dio was silent.

And then, in the octopi submarine, had come a soft glow of violet....

Was it a more deadly weapon than the paralyzing ray? In great suspense
the prisoner waited. Silence--silence! Horrible doubts beset his mind.
Was Keith refraining from firing his torpedoes because he, Bowman, was
on board the enemy boat? The thought stung him. He tried desperately
again to reach Wells; but there was no answer. Were the Americans
dead?

Age-long minutes passed. Then the exit port opened and several
metal-clad octopi swam out. Hemmy had a glimpse of the _NX-1_ lying
silent and apparently lifeless on the sea-floor, a gaping hole in her
bow!

As if to taunt him with the sight, the creatures left the round door
open, and presently Bowman beheld the octopi open the _NX-1's_
starboard exit port and enter. Later the port swung open again, and he
saw the monsters emerge, each gripping several men clad in yellow
sea-suits! That they were dead, or victims of the ray, was obvious
from the way they limply dangled.

The exit port closed, and darkness filled the octopi ship. Hemmy
Bowman panted with the futile effort to break his bonds.

"You devils!" he yelled in blind rage, exhausted. "Why don't you take
me with them? Take me! Take me, damn your stinking hides!"

* * * * *

When Keith Wells was taken from the silent _NX-1_, a host of
astounding impressions swarmed his brain. Swinging lightly at the end
of his captor's tentacle, he strove as best he could, with eyes
rigidly fixed straight ahead, to grasp his new surroundings. He had,
first, one flash of the octopi ship lying quite close to them, its
hulk, as always, immobile and apparently lifeless. And inside it, he
was sure, was his friend and first officer, Hemmy Bowman--a captive.

He saw that the octopi submarine had towed the _NX-1_ into one of the
weird mound cities. His own ship was lying in what seemed a kind of
public square, and crowds of black octopi were swarming around it as
he and his crew were brought out. Shooting straight off the square ran
one of the wide streets he had previously seen from above, and on each
side the brown mound-buildings rose. Their details were hazy, because
of the cuttlefish inhabitants who swam thickly in front of them.

His captors started their march down this broad street. Great crowds
of reddish-colored octopi clustered on each side of it; other swarms
hung almost motionless--except for their c