ut off short and in an old shirt, he took his place on the reservoir
wall just above the spot where the lifeline disappeared in the water.

It was going to be a deep dive, and Joe knew it. And now, if ever, was
the time for him to break the record in holding his breath. For he
might be able to free the diver in a few seconds, or it might take
minutes.

Joe inflated and deflated his lungs several times. The crowd watched
him as if fascinated. Helen caught Joe's glance and nodded
encouragingly to him, but there was a look of anxiety on her face.

"If Joe should be caught as the diver is," she thought for a flash. And
then she dismissed the dreadful idea, for she dared not dwell on it.

"Well, I'm ready," said Joe, after a pause.

"May you succeed!" whispered Mr. Blair.

Joe took in a long breath--the longest, he felt, he had ever taken.
Then he made his deep dive.

CHAPTER XXIII

BROUGHT TO LIFE

Down through the limpid depths of the great reservoir of water went Joe
Strong. He was swimming toward the bottom as fast as he could go, for
he wanted to get there quickly and begin the work of rescue, and he
knew every second counted.

He had his eyes open, of course, and he was glad the sun was shining
brightly overhead, so he could have light to work by. In forty feet of
water not much sunlight penetrates, even on a bright day, but Joe had
been told that the diver had a small electric light with him, and this,
perhaps, would still be glowing. The current was turned on, that Joe
knew, but the lamp might have been broken in the accident that had
happened.

Down, down, down went the young diver--a veritable "boy fish" now if
ever there was such a thing. Joe had a glimpse of the air hose, like
some long, thin water snake, beside him. It went down into the depths,
as did the life-line and the thicker hoisting rope.

"And where they end--there's the diver," reasoned Joe. He used the air
hose as a guide and swam as near to it as he could. In a few seconds he
found himself nearing the bottom of the reservoir. It was of natural
formation, for the dam had been built across a narrow valley, and when
the water came in, it covered from view the site of a small forest,
much of which had been cleared away, leaving only stumps and rocks.

Suddenly, before Joe's eyes, loomed a strange shape. It was almost like
that of some deep-sea monster, with great, round, staring, glassy eyes,
and as Joe turned a somersault and lan