e, they were
subjected to total darkness, but there was no necessity for this
deprivation, and it is not clear why an enemy should treat prisoners in
this manner, for such actions necessarily leave only resentments and do
no good whatever.

It was a long, long, dreary afternoon and night, which they tried to
while away in sleeping, for conversation, under the circumstances, soon
became irksome. When they awoke, or, rather, when all were again alert
and felt as though the night must have passed, the captain was the first
to break the silence, as he said:

"We have been resting quietly for more than an hour, I should say,
probably lying in wait in one of the steamer lanes for new victims."

"Isn't it likely we are on the bottom of the ocean? Don't they go down
sometimes and wait there?" asked Ralph.

"Yes; but not in deep water, such as is found in this bay. At no place
is it less than 150 fathoms, and in the central portion, where our ship
went down it is more than 2,000 fathoms."

"Why, that's two miles deep, or more," said Alfred.

"Yes, the Bay of Biscay is one of the deep holes in the Atlantic coast
line of Europe. The average depth of the Irish Sea, St. George Channel,
the English Channel and the North Sea is only about 250 feet, and there
are thousands of places in the North Sea, particularly, like the Dogger
Banks, where the water is not more than a hundred feet deep," remarked
the captain.

"Then the submarines could easily rest on the bottom if the depth is not
more than one hundred feet?" asked Alfred.

"Submarines have, in several cases, gone down as far as 200 feet below
the surface, but it is at a great risk," said the captain.

"You mean risk from the pressure of the water?" said Ralph.

"Yes," was the reply.

"What would be the pressure of the water on a submarine at that depth?"
asked Alfred.

"Pressure is calculated on the square inch of surface; for every
twenty-eight inches the pressure is equal to one pound. If, therefore,
200 is multiplied by 12 and then divided by 28, the quotient will
represent the number of pounds on each square inch," answered the
captain.

"Why multiply 200 by twelve?" asked Ralph.

"Because there are twelve inches in a foot," said the captain.

"Oh, yes; I didn't happen to think of it; well, 200 by 12,--that's
2,400, and divided by 28, is----"

"Eighty-five," interrupted Alfred. "Well, that's not very much."

"Quite true," rejoined the captain; "but how ma