bout the Captain. But when I approached the steersman, he waved me
away with his hand, and I obtained no other response.

It only remained for me to study this craft, from which we had been
repelled with revolver shots, when we had seized upon its anchor rope.

I therefore set leisurely to work to examine the construction of this
machine, which was carrying me--whither? The deck and the upper works
were all made of some metal which I did not recognize. In the center
of the deck, a scuttle half raised covered the room where the engines
were working regularly and almost silently. As I had seen before,
neither masts, nor rigging! Not even a flagstaff at the stern! Toward
the bow there arose the top of a periscope by which the "Terror"
could be guided when beneath the water.

On the sides were folded back two sort of outshoots resembling the
gangways on certain Dutch boats. Of these I could not understand the
use.

In the bow there rose a third hatch-way which presumably covered the
quarters occupied by the two men when the "Terror" was at rest.

At the stern a similar hatch gave access probably to the cabin of the
captain, who remained unseen. When these different hatches were shut
down, they had a sort of rubber covering which closed them
hermetically tight, so that the water could not reach the interior
when the boat plunged beneath the ocean.

As to the motor, which imparted such prodigious speed to the machine,
I could see nothing of it, nor of the propeller. However, the fast
speeding boat left behind it only a long, smooth wake. The extreme
fineness of the lines of the craft, caused it to make scarcely any
waves, and enabled it to ride lightly over the crest of the billows
even in a rough sea.

As was already known, the power by which the machine was driven, was
neither steam nor gasoline, nor any of those similar liquids so well
known by their odor, which are usually employed for automobiles and
submarines. No doubt the power here used was electricity, generated
on board, at some high power. Naturally I asked myself whence comes
this electricity, from piles, or from accumulators? But how were
these piles or accumulators charged? Unless, indeed, the electricity
was drawn directly from the surrounding air or from the water, by
processes hitherto unknown. And I asked myself with intense eagerness
if in the present situation, I might be able to discover these
secrets.

Then I thought of my companions, left beh