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