The other midshipmen began to look and to feel strange.
"Then are we moored for good at the bottom of the bay?" asked
Jetson.
"No; for we carry plenty of duplicate parts for this plate," replied
Ensign Hal. "Come into the engine room and I will show you how
I fit the duplicate part on."
Hal led the midshipmen, halting before a small work bench. He threw open a drawer under the bench.
"Every duplicate plate has been removed from this drawer," announced Hastings quietly. "Then, indeed, we are stuck in the mud, with no chance of rising. Gentlemen, I trust that the Navy will send divers here to rescue us before our fresh air gives out!"
CHAPTER X
"WE BELONG TO THE NAVY, TOO!"
"You mean, sir," asked Midshipman Jetson, his voice hoarse in spite of his efforts to remain calm, "that we are doomed to remain here at the bottom of the bay unless divers reach us in time?"
"Yes," nodded Hal Hastings, his voice as quiet and even as ever. "Unless we can find a duplicate plate—-and that appears impossible—-the 'Dodger' is wholly unable to help herself."
"If the outlook is as black as it appears, gentlemen," spoke Jack Benson from behind their backs, "I'm extremely sorry that such a disaster should have happened when we had six such promising young Naval officers aboard."