In spite of the submarine man's promise, it was considerably more than two hours before a row of scattered lights, which Tom presumed marked Brownhaven, came into view. The channel, too, was intricate, and altogether it was well past midnight when the Sea Ranger was anchored off a dry-dock, which Obadiah had fitted up in his boat yard.
"Now," said he, coming alongside in his craft, "if you fellows will come on board I'll take you ashore. I'll promise you that repair work will be begun the first thing in the morning. From what I could see of the injury it ought not to take more than a few hours."
The ship's company of the unfortunate Sea Ranger descended, by means of a sea ladder, to the submarine, whose outlines could only be seen dimly. As Tom's feet struck the deck plates of the strange craft, they gave out a hollow, metallic ring.
"Steel, with an aluminum alloy, which is my secret," said the inventor.
"But come below, gentlemen; come below. If this is your first visit to a submarine you may find much to interest you."
He led the way to a sort of helmet-shaped projection, pierced with eye-holes and screened with very thick glass, which stood amidships. He leaned down as he reached this, and pulled a lever. Instantly a door slid back with a clanging sound, and a stream of soft light poured up from below. As it fell on Obadiah Ironsides' face, Tom gave a cry of astonishment. He had not had a good view of the inventor before—the light by which they had followed the submarine not revealing his features fully.
Tom's exclamation, not in accord with true politeness, was called forth by the fact that Obadiah Ironsides, whose name and whose manner both would have led one to suppose him an aged man, was a mere youth. In fact, he didn't look much older than Tom. He wore a suit of some sort of black leather, like an automobilist's. His hair curled crisply above a high, white forehead, and his features, which were regular, although strong and rugged, were lit up by a pair of dancing blue eyes.
They danced more merrily than ever as he gazed at Tom's astonished face and the amazed looks of the rest of the "castaway crew."
"Thought Obadiah Ironsides was a regular old fogy, eh?" he laughed, "Well, he's not. Not a bit of it. But come below and see what you think of my little craft."
So saying, he plunged into the opening in the helmet-shaped conning tower, and was followed by the others. Inside the helmet was a steel stairway by which they descended into surroundings stranger than any of them had ever encountered.