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Page 37
"Unless we run into Berg and his crowd," suggested Tom in
a low voice.
"Ha! ha!" laughed Captain Weston, for he did not want Mr.
Swift to worry over the unscrupulous agent. "No, I don't
believe we'll meet them, Tom. I guess Berg is trying to work
out the longitude and latitude I gave him. I wish I could
see his face when he realizes that he's been deceived by
that fake map."
"Well, I hope he doesn't discover it too soon and trail
us," went on the lad. "But they're going to start the
machinery now. I suppose you and I had better take charge of
the steering of the craft. Dad will want to be in the
engine-room."
"All right," replied the captain, and he moved forward
with the lad to a small compartment, shut off from the
living-room, that served as a pilot house when the conning
tower was not used. The same levers, wheels and valves were
there as up above, and the submarine could be managed as
well from there as from the other place.
"Is everything all right?" asked Mr Swift as he went into
the engine-room, where Garret Jackson and Mr. Sharp were
busy with oil cans.
"Everything," replied the balloonist. "Are you going to
start now?"
"Yes, we're deep enough for a speed trial. We'll go out to
sea, however, and try for a lower depth record, as soon as
there's enough water. Start the engine."
A moment later the powerful electric currents were flowing
into the forward and aft plates, and the Advance began to
gather way, forging through the water.
"Straight ahead, out to sea, Tom," called his father to
him.
"Aye, aye, sir," responded the youth.
"Ha! Quite seaman-like, if you don't mind a reference to
it," commented Captain Weston with a smile. "Mind your helm,
boy, for you don't want to poke her nose into a mud bank, or
run up on a shoal."
"Suppose you steer?" suggested the lad. "I'd rather take
lessons for a while."
"All right. Perhaps it will be safer. I know these waters
from the top, though I can't say as much for the bottom.
However, I know where the shoals are."
The powerful searchlight was turned, so as to send its
beams along the path which the submarine was to follow, and
then, as she gathered speed, she shot ahead, gliding through
the waters like a fish.
Mr. Damon divided his time between the forward pilot-room,
the living-apartment, and the place where Mr. Swift, Garret
Jackson and Mr. Sharp were working over the engines. Every
few minutes he would bless some part of himself, his
clothing, or the ship. Finally the old man settled down to
look through the plate-glass windows in the main apartment.
On and on went the submarine. She behaved perfectly, and
was under excellent control. Some times Tom, at the request
of his father, would send her toward the surface by means of
the deflecting rudder. Then she would dive to the bottom
again. Once, as a test, she was sent obliquely to the
surface, her tower just emerging, and then she darted
downward again, like a porpoise that had come up to roll
over, and suddenly concluded to seek the depths. In fact,
had any one seen the maneuver they would have imagined the
craft was a big fish disporting itself.
Captain Weston remained at Tom's side, giving him
instructions, and watching the compass in order to direct
the steering so as to avoid collisions. For an hour or more
the craft was sent almost straight ahead at medium speed.
Then Mr. Swift, joining his son and the captain, remarked:
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