"Captain!" the young motorist exclaimed, starting up, "there's something wrong with you! Do you feel——"
The captain waved his hand deprecatingly, and the calm, inscrutable smile hovered about his thin lips.
"Let that pass for a moment, my lad," said he. "I was testing the Grampus, but, more than that, I was likewise testing you. Since we picked up Carl and Dick, off the Dolphin, and before that, while we were cruising about trying to find them,[A] you have been serving your apprenticeship on the submarine. I have always had the utmost confidence in you, Motor Matt, and I have now, I think, tested your knowledge of the Grampus in a manner which leaves no room for doubt. You are able to run the boat, and to extricate her from any difficulties in which she might become entangled, as well, if not better, than I could do myself."
[A] This reference of Captain Nemo, Jr., has to do with the thrilling experiences of Carl and Dick while they were at swords' points with Captain James Sixty, the filibuster, for an extended account of which see No. 15 of the Motor Stories, "Motor Matt's Submarine; or, The Strange Cruise of the Grampus."
Matt, from the captain's manner, had suspected that the gray-haired inventor of the craft had tried to bring out all that was in him. Captain Nemo, Jr., of course, had not been able to forecast the trouble that was to overtake the submarine in the bottom of the bay, but this dangerous experience had served only to show Matt's resourcefulness to better advantage.
"You are cool-headed in time of danger," proceeded the captain, "and, no matter what goes wrong, your ability is always on tap and can be brought to bear instantly upon anything you desire to accomplish."
The red ran into Matt's face and he waved a hand deprecatingly.
"I'm not a particle better than a lot of other fellows," said he, "who try to use their eyes, and hands, and brains."
"I expected you to say that, Matt," continued the captain. "The test, in your case, was hardly necessary, for I have watched your work in a lot of trying situations—and it has always been the same, steady, resourceful, reliable. Just now, we are going to Belize, British Honduras, to carry out some work for our government. As I have already told you, I don't know what that work is. Two sealed envelopes were given me by Captain Wynekoop of the U. S. cruiser Seminole. The first one told us to proceed to Belize. The next one, which I have here in my pocket, will instruct you relative to the work in prospect, and——"
"Instruct me?" broke in Matt, startled.