“We drifted about at the mercy of the storm for a long time,” replied Mr. Sheldon. “Then we lost our oars—one pair was tossed overboard by a sailor who became crazed, and who leaped into the sea himself. Then the two other sailors, seeing a larger boat, jumped over the side to swim to her, using the other pair of oars as buoys. They reached her, and that left Grace and me alone.
“Gradually we lost sight of the other boats, and, having no way of propelling our craft, we had to drift. We had some food and water, which we used as sparingly as we could. We took shelter under the canvas at night, and just drifted—drifted. Oh, it was terrible! I want to forget it! Sometimes we would sight a vessel, but we could not seem to make anyone aboard see us. They did not come near enough.
“Then, when we were giving up in despair, we saw what seemed to be a whale approaching. Grace was very much frightened, fearing it was going to attack us. I was alarmed, too, but it proved to be this submarine. We were glad, indeed, to be taken aboard,” and he smiled at Dr. Klauss, who was looking sternly at his visitors, his arms folded, and standing erect, like a man posing for his statue.
“And so here we are,” concluded Mr. Sheldon, “but as if our rescue was not enough, here you boys come and are saved in the same way.”
“And in the nick of time, too,” added Jerry, gratefully.
“It was most fortunate for me,” said Professor Snodgrass, who had not been successful in finding any specimens, “very fortunate, for I need a submarine to enable me to get some hermit crabs from the bottom of the sea.”
Mr. Sheldon looked at Bob inquiringly, as though to ask if the scientist was altogether right in his mind.
“Oh, he’s always getting specimens,” explained the stout lad in a low voice, as Mr. Snodgrass went off in a hurry to get a green fly he saw crawling on the wall. “He’d go to the moon for a rare bug—if he could get there.”
“I see,” exclaimed Mr. Sheldon, with a laugh. “We all have our peculiarities.”