“Yes, yes!—by all means!” the professor agreed. “Let us see them at once.” So they crowded into Johnny’s small darkroom to watch the enthralling “coming out” of one more set of plates.
* * * * * * * *
“Little big-heads,” the professor whispered solemnly, as the pictures began to appear. “Johnny, you are a wonder! Once again we have registered a real triumph!”
“I’m glad of that,” Johnny said, sincerely. “I like being a success. But even better—I enjoy living!
“I’m sure I’ll not be able to sleep in the dark for months to come,” he said, more lightly. “I’ll be imagining I’m still in that steel ball, swinging wide in utter darkness!”
“Johnny,” Doris whispered some time later, “What really took you for that ride?”
“I could only guess—and it would be a wild guess, at that!” There was a suggestion of mystery in his voice. “I’m sure of one thing, though. It wasn’t any little big-head!”
CHAPTER XI
TIGERS OF THE SEA
Doris, standing on the ocean’s floor forty feet down, started back in sudden terror, and her foot struck a rock. She all but fell over. On the beach she would have taken a terrible tumble.
“It was just a shadow,” she told herself. “Only a shadow moving beyond that great rock. A blue shadow. Grandfather said I’d be in no danger, and he should know.”