“Has it been tried?”
“Heavens! No! If it had been tried the whole world would be using it. After we destroy the German fleet the whole world will use it.”
“Is it some new principle? Some unknown agency?”
He shook his head. “There’s nothing new about it. It’s just a sure way to make an ordinary Whitehead torpedo hit a battleship.”
Although I was consumed with curiosity I did not press for details at this time and my companion presently relapsed into one of his long silences.
We reached Chicago the next afternoon and, as the great inventor left me to lay his plans before the Committee of Twenty-one, he thanked me earnestly for what I had done and asked if he could serve me in any way.
“I suppose you know what I would like?” I laughed.
He smiled encouragingly.
“Still game? Well, Mr. Langston, if the Committee approves my plan, and I think they will, you can get ready for another big experience. Take a comfortable room at the University Club and wait.”