Page:Cruise of the Dry Dock.djvu/278

 “We're inside of that submarine you saw enter a few hours ago,” explained the Englishman shortly.

Leonard stared around with new eyes. “So this is a submarine! Do you know anything about them? What's that spirit level for?” He pointed at a horizontal gauge.

“Measures air pressure—it's not a level.”

“What's in these steel tanks overhead?”

“Compressed air.”

“What's that you are getting into?” Here Caradoc lifted the lid, and Madden got a view. “Say, that's a torpedo, isn't it?” he asked quickly as he saw a long needle-pointed steel cigar with propeller and rudder on the aft end.

The Englishman made no reply. He leaned over and selected a small steel crowbar from a tool locker, drew it out with a quick nervous movement.

“Say!” cried Madden catching the strange expression on the face of his friend, “are you going to try to launch this and escape on it—escape on a torpedo?”

A mirthless smile flickered over the Englishman's gray face. “Nothing so fanciful.”