After bidding the President farewell, Raphael, guided by the sea horse, returned toward the highlands which jutted up to form the island of the Sorcerer. It was very dark. Phosphorus glowed about them in the ocean so that they moved like comets through the night. They had been traveling for some time when a host of small mackerel darted by. ‘What’s the matter?’ asked the sea horse of one who paused a moment in his flight to look at them. ‘A huge silver whale chased us, a whale larger than any we had ever seen. It came out of those cliffs.’ And the mackerel turned and pointed with his tail. ‘Come on,’ said Raphael. ‘I don’t like this.’ Together the sea horse and the boy rushed westward. After a time they came to the cliffs themselves rising sheer and black. Here they stumbled over a wire cable which ran along the ocean floor, and stopped for a moment out of breath. ‘I’m afraid the Sorcerer may have gone,’ panted Raphael to his companion. The sea horse did not answer him, but stared intently into the gloom. At first Raphael could see nothing, but at last he made out the outline of a black doorway which gaped open in the cliff. ‘The door! The door!’ shouted Raphael. He swam closer and felt one of the edges with his hand. It was made out of metal. Again he tripped over the cable which led into the depths of the chasm. Raphael decided to follow it, and had started forward when the sea horse warned him. ‘Be careful. That water is poisonous and foul.’ Raphael hesitated. A raw stagnant odor hung about the mouth of the doorway which sickened him. ‘I shouldn’t go in there if I were you,’ warned the sea horse. ‘But,’ objected Raphael, ‘I must find Cassandra.’ The sea horse quivered. ‘Good-bye, then. I shall have to leave you here. I hope you won’t think me a coward, but I couldn’t live a minute in that water. Good luck.’ ‘So long!’ said Raphael. He had become very fond of the sea horse. ‘See you later, and thanks ever so much for showing me about.’ ‘See you later,’ echoed the sea horse sadly, and turned away. I shall never see him again, thought Raphael, and shut his eyes as he stepped within the door. It was cold and dead black inside. Raphael paddled blindly upward feeling choked and uncomfortable. Suddenly without warning his head popped above the surface, and he could look around. He was in an immense cave hewn out of the solid rock. At one end of it a cluster of brilliant yellow lights was reflected in the oily black water that licked at the foot of a great pier carved out of the rock wall. [Illustration: ‘I SHOULDN’T GO IN THERE IF I WERE YOU,’ WARNED THE SEA HORSE] Raphael swam rapidly to a flight of landing stairs which ran down into the water, and hauled himself out. Shivering he turned toward a few concrete steps which led from the pier up to the door in the rock wall. The black cable he had determined to follow also rose out of the water and disappeared through this door.