keel
downwards, in a perfectly upright position, having apparently recovered
herself whilst settling down. She was greatly damaged, both in hull and
rigging; the spar-deck and forecastle being swept away, and her main
deck blown up in midships, very possibly through the explosion of her
boilers. Her bowsprit and mizzen-mast were gone, as was also her fore
topmast; and the mainmast, with topmast and all attached, was leaning
aft, and so far over the side that the observers would not have been
surprised to see it fall at any moment. Loose ropes were trailing in
all directions; and the tattered remains of sails still hung from some
of the yards and stays, swaying occasionally in a slow, weird, ghostly
manner, with the mysterious intermittent under-currents of the sea.

The trio were still discussing the particulars of the sad disaster,
which, on a stormy September night, had resulted in the drowning of
nearly five hundred people, and the plunging of the ship herself to the
depths wherein they had so strangely found her, when the figure of the
professor, clad in his suit of diving armour and dwindled in apparent
dimensions by his great distance below them, was seen to emerge from the
black shadow of the _Flying Fish's_ hull and make his way slowly and
laboriously over the rocky bottom toward the wreck. A couple of minutes
sufficed him to perform the short journey; and; scrambling up the side
by the aid of some of the dangling gear, he entered the poop cabin and
disappeared.

The party in the pilot-house finished their chat; and then sauntered
down into the music saloon, of which they had seen nothing since the
night of their departure from London--actually only two nights before,
but they had since then been so satiated with novel sights and
experiences that it really seemed as though at least a month had elapsed
since they last passed the threshold. Here they beguiled the time so
effectually with music, vocal and instrumental, that it was not until
George appeared announcing dinner that it occurred to either of them
that the professor had been out of the ship nearly three hours.

"Where can the man be? Surely some accident must have befallen him!"
exclaimed the baronet, starting up in alarm.

"Not necessarily," replied the colonel. "The professor is pretty well
able to take care of himself. It is much more probable that he has
discovered some object of exceptional interest on board the wreck, or
has fallen int