"It's a turning point! The pressure is getting less!"
"It couldn't be!" Sam said. "Unless we are rising!"
"No! See! The buoyancy tanks are still flooded!"
"The duplicate pressure gauge?"
"It turned back with the other!"
"Look! Yes, we are still sinking." He pointed to the windows. "See! The fish are still flashing upward in the light!"
In speechless wonder, we stood and watched. Still we were evidently sinking. Still the dark waters rushed up about us. And still the needles crept back!
Suddenly Sam seized my shoulder in a hand of iron. "Look!" he whispered hoarsely, pointing out through the heavy lenses. "Can't you see? A light! A red gleam beyond our searchlights!"
A switch clicked under the nervous fingers of his other hand, and our lights went out. In a moment, as soon as my eyes were accustomed to the darkness, I saw that he was right! The sea was not black! There was a pale, roseate glow suffused through it!
Steadily it grew stronger. We were coming into a region of light, and of decreased pressure, at the bottom of the sea! Of all wonders!