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hristened a ship," objected the colored man. "Nothing like learning," remarked Mr. Henderson. "Has you got the bottle ob wine?" asked Washington. "I guess soda water will do," said the inventor. "Now look sharp, boys. Get your breakfasts and we'll see if the ship will come up to our expectations." No one lingered over the meal. When it was finished the professor gave Washington a few instructions about breaking the bottle over the nose of the _Porpoise_ as she slid down to the water, for there was no bow to such a queerly shaped vessel as the submarine. At last all was in readiness. The two machinists knocked away the last of the retaining blocks and eased the ship slightly down the well-greased timbers of the ways. "There she goes!" cried the professor. "Break the bottle, Washington!" "In de name ob de Stars an' Stripes, in de name of liberty, de home of the free an' de land ob de brave, I names yo' _Mrs. Porpoise_!" cried the colored man, but he was so long getting the words out, and so slow in swinging the bottle of soda, that the ship was quite beyond his reach when he had finished his oration. He was not to be outdone, however, and, with a quick movement he hurled the bottle at the moving ship. It struck the blunt nose squarely, and shivered to pieces. "Three cheers for de south pole!" yelled Washington, and the others joined in. The next instant the _Porpoise_ was riding the waves of the little bay, dancing about as lightly as a cork, though, from the nature of her construction, she was quite low in the water, only about three feet of freeboard showing where the platform was located. "Well, she floats, anyhow," remarked the professor. "Row out and fasten cables fore and aft," he went on, turning to the two machinists. In a few minutes the _Porpoise_ was fastened to a small dock with strong ropes the two young men had carried out to her in rowboats. "We will go aboard in a little while," the professor said. "I am anxious to see if she rides on an even keel and how the sinking tanks work." Aided by the boys, he and Washington carried on board a number of tools and appliances. Then, with the two machinists, they all descended into the interior of the craft through the small manhole in the middle of the deck or platform. Inside the _Porpoise_, the greater part of which was below the surface of the waves and consequently in darkness, the professor switched on the electric lights and then he
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