and twice as pleasant, as cruising in any other kind of yacht."

"After we've gotten more used to having hundreds of pounds of gun-cotton
on board," smiled Hal, "I don't suppose we'll ever think of the danger in
that stuff, either."

Jack unlocked the door, swinging it open. Then both young men passed
inside the red shed.

It needed hardly more than a glance, from an observing person, to make
certain that neither boy was likely to be much bothered by any ordinary
form of danger.

For a number of months, now, Jack Benson and Hal Hastings had lived all
but continually aboard submarine torpedo boats. They had operated such
craft, when awake, and had dreamed of doing it when asleep. Being youths
of intense natures, and unusually quick to learn, they had long before
qualified as experts in handling submarine craft.

They had yet, however, one thing to learn practically. It needs the
deadly torpedo, fired below the water, and traveling under the surface,
to make the torpedo boat the greatest of all dangers that menace the
haughty battleship of a modern navy.

Now, at last, Captain Jack Benson, together with his engineer, Hal
Hastings, and Eph Somers, another young member of the crew, were about
to have their first practical drill with the actual torpedo. An officer
of the United States Navy, especially detailed for the work, was expected
hourly at Dunhaven. The three submarine boys were eager for their first
taste of this work. Barely less interested were Jacob Farnum,