Bob wanted very much to ask his uncle what it was he had brought over from Germany with him, but the presence of Dr. Klauss deterred him. The youth realized that perhaps it was a secret that it would not be well to share with the strange commander of the Sonderbaar. And, too, Bob wanted to hear more about what his uncle had said as to their being prisoners. If the Sheldons were detained on board the boys and Professor Snodgrass would probably be in the same plight.
“There’s something queer here,” mused Bob. “I’ll have to talk it over with Jerry and Ned.”
“If you will excuse me for a little while,” said Dr. Klauss, rather stiffly, “I will see if we have air enough. I will also send you some dry clothing,” he added to the boys, for they had been drenched by the rain.
“How did you know the open boat you found was the one we had been in?” asked Grace of her cousin.
“Because of this,” Bob answered, holding out her handkerchief. “It has your name on it. But when we saw that no one was in the boat we feared, for a time, that you might have been drowned.”
“I was sure you had been picked up,” put in Jerry, “and I was right.”
“In a way, yes,” admitted Mr. Sheldon. “Though, more properly speaking, we were ‘picked down,’ for we had to go down to get into this boat. And we’ve been under water several times since.”
“Have you really navigated under water?” asked Ned with interest.
“Of course,” replied Grace. “At first I was horribly afraid, but now I don’t mind it very much.”