“That is good. Now if you will get up and follow me, I think I can show you something that will surprise you.”
So saying the inventor crossed the room to another door than the one by which he had entered. The boys, following him, found themselves in a big shed from which “ways” sloped down to the water’s edge. An extended view of the ocean was not possible, for two doors of stout construction barred the gaze of any curious person who might have tried to obtain a view of the White Shark from the sea.
But for these details the boys had no eyes. Their gaze was riveted on what, in outside appearance, at any rate, fully justified its designer’s appellation: “One of the most remarkable craft in the world.”
The White Shark was secured at the top of the ways, presumably ready to take a plunge into the element for which she was designed. She was about seventy feet in length, and shaped like a rather stout barrel with pointed, conical ends.
At one end was a propeller of bronze, and at the other a long tube, like a snout, or nose. This puzzled the boys greatly, but for the time they refrained from asking questions. The material of which the White Shark was constructed was a mystery also. It glistened like polished nickel and was as smooth and bright as a mirror.
“The White Shark is built throughout of Monel metal, a material that will not tarnish or corrode, but always remains bright,” explained Mr. Dancer.
Jack nodded his head.
“It’s something quite new, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s the invention of a friend of mine in New Jersey. It is almost as light and far stronger than aluminum.”
There was a ladder leaning against the side of the odd craft and Mr. Dancer, beckoning to the boys, signed them to follow him. He ascended the rungs with remarkable agility for a man of his apparent age and reached the top of the cylindrical craft long before the boys did.