Ned exploded in a loud laugh.
"Why, you chump," he exclaimed, "they are not loaded mines!"
"Then how can they tell if they've been exploded or not when we go submarining around them?"
"It's up to us to see if we can dodge the wires or contrive some way to disconnect them."
"That disconnecting idea doesn't appear very feasible."
"No, it does not," agreed Ned; "but I think I can find a way to evade them, for all that."
"Hum! So long as they're not loaded, I don't care even if we run bumpety-bang into one," declared Herc; "but a loaded mine—no, thank you!"
"Our orders after that are general. We are to use our own discretion entirely, acting as the eyes and ears of the Red fleet, and forwarding to the flagship, via wireless, every scrap of information we think might be valuable to the attacking party."
"That's one thing I don't like about this command," muttered Herc.