hours."

"I couldn't tell you if I knew," remarked Lieutenant Danvers, with a
quizzical look, then turned and strolled away.

"And I guess," muttered the submarine boy to himself, "that that's about
as near as a fellow can go to giving a tip, once he has had the Navy
muzzle padlocked to his jaws."

Some of the submarines in this long race--for such it was--were better
equipped as to the number of the crew. The Rhinds had this advantage,
carrying a captain and four men, in addition to Rhinds himself and his
secretary. Yet Jack and Eph relieved each other regularly at the wheel,
catching long naps between. Hal and Mr. Farnum did the same thing with
the engine room, and the "Hastings" kept well in the van through the
day, and also through the long night that followed.

Two hours after daylight the "Oakland" signaled to the submarines to run
up close to this "parent vessel," the gunboat.

"Further orders, of course," muttered Jack, who was at the wheel at the
time. "Well, we're not such a very long run, now, from the reported
location of that derelict."

The fleet was wholly out of sight of land. The wind was fresh and the
sea lively with short, choppy waves, crested by white-caps. Yet, for
boats as staunch as these submarines, sea was not a difficult one for
boat handling.

One after another, while still going at full speed, the submarines drew