; and then the
luminous beam was seen moving slowly forward over the bottom in the
direction of the submerged ship. Suddenly the light vanished.

"He has reached the ship," the baronet reported to those in the other
boat, who were alternately drifting with the tide and moving up against
it to maintain an easy speaking distance from their consort. A quarter
of an hour passed, and then a brilliant, dazzling flood of light
streamed out for about ten seconds at apparently no great distance below
the surface, then vanished again.

"All right," remarked Sir Reginald as soon as he saw this; "he has
reached the pilot-house. Now, George, up with the anchor, my good
fellow, and we will back off a few yards out of harm's way."

The boats accordingly did so, von Schalckenberg allowing them ten
minutes for the operation; then, with a sudden rush and swirl of water,
the huge bulk of the _Flying Fish_ appeared above the surface, looming
black, vast, and mysterious against the faintly luminous horizon. A
moment more, and the windows of the pilot-house shone out a series of
luminous discs against the darkness, showing that the professor had
lighted up the interior, and that individual himself appeared on deck
hailing the invisible boats with:

"It is all right; everything is just as we left it, and you may come on
board as soon as you like."

Ten minutes later the boats had been hoisted in and stowed away, and the
_Flying Fish_, at an elevation of some three hundred feet above the sea-
level, was moving to the southward and eastward across the placid waters
of the Channel, at the moderate rate of some five-and-twenty miles per
hour. At midnight, however, after a little music and conversation, the
pace was quickened to about one hundred miles per hour; the altitude was
at the same time increased to ten thousand feet; the course was set to
south, by compass, and the travellers, with a feeling of perfect
security, retired to rest, confident that the professor's clever
automatic devices would not only maintain the ship at her then
elevation, but would also steer her straight in the required direction.

On the following morning at daybreak the travellers found themselves
hovering over the blue Mediterranean, with the African coast at no great
distance, and a town of considerable size directly ahead. This town was
soon identified as Tunis (near which is the site of ancient Carthage),
and they shortly afterwards passed over it, not