Smith cleared away the pile of articles from the rack and proceeded to prepare the table for the meal. In the midst of his activities the sliding door of the fo'c'sle was thrust back, and Stirling's head and shoulder's appeared, backed by a cloud of vapour with which the little compartment was filled.
"Blessed if I can understand what's wrong with the oven," he exclaimed, wiping the tears from his eyes, for the smoke had caused them to water freely. "It went all right for about five minutes, then there was a regular burst of beastly smelling smoke."
"Let me have a look at it," said Smith, with grim determination in his voice. "I'll soon see what's wrong. Open that forehatch, old chap, and let's get rid of the infernal smoke."
The raising of the hatch and the accompanying cloud of vapour was the signal for a chorus of exclamations from the line of phlegmatic Dutchmen on the quay, who, for want of something better to do, were passing the time in meditative contemplation of the Diomeda. The roaring of the stove deadened all external sound, but a minute later the occupants of the fo'c'sle were saluted by a deluge of water. Imagining that a fire had broken out on board, two of the good folk of Delfzyl had adroitly poured a couple of buckets of water down the forehatch.
Hurried explanations and a profound apology from the well-meaning Dutchmen followed. The crew of the Diomeda once more dived below to change their saturated garments.
"Now let's have another shot at it," said Smith, as he removed the steak, soaked with salt water, to a safe distance from the stove. "There's something fizzling away in the double bottom. Hand me that screwdriver, my young friend."
It was an easy task to remove the front of the stove, revealing a deep cavity in which was a steaming mass of paper.
"That's the cause of it all," announced Octavius Smith, as he hooked out the offending object. "It's a book. How on earth did it get there?"
Stirling took the still moistened volume and examined the title page.
"It's a German book," he said. "Something to do with torpedoes."