"But two miles is a tremendous distance, father."
"I know it. I have never yet gone down over three hundred feet."
"Perhaps we shall fail."
"We must try a short distance first, Dave. We can't go down those two miles at the start. Captain Broadbeam wishes us to go down to-morrow anyway, to hunt for some strange fish, said to be in these waters, a fish known by the scientific name of Eurypharynx Pelecanoides."
"What a fearful name!" muttered Dave. "Is the fish as bad?"
"Yes, and worse. The monster is said to be all of twenty feet long, with a head larger than a hogshead and a mouth seven feet across. Its body and tail are covered with spines or stickers, and its teeth are like so many large needles."
"Truly an ugly customer to meet," and Dave shuddered.
"I am afraid he'll be an ugly customer to bag—in a net or otherwise."
"Are we to use the diving bell?"
"Yes, we are to try it, but we are likewise to use our diving suits, too—-just to try both outfits," returned the master diver.