through the skylight, and that was not much; he
therefore switched on his electric lamps and looked about him. He found
himself standing upon the after bulkhead of the apartment, with his feet
on a door which apparently gave access to one of the stern cabins; and
stepping aside sufficiently for the purpose, he was in the act of
stooping to unfasten the door, when he suddenly found himself enveloped
by a number of long, strong, pliant, embracing arms, and violently
snatched off his feet! His surprise was so great that for the moment he
could not imagine what had happened to him; he knew only that his arms
and legs were so tightly pinioned that, despite his utmost exertions, he
found it absolutely impossible to move. But knowledge came to him the
next moment--the knowledge that he was in the embrace of an enormous
octopus! And as he realised this fact, he heard the horrid rasping of
the fierce creature's powerful mandibles upon his helmet.

The sound sent a thrill of horror through him, for the thought flashed
through his mind, "If the brute should pierce my helmet, I shall be
drowned like a rat in a trap!" But a moment later he became reassured,
as he remembered the extraordinary strength and toughness of the
aethereum of which not only his helmet but his whole suit of armour was
composed; and with the revulsion of feeling, he laughed aloud at the
amusing character of the situation--for it _was_ amusing to him to think
of the creature's disappointment at its utter inability to pierce his
shell and get at him.

But, stay--was the situation really so very amusing after all? For now
Mildmay began to realise that the octopus was steadily working its way
backward and upward through a big breach in the fore bulkhead of the
cabin, carrying him with it; and presently he found himself outside the
cabin altogether, and in the open space at the bottom of the companion
ladder. But the creature did not pause here. Still working its way
upward, it dragged Mildmay along a wide alley-way between the ship's
side and the casing of the companion-way until it reached the bulkhead
between this space and the main hold. The straining of the ship, which
had eventually resulted in her breaking in two, had also rent this
bulkhead apart, leaving an aperture some ten feet wide, and through this
in turn the octopus gradually worked its way, until it had passed into
what--before the ship broke in two--had been the main hold. And now
Mildma