"You'll probably think you've completely lost some parts of your
department of internal affairs before you get rightly acquainted with
your new friend Mr. Neptune," offered Bill by way of a gentle reminder.

So far the new members of the _Dewey's_ crew had been unaffected by the
terrors of seasickness. Bill's remark drove the import of it home
pretty hard. "I hope, if we are going to get it," interjected Ted
philosophically, "we get it soon and get over with it."

They had little time to ponder over the possibilities of gastronomic
disturbances, for there was much going on that occupied their attention.
The _Dewey_ was now running entirely submerged, testing out her
electric batteries.

"How do they steer the vessel down here under the sea?" asked Jack.

"By the gyrocompass," answered Bill Witt, pointing to where Executive
Officer Binns and Commander McClure stood in the conning tower. "We
are running blind down here, except that the skipper knows from his
compass which direction we are going, and he has charts that tell him
the depth of the sea at this point. They know the longitude and
latitude and can easily determine on their maps and charts just where
we are."

"How deep down can we go?" inquired Ted.

"Most of the boats have to be tested at a depth of two hundred feet
before they are accepted by the government from the builders," replied
Bill. "But you can bet your life we don't often go down that far.
When we do, the water is oozing through the thin steel hull and