the next two minutes of suspense, the boys were quiet, waiting for the
next shot. It soon came; the ship shook as before, the breach block
opened, the shell behind the torpedo was extracted, the door closed and
the men stood at attention.

When the officer, who had handled the torpedoes, walked down the steps
from the conning tower, the boys noticed him shake his head sadly.

"Did you notice that?" asked the captain.

"Do you mean the way he shook his head?" said Alfred.

"Yes; I am curious to get your views about that action of the officer,"
remarked the captain.

"That is, why he shook his head?" interjected Ralph.

"Yes," answered the captain. "Do you think he looked discouraged because
the shot failed in its mission, or because it went home successfully?
That is the problem."

The boys were quiet for a few moments. Ralph was the first to speak:
"Well, I'll bet the torpedo didn't hit the ship, and he feels cut up
over it, as it was the last one they had."

"I don't agree with you," rejoined Alfred. "It struck the ship and sunk
it, and the fellow feels so badly about it that he shook his head the
way he did when he thought of the suffering it caused. Don't you agree
with me?" said Alfred, addressing the captain.

The captain could not repress a slight laugh as: he answered: "I must
confess you advance good arguments in both directions; but really, I am
of the opinion that either torpedo didn't get in its work."

"Why do you think the first one failed?"

"If the first one had succeeded, they would not have shot the second,
would they?" replied the captain.

"No; I don't think they would, seeing they had only one more left,"
remarked Ralph. "But why do you think the last one was no more
successful?"

"I infer it from the following circumstances: It takes, on an average, a
minute for a torpedo to reach its mark, after it leaves the torpedo
tube. The officer in the tower is in a position where he can see the
effect of the shot. If the torpedo struck, however favorable the blow,
it would take at least fifteen or twenty minutes for the ship to go
down. Sometimes the bulkheads will keep the ship afloat an hour or more.
In fact, there are records of ships which have been torpedoed, that were
actually towed into harbors and saved," answered the captain.

"But I do not see how that is any sign that the torpedo missed," replied
Alfred inquiringly.

"Probably you did not notice the period that elapsed after the