Down and down they went, the pressure on the diving bell becoming each second more powerful. At such a depth no human being could have lived without something to protect him from a weight which was ever ready to crush anything from the outside world. At last the diving bell rested on the bottom of the ocean, and Amos Fearless sent up the signal to stop lowering. Then father and son inspected the ocean's bottom with much curiosity. Here were numerous fish of curious shapes, but none of large size. There were also sea crabs, with sharp claws and protruding reddish eyes. But no sign of the Eurypharynx Pelecanoides, the wonderful fish of which they had been sent in search. "It seems to be safe enough," said Dave to his father, in the sign language of divers. "Let us go outside and look around." "But not too far away from the diving bell," answered the master diver. "The pressure may make us sick, and then we'll have to get inside again as quickly as possible." Soon they were ready, and with a fresh supply of air in their helmets, they stepped out upon the slimy, black surface of the ocean's bottom. At sight of them the small fish thrashed around wildly, and the sea crabs scampered in all directions. With caution they moved away from the bell to where the bottom appeared to slope downward. Here there was a large hole, and they wondered what might be at its bottom. Dave was well in advance, when of a sudden a strange sensation brought him to a halt and made him glance to his left. A shriek of terror burst from his lips. The dreadful Eurypharynx Pelecanoides had appeared, and was making swiftly towards him. The terrific mouth of the monster was wide open, as if to swallow him alive! [Illustration: "THE TERRIFIC MOUTH OF THE MONSTER WAS WIDE OPEN."] CHAPTER V FROM ONE DANGER INTO ANOTHER "I am lost!" Such was the agonizing thought which crossed Dave Fearless' mind when he beheld himself confronted by the fish known as the Eurypharynx Pelecanoides, commonly called the Sea Devil of the Ocean's Bottom. The monster was all of twenty feet long, with a head closely resembling a black rubber balloon. Its eyes shone like two electric-light globes, while its mouth opened and shut with a strange, clicking sensation which went through the young diver like the piercing of a needle. Dave's thought was to retreat to the diving bell, but this seemed impossible, for the monstrous fish was only a few yards off and approaching rapidly. It looked as if in another moment all would be over and he would be swallowed alive, like Jonah of old.