How any of us chanced to survive is more than I can say. In the turbulence and vertigo of that last blind roaring moment, I had vaguely felt that we had reached the end of all things; hence it was almost with surprise that I found myself hazily regaining consciousness, and discovered that I could still move my limbs and open my eyes. At first, indeed, I had the dim sense that I was dead and embarking upon the Afterlife; and it was only the definite sensation of pain in my bruised arms and legs, and the definite sight of my comrades tumbled about in ungainly attitudes, which convinced me that I was still on the better known side of the grave. “Sure, and I thought we went through the very gates of Hell!” came a familiar voice; and Stranahan rose unsteadily to his feet, lugubriously nursing a sprained wrist. “By all the saints in heaven, we must be a devilish lot! The devil himself didn’t seem able to get us!” Cheered by sound of a human voice, I followed Stranahan’s example, and slowly and painfully arose. I was thankful to learn that, although badly battered, I had suffered no broken bones; and as my comrades one by one staggered up from the deck, I was glad to observe that none were gravely injured. Our vessel had assumed a horizontal position again, but I felt that our surroundings were strangely altered. While a pale luminescence seemed to transfuse the waters on both sides and above us, yet below us the golden lights were no longer visible, and everything seemed impenetrably black. Of course, the Captain again ordered the searchlights turned on--and this time with extraordinary results. Just beneath us, actually in contact with the bottom of the X-111, a flat, sandy reach of ground was visible--certainly, the bottom of the sea! But this fact was the least remarkable of all. On both sides of us, at distances possibly of two hundred yards, a high and geometrically regular embankment shot up precipitously, ending in a yellow illuminated patch of water whose nature we could scarcely surmise. The one thing apparent was that we were in a submarine channel, a sort of river bed in the bottom of the sea. This fact was made evident by a current which sent us skimming along the soft sands although our engines had long since ceased to supply us with power. “I can’t understand it!” sighed Captain Gavison, shaking his head dolefully. “I can’t understand it at all! For twenty-five years I’ve studied the ocean currents, but I’ve never before heard of anything like this!” Just at this point our searchlights showed us a long, lithe dark form gliding rapidly by through the waters perhaps fifty feet above. It was as large as the largest known shark, but was shaped like no fish I had ever seen, tapering to a slender, canoe-like point at both ends; and, as it passed, the water seemed to foam and bubble strangely in its wake. “Perdition take me, if it ain’t a sea dragon!” ventured Stranahan, who had to have his say.