er boats?" asked Alfred.

"No; but one of the men observed a light at two this morning, three
points to starboard, which was, possibly, one of our companions, but
since that time we have searched the seas fruitlessly," answered the
captain.

"I don't know why it is that if all of the boats steer to the same point
that they should be scattered in this way," said Alfred. "Can you
explain it, Captain?"

"It would not be so if in the open sea, or in mid-ocean; there they
would be likely to keep together, or not separated more than three or
four miles; but it is quite another thing in this great bay," replied
the captain.

"Why should it be different here?" asked Ralph.

"If you will take a map of the western part of Europe, you will notice
three great projecting headlands, or points on the western shore of the
continent of Europe, namely, Iceland, in the north, and the Spanish
peninsula in the south. Midway between you will notice Ireland and the
British Isles. The great Gulf stream comes down from the north, passes
Iceland, that is one branch, hugs the coast of Ireland, and strikes the
point of land which projects out northwesterly from the main Spanish
land, so that a sort of maelstrom is set up in the bay."

"How far are we from that point of land?" asked Ralph.

"About two hundred miles northeast; and I may also say that we are just
about in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, and at that point where the
sea is always more quiet than at any other part," answered the captain.

[Illustration]

"Ship to starboard, sir," sang out the forward watch.

The captain turned to the right and, after a brief glance, lowered his
hand. The boys looked at him in wonder. Evidently the sight of the
vessel did not give him pleasure. It was a low-lying craft, with two
short masts.

"That looks like a submarine," shouted Ralph.

"You are right," replied the captain.

The submarine was coming forward rapidly, and within fifteen minutes it
was within hailing distance. They now had an opportunity to examine the
ugly thing with the long black back and the conning tower midway between
the ends.

"Are those the periscopes?" asked Alfred. "I didn't know they carried
two of them."

"That is the practice now," said one seamen.

The submarine came straight toward them, then sheered off and stopped
alongside less than thirty feet from the boat. One of the seamen tossed
a rope, which was grasped by a marine on the undersea boat, and i