"Only when at anchor or in dock," replied Lieutenant Jack Benson. "A submarine's natural mission is one of stealth, and it wouldn't do to go about with a clanging of gongs. Now, let me have the wheel, Mr. Darrin. You gentlemen go to the conning tower and stand so that you can hear what goes on below."
While the three midshipmen stood as directed the speed of the
"Dodger" slackened.
Then, after a space of a full minute, the submarine returned to her former twenty-knot speed.
"Did you hear any clanging or jangling of a signal bell or gong when the speeds were changed?" questioned Lieutenant Benson.
"No, sir," Darrin answered.
"That was because no bells were sounded," explained Benson. "From deck or conning tower signals can be sent that make no noise. On a dark night, or in a fog, we could manoeuvre, perhaps, within a stone's throw of an enemy's battleship, and the only sound that might betray our presence would be our wash as we moved along. Take the wheel, Mr. Farley."
Then, after giving Farley a few directions as to the course to follow, Lieutenant Benson added:
"Take command of the deck, Mr. Farley."
"Humph!" muttered Dan. "The lieutenant doesn't seem to be afraid that we'll run his craft into any danger."
"He knows as well as we do what would happen to me, if there were any disaster, and I had to explain it before a court of inquiry," laughed Midshipman Farley. "Hello! Who slowed the boat down?"