"S-s-pose we don't come up again?" exclaimed Donald.
"We haven't got an awful lot to eat on board," murmured Tubby anxiously.
"Gracious, how far down are we going?" spoke Merritt, as five minutes passed and still the Peacemaker continued her descent into the depths of the sea.
All at once the tilting motion ceased, the Peacemaker's stern tanks were filled, and she floated on an even keel. Leaving the care of the wheel to Ensign Hargreaves, who, as we know, was familiar with the usual type of submarine, Mr. Barr came into the cabin.
"Well, boys, what do you think of it?" he asked with a smile.
"It's g-g-great," rejoined Tubby, with a notable lack of his usual assurance.
"And now I suppose you'd like to see what the bottom of the sea looks like. We are down some two hundred fathoms and about fifty miles off the coast. Should you care to see how things look down here?"
"How will that be possible?" asked Merritt.
By way of reply Mr. Barr went to the starboard wall of the cabin and pulled a lever connecting with a worm gear. As he did so, a great section of the Peacemaker's steel side drew back and revealed a plate glass window set between the inner and outer "skins" of the craft.
The boys crowded round the window and peered out eagerly. But to their disappointment they could see no more of their surroundings than if they had been looking out of a train window on a dark night. It was as black as a wolfs mouth at those unknown depths.