Then, turning on the searchlight in his helmet, Andy beheld a terrible sight. The whale had been attacked by a gigantic swordfish at the moment the hunter had fired the shot, and it was that, and not the electric bullet, that had stopped the infuriated animal's rush at the ship. Ancient enemies, the whale and swordfish, had met in mortal combat. The swordfish had engaged the whale just as it was about to strike what would probably have been a blow that would have disabled the submarine, for with the door of the diving chamber open, the onslaught might not have been withstood. Rushing here and there, the whale seeking to destroy his enemy with a sweep of the enormous flukes, and the swordfish plunging his bony weapon again and again into the whale, the two monsters fought until the water about the ship was a mass of foam and blood. Much as he wanted to see the end of the fight, Andy knew it was dangerous to remain longer with the door open. He closed it, pressed the lever which started the pumps, forcing the water from the chamber and, in a few minutes, emerged into the interior of the ship. Mr. Henderson, realizing that something out of the ordinary was going on, had opened the slides of the bull's-eye windows, and those in the submarine saw part of the fight between the whale and swordfish. As soon as Andy had removed his diving suit he advised that the ship be sent to the surface, as there might be danger should the monsters get too close in their struggles. Accordingly the pumps, which had been stopped when it was found impossible to raise the ship, because of the weight of the whale, were started and the _Porpoise_ was soon on the surface. The manhole cover was opened and Andy, with Jack and Mark, went out on deck. They had no sooner stepped out on the platform than there was a commotion in the water. "They're going to fight up here!" exclaimed Mark. A big body shot upward and fell back with a splash, rocking the submarine. "There's the whale," observed Andy. "But I reckon he won't fight any more. He's dead." It was so. The swordfish had conquered, and the lifeless body of the whale floated on top of the water, only to sink a little later. "It was a great battle," said Jack. "I'm glad I was inside the ship." The course was due south, and every minute it seemed to the boys that it was getting warmer, for they were approaching the equator. Every hour brought them nearer the south pole, though they were still several thousand miles from it. After a while quite a wind sprang up, and as the sea roughened the professor decided to go down under the surface. The _Porpoise_ sunk as the tanks filled and, in a little while, the submarine was in calm water, and was forging ahead at three-quarter speed. It was three days after the adventure with the whale when, as the ship was going along at a good rate, that there seemed to be a gradual slacking in the progress.