NIGHT BENEATH THE SEA 351 



activity, and with a spurt of energy I stroked my way to the 

 surface where I located the boat and swam over to the gun- 

 wale. Now that I had actually made the first step the feeling 

 of fear left me somewhat though I still felt keenly aware of 

 being out of element. I groped along the side for the life line, 

 curled it about my hand, once again patted my belt where the 

 flashlight was hung to make sure it was there, acknowledged 

 my readiness in a low voice and permitted myself to be helmed. 

 The sibilant rush of pulsing air assured me that the pump was 

 functioning properly, and with a last minute roar of breaking 

 bubbles in my ears, I let go and was plummeted into the spaces 

 of watery night. 



In a long sweep I allowed myself to drift downward for 

 about twenty feet. Then with ten feet of inky water still be- 

 tween me and the bottom I halted my descent with a slight 

 pressure of my fingers and hung motionless. For a few seconds 

 I swayed back and forth, twirling slightly, and came to com- 

 plete rest. 



I peered out of the glass. Try as I might I could discern 

 nothing. I was poised in the center of empty space. There was 

 neither Hght nor movement, only a still sohd blackness. Thus 

 might the world have been on the first day of creation. The 

 feeling of terror surged through my senses again. The skin at 

 the back of my legs quivered as though some sixth sense warned 

 that something was rushing silently at me out of the night. I 

 twisted around and saw nothing except the same utter void; 

 my nerves were playing me tricks. Revolving to my original 

 position I saw a very wonderful event. Out of the darkness 

 that covered the deep there suddenly blossomed into being a 

 tiny pinpoint of light. It flared,^ for perhaps a sixteenth of a 

 second, reached a briUiance made all the more vivid by the 

 dark all around and was extinguished. Here in a few seconds 

 was re-enacted the first portion of the drama of genesis; the 



