"What is it?" asked the captain eagerly.
"Send the ship ahead!" exclaimed Andy. "Speed her as fast as she will go. Try her strength against the force of the whirlpool! We may win!"
"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "I was too much depressed to think of that! The ship has powerful engines. Queer you should remember that instead of me. Come, Washington, start the screw going! We will try to beat the whirlpool!"
The submarine was now whirling around so rapidly that it was difficult for any one to stand without leaning against the sides or holding on to something. It was going lower and lower down, as the gage showed.
Soon a throb that was felt through the length of the craft told that the engine had started. The vibration increased until it seemed that the ship would be torn apart. Never had the big screw revolved at greater speed.
For a while the struggle between the force of man represented by the engine, and the power of nature, embodied in the whirlpool, seemed equal. Neither could gain the mastery. The ship continued to slide around in ever narrowing circles while the big cable of water, forced through the tunnel by the screw, was like a cataract.
"Which will win?" asked the professor softly to himself.
He crawled to the gages and watched them. Only by their needles could it be told when the battle had turned in favor of the adventurers.
The circular motion, that was now terrible in its speed and power, seemed to culminate in a rush that almost overturned the ship. In the engine room Washington was laboring to keep the machine at top speed. He put on the last ounce of power.
"Hurrah!" yelled the professor suddenly. "I think we shall win!"