In speechless dismay we watched that broad, greenish-gray torrent go swishing and gurgling past. But what was there that we could do? Nothing--except to stand and gape helplessly at that swift-flowing, swollen stream. Indeed, we seemed worse than merely helpless, for as I stood there with Aelios amid that horror-faced crowd, I became conscious--as during that other crisis years before--that I was arousing a singular repulsion. My neighbors were edging away from me visibly; some were pointing toward me, or uttering half-suppressed oaths; I thought I heard some one ruefully mumbling something about “That foreigner” and something else about “The cause of all our troubles.” I would quickly have withdrawn with Aelios from that hostile throng, had I not chanced to observe a slim, gray form approaching from far upstream. With the speed of the swiftest racing craft it drew near, and in a few minutes was recognizable as an intra-atomic boat, akin to the one I had boarded years before. Much to my relief, it came to a rapid halt, drew up at the dock, and let down its gangplank. And as the crowd forced its way on to the docks, Aelios and I was not slow in finding seats for ourselves for what was sure to prove an extremely exciting trip. And exciting it was--far more exciting than we could have desired. We had been under way only a few minutes when the aspect of the river began to change disquietingly. Except for the current, it lost the character of a river entirely, and took on the appearance of a long lake! On both sides the water spread in a smooth-flowing sheet two or three miles broad; and above the surface in places stared dumps and dusters of vegetation, with here and there a miniature island; while several temples and colonnades stood with marble bases buried in the water, like the palaces of some aquatic goddess.