“Oh, we carry enough for several days,” remarked Mr. Sheldon. “The Sonderbaar could be submerged nearly a week at a pinch, so Dr. Klauss says.”
“I wouldn’t want to stay down here that long,” came from Jerry. “What are we going to do, Mr. Sheldon? We have come to you for advice. We feel that we ought to go back home.”
“That’s exactly how I feel about it, my boy. But the difficulty is that Dr. Klauss won’t put us ashore.”
“He won’t?”
“No. He refused in my case; decently enough, but firmly. Now my plan is to have you boys ask him. If he acts in the same way he must have some reason for it. If he acts and talks differently it may indicate what I have begun to suspect.”
“What’s that?” inquired Bob.
“Wait until you make your request,” was the reply. “Then you can judge for yourselves. He is a very strange man. Ask him the first chance you get.”
The opportunity came sooner than the boys expected. Shortly after their talk with Mr. Sheldon, Dr. Klauss came into the main cabin.
“Doctor,” began Jerry, “can you spare us a few moments?”
“What for?” and the words came with a snap.