the valley.

"The Eye! The Eye!" screeched Parrish. "Down on the ground! Down!
Down!"

He dropped, and Jim caught Lucille and flung himself headlong with
her. To and fro overhead, but only a few feet above them, moved the
searchlight. Shrieks broke from the Drilgoes' throats as they
scattered through the jungle.

Everywhere that ray moved, trees and undergrowth simply disappeared. A
bunch of Drilgoes, caught by it, were obliterated in an instant. Great
gaps were left through the undergrowth as the ray passed.

It faded as quickly as it had come, and instantly old Parrish was on
his feet, dragging at his daughter.

"Now! Now!" he babbled, heading along one of the burned tracks through
the undergrowth.

Jim seized Lucille and the two raced in the wake of old Parrish.
Behind them they could hear the Drilgoes shouting, but a dense,
impenetrable darkness was already beginning to settle down over the
valley. They lost the track and went crashing through the ferns, on
and on until all was silence about them.

Suddenly Parrish went down like a log. He lay breathing heavily,
completely exhausted. When Jim spoke to him a feeble muttering was the
only answer. Jim and Lucille dropped to the ground exhausted beside
him.

CHAPTER V

_The Eye of Atlantis_

For perhaps half an hour the three lay there, hearing nothing. It
seemed to be night, for the darkness was impenetrable, save for the
lurid flashes of fire from the volcano. Parrish, who was slowly
recovering his strength, was mumbling incessantly. It was with
difficulty that Jim recalled him to a realization of his surroundings.

"Where is the city of Atlantis?" he asked him.

"Over there," mumbled Parrish. "Behind the volcano. Why do you ask
me?"

"I'm thinking of going there."

"Eh? Going there? You're mad. The Eye will see you, the Eye that can
see for a hundred miles. They'll turn the Ray on you. Nothing is too
small for the Eye. And they watch night and day."

"The Eye is off now."

"It's never off. The Eye is dark. It grows white only when they are
about to use the Ray. Perhaps the Eye is watching us now."

"Nevertheless," said Jim, "I think we would do well to try to enter
the city. We can't live here in the jungle at the mercy of these
Drilgoes."

"It is impossible to enter. All strangers are killed by the
Atlanteans."

"Dad," interposed Lucille, "I think we'd better do what Jim suggests.
One of us must decide."

"My idea is that you take us