Both Matt and the captain kept their eyes constantly on the table top, then, abruptly, Matt gave a gasp and caught at the table to support himself.
"Look!" he cried. "Captain—the boat——"
But Captain Nemo, Jr.'s, startled eyes had already seen what Matt had beheld. This was a whaleboat tossed wildly on the crest of a huge wave adrift, and with Carl and Dick clinging desperately to the oars.
Only Matt's two chums were in the boat. The captain whirled to one of the tubes.
"Turbines at work, Clackett!" he shouted; "quick, on your life. Empty the tanks and get us back to the surface! Reverse your engine, Gaines," he added through another tube.
Matt, still clinging to the table, stared down on its polished top. The drifting whaleboat, with his two chums, had vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
[CHAPTER VII.]
A FRUITLESS SEARCH.
"That boat was adrift!" cried Matt, as soon as he could find his tongue.