men were put aboard the “Pollard” at the platform deck. Captain Jack
Benson unlocking the door to the conning tower, was himself the first to
disappear down below. When he came back he carried a line to which was
attached a heavy sounding-lead.

“It won’t take us long to sound the deep spots in this little harbor,”
said the young skipper, as he dropped down once more into the bow of the
shore boat. “Row about, Hal, over the places where the submarine could go
below out of sight.”

As Hal rowed, Skipper Jack industriously used the sounding-lead.

For twenty minutes nothing resulted from this exploration. Then, all of a
sudden, Benson shouted:

“Back water, Hal! Easy; rest on your oars. Steady!”

Jack Benson raised the lead two or three feet, then let it down again,
playing it up and down very much as a cod fisherman uses his line and
hook.

“I’m hitting something, and it is hardly a rock, either,” declared young
Benson. “Pull around about three points to starboard, Hal, then steal
barely forward.”

Again Benson played see-saw with his sounding-line over the boat’s
gunwale.

“If my lead isn’t hitting the ’Farnum,’” declared the young skipper,
positively, “then it’s the ’Farnum’s’ ghost. Hold steady, now, Hal.”