The day dawned with a red, angry sky proclaiming nasty weather. But this, instead of dampening the ardor of the inventor and his aides, only increased it. It meant that the submarine was in for a real test in a bad sea.
By the time they were ready to start, the wind had freshened into half a gale and a high sea was running, heaping up big gray combers with white tops which broke angrily.
Into this storm the Peacemaker was headed without hesitation. On board were the ensign, the inventor, Rob and Merritt. The two latter were to serve watch and watch in the engine room, while the inventor and the ensign placed themselves under a similar arrangement in the conning tower.
Both Rob and Merritt were by this time fully conversant with the running of the Peacemaker's intricate machinery and were trusted to the full by their superior officers.
"Gee! This feels like being afloat in an empty bottle!" exclaimed Merritt as the Peacemaker headed into the tumbling seas.
"It sure does," responded Rob, hanging on to a handhold while he oiled a bearing. "I suppose they want to see how much she'll stand on the surface."
"Wonder they wouldn't dive and give us a chance to get a little quiet," observed Merritt as the rolling, bucking Peacemaker leaped, as it seemed, skyward and then plunged dizzily down again.
"There must be a hummer of a sea outside. Guess, as I'm off duty, I'll go up and see what's doing," said Rob presently.
He made his way with much difficulty toward the steel ladder leading into the conning tower. The passage could only be made by fits and starts, and the boy for the first time realized the necessity of the handholds placed at frequent intervals on the cabin walls, to which reference has already been made.
Reaching the ladder he scrambled up into the conning tower, and, once inside, braced himself against the wild and erratic motions of the Peacemaker. To see through the lenses was impossible. The seas that swept over the little craft blurred the glass with green water and obscured everything outside. But on the Peacemaker this condition did not matter. The contingency had been provided for.