rust the knife into one of the saucer-shaped eyes, and then of a
sudden his senses left him.

When Andy came to his senses he found himself lying on the ocean bed
just outside the cave. About him stood the professor, Washington, Tom
and Bill. His head buzzed and he felt weak, but he knew he was
uninjured, and that his diving suit had not been punctured in the fight
with the octupus, for he could feel the fresh air entering from the tank
at the back of his helmet.

Were the boys killed, Andy wondered. Had his fight to save them been in
vain? He managed to stand up, and then, to his relief he saw Mark and
Jack standing behind Tom and Bill. The boys seemed weak but otherwise
uninjured.

The professor motioned to know if Andy could walk and the old hunter
soon demonstrated that he could by stepping forward. Then the party
proceeded slowly to the ship.

Little time was lost by each one in divesting himself of his diving suit
as soon as they had left the water chamber. The first thing Andy asked
when his helmet was off, was:

"Did I kill the beast?"

"Indeed you did," replied the professor. "And just in time, too. You
were about done for when we came back with the guns, but they were not
needed. My! But you must have had a terrible fight!"

"I did, while it lasted," said the hunter. "But were the boys hurt?"

"They can speak for themselves," replied Mr. Henderson. "I guess not,
though."

"Having the wind almost squeezed out of us was the worst that happened,"
said Mark. "The octupus must have recently dined when it grabbed us, for
it didn't offer to eat us. And it didn't grip us as tightly as it might
have or I reckon we wouldn't have come out alive. I thought sure we were
going to be killed, however."

"So did I," put in Jack.

"I don't want any more such fights this trip," said Andy with a weak
smile.

CHAPTER XXVIII

OUT OF THE ICE

Worn out with their encounter with the octupus, Andy and the boys were
glad to take to their bunks. The others, too, who were weary from
traveling under water, felt the need of rest, and so it was decided to
let the ship remain stationary down on the bottom of the ocean for
several hours before going on further.

"When we get rested up we'll have a good meal, and then try to gain the
surface of the ocean," said the professor.

There was quiet on board the _Porpoise_ for a long time. Washington was
the first to awake and he at once set about getting a meal. When it