Commander Ford left his post and visited each compartment, making sure that everything was functioning smoothly. When he returned, he said calmly: “We’ll go a little deeper.”
The diving rudders were inclined again and the S-18 nosed its way deeper into the water.
Tim watched the depth gauge, fascinated. The needle was marking the distance steadily. Sixty, seventy, eighty feet they went. Now they were moving downward again. Ninety, ninety-five and then a hundred.
George Gadd, the engineer, came into the control room.
“Everything’s all right so far,” he reported.
“Then we’ll go the rest of the way,” decided Commander Ford.
Tim knew what the order meant. They were going to the bottom, going down to make absolutely sure that the S-18 was ready for the Caribbean treasure hunt.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
On the Bottom
The depth gauge was dropping steadily as the S-18 plunged downward through the black waters. From Commander Ford on down, everyone was tense. This was the big test. If anything went wrong—
But they couldn’t think of that, that is, no one except Tim who had nothing else to do.