, the rays
undulating through the sea.

"Still following," murmured the young inventor. "They're not going to
give up. But we must make 'em--that's all."

He went down to report what he had seen, and a consultation was held.
Captain Weston carefully studied the charts of that part of the ocean,
and finding that there was a great depth of water at hand, proposed a
series of evolutions.

"We can go up and down, shoot first to one side and then to the other,"
he explained. "We can even drop down to the bottom and rest there for a
while. Perhaps, in that way, we can shake them off."

They tried it. The Advance was sent up until her conning tower was out
of the water, and then she was suddenly forced down until she was but a
few feet from the bottom. She darted to the left, to the right, and
even doubled and went back over the course she had taken. But all to no
purpose. The Wonder proved fully as speedy, and those in her seemed to
know just how to handle the submarine, so that every evolution of the
Advance was duplicated. Her rival could not be shaken off.

All night this was kept up, and when morning came, though only the
clocks told it, for eternal night was below the surface, the rival
gold-seekers were still on the trail.

"They won't give up," declared Mr. Swift hopelessly.

"No, we've got to race them for it, just as Berg proposed," admitted
Tom. "But if they want a straightaway race we'll give it to 'em Let's
run her to the limit, dad."

"That's what we've been doing, Tom."

"No, not exactly, for we've been submerged a little too much to get the
best speed out of our craft. Let's go a little nearer the surface, and
give them the best race they'll ever have."

Then the race began; and such a contest of speed as it was! With her
propellers working to the limit, and every volt of electricity that was
available forced into the forward and aft plates, the Advance surged
through the water, about ten feet below the surface. But the Wonder
kept after her, giving her knot for knot. The course of the leading
submarine was easy to trace now, in the morning light which penetrated
ten feet down.

"No use," remarked Tom again, when, after two hours, the Wonder was
still close behind them. "Our only chance is that they may have a
breakdown."

"Or run out of air, or something like that," added Captain Weston.
"They are crowding us pretty close. I had no idea they could keep up
this speed. If they don't look out," h