"You mean that there is a way of escaping from this craft?" demanded old Sam incredulously. "Well, lad, I know the Huron pretty well, from her keel plates up, but I can't figure one."
"How about the torpedo tube?" inquired Tom calmly.
"Wow!" cried the old man. "I begin to get your meaning, now. But could it be done?"
"It can be tried," said Tom. "As I understand it, when the Huron is floating on the surface her torpedo tube is submerged to a depth of about four feet."
"Ker-rect," declared old Sam.
"The outer end is so devised that it is closed and water-tight till a torpedo is fired and shoves it open. It is this which enables the projectile to be loaded without endangering the flooding of the boat."
"Ker-rect again, my lad; go on. We're all listening. But you're wrong in one point. The torpedo tube is not opened by the passage of the torpedo through it. It is opened by the operation of a lever in the conning tower."
"So much the better," said Tom. "Now, then, my plan is this: I will creep into the torpedo tube. When I am inside it, one of you will close the inside end. The outer end will then be opened by Sam, who will remain by the opening lever. As the water rushes in, I will dive outward and shoot up to the surface. We know pretty well where Mr. Ironsides is confined. I shall swim to the bow of the tug and see what chance there is of getting him out. If there is any, you can rest assured that he will be back here within an hour."
"Bravo!" cried Sam. "That's a bully plan, my lad."
"Preposterous!" spoke the professor. "I shall not permit you to risk your life in any such mad fashion."