At sight of the strange figures the soldiers raised their guns and a volley of shot rang out.
"Stop!" shouted the hermit, his hair streaming wildly as he ran before the guns and threw up as many as he could grasp with his outstretched arms. "Do you want to kill her?"
"Her?" repeated Woodward.
All stood there, wonderingly, gazing at the queer creatures.
What did it mean?
Slowly, they disappeared—literally under the water.
They were gone—with Elaine!
CHAPTER XVII
THE TRIUMPH OF ELAINE
Half carrying, half forcing Elaine down into the water, Del Mar and his two men, all four of the party clad in the outlandish submarine suits, bore the poor girl literally along the bottom of the bay until they reached a point which they knew to be directly under the entrance to the secret submarine harbor.