Ken turned down in time to see the death of the man first attacked.
His suit was ripped clean across, his air of life went up in bubbles,
and the water came in. The seal-creature lunged at its falling victim
a last time, and as it did so its smooth brown body crossed Ken's
sights. The torpooner fired, and saw his shell strike home, for the
body shuddered, convulsed, and the sealman, internally torn, went
sinking in a dark cloud after the human it had slain.

That sight gave pause to the other two creatures that had arrived, and
gave Ken Torrance a good second chance. Motor throbbing, the torpoon
turned like a thing alive. Its snout and gun-sights swerving straight
toward the next target. But, when just on the point of pressing the
trigger, Ken's torpoon was struck a terrific blow and tumbled over and
over. The whole external scene blurred to him, and only after a moment
was he able to bring the torpoon back to an even keel.

He saw what had happened. While he had been sighting on the second
seal-creature, the third had attacked the torpoon from the rear by
striking it with all the strength of its heavy, muscular body. But it
did not follow up its attack. For it had crashed in to the whirling
propeller, and now it was hanging well back, its head horribly gashed
by the steel blades.

For a moment the three combatants hung still, both sealmen staring at
the torpoon as if in wonder that it could strike both with its bow and
stern, and Ken Torrance rapidly glancing over the situation. The
remaining two of the last group of three men, he saw, had reached the
top, and the foremost of the _Peary's_ crew were within several feet
of the new hole in the ice. In a very short time all would be out and
safe. Until then he had to hold off the two sealmen.

Two? There were no longer only two, but five--ten--a dozen--and more.
The dead were coming to life!

Here and there in the various levels of drifting, motionless brown
bodies that he thought the explosion had killed, one was stirring,
awakening! The explosion had but stunned many or most of them, _and
now they were returning to consciousness_!

CHAPTER VIII

_The Duel_

Upon seeing this, all hope for life left Ken. He had only six shells
left, and at best he could kill only six sealmen. Already, there were
more than twenty about him, completely encircling the torpoon. They
seemed afraid of it, and yet desirous of finishing it--they hung back,
watching warily the th