of the submarine sucked in the air in
the craft.

"Open one, two, three, four, to blow," came from the skipper.

"One, two, three, four, to blow," I heard repeated.

I felt no perceptible motion of ascending; but those lungs were working
hard, which could be learned by placing your hand over them. The captain
shot a glance at the dial, which told him how far up his vessel had
gone, and then mounted the conning-hatch ladder, and soon one observed a
spot of daylight. A sea washed over the submarine, filling the
commander's boots with water. He was followed by a sailor, who quickly
attached the lowered sailcloth bridge to the rails of the conning tower.
Then the captain's expert and watchful eye caught bubbles coming from
one of the tanks.

"Close one!" he shouted down the hatch.

"Close one," repeated the sub-lieutenant.

"Two, five, and seven," came from the voice outside, and so on, until
soon all the tanks had pumped out their water and were filled with air;
and, for the sake of accuracy, each order was sounded again below.

"Bring her around to north," said the commander.

When we submerged it had been a chilly day, with a peep of the sun every
now and again. The weather had changed since we left our berth under the
sea. The sky was overcast, and snow was falling. And this change in the
weather had taken place while the captain had been accomplishing one of
Jules Verne's dreams.

We sped farther out to sea; this time on the _qui vive_ for enemy craft.
But the enemy is careful not to give the British submarine much of a
chance at his warships, only sneaking out occasionally under cover of
darkness with a couple of destroyers. Nevertheless, John Bull's diving
boats are ever on the alert; and the man with whom I went under the
North Sea had performed deeds of daring which never involved the sinking
of a neutral vessel or of endangering the life of a non-belligerent.

It was the time for luncheon. Luncheon! You get an idea that the life
aboard a submarine is not all sunshine and white uniforms when you see
the berth for the commander and his chief officer. They are just a
couple of shelves, and are not used very often at that. It was
explained to me that when you are running a submarine you do not go in
much for sleep. Luncheon consisted of a cup of coffee and a piece of
canned beef on a stale slice of bread. Tinned food is about all that can
be used aboard a submarine. It does not take up much room, and it
re