rm
deck and hull coming next into view. Then, as the manhole cover was
raised, Eph Somers stepped into view at the steering wheel. The
"Pollard" moved over to her moorings, and Hal came up to aid in making
fast. Soon afterward, Jack Benson, in complete uniform, appeared on
deck.

"Now, give us just an idea of how the thing is done, Mr. Farnum," begged
one of the correspondents, turning to the boatbuilder.

"Ladies and gentlemen," replied the yard's owner, gravely, though he was
tempted to laugh over the mystery he was making, "I am certain that you
all want to know."

"We do," came the chorused answer.

"But if I were to tell you," responded Farnum, speaking as gravely as
ever, "it would be to reveal to the whole world one of the strongest
points in our plan of submarine operation. You will understand that, of
course, and will realize that we do not care to explain anything so
valuable, when that idea is not yet patented."

"I suppose you're right about that," admitted one of the journalists,
thoughtfully. "We'd like awfully to know just how the feat is
accomplished, and you have equally good reasons for not telling us."

"Have you much genius for machinery?" whispered one of the women writers
to a man beside her. "For, you know, we've been promised a chance to
visit the boat. If you keep your eyes open, very likely you can detect
how it is possible to leave the 'Pollard' when she's on the bottom--a
performance that isn't possible with any other type of submarine torpedo
boat."

Jacob Farnum now slipped away to countermand his orders for a diver and
wrecking apparatus, the newspaper people also seizing the chance to send
another wire to their home newspapers.

After that Captain Jack received one-third of the party aboard the
"Pollard." He gave them a short trip on the surface. Then, pressed to
do so, he submerged the boat for two minutes. After that the rest of
the correspondents were taken out and below the water. Most people are
not particularly eager, at first, for a trip under the water in submarine
boats, but with the newspaper fraternity it is different. They are
always on the lookout for any new experience, no matter how dangerous it
may seem to be. It is a part of their calling.

Yet not one in all this party of thirty trained, keen-minded people
managed to penetrate the secret of how Captain Jack had been able to
leave and return to the "Pollard" while that craft lay on the bottom of
t