"Ha!" she cried suddenly, pointing to a slight, almost invisible stain.
"What is?" he asked.
"It may be—Give me your knife."
She cut away the stained cloth and wrapped it around the unhardened, useless spear.
"What are you doing?"
She ignored his question.
"Take this and go part way up," she directed. "But be careful, very careful, dearest—and throw it over the rim."
Trusting her knowledge of this undersea world, he climbed the slippery wall. Halfway up he found a foothold. He tensed his muscles, heaved the weapon with the peculiar pushing gesture he had learned was the only way to throw under water. As the spear made a high arc he abandoned his exposed position in a headlong dive.
Xintel shouted happily. "Look! Barry! Look!"
Above the cleft the water was whipped to intense brilliance as the nightmare monsters converged on the spot where the spear had fallen.