by intersecting beams, were narrowed and
straitened, embarrassing attempts at labor in them, which the cold,
slippery, serpent-like touch of the sea-water was not likely to make
pleasanter. It folded the shuddering body in its coils, and a most
ancient and fish-like smell did not improve the situation. The toil
was multiplied by the innumerable pigeon-holes, as if they fitted
into one another like a Chinese puzzle, with the unlucky diver in the
middle box. It was a nightmare of the sea, the furniture of a dream
solidified in woody fibre.

Into one of these crowding holes the diver crawled. There was the
tedious work of tearing off the casing to occupy an hour or more, and
when it was accomplished he endeavored to back out of his situation.
He was stopped fast and tight in his regression. The arrangement of
the armor about the head and shoulders, making a cone whose apex was
the helmet, prevented his exit. It was like the barb of a harpoon,
and caught him fast in the wood. Such a danger is not sudden in its
revelation. There is at first only a feeling of impatience at the
embarrassment, a disposition to "tear things." In vain attempts at
doubling and other gymnastic feats the diver wasted several hours,
until his companions above became alarmed at the delay. They renewed
and increased their labors at the force-pump, and the impetuous
torrent came surging about the diver's ears. It served to complete
his danger. It sprung the trap in which he lay enclosed. The inflated
armor swelled and filled up the crowded spaces. It stiffened out the
casing of the helmet to equal the burden of fifty pounds to the square
inch, and made it as hard as iron. He was caught like the gluttonous
fox. The bulky volume of included air made exit impossible. It was no
longer a labyrinth as before, where freedom of motion incited courage:
he was in the fetters of wind and water, bound fast to the floor of
his dungeon den. He signaled for the pump to stop. It was the only
alternative. He might die without that life-giving air, but he would
certainly die if its volume was not reduced. The cock at the back
of the helmet for discharging the vessel was out of his reach. The
invention never contemplated a case in which the diver would perish
from the presence of air.

As the armor worn was made tight at the sleeves with elastic
wristbands, his remedy was to insert his fingers under it, and slowly
and tediously allow the bubbling air to escape. In this