Guided by the bubbles the sub dived. Eight powerful strokes he made ere he perceived Captain Restronguet’s form slowly settling towards the bottom of the sea. Four more and his left hand grasped the unconscious man by his collar. Striking out with his right, and his unimpeded legs, Hythe rose towards the surface. He had been almost winded by his plunge overboard, and had had no opportunity to recover his breath. His lungs felt as if they were on the point of bursting; his temples throbbed. It seemed ages before his head appeared above the surface, and he was able to take a deep draught of the sultry air. Turning on his back he kept himself afloat, at the same time supporting the unconscious captain. The "Aphrodite" had already lost way and was going astern; in a few minutes a dark, triangular object cleaving the leaden-coloured water attracted the sub’s attention. His whole senses momentarily deserted him. He realized that a shark was approaching. His first instinct was to abandon the unconscious man and strike out madly towards the submarine; but in a moment the temptation passed. Lashing out with his legs Hythe churned up a column of water. The shark stopped, wheeled and retreated a few yards. Another of these dreaded fish came up, and the pair, regaining confidence, began to approach, swarming towards the two men in ever-narrowing circles. Hythe could hear the monsters snapping their triple lines of teeth in anticipation of a meal. He kicked the more, shouting at the top of his voice in the hope that the sharks would delay close investigation until it was too late for them to consummate their intentions. The sub had heard tales of how native divers in the Pacific, knife in hand, boldly attacked the tigers of the deep. The recollection gave him but cold comfort. True he had a knife, but he lacked the marvellous aquatic agility of the Japanese and South Sea Islanders. Moreover, directly he released his hold his unfortunate captain would sink. He vaguely argued that it was but another instance of where theory does not always go hand in hand with practice. With a sudden rush one of the sharks dashed straight towards the horrified man. The brute turned on its back in order to deliver a terrific bite. Then, apparently seized with a sudden panic, it brought its huge jaws together with a sickening snap and darted off. It was a narrow shave; so narrow that on turning the shark had rasped Hythe’s hand with his rough skin. Finding that nothing happened to hurt it, the shark returned to the charge; as it turned on its back the sub could see right into his capacious mouth. He gazed horror-stricken, too terrified even to kick out or utter a sound. Even as he looked the brute’s head was literally shattered, dyeing the water with blood, while the sharp report of a rifle rang in Hythe’s ears.