"Right!" ejaculated Oscar Pelham. "I'll do it, if it costs me my life."
With all speed he donned one of the diver's suits with which the submarine craft was provided.
What he intended to do, or rather try to do, was indeed perilous.
This was nothing more than to leave the Holland through the chamber in which were stored the torpedoes the craft carried.
He would have to pass through two trap-doors, and then to the outer sea, providing he could get out.
His preparations were carefully made and he went out provided with several instruments by which he might measure the hollow and figure out how best to start the submarine craft.
It was with great difficulty that he squeezed himself out into the water, which here represented a pressure of many pounds to the square inch.
The first thing that his eyes rested upon was the torpedo which had failed to go off.
The clockwork was still in position, and what had caused it to cease moving was a mystery.
"But it's a good thing it didn't go off," he mused, as he began his inspection of the situation.