k at the
world of sunlight they were leaving. And now the eye of the periscope
was so near submersion that the swell of the waves swept over it and
momentarily blotted out the light. Then the spray dashed madly at the
"eye" of the tube---and they were under!

Down in the depths of the ocean! It was a moment to stir the pulses
of the two Brighton recruits. Wide-eyed in wonder, tense with the
strain of the experience, they stepped back from the periscope.
Through Ted's mind flitted memories of Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand
Leagues Under the Sea," and he was suddenly inspired to find out
whether it was possible to glimpse any of the wonders depicted by
the writer. A peep into the tube showed only a greenish haze as the
rays of the sun seemed trying to follow the _Dewey_ into the depths.
Against the eye of the periscope streamed a faint flicker of greenish
particles in the water that reminded the boy of myriad shooting stars.
And then---nothing but a blur of black!

"What do you know about that?" gasped Ted, turning to his old school
pal. The boys were keyed to a high pitch by this time as a result of
their first experience in a deep-sea dive. So tense were they with
excitement that they marveled at the care-free attitude of the crew.
Some of them were humming nonchalantly; others chatting and laughing
as though on an excursion on a river steamboat.

"What do you feel like, chum?" began Ted, as the two settled into a
conversation over their wonderful exploit.

"Well, I've been up in the tower of the Woolworth Building and down in
a coal mine and up in a Ferris wheel and once I had a ride with Uncle
Jim in the cab of a locomotive---but this beats anything I ever had
anything to do with!" exclaimed Jack, all in one breath.

Ted was gulping a bit. "I feel as though I had left my heart and
stomach up there on top of the ocean," he stammered.

Bill Witt grinned from ear to ear; the remark was reminiscent of other
"rookies" and their first experiences at sea.

"You'll probably think you've completely lost some parts of your
department of internal affairs before you get rightly acquainted with
your new friend Mr. Neptune," offered Bill by way of a gentle reminder.

So far the new members of the _Dewey's_ crew had been unaffected by the
terrors of seasickness. Bill's remark drove the import of it home
pretty hard. "I hope, if we are going to get it," interjected Ted
philosophically, "we get it soon and get over