"When the black streak leaves the nose of the plane, after it has submerged, Professor Maniel," said Kleig softly, "slow your mechanism so that we can see the whole thing in detail." There came a grunted affirmative from Professor Maniel. The nose of the pictured plane tilted over, diving down for the surface of the sea. "Now!" snapped Kleig. "Don't wait!" Instantly the moving pictures on the screen reduced their speed, and the plane appeared to stop its sudden seaward plunge and to drop down as lightly as a feather. The wings of the thing moved forward slowly, folding into the body of the dropping plane. "They fold forward," said Kleig quietly, "so that the speed of the plane in the take-off will snap them _backward_ into position for flying!" * * * * * No one spoke, because the explanation was so obvious. Slowly the airplane went down to the surface of the sea, with scarcely a plume of spindrift leaping back after she had struck. She dropped to ten feet below the surface of the water, a hundred yards off the starboard beam of the _Stellar_, her blunt nose pointing squarely at the side of the doomed liner. "Now," said Kleig hoarsely, "watch closely, for God's sake!" The liner rose and fell slowly. Out of the nose of the plane, which had now become a tiny submarine, started a narrow tube of black, oddly like the sepia of a giant squid. Straight toward the side of the liner it went. Above the rail the Secret Agents could see the pictured form of Prester Kleig, hand upraised. The black streak reached the side of the _Stellar_. It touched the metal plates, spreading upon impact, growing, enlarging, to right and left, upward and downward, and where it touched the _Stellar_ the black of it seemed to erase that portion of the ship. In the slow motion every detail was apparent. At regular speed the blotting out of the _Stellar_ would have been instantaneous. Kleig saw himself rise slowly from the vanished rail, turning over and over, going down to the sea. He almost closed his eyes, bit his lips to keep back the cries of terror when he saw the others aboard the liner rise, turn over and over, and fly in all directions like jackstraws in a high wind. * * * * * The ship was erased from beneath passengers and crew, and passengers and crew fell into the sea. Out of the depths, from all directions, came the starving denizens of the sea--starving because liners now were so few. "That's enough of that, Professor," snapped Kleig. "Now jump ahead approximately eight hours, and see if you can pick up that aero-sub after it dropped me on the Jersey Coast." The picture faded out quickly, the screaming of doomed human beings, already hours dead, called back to apparent living by the genius of Maniel died away, and for a space the screen was blank.