The two boys regarded him wonderingly.
“You mean that work on it is at a standstill?” inquired Jack presently.
“Precisely so. I have to face certain mechanical problems that have—I am free to admit it—fairly stumped me.”
“You see,” he continued briefly, “the White Shark is to be a combination diving and ‘skimming’ boat.”
The boys merely nodded and waited for Mr. Dancer to continue. Plainly, developments of possibly startling interest were at hand.
“But it is impossible for me to explain to you just what the White Shark is, and what I hope to accomplish with her, without affording you a view of the craft,” resumed Mr. Dancer; “if you feel strong enough I will show her to you.”
“But it seems to me that I read in a Boston paper some time ago that your work here was of the most secret sort,” said Jack.
“So far as the outside public is concerned such is the case,” was the reply, “but to my fellow laborers in the same field, as it were, I am glad to be of service and to provide them with an interesting sight; for I am vain enough to believe that the White Shark is one of the most remarkable craft in the world at the present time.”
“I should like to see it above all things,” cried Jack eagerly.
“The same here,” responded Tom, with expectant eyes, “I feel quite recovered from my shaking up.”