[Illustration: Half a dozen of the queerest beings we had ever seen came crowding into our path ... from the blank amazed stares with which they greeted us, it was evident that our appearance was as much a surprise to them as theirs was to us. But from a certain sternness and resolution which invested their faces following the first speechless astonishment, we concluded that they had probably seen others of our kind, and were not disposed to treat us leniently.] * * * * * CHAPTER XIV The Upper World Club During the next few hours, Captain Gavison and the new-found members of his crew were all provided with the native garb and lodged in sumptuous quarters in various parts of the city. They looked peculiar indeed in their new costumes of light blue and green and yellow, and grumbled not a little at the change; but they confessed to their relief at having left the X-111; and not even the prospect of passing their remaining days in Atlantis sufficed to neutralize their joy. As nearly as I could determine, they had had an altogether wretched time during the past few weeks. A spirit of panic had grown among them, following the failure of Rawson and myself to return from our searching expedition, and neither by bribe nor by threat could any other member of the crew be induced to venture into that wilderness where we had disappeared. And so they had all remained anxiously in the vicinity of the disabled ship, drinking the distilled water of the Salty River and snatching what food they could from the land while exhausting their vessel’s reserve supplies. How long they could have held out it was impossible to say, but certainly they could not have held out long; madness had been overtaking them with the delay and the suspense; and, but for the timely arrival of the natives, bloody disaster might have ensued.