"That's Captain Jack Benson's specialty," replied Eph Somers, his eyes twinkling.
"What's his specialty!"
"Doing things with a submarine boat that have never been done before.
Captain Benson is the latest wonder in the submarine line."
"He has a very steady admirer in you, hasn't he?" inquired one of the newspaper men, laughingly..
"Yes; and the same is true of anyone else who knows him well," declared Eph, warmly. "Jack Benson is about the best fellow on earth—and one of the smartest, too, his comrades think."
Thereupon one of the newspaper correspondents began tactfully to draw out young Somers about the history and past performances of the young submarine captain. On this subject Somers talked as freely as they could want.
"It was Benson, too, who discovered the trick of leaving a submarine boat on the bottom, and coming to the top by himself, wasn't it?" slyly asked one of the visitors.
"That was his discovery," nodded Eph, promptly.
"What's the principle of the trick?"
Eph's jaws snapped with a slight noise. He remained silent, for a few moments, before he replied: