"Not at all, sir," was the calm answer. "I was just running over in my mind the things necessary to be done in making such a deep dive. The pressure at two hundred and ten feet will be terrific. At that depth, the lid of our hatchway will be supporting a weight of more than thirty-two tons."
"Exactly," answered the captain, pleased with the way Matt's mind was going over the work.
"If there happened to be anything wrong with the calculations of the man who built the Grampus, captain, she would be smashed like an egg shell."
"We are going to prove his calculations." The captain seated himself on a low stool. "Gaines is at the motor, Clackett is at the submerging tanks, Speake has charge of the storage batteries and compressed air, and Cassidy is here in the periscope room with us to drive the Grampus in any direction you desire."
"Dick Ferral is with Gaines," added Matt, "and Carl Pretzel is with Clackett."
"Exactly. Every man is at his station, and some of the stations are double manned. Now, then, go ahead."
Matt whirled to a speaking tube.
"We're going to make a record dive, Clackett," he called into the tube, "and Captain Nemo, Jr., has placed me in charge——"
"Bully for the captain!" came back the voice of Clackett, echoing weirdly distinct in the periscope room.
"Hoop-a-la!" bubbled the exultant tones of Matt's Dutch chum. "Der king oof der modor poys iss der poy for me."