His voice was edged with sarcasm. “How do we know it never happened before? Our little human knowledge embraces a few thousand years out of the hundreds of millions of our globe’s life history. Indeed, we do know that the ocean level has never stayed the same. Perhaps, over æons of time, the oceans rise and fall--empty and refill like a shallow cove with its tides. And this is only the same thing done suddenly. An earthquake, early this year perhaps, at the bottom of one of our ocean basins, opened a rift to let the water down. Dr. Jaeger thinks it may possibly have been that--the seismographic records show three such disturbances last winter. Whatever it is, the fact is here upon us. The public is going to be told, to-morrow or the next day. The oceans are emptying of water! It may stop any day. Or it may go on--completely to empty them! It may take years--centuries. Or it may continue quickly, more quickly than ever, until all the ocean beds are dry!” He did not pause; he smiled his ironic smile. “The public will be thrilled! But not when they stop to think about it. The newscasters will picture the great new realm of land. Three times as much land as we already know. Geography suddenly expanded. A rolling desert of lowlands from New York to London! Mountains and valleys down there. Land, sloping down from the heights of New York--over the new desert regions we have called the North Atlantic, up again to the heights which were the British Isles. It will be so thrilling! What wonders may be exposed. Ah, but they won’t be so joyfully thrilled when the reality comes. “I heard last week a score of meteorologists give an opinion--and not one of them could agree on what it will do to us! What change to our rainfall? Our springs? Our fresh-water supply? Dr. Jaeger stood on the rostrum; and we asked him what might happen. At this present moment the pit of Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Haleakala--all of them out there--are throwing up steam instead of lava and rock. The volcanic disturbance seems greatest in the Pacific--Etna is quiet to-day. We asked Jaeger if that would continue. Or grow worse. Would there be devastating earthquakes? He answered us very simply. The words of a truly great man, Jeff. He said: ‘I do not know.’” There was a brief silence. Arturo had not moved; he still sat moodily staring over the moonlit, fallen ocean. Polly sat breathless, with parted lips, her eyes upon her father. Her hand touched his knee. “You do not mention the most serious thing of it all, father.” The questions had been trembling within me. The ships that disappeared; this thing we had seen in the ocean; this mermaid they said they had seen on a South Sea beach. * * * * *