To the lad’s excited imagination even the homely interior of the _Seal_ seemed to partake of the ghostly character of her surroundings. Every plate in the vessel he knew, every bolt had been adjusted under his own supervision, yet he found himself continually fancying that queer noises came from below. The eternal ticking of the saloon clock seemed to intensify the unnatural stillness. He craved for some noise--anything, he cared not what--as thirsty men crave for water, yet no sound came to him. At length, unable to bear the strain longer, he flung open the door, and stepped out on to the deck. For some time he paced to and fro, the ring of his boots upon the steel plates sounding cheerily in his ears. Then suddenly he paused in his stride, and glanced sharply astern. One hundred yards away a strange, rippling eddy appeared on the swell of the heaving water. Remembering that the attack of the octopus had been heralded in like fashion, Wilson bolted into the turret and closed the door. A moment later, with face pressed against the glass, he was watching eagerly for developments. “If it’s another squid,” he muttered, “I’m afraid he’s a trifle too late. That ripple gives the show away. By Jove! he’s keeping it up,” looking with surprise at the violently eddying water. Still the water boiled and hissed and foamed, racing round in an ever-increasing circle. Then, “Great Heaven!” burst from the lips of the engineer. “Ichthyosaurus!” Up in the midst of the eddy, with a rush and a swirl, appeared a monstrous reptile. Never before had the engineer seen aught to equal the thing; yet instinctively he knew what the creature was, recognised it in an instant as the great fish-lizard, that old inhabitant of the prehistoric seas. Full two hundred feet the reptile was in length, and its body was covered with great, overlapping, scaly plates. The gaping jaws revealed a double row of yellow fangs, and its monstrous eyes glowed like moons, as the brute fixed them curiously upon the motionless vessel. So for a few minutes it remained. Then, in a flash, its curiosity turned to furious rage as it noted an unfortunate movement of Wilson’s. But for that the creature might have departed as it had come, silently and peaceably. Its four mighty paddles churned the already racing water into a mass of froth as, snorting furiously, it swept down upon the _Seal._ Just for a moment the lad stood petrified. The suddenness of the thing, and, above all, the fearful size of the attacker held him spellbound. He realised only too well the need for instant action if the _Seal_ were to be saved, yet his trembling limbs refused to obey the prompting of his brain. But to him came the recollection of his friends’ dependence upon the vessel; if she were destroyed his absent comrades were lost! The thought gave him strength.