“We wish to find out when you are going to set us ashore, or put us on some other vessel. You have been very kind, but we must not tax your hospitality further. We want to get back to America.”
“And I say you shall not go!” fairly shouted the captain. “I am not going back to the United States until I come again with a fleet that will destroy all their ships!”
“Doctor!” cried Mr. Sheldon, leaping to his feet. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I say! I am going back to my own country, and build more submarines. I have proved what this one will do. With her, and more like her, I can destroy the whole United States navy. And I’m going to do it! I’m going to do it!
“I hate you! I hate all Americans. They shot my brother in the Spanish-American War, and I am going to revenge him. They called him a spy. He was not! I say he was not!
“America! You shall never see it again. I did not ask you to come aboard my vessel, but, since you are here, you must take the consequences. I shall not turn you free to have you reveal my secrets—the secrets I have guarded for years. I shall keep you with me forever. You shall never see home again!
“America! Bah! How I hate her!” and he stamped his feet with rage. “I shall wipe her from the face of the earth. No, I will not put you ashore! I shall not put you aboard some other vessel, to let her crew pry into my secrets! I tell you I will not! You are here—here you shall stay. Don’t ask me again!
“When my brother was shot—shot unjustly as a spy—I vowed to be revenged. Now my chance has come. After many years I have perfected my submarine. In it I can carry enough torpedoes to destroy a whole flotilla of United States warships, and some day I will do it.
“I hate Americans! I have three in my crew, but they shall never see their own land again. Nor will you! Don’t ask me again.”