“Go ahead, then, but don’t blame me if anything happens!”
Harry moved to the vicinity of the spot where the stranger had been occupied but a few moments before. Jimmie was at the porthole.
A turn of the valve resulted in a sudden short inrush of water.
This ceased abruptly, bringing forth an exultant cry from Harry, while the other boys crowded around, speculating on the cause.
“I’ve got it!” cried Harry, dancing about the compartment. “I know what he’s going to do. Go to the porthole, Jimmie, and see where our friend is now. Tell me just what he’s doing. I’m going to stand guard over this valve here for a while in case something happens.”
“He’s going back into his little cage!” stated Jimmie from his position. “He’s just shutting the outer door.”
“Stand by to see something happen now, boys!” announced Harry.
“What’s going to happen, Harry?” asked Jack.
Before Harry could answer, a sputter of water and air was observed at the open valve. A small quantity of water was blown out of the pipe. Following this came a rush of sweet, pure air that was very grateful to the boys after they had been using the vitiated atmosphere of their craft.
In fact, the lads were much nearer the complete exhaustion of their supply of usable atmosphere than they really comprehended.