"I believe we can; don't believe there'll be any difficulty whatever," declared the young captain, his eyes glowing.
"Well, I'm going to think it over a while," announced the builder, as he finished his meal.
He went directly up to the platform deck, seating himself on a folding chair. From the loud chuckles that came, from time to time, from the platform deck, it was plain that the boatbuilder had had his sense of humor mightily tickled.
Presently, the hail came:
"Benson, come up here, won't you?"
As Jack reported to the builder Farnum stood looking across the bay.
"Captain, how are we going to get at the exact distance between our boat and the 'Luzon'?"
"It's a question of mathematics, isn't it?" asked Jack, slowly. "Mr.
Pollard is the expert in that line, isn't he?"
"Oh, I say, Dave," bawled the builder down the stairway. "Come up here, won't you? Now, how far is it from our moorings to those of the 'Luzon'?"
There being still enough daylight for the purpose, Mr. Pollard brought up a small transit. Measuring a base-line on the deck of the submarine, he took two observations, then went below to do some rapid figuring.