"If the air pump failed, it would not affect the water, but would cut off our breathing supply," answered the official.
"How long could we last down here?"
"Oh, two or three of us working alone could stand it for some hours without any relief."
"Suppose some one opened the breech caps leading out into the access tube while the aquascope was up?"
"Wow-wow! In would come Mr. Ocean, and I guess it would be all day for the chaps who would be caught down here."
"Here you are, boys; see the whole panorama of the sea bottom unfolded before you," remarked the superintendent as he directed attention downward through the aquascope. The lads looked in turn and saw the sea-bottom plainly revealed, with all its sandy bottom and its jagged contour of shells and marine life. The floor of the Nautilus was, in fact, so close to the bottom that it was almost touching. Brown at once gave the signal to the engine room of the mother ship that stopped the Nautilus. With another flip of the air pressure he raised the flooring of the chamber and there lay the limpid waters of the Sound, held in check completely even at this depth by the pressure of air within the chamber!
"By Jove! You just stopped in time," exclaimed Captain Austin as he turned from one of the forward ports.
"What do you mean, Captain?" asked Superintendent Brown.
"Look here," replied "Cap," indicating the port and motioning the fleet superintendent to look out into the green haze of water.