"And you say this boat will really work?" he questioned.
"Yes. The model worked perfectly when we tried her in Long Island Sound."
"Such a submarine boat would be far in advance of the others which we have lost."
"She would be, and that would mean that she would also be superior to the submarine boats owned by our foreign foes."
"Then you must press this matter upon Secretary Short by all means."
"I shall do my best. But he may not be willing to listen to me. I understand he is very busy."
"He is busy, but I will give you a letter to him which will insure you an audience."
The senator was as good as his word. There was a stenographer and typewriter on the train and he dictated a letter and signed it without delay.
When Oscar reached Washington he found the entire city in a state of suppressed excitement. The destruction of the American warships off New York Harbor was on everybody's lips, and many predicted that the United States would soon be at the mercy of her foreign foes.
"And they will show us no mercy," they declared. "They are too anxious to see us broken to pieces. England will retake Canada, Mexico will go to Spain, Russia will cry for Alaska, with its gold, while France and Germany will want a slice of the Eastern coast and China and Japan a slice of the Western."