CHAPTER V

UNDER WATER


When the Dipsey, the little submarine vessel which had started to
make its way to the north pole under the ice of the arctic
regions, had sunk out of sight under the waters, it carried a
very quiet and earnestly observant party. Every one seemed
anxious to know what would happen next, and all those whose
duties would allow them to do so gathered under the great
skylight in the upper deck, and gazed upward at the little glass
bulb on the surface of the water, which they were towing by means
of an electric wire; and every time a light was flashed into this
bulb it seemed to them as if they were for an instant reunited to
that vast open world outside of the ocean. When at last the
glass globe was exploded, as a signal that the Dipsey had cut
loose from all ties which connected her with the outer world,
they saw through the water above them the flash and the sparks,
and then all was darkness.

The interior of the submarine vessel was brightly lighted by
electric lamps, and the souls of the people inside of her soon
began to brighten under the influence of their work and the
interest they took in their novel undertaking; there was,
however, one exception--the soul of Mrs. Block did not brighten.

Mrs. Sarah Block was a peculiar person; she was her husband's
second wife, and was about forty years of age. Her family were
country people, farmers, and her life as a child was passed among