"I will mention the matter," replied von Schellen, stiffly.
The wireless masts and aerials had disappeared. As the four passengers stood on the deck and wondered, the seamen entered the submarine through the manhole in the wake of von Schellen. When the last of them had gone into the conning tower the junior lieutenant re-appeared at the manhole to call:
"A pleasant evening for four!"
Then the manhole cover was closed and there came to those on deck a muffled sound connected with fastening it on the inside.
"What does this new insolence mean?" cried the Englishwoman.
"If you do not guess, you must soon know," replied her husband, throwing an arm about her. It was then that Mrs. Launce understood. She turned pale, but did not cry out.
Perhaps a full minute passed before the submarine began to move forward. Dave Darrin, familiar with the sounds from below, knew that the rumble of machinery coming to his ears was caused, not by the engines used in surface running, but by the electric motors employed when running under water.
"The brutes are going to drown us, as they did the hapless sailors they took from our boat!" gasped the Englishwoman.
"Yes, my dear," replied her husband, "and you have said that you would prefer drowning to being a prisoner in Germany."
"I still say it," she answered quietly.