 went back to Ken
nedy.
what I am doing, Walter" he ex-
plained, might be called a new art.
Lately science has perfected the difficult
process of reconstructing faces OF hu-
man beings Of whom only the skull or
skilled observer feshless skull pre-
serits little human likeness, and cAftatnly
conveys no notion Of the exact appear