Under the Ocean to the South Pole | Page 8

the inventor as he jammed the
reversing lever hard over.
It was too late. The next instant the Porpoise, with a shock that made
her shiver from stem to stern, collided with the steel side of a small
warship.
CHAPTER IV
IN THE MIDST OF FIRE
"Pull the secondary emergency lever!" cried the professor through the
speaking tube to Washington. "We must reach the surface at once!"
"Are we damaged?" asked Andy, scrambling to his feet, for the shock
had knocked him down. The professor had not fallen because he clung
to the steering wheel.
The ship gave a sudden lurch.
"We're sinking!" cried Bill, rushing to the conning tower from the
engine-room.
"That's only the action of one of the emergency levers," said the
professor calmly. "It forces compressed air into the tanks the more
quickly to empty them of water. I think we are safe."
"What is it?" asked Mark, as, followed by Jack, he came forward.
"We tried to do the torpedo act to one of Uncle Sam's ships," explained

Andy.
The electric lights had been switched on, and, with the Porpoise
flooded with the bright beams, those on board waited anxiously for
what was to happen next.
Suddenly an upward motion was experienced. The next instant the craft
bounced out of the water and fell back in a smother of foam, shaking
and shivering, alongside a small armored warship that was anchored
about two miles and a half from shore.
"Open the manhole," commanded Mr. Henderson.
Mark sprang up the iron ladder that led to the opening in the deck of
the Porpoise and threw back the cams that held the heavy iron in place.
Then he swung the cover back and stepped out on the small platform,
followed by the professor, Andy and Jack. They looked up to find
themselves observed by a curious throng that crowded to the rail of the
warship.
[Illustration: A CURIOUS THRONG CROWDED TO THE RAIL OF
THE WARSHIP.--Page 28.]
"What are you trying to do? Ram me with a new-fangled torpedo?"
asked an angry voice, and a man in a gold laced uniform, who, from his
importance plainly showed himself to be the captain of the ship, shook
his fist at Mr. Henderson.
"I might ask what right your ship has to get in my path," replied the
inventor. "It was all an accident."
"Mighty queer," muttered the naval commander. "Looks very
suspicious. How do I know but what you're a torpedo from some
foreign nation?"
"Because this is not a torpedo," replied Mr. Henderson. "It is a new
submarine boat of my invention, and I was giving it a trial spin."

"I guess you'd better come aboard and do your explaining," went on the
captain. "I don't like the looks of things. Lower a boat!" he shouted,
"and bring those chaps to my cabin. I want to question them."
It did not suit Professor Henderson to have his plans upset in this
fashion. Nor did he care to give a detailed description of his ship to
officers of the war department. He had many valuable inventions that
were not patented. So he determined to outwit the pompous
commander of the cruiser.
The noise made in preparing the small boat for lowering over the side
of the big ship could be plainly heard.
"Go below, all of you, and as quietly as you can," whispered Mr.
Henderson.
Andy, Mark and Jack obeyed. At that instant the side of the warship
was almost deserted, for the sailors who had gathered to observe the
Porpoise had gone to lower the small boat.
No sooner had Jack, who was in the rear, disappeared through the
manhole than the professor, with a quick jump, followed him.
"Here! Come back!" shouted the warship's captain as he saw Mr.
Henderson's head disappearing from view. "Come back I say!"
But with a quick movement the inventor pulled down the manhole
cover and clamped it. Then he sprang to the conning tower, and, with a
jerk, opened the levers that admitted water to the tanks. The Porpoise
began to sink slowly, and then more suddenly, so that, in less than a
minute, she was out of sight beneath the waves, and the angry,
gold-laced captain was staring in wonderment at the place where the
submarine had been. The spot was marked only by a few bubbles and
some foam.
"I guess he'll wait some time for an explanation," spoke Mr. Henderson,
as he started the big screw and sent the Porpoise ahead at a swift pace.

"That was rather a narrow escape," observed Jack, standing at the foot
of the conning tower stairs and talking to Andy and Mr. Henderson,
who was steering.
"It certainly was," agreed the professor. "I have not yet become used to
seeing things very far