fatal to him!

And then the heavy circular door above him began slowly to revolve.

This was terrible! In a moment the crushing pressures of the depths
would come seeping in. Rising unsteadily upon his knees, the young man
tried with his fingers to resist the rotation of the door; but it
continued to turn.

Yet no pressure could be felt. The door became completely unscrewed.
It was pried up, and slid off the top of the bathysphere, to crash
upon the floor outside. Inquisitive bearded faces peered down through
the hole.

Young Abbot slumped to the cold bottom of the sphere and stared back
at them. He was saved; incredibly saved! These were real people, the
air was real air and he must therefore be on the surface of the earth,
instead of at the bottom of the Pacific as he had imagined! With a
sigh of relief, he fainted....

* * * * *

When he came to his senses again, he was lying in a bed in a small
room. Bending over him was the sweetest feminine face that he had ever
seen.

The girl seemed to be about twenty years of age. She was clad in a
clinging robe of some filmy green substance. Her hair was honey-brown,
short and curly, and her forehead high and intelligent. Her eyes, an
indescribable shade of deep violet, were matchlessly set off by her
ivory skin.

The young man smiled up at her, and she smiled back. Thus far it had
not occurred to him to wonder where he was, or why. No recollection of
his recent strange adventures came to him. To him this was an exotic
dream, from which he did not care to awake.

She spoke. Her words were unintelligible, and unlike any language
which George Abbot knew or had even heard; and he was an accomplished
linguist in addition to his other attainments.

And her words were not all that was strange about her speech, for the
very tones of her voice sounded completely unhuman, although not
displeasing. Her talk had a metallic ring to it, like the brassy blare
of temple gongs, and yet was so smooth and subdued as to be sweeter
than any sound that the young scientist had ever heard before.

"Beautiful dream fairy," replied the enraptured young man, "I haven't
the slightest idea what you are saying, but keep right on. I like it."

His own voice sounded crass and crude compared to hers. At his first
words she gave a start of surprise, but thereafter the sound did not
appear to grate on her ears.

* * * * *

Then on