Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/172

 tery smell that gets me. I can taste the stuff already."

"Can you really stay down as long as he said?" asked Nelson as they made their way along the passage to the after quarters.

"We can stay down as long as our battery holds out, which at four knots an hour, about what we're doing, would be from twenty-two to twenty-four hours. Anyway, that's what they say. I was never down more than four hours until now. As far as the air is concerned, I guess no one knows how long this tub could stay down. I dare say the air would hold out about as long as the battery, though. That needn't worry you, Nep. We'll be popping out long before that."