"What is it? Is the ship going down?" came back from the depths in the voice of the professor. He seemed as calm as if it was a summer's day.
"No, but she is having a terrible fight with the waves," replied the boy.
"She has broken loose from the towing ship. The cable has snapped!" added Harry.
"Is that so?" asked the professor calmly. "Will you boys come down here for a minute? I want to see you."
Wondering what their eccentric friend could possibly wish in the way of conversation at such a time, the boys, not without some difficulty, clambered down the narrow ladder leading into the professor's den. They found him balancing himself on his long legs and trying to secure his bottles and jars, every one of which held some queer creature preserved in alcohol. The boys aided him in adjusting emergency racks arranged for such a purpose, but not before several bottles had broken and several strange-looking snakes and water animals, emitting a most evil smell, had fallen on the floor. These the professor carefully gathered up, though it was hard work to stand on the plunging floor, and placed in new receptacles. He seemed to place great value on them.
"So," he said finally, "you think the ship may go down?"
"We hope for the best, but anything may happen," rejoined Frank; "we are in a serious position. Practically helpless, we may drift into a berg at any moment."
"In that case we would sink?"
"Almost to a certainty."
"Then I want you to do something for me. Will you?"