ome on in and we'll mix
highballs with the story."

Locked arm in arm, we entered the house together, and settled
ourselves in the huge living room.

Mercer, I could see at a glance, was thinner and browner than when we
had parted, but otherwise, he was the same lithe, soft-mannered little
scientist I had known for years; dark-eyed, with an almost beautiful
mouth, outlined by a slim, closely cropped and very black moustache.

"Well, here's to our lady from the sea," proposed Mercer, when Carson,
his man, had brought the drinks and departed. I nodded, and we both
sipped our highballs.

"Briefly," said my friend, "this is the story. You and I know that
somewhere beneath the Atlantic there are a people who went back to
whence they came. We have seen one of those people. I propose that,
since they cannot come to us, we go to them. I have made preparations
to go to them, and I wanted you to have the opportunity of going with
me, if you wish."

"But how, Mercer? And what--"

* * * * *

He interrupted with a quick, nervous gesture.

"I'll show you, presently. I believe it can be done. It will be a
dangerous adventure, though; I was not joking when I advised you to
make your will. An uncertain venture, too. But, I believe, most
wonderfully worth while." His eyes were shining now with all the
enthusiasm of the scientist, the dreamer.

"It sounds mighty appealing," I said. "But how...."

"Finish your drink and I'll show you."

I downed what was left of my highball in two mighty gulps.

"Lead me to it, Mercer!"

He smiled his quiet smile and led the way to what had been the
billiard room of "The Billows," but which was the laboratory of "The
Monstrosity." The first thing my eyes fell upon were two gleaming
metal objects suspended from chains let into the ceiling.

"Diving suits," explained Mercer. "Rather different from anything
you've ever seen."

They were different. The body was a perfect globe, as was the
head-piece. The legs were cylindrical, jointed at knee and thigh with
huge discs. The feet were solid metal, curved rocker-like on the
bottom, and at the ends of the arms were three hooked talons, the
concave sides of two talons facing the concave side of the third. The
arms were hinged at the elbow just as the legs were hinged, but there
was a huge ball-and-socket joint at the shoulder.

* * * * *

"But Mercer!" I protested. "No human being