live and
breathing, they were--but breathing grotesquely, horribly. They made
awful noises at it; they panted, in quick, shallow sucks. Some lay on
the deck at his feet, outstretched without energy enough to attempt to
rise.

Beautiful and slumber-like the submarine had appeared from outside,
but inside that effect was lost. There were the usual appurtenances: a
maze of pipes, wheels, machinery, all silent now, and cold; here were
the two port-locks for torpoons; the emergency steering controls; the
small staterooms of the _Peary's_ officers. Looking forward, still
striving for complete clear-headedness and normality, Ken could see
the two intact forward compartments, silent and apparently lifeless,
with dim lamps burning. They ended with the watertight bulkhead which
stood between them and the flooded bow compartment.

Ken at last found words, but even his short query cost a sickening
effort.

"Where's--the commander?" he asked.

* * * * *

A man turned from where he had been leaning against a nearby wheel
control. He was stripped to the waist. His tall body was stooped, and
the skin of his ruggedly cut face drawn and parchment-like. His face
had once been dignified and authoritative, but now it was that of a
man who nears death after a long, bitter fight for life. The smile
which he gave to Ken was painful--a mockery.

"I am," he said faintly. "Sallorsen. Just wait, please. A minute. I
worked port-lock. Breath's gone...."

He sucked shallowly for air and let his smile go. And standing there,
beside him, gazing at the worn frame, Ken felt strength come back. He
had just entered; this man and the others had been here for weeks!

"I'm Sallorsen," the captain went on at last. All his words were
clipped off, to cost minimum effort. "Glad you got through. Afraid
you're come to prison, though."

"No!" Ken said emphatically. He spoke to the captain, but what he said
was also for all the others grouped around him. "No, Captain! I'm
Kenneth Torrance. Once torpooner with Alaska Whaling Company. They
thought me crazy--crazy--'cause I told about sealmen. Put me in
sanitarium. I knew they had you--when--heard you were missing." He
pointed at the brown-skinned creatures that clustered close around the
submarine outside her transparent walls. "I got free and came. Just in
time."

"In time? For what?"

Another voice gasped out the question. Ken turned to a
broad-shouldered man with a ragg