RENAISSANCE I 5 3 



fastened on the heavy door, attached the shackle of the 

 big wire cable and slowly lifted her into the air and over 

 the side. She settled with a splash of alabaster foam which 

 did not cause even a quiver in her great frame, and slowly 

 sank downward, her fine new coat of deep ultra-marine 

 blue changing to pale turquoise before she disappeared. 

 Layer after layer of cable was payed out until the drum was 

 almost bare and the gauge marked 3000 feet, almost three- 

 fifths of a mile. There she swung for a while and then the 

 winch braced itself, creaked and began to turn in the op- 

 posite direction. One hour and forty minutes after she 

 had vanished, we again caught sight of a flash of pale 

 blue, and a few seconds later she was half out of water. It 

 was apparent that something was very wrong, and as the 

 bathysphere swung clear I saw a needle of water shooting 

 across the face of the port window. 



Weighing much more than she should have, she came 

 over the side and was lowered to the deck. Looking 

 through one of the good windows I could see that she was 

 almost full of water. There were curious ripples on the 

 top of the water, and I knew that the space above was 

 filled with air, but such air as no human being could 

 tolerate for a moment. Unceasingly the thin stream of 

 water and air drove obliquely across the outer face of the 

 quartz. I began to unscrew the giant wing-bolt in the 

 center of the door and after the first few turns, a strange, 

 high singing came forth, then a fine mist, steam-like in 

 consistency, shot out, a needle of steam, then another and 



