ion of the
water, then a terrible, rattling roar of sound. The social inferior
slipped from his mouth, and with his crowding neighbors was washed far
away, while he felt himself slipping along, bounding and rebounding
against the projections of a corrugated wall which showed white in the
gloom. There was an unpleasant taste to the water, and he became aware
of creatures in his vicinity unlike any he had known,--quickly darting
little monsters about a tenth as large as himself,--thousands of them,
black and horrid to see, each with short, fish-like body and square
head like that of a dog; with wicked mouth that opened and shut
nervously; with hooked flippers on the middle part, and a bunch of
tentacles on the fore that spread out ahead and around. A dozen of them
surrounded him menacingly; but he was young and strong, much larger
than they, and a little frightened. A blow of his tail killed two, and
the rest drew off.

The current bore them on until the white wall rounded off and was lost
to sight beyond the mass of darting creatures. Here was slack water,
and with desperate effort he swam back, pushing the small enemies out
of his path, meeting some resistance and receiving a few bites, until,
in a hollow in the wall, he found temporary refuge and time to think.
But he could not solve the problem. He had not the slightest idea where
he was or what had happened--who and what were the strange black
creatures, or why they had threatened him.

His thoughts were interrupted. Another vibrant roar sounded, and there
was pitch-black darkness; then he was pushed and washed away from his
shelter, jostled, bumped, and squeezed, until he found himself in a
dimly lighted tunnel, which, crowded as it was with swimmers, was
narrow enough to enable him to see both sides at once. The walls were
dark brown and blue, broken up everywhere into depressions or caves,
some of them so deep as to be almost like blind tunnels. The dog-faced
creatures were there--as far as he could see; but besides them, now,
were others, of stranger shape--of species unknown to him.

A slow current carried them on, and soon they entered a larger tunnel.
He swam to the opposite wall, gripped a projection, and watched in
wonder and awe the procession gliding by. He soon noticed the source of
the dim light. A small creature with barrel-like body and innumerable
legs or tentacles, wavering and reaching, floated past. Its body
swelled and shrank alternately, with