Page:Ballantyne--The Battery and the Boiler.djvu/43

 "Why, then, it 's both," cried Robin. "Come, that 's a good beginning. Now, Madge, you get away round to the opposite side of the pool, and mind you don't slip in, it 's rather steep here."

"This is England," cried Robin, preparing to throw the line over to his assistant, who stood eager to aid on the other side, "and you are standing on—on—what 's on the other side of the German Ocean?"

"I 'm not sure, Robin. Holland, I think, or Denmark."

"Well, we 'll say Denmark. Look out now, and be ready to catch. I 'm going to connect England and Denmark with a submarine cable."

"Stay!" cried Madge, "is that the way submarine cables are laid, by throwing them over the sea?"

"N—no, not exactly. They had a steamboat, you know, to carry over the telegraph from England to France; but we haven't got a steamer—not even a plank to make-believe one. Cousin Sam says that a good workman can do his work with almost any tools that come to hand. As we have no tools at all, we will improve on that and go to work without them. Now, catch!"

Robin made a splendid heave—so splendid indeed that it caused him to stagger backward, and again he stumbled into his own battery! This time, however, only one leg was immersed.