"Excellently," agreed the Navy commander.
"Do you want to take the record with your stop watch?"
"Yes?"
"All ready, sir."
As Captain Jack gave the word he threw open the forward water tanks, so that water rushed in, tilting the bow of the craft downward. The "Pollard" moved on a decided slant until Captain Jack read the depth of forty feet on the gauge. Then, with a barely perceptible rest. On an even keel, the young submarine expert threw compressed air into the forward tanks, expelling the water, at the same time admitting water to the tanks aft.
Gracefully, and with, the precision of a trained living being, the submarine craft curved upward until Lieutenant McCrea shouted down:
"We're awash, sir"
Benson drove the water from the tanks aft, and the boat rode the waves.
"Now, let us see you run a little lower than awash, with just enough of the conning tower in the air for the helmsman to see where he is steering," proposed the president of the board.
Jack went above to relieve Eph at the wheel, while Commander Ennerling stationed himself beside the boy.