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It HE SEA"
By LIEUTENANT HARRY E. RIESEBERG
slid over the side of the salvage schooner down my weighted rope un' til I stood on the sandy bottom of the seaway. I found myself in the midst of elaborate coral formations, md the sheer beauty of the scene stopped me in my tracks.
From where I stood, the smooth sea 3ed sloped gradually off into distant depths beyond my vision. Surround' ing me on all sides was a fantastic fairyland. Branching coral sculptuT' ings of myriad hues seemed alive in the quivering water; they were hard and solid to the touch. As I began to move, the colors of the corals about me changed with chameleonlike ease, so that I walked in a land of liquid' flowing rainbows. The fascination of the place made me determined to explore farther. I started out boldly.
Slowly treading the seaway, I was brought up short by a sight that al' most took my breath away. There be fore me, rising out of the watery void, was what appeared to be a city a ghost city under the sea! I could have sworn that there was a great Gothic cathedral ahead, and beyond it other dim stately edifices, sloping away into farther shadowy regions. Spires and pinnacles lifted majestically; tall columns supported overhanging roofs; windows stood open in walls and towers. The dim light of the sun, reflected from the surface waters above, sifted down and passed through the openings, gleam'
ing dully through the open spaces bc' tween the columns.
I felt as though I had been sud' denly thrust on some strange and dis' tant planet; as though I had come to a peaceful town where quiet buildings waited the return of a recently dc' parted populace.
I paused for a while, sitting on a projecting shelf of coral to consider this phenomenon. Then I left my seat and moved slowly forward again tO' ward the nearest of the structures, the "cathedral'like" edifice. The sea floor continued to slope downward and out' ward toward the open ocean.
CAREFULLY, I placed one weight' ed boot after the other. The for' mation was perhaps forty feet in length and twenty feet high. The crowning coral pinnacles that ex' tended upward from the basic hulk of the structure were about six to eight feet in height. It was obvious to one familiar with coral that this design was not a natural growth, but was cased over some original buildings that had allowed for windows and doors. And through these openings the magical light softly filtered.
Directly in front of me there was a large doorway. Carefully guarding my airline from the rough casing of the chamber, I went in. Inside was a sort of chamber space with several passages leading off from it. I stood entranced.