"I did till I bumped your vessel on rising," said Obadiah Ironsides, with a whimsical grimace.
"Is it not possible to provide some sort of apparatus which will give you warning of the vicinity of other craft?" asked the professor, who had listened and observed with the deepest attention while this singular hermit of the underwater talked.
"It is," rejoined Mr. Ironsides; "in fact, I have been experimenting with one which is in readiness to be affixed to the Huron. It is similar in its workings to those used by Atlantic liners in feeling their way through a fog."
"Then your submarine is complete?" asked Tom.
"Yes. In two weeks' time I am going on a trip through the great lakes with her, and then I shall have her shipped to attend the government tests at Newport News."
"One question more," put in the professor, "you have chosen a very out-of-the-way place to conduct your experiments."
"For a very obvious reason," said Obadiah Ironsides, with one of his pleasant laughs, "you must know that every navy in the world is experimenting with submarines. They are, in conjunction with torpedo destroyers, the war vessel of the future. The Russo-Japanese war proved that. Now, then, the competition is naturally keen among inventors to produce the best type of submarine. Inventors, as a class, are a splendid, upright set of men; but, I regret to say, that all are not so. Some of them are unscrupulous to a degree. It was to escape the surveillance of spies of a rival submarine concern that I buried myself up here. And there you have it," he concluded with a laugh, "unless, indeed, you wish to know whence I get my funds?"
Tom and the professor held up their hands in protest.
"My dear sir," said the professor.
"Not at all," laughed Obadiah. "My father was the well-known maker of iridium steel. He amassed a fortune in its manufacture. I learned my business in his foundry. When he died he left me his large fortune, which I devoted to experimental work. My dear mother soon followed him to the grave, and then, having only my work left to live for, I plunged into it with a vengeance. Possibly my ample funds have helped me to go further than some inventors with more ability but less capital," he concluded modestly. "So," he broke off with a laugh, "there you have the autobiography of Obadiah Ironsides, at your service. And now, as it is late, and I'm sure you are tired, we will retire."