"Well, I didn't see how it could be avoided," said Tom, rather shamefacedly, for the inventor's eyes were fixed on him with a whimsical smile.
"My dear sir!" expostulated the professor, "I—we—of course, you must understand I was in no sense alarmed——"
"Not any more than that time on the Omoo, when poor Jack and Sandy played ghosts with green faces," grinned Tom, sotto voce.
"Ah done heard dem golden harps playin' jes' as plain!" confessed Rosewater frankly.
"Well, as you see, the Huron is under perfect control at all times," said Mr. Ironsides. "We have dived under the keel of that craft, and I imagine, caused those on board her to indulge in a considerable amount of speculation as to whether they really saw us or not."
He laughed in a care-free, boyish fashion that he had, and which made it difficult for his companions to realize that their shipmate was one of the brainiest men in the United States. They had merely had a specimen of Mr. Ironsides' way of amusing himself.
"Shall we come to the surface?" he asked presently.
"I don't think it would be a bad idea," said the professor, in a rather relieved tone, "this darkness is—is——"
"It kind of gets on one's nerves," said Tom, finishing the sentence for him.
"Oh, you'd soon get over that," said Mr. Ironsides easily. "Of course, it's natural, though. I'll never forget the first time I went down in this craft. I was alone. I didn't want any one else to risk his life. For a time I was in a state of delightful uncertainty as to whether she'd rise again or not."