loak, his body from the neck down being enclosed in a tubular metal
container. The body must have been very small, and the legs amputated
at the hips, since the container was not large and terminated on the
seat of the peculiar wheel chair to which it seemed firmly attached.

Solino did not offer to introduce them to the man at the control
board, who, aside from a quick look, paid them no attention. He
ushered them ahead into another, though smaller cabin, and after
indicating certain arrangements made for their comfort, withdrew. From
the slight sway of the floor under their feet and the perceptible
vibration of the craft, the adventurers knew they were under way.

"Well, this is a rum affair and no mistake about it," said one of
them.

"A freak--a bloomin' freak," remarked another whose cockney accent
proclaimed the Englishman.

"Yuh're shore right," said a lean Texan. "That hombre out there had no
legs."

"Nor hands either."

Miles and Ward glanced at one another. The same thought was in both
minds. Neither of them had ever seen Mr. Solino's hands. A rum affair
all right!

* * * * *

Hours passed. Some of the men fell to gambling. At intervals they ate.
Twice they turned in and slept. Then, after what seemed an
interminable time, Solino summoned Miles and Ward to his presence in
the control room. "It is time," he said, "that you should know more of
the enterprise on which you have embarked. What I say, you can
communicate to the other men. A year's salary for all of you lies to
your credit at the Chase Bank of New York. And this money will not be
your sole reward if you survive and serve faithfully."

"Thank you, sir," said Ward; "but now that we are well on our way to
our destination, could you not tell us more about it? You have said
something of a city, a country. Where is that country?"

"Down," was the astounding answer.

"Down?" echoed both men.

"Yes," said Solino slowly, "down. The gateway to that land is at the
bottom of the ocean."

As the two men gaped at him, incredulous, an awful thing happened.
With an appalling roar and a rending of steel and iron, the submarine
halted abruptly in its headlong flight, reared upward at an acute
angle and then fell forward with a tremendous crash. The adventurers
were thrown violently against a steel bulkhead, and slumped down
unconscious....

* * * * *

How long they lay there insensible