"Pah! You've no imagination. That, my son, is an idea."
"H'm! I always thought your ideas were pretty heavy, but——"
"Shut up or I'll report you for insubordination."
"Sorry, but I don't quite follow the drift of this ponderous idea of yours."
"That's because yours is a stodgy, matter-of-fact, unromantic mind. But listen and I'll expound in words suitable to your infantine understanding. In the first place, I must tell you that one end of that barrel is weighted in such a manner that, when submerged in a suitable fluid, such as sea-water, it will float just below the surface. Secondly," continued Lawless, in the manner of one giving a lecture, "I would call your attention to a cylindrical object which, viewed at close range, somewhat resembles a drain-pipe. Nevertheless, my child, it is not a drain-pipe, but an invention of mine own constructed by the worthy artificer, yclept Bates. Lastly, a thin line of about six fathoms length, to the end of which is suspended a goodly lump of lead, is attached to the side of the said barrel."
Lawless stopped and waited for the applause.
"A very pretty conjuring trick," remarked Trent, as one humouring an amiable lunatic. "And what do you do now? Make it disappear up your sleeve or change it into a live rabbit?"
"Oh, you blithering ass!" exclaimed the Lieutenant impatiently. "Can't you see? This is the means I've devised for revenging myself on that wretched skipper."
"You're going to fill it with dynamite and explode it under his stern?"
"No, my child, I'm not. Instead, I'm going to fix that line to the stanchions against his rudder-post so that the steamer will tow this barrel, which, being weighted, will be submerged and show only the pipe in a vertical position above the surface. Furthermore, the worthy Bates having fashioned the top thereof in the likeness of a periscope, the victim will think he's being chased by an enemy submarine and have divers fits and spasms in consequence. Do you grasp the idea now?"