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Page 34
"All clear," reported the young inventor.
"High tide!" exclaimed the captain a moment later,
snapping shut his watch.
"Let go!" ordered Mr. Swift, and the various windlasses
manned by the inventor, Tom and the others began to unwind
their ropes. Slowly the ship slid along the greased ways.
Slowly she approached the water. How anxiously they all
watched her! Nearer and nearer her blunt nose, with the
electric propulsion plate and the auxiliary propeller, came
to the creek, the waters of which were quiet now, awaiting
the turn of the tide.
Now little waves lapped the steel sides. It was the first
contact of the Advance with her native element.
"Pay out the rope faster!" cried Mr. Swift.
The windlasses were turned more quickly Foot by foot the
craft slid along until, with a final rush, the stern left
the ways and the submarine was afloat. Now would come the
test. Would she ride on an even keel, or sink out of sight,
or turn turtle? They all ran to the water's edge, Tom in the
lead.
"Hurrah!" suddenly yelled the lad, trying to stand on his
head. "She floats! She's a success! Come on! Let's get
aboard!"
For, true enough, the Advance was riding like a duck on
the water. She had been proportioned just right, and her
lines were perfect. She rode as majestically as did any ship
destined to sail on the surface, and not intended to do
double duty.
"Come on, we must moor her to the pier," directed Mr.
Sharp. "The tide will turn in a few minutes and take her out
to sea."
He and Tom entered a small boat, and soon the submarine
was tied to a small dock that had been built for the
purpose.
"Now to try the engine," suggested Mr. Swift, who was
almost trembling with eagerness; for the completion of the
ship meant much to him.
"One moment," begged Captain Weston. "If you don't mind,
I'll take an observation," he went on, and he swept the
horizon with his telescope. "All clear," he reported. "I
think we may go aboard and make a trial trip."
Little time was lost in entering the cabin and engine-
room, Garret Jackson accompanying the party to aid with the
machinery. It did not take long to start the motors, dynamos
and the big gasolene engine that was the vital part of the
craft. A little water was admitted to the tanks for ballast,
since the food and other supplies were not yet on board. The
Advance now floated with the deck aft of the conning tower
showing about two feet above the surface of the creek. Mr.
Swift and Tom entered the pilot house.
"Start the engines," ordered the aged inventor, "and we'll
try my new system of positive and negative electrical
propulsion."
There was a hum and whir in the body of the ship beneath
the feet of Tom and his father. Captain Weston stood on the
little deck near the conning tower.
"All ready?" asked the youth through the
speaking tube to Mr. Sharp and Mr. Jackson in
the engine-room.
"All ready," came the answer.
Tom threw over the connecting lever, while his father
grasped the steering wheel. The Advance shot forward, moving
swiftly along, about half submerged.
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