e; but the fall proved to
be his salvation. As he struggled feebly and vainly to gain his feet, he
could see that everything was gone crimson around him. Through the
bloodstained waters lashed the whiplike tail of the Pirate Shark,
beating with terrific force against the wreck; the fish, blinded by its
own lifeblood, was trying to find its enemy, and a single stroke from
that tail would have finished Mart forever.

He lay quiet, huddled against the wreck, but now there was little fear
of the Pirate Shark in his heart. Whatever the results of that final
blow had been, nothing now mattered except the terrible pains that had
come upon him. The air in his helmet seemed to poison him, his throat
and lungs were on fire, and he knew that he was bleeding at the nose.

"By golly, this is awful!" he muttered thickly.

He determined not to give up without a last struggle, however. He still
had his sheath knife, and he could cut away his weights and shoot up.
Though it would be dangerous, both because of the pressure and because
of the Pirate Shark, he spent no more thought on it but drew his knife
and tried to rise.

This was no easy matter, so evenly was his weight adjusted, but he
finally managed to get up, leaning weakly against the side of the wreck.
His head was buzzing madly, and it was difficult for him to see anything
because of the cloud of blood and stirred-up slime that filled the
water.

He could see nothing of the Pirate Shark, but that did not matter now.
Managing to get out his knife, he tried to stoop over and cut away his
shoes. To his terror, he lost balance again and fell weakly forward,
unable to stop himself. He was gasping and fighting for breath now, but
there was no good air for him to breathe. He felt dimly that he was
gone.

He had no strength; still he fought up to his feet once more, savagely
determined not to give in to the suffocation, trying vainly to rid
himself of the helmet. But he had dropped his knife, and dared not stoop
for it for fear he could not regain his balance.

Suddenly something flickered across the glass window, and he gasped out
a broken laugh, thinking it a snake. Snakes would trouble him little,
after battling with the Pirate Shark! But was it a snake? It stayed
unaccountably still; then it began to jerk forward and back most
strangely, switching against the glass before his eyes. He put out his
hand and touched it--rough hemp! Then he saw that a piece of metal was
fasten