"Take it and welcome," begged Hal Hastings. "The only thing we want is to see it work."
"And the sooner the better," grunted Eph Somers.
"Then thank you, I will," cried the inventor, earnestly. "But you boys, if the device can be made to work, shall have your full share of the credit."
"Hullo, boys," greeted Jacob Farnum, coming out from the inner office, a letter in his hands. "By the way, here's something that may interest you. I've a letter from a man who writes about the new trick of leaving a submerged boat. He refers to you boys as our young experts."
"He doesn't know, does he," chuckled Jack, "that we're only three apprentices, and rather raw, at that?"
"No, you're not," retorted Mr. Farnum. "My correspondent is pretty near right in referring to you as young experts."
"If we're going to get that reputation," muttered Benson, more than half seriously, "we'll have a heap to do in 'making good.'"
"Just look here, Farnum, at what these boys have been at work on," begged the inventor, calling attention to the partly-finished model.
In an instant the boatbuilder became absorbed in the idea as shown by model and drawings.
"Can this be made perfect, Dave?" he asked, eagerly, turning to the inventor.