An hour later all preliminaries were finished and the Grampus was off up the bay, tanks emptied and steel hull high in the water, her motors humming and setting a record pace.
[CHAPTER X.]
A HALT FOR REPAIRS.
Late in the afternoon of the day they left Lota Bay the Grampus spoke the British ship Sovereign, bound from Santiago to Liverpool. By means of a megaphone, Matt had a brief talk with the captain of the sailing vessel.
"What craft is that?" inquired the British captain, after answering Matt's hail with information concerning his own vessel.
"The submarine Grampus," answered Matt, "six weeks out from Belize, British Honduras, and bound for San Francisco."
"My word!" came from the other megaphone. "Sure about that?"
Matt was "stumped." It was certainly an odd question to ask.
"Of course I'm sure of it. Why?"