Not quite catching the great significance of it all, the Melvilles and the lawyer hurried after the builder.
Captain Jack Benson, clad only in a bathing suit, stepped out of the water and stood laughing before his employer.
"Jack, how on earth did you—" began Farnum, then stopped, overpowered by another wave of amazement.
"What's the meaning of all this?" demanded the elder Melville, pantingly, as he reached the scene.
"Mr. Melville, and gentlemen," cried the boatbuilder, wheeling upon his guests, "do you even begin to grasp the importance of the marvel you have just witnessed? One of the great indictments found against the submarine torpedo boat is that, when one sinks and cannot be brought to the surface again, the crew must miserably perish. Very humane people shudder at the very idea of ordering men into a craft that may go to the bottom and become the hopeless grave of the crew. Yet the 'Pollard' lies at the bottom of this harbor, and Captain Benson has just come to the surface, laughing and uninjured."
"I suppose he opened the manhole cover, and rose to the surface," hazarded Mr. Melville.
"In that case, sir," smiled Captain Jack, "wouldn't you expect the 'Pollard' to be filled with water, and my companions drowned? Besides, sir, at a depth of seventy feet, the pressure of the water is such that it would be sheer impossibility to raise the manhole cover."
"Then how did you get here?" demanded the capitalist.
"Pardon me, sir," replied Jack, courteously, though firmly.
"Do you refuse to answer my question, boy?"