he reply. "No one for a moment
can deny the greatness of the finding of America, and Columbus and the
other early navigators are sure of immortal fame, but even so, what was
the New World they found to the illimitable areas of unknown life, in
the bottom of the sea, that have been made known to man. Think of the
wonder that has been revealed by the _Challenger_ and other ships that
have explored the ocean beds!"

"There is still a great deal unknown, isn't there?"

"Still an unknown universe! Lurking in the utter darkness of the
scarce-fathomed deeps of the ocean, what Kraken may not lie, coil on
coil; what strange black, slimy, large-eyed forms do their stealthy
hunting in perpetual night by the light of phosphorescent lamps they
bear upon their bodies? Many of these there are, every year teaches of
new species. The land--oh! the land is all well known, even the Arctic
and Antarctic regions no longer hide their secrets, but the ocean is
inscrutable. Smiling or in anger, she baffles us and her inmost shrines
are still inviolate."

The professor checked himself suddenly, as though conscious of having
been carried away by enthusiasm.

"We'll try and get at some of the secrets to-morrow," he said, "but it
will mean early rising, as the trap is to be hauled at slack water."

Acting on the hint, Colin bade his host good-night, but his sleep was
fitful and restless. The sudden passionate speech of the grave scholar
had been a revelation to the boy, and whereas he had felt a desire for
the Fisheries Bureau before, he knew now that it had been largely with
the sense of novelty and adventure. But the professor's words had given
him a new light, and he saw what an ideal might be. He felt like a
knight of the olden time, who, watching his armor the vigil before the
conferring of knighthood, had been granted a vision of all his service
might mean. He knew that night that the question he was to ask his
father could have but the one answer, that the great decision of his
life was made, his work was cut out to do.

Shortly after daybreak the next morning, Colin was called and he dressed
hurriedly. After a hearty breakfast in which steel-head trout figured
largely, he went down to the pier on the water and was not sorry to have
the chance of showing his host that he was a good canoeist.

"How large is the work of the Bureau now, Professor?" asked Colin, as
the light craft shot down the magnificent stretches of the Columbia
Rive