the very spot where the fastening still hung. And then, with a creaking
groan the door gave way.

Just inside the door, Mazie stood tense, motionless, her arms
outstretched in terror. Fingers rigid, lips half-parted in a scream, she
stared at the door. In the doorway stood the Russian, a knife gleaming
in his hand. For a second his eyes searched the room. Then they fell on
the body of the Jap huddled on the floor. Rage darkened his face as the
Russian took a step forward.

At that instant there had come a dull sound of metal grating on metal.
The Russian toppled over on his side and the two girls were thrown to
the floor.

The chamber had given a sudden lurch. The next instant it rolled quite
over, piling the two women and the corpse in a heap and sending the door
shut with a bang. The Russian had fallen outside. The craft rolled over,
once, twice, three times and then hung there, with the floor for its
ceiling.

Overcome with fright and misery, Mazie did not stir for a full minute,
then she dragged herself from the gruesome spot where she lay.

She gave one quick glance at the door. It appeared to have been wedged
solidly shut. Then she turned to Cio-Cio-San, who also had arisen.

"What can have happened?" Mazie asked in a voice she could scarcely
believe was her own.

What had happened was this: one of the hooks on the police boat had