whole procedure, for when our boat was once more in 

 place, the men found the water still so murky that it was 

 impossible to distinguish anything below. 



We gave up for the day, but hurried back at daybreak 

 the next morning to get Sea Diver placed before the wind 

 should come up. To our joy the surface was calm and the 

 water on the reef clear and transparent. 



Robby was the first to go overboard. He had been 

 down only a few minutes when he appeared suddenly at 

 the foot of the ladder, pulling off the face mask as he 

 emerged. His face registered bewilderment and surprise. 



"You should see what that dynamite has done," he 

 shouted in his excitement. "The reef is all on a slant, and 

 there's a hole right through tlie bottom. I'd have disap- 

 peared completely out of sight if I'd ever stepped into it. 

 There's the strangest look to everything down there." 



He insisted that Ed put on the mask and go down. Ed 

 disappeared down the ladder. He was gone for a long 

 time, but when he came back his face wore the same be- 

 wilderment. 



"You feel as if the whole bottom is topsy-turvy," he 

 said. "It looks as if that explosion had turned the reef 

 right up on its side." 



By this time, Pete had hooked up another mask and 

 was hurrying over the side to have a look at this amazing 

 phenomenon. Ed followed him down. 



Nellie and Robby and I waited impatiently for them 

 to reappear. When their two heads bobbed out of the 

 water once more, they could hardly wait to remove their 

 masks. 



"What's wrong with things?" Pete queried. "There's 

 a huge pile of rubble down there, but I didn't see any 

 steep cliffs or yawning chasms." 



Ed started to argue with him, then was struck with a 

 sudden thought. 



66 Sea Diver 



