here is Mont?"

"Unhappily," said the captain, "we could find no trace of him."

"Why did I let him go last? I ought to have had him in front of me,"
cried Carl angrily. "Poor Mont! he is lying at the bottom of the sea,
and I shall never see him again. Never, never!"

He covered his face with his hands, and the tears trickled down his
cheeks.

"I have dispatched another party to seek for him," exclaimed the
captain; "I am too worn out to go with them this time. If they find the
body, we may restore him to consciousness."

"There is no hope," said Carl sadly; "you are the cause of his death.
Why did you inclose us in this tomb, and then take one of us in the sea
to die?"

"Was it my fault? You are hasty, my boy, and do me great injustice. I am
as much grieved as yourself, for I had begun to love that lad," said the
captain feelingly. "We will mourn for him together; there is a silent
friendship in grief. We are friends, for we have the same sorrow."

In a few hours the searching party came back, weary and unsuccessful.

They could see nothing of Mont.

Everyone gave up all hope, and our hero was mourned for as one dead.

CHAPTER XIX.

MONT'S PERIL.

"Where am I? Where are you, Carl?"

After about an hour's sleep Mont was aroused by an acute sensation of
pain in his right leg.

Stretching out his hand, he encountered a slimy substance, and withdrew
it very quickly.

Leaning on his elbow, he saw by the light of his lamp that a strange
fish, with a head like a frying-pan and a body resembling that of a
codfish, was biting through his waterproof covering and trying to eat
part of his leg.

In an instant he seized his gun, and, firing at its eye, wounded it
grievously, causing it to splash about and retreat into a mass of weeds,
where its struggles continued for some time.

For a moment Mont forgot where he was.

But as his senses came back to him, he recollected everything, and,
rising, looked about for his companions.

As he could see nothing of them, a horrible fear took possession of him,
and he trembled from head to foot.

They had lost him in the depths of the ocean.

Without an experienced guide like Captain Vindex, it was impossible for
him to find his way back.

The dangerous and perhaps fatal sleep which had overcome him must be
fought against.

For if it came on again he knew he must die.

How much precious air had he not consumed already?

To him, in his condition, air was