04 Volcano Adventure by Willard Price

curiously, opening and closing their mouths. They seemed to be saying, ‘Oh, Mabel, look at these funny things! This is something to write home about!’
    One of them came close enough to nibble Roger’s toe. He kicked and they all fled - but soon came back, ohing and ahing as before.
    The water was quite warm. That would be because of the fires beneath. There was a constant rumbling and every once in a while came a sharp jolt that shook the sea and started queer currents coming and going.
    The doctor seemed content to stay put for a moment, practising his breathing. Hal stayed near by. He was determined not to let the doctor out of his sight. Roger had already started swimming downwards. He was used to diving but, being adventurous, he was apt to take chances that might get him into trouble. Hal wondered how he was going to keep watch over both of his companions, the one too inexperienced, the other too venturesome.
    At last Dr Dan began to swim down and Hal followed. Bubbles rose in streams from the exhaust valves of their aqualungs. Small fish rushed at the bubbles, thinking they were something to eat.
    Hal began to feel the pressure on his eardrums. He remembered learning that water pressure is doubled at a depth of thirty-three feet. The mask began to press too tightly against his face. He exhaled a little through his nose into the mask. That was the way you increased the air pressure inside the mask against the water pressure outside. On the other hand, if the mask was a bit loose and began to leak, you inhaled through the nose in order to bring it more tightly against the face.
    He wished that he had thought to tell Dr Dan about these tricks. But then the doctor might have thought he was just trying to show off his superior knowledge. It was hard to give advice to your boss.
    Now it was possible to see the bottom. But it was the strangest sea bottom that Hal had ever looked upon.
    It was a crater, very much like the craters he had seen on land, though smaller. He could not see clear to the other side of. it but, from the curve, he judged it to be about five hundred yards in diameter. The inside slopes were very steep and descended to mysterious depths where the water became almost black, shot through with rays of firelight.
    At every explosion the blackness would suddenly disappear in a blaze of lights that hurt the eyes and underwater billows would be set up that beat the bodies of the divers back and forth.
    Hal, floating over the crater, felt like an aviator in a balloon or helicopter looking down into a live volcano. No burning breath came up from this volcano, but the water was quite hot. Large bubbles of gas rose. These did not bother the divers for they were breathing the pure air from their aqualungs. Yellow streaks in the water were probably sulphur.
    Dr Dan deliberately swam down into the crater. Hal came close behind. He could not see Roger anywhere. Where was that young fool?
    This was a new sensation, actually inside a crater, but floating just out of reach of its fiery claws. The only trouble was the heat - it was getting hard to bear. A little more of this and the fish would have boiled humans for supper.
    Now the bottom of the crater could be seen. It was a bubbling pond of red lava, burning fiercely in spite of the chilling ocean, tumbling and leaping and sometimes exploding to throw up fountains of fire and rocks. This vision of a submarine volcano would remain with Hal all his life.
    It was too hot for comfort. Hal was relieved to see Dr Dan turn and swim upwards. They reached the edge of the crater and stopped to rest. Still there was nothing to
    be seen of Roger, and Hal grew more anxious.
    Suddenly a major explosion shook the volcano and up came a geyser of lava and stones, tearing along at great speed with a ripping, sizzling sound, and finally bursting into the air above and falling in a heavy shower. Hal was thankful that they had not been in its path. Down came the rocks and chunks of lava