The two hideous
heads came close to the sides of the conning-tower; the huge, palely
luminous eyes looked in upon them. Zaidie, in her terror, even thought
that she saw something like human curiosity in them.
[Illustration: _The huge palely luminous eyes looked in upon them._]
Then, as Murgatroyd disappeared to obey the orders which Redgrave had
sanctioned with a quick nod, the heads approached still closer, and she
heard the ends of the pointed jaws, which she now saw were armed with
shark-like teeth, striking against the thick glass walls of the
conning-tower.
"Don't be frightened, dear!" he said, putting his arm round her, just as
he had done when they thought they were falling into the fiery seas of
Jupiter. "You'll see something happen to this gentleman soon. Big and
all as he is there won't be much left of him in a few minutes. They are
like those monsters they found in the lowest depths of our own seas.
They can only live under tremendous pressure. That's why we didn't find
any of them up above. This chap'll burst like a bubble presently.
Meanwhile, there's no use in stopping here. Suppose you go below and
brew some coffee and bring it up on deck while I go and see how things
are looking aft. It doesn't do you any good, you know, to be looking at
monsters of this sort. You can see what's left of them later on.
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