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Page 5
Mr. Sharp and Tom, carrying some bundles which they had
taken from the car, or cabin, of the craft, went toward a
large shed, which adjoined the house that Mr. Swift had
hired for the season at the seashore. They found the lad's
father standing before a great shape, which loomed up dimly
in the semi-darkness of the building. It was like an immense
cylinder, pointed at either end, and here and there were
openings, covered with thick glass, like immense, bulging
eyes. From the number of tools and machinery all about the
place, and from the appearance of the great cylinder itself,
it was easy to see that it was only partly completed.
"Well, how goes it, dad?" asked the youth, as he deposited
his bundle on a bench. "Do you think you can make it work?"
"I think so, Tom. The positive and negative plates are
giving me considerable trouble, though. But I guess we can
solve the problem. Did you bring me the galvanometer?"
"Yes, and all the other things," and the young inventor
proceeded to take the articles from the bundles he carried.
Mr. Swift looked them over carefully, while Tom walked
about examining the submarine, for such was the queer craft
that was contained in the shed. He noted that some progress
had been made on it since he had left the seacoast several
days before to make a trip to Shopton, in New York State,
where the Swift home was located, after some tools and
apparatus that his father wanted to obtain from his workshop
there.
"You and Mr. Jackson have put on several new plates,"
observed the lad after a pause.
"Yes," admitted his father. "Garret and I weren't idle,
were we, Garret?" and he nodded to the aged engineer, who
had been in his employ for many years.
"No; and I guess we'll soon have her in the water, Tom,
now that you and Mr. Sharp are here to help us," replied
Garret Jackson.
"We ought to have Mr. Damon here to bless the submarine
and his liver and collar buttons a few times," put in Mr.
Sharp, who brought in another bundle. He referred to an
eccentric individual Who had recently made an airship voyage
with himself and Tom, Mr. Damon's peculiarity being to use
continually such expressions as: "Bless my soul! Bless my
liver!"
"Well, I'll be glad when we can make a trial trip," went
on Tom. "I've traveled pretty fast on land with my motor-
cycle, and we certainly have hummed through the air. Now I
want to see how it feels to scoot along under water."
"Well, if everything goes well we'll be in position to
make a trial trip inside of a month," remarked the aged
inventor. "Look here, Mr. Sharp, I made a change in the
steering gear, which I'd like you and Tom to consider."
The three walked around to the rear of the odd-looking
structure, if an object shaped like a cigar can be said to
have a front and rear, and the inventor, his son, and the
aeronaut were soon deep in a discussion of the
technicalities connected with under-water navigation.
A little later they went into the house, in response to a
summons from the supper bell, vigorously rung by Mrs.
Baggert. She was not fond of waiting with meals, and even
the most serious problem of mechanics was, in her
estimation, as nothing compared with having the soup get
cold, or the possibility of not having the meat done to a
turn.
The meal was interspersed with remarks about the recent
airship flight of Tom and Mr. Sharp, and discussions about
the new submarine. This talk went on even after the table
was cleared off and the three had adjourned to the sitting-
room. There Mr. Swift brought out pencil and paper, and soon
he and Mr. Sharp were engrossed in calculating the pressure
per square inch of sea water at a depth of three miles.
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