"Ah, they must belong to the lost order of chilusia damondaribytis!" cried the learned man. "They are supposed to have lived at one time upon the lost continent of Atlantis. But if so, how did they come here, in the middle of the Pacific? It is a great mystery. You must bring up one of them in the net."
"Thanks, but I don't want the job," replied Dave, quickly.
"But, my dear young man, think of the interest to science—the—the great fame it will bring you."
"Not if the chilu-what's-his-name chews me up, doctor. You just ought to see them. Why, they are enough to give you bad dreams for a month."
"Then I will go down myself in the diving bell. If it is light, as you say, perhaps I can get some snapshot photographs of them," went on the learned man.
"What if they take it into their heads to smash the diving bell to pieces?"
"Cannot you keep them at a distance with the submarine firearms?"
"Hardly; but I was thinking we might take down some submarine torpedoes," went on Dave, suddenly.
The matter was talked over for fully an hour, and at last it was decided that another trial should be made the next day, and the divers should take along two submarine torpedoes, with which to blow up the demons should the latter molest them.
In the meantime Captain Broadbeam had his glass trained upon the Raven, and presently he announced that the diving bell from that ship was coming up.