And then, while we all stood gaping at him like men with paralyzed minds, he continued, soothingly, “There is really nothing to be alarmed about. The water must have gotten into the electric power generators--that is all. In a few hours the lights will no doubt be shining again.” But his words did not carry conviction. In his voice was a note of concern that he could not wholly exclude; and as we glanced nervously into the gloom--a gloom that was all-enveloping except for our flashlights and an occasional firefly flicker in the far distance--we could not believe that the golden luminaries would soon beam upon us again. It was a solemn procession that started splashing once more toward the river bank. Guided by the sallow illumination of the flashlights, we could barely find our course; and step by step, with laborious slowness, we plodded through the unrelenting flood. None of us could find the heart to utter a word; and from time to time, among my shadowy attendants, I caught glimpses of lips rigidly compressed and faces firmly set, as among men who go forth to meet the Ultimate. All the while Aelios was at my side, hovering close as if for shelter; and when I could I helped her over the more difficult places, though she too was speechless, like one whose thoughts are too appalling for expression. Then, for an instant, hope came flashing back. A sudden radiance burst upon us from above; the great luminaries were once more touched with light, which fitfully expanded from a pale red glow almost to the normal golden--and then fitfully died out into utter gloom. And our cries of rejoicing were frozen on our lips, and the darkness that ensued seemed more intense than ever. And once more there was only the silence, the wavering flashlights and the whirling floods. Groping and floundering and sometimes sinking almost up to the hips in water, we at last found ourselves near the rope that marked the river’s verge. And by turning upstream toward a dim but steady yellow light, we managed to locate the docks and the submarine, which we recognized by the radiance filtering through the portholes.