“If you don’t mind, sir, I’d prefer to stay with the ship,” he said, quietly. “I haven’t forgotten that radio warning.”
“But surely you don’t think anyone can molest us down here?” scoffed the professor.
“No, but I’d prefer to stay with the ship just the same, sir, if you don’t mind.”
“Very well”—with a touch of pique. “Then you may come along if you care to, Mr. Hunter.”
If he cared to!
“Thanks, Professor!” he said with a grateful look toward Diane. “I’d be keen to!”
So he accompanied them below, where they donned their pressure-suits—rubber affairs rather less cumbersome than ordinary deep-sea diving gear, reinforced with steel wire and provided with thick glass goggles and powerful searchlights, in addition to their vibratory communication apparatus and other devices that were explained to Larry.
When he had mastered their operation, which was rendered simple by reason of the fact that they were so nearly automatic, the trio stepped into a lock on the floor of the ship and Professor Stevens ordered them to couple their suits to air-valve connections on the wall, at the same time admitting water by opening another valve.
Swiftly the lock flooded, while their suits inflated.