"We thought you were all done for when you did not return at the end of the hour," said Stockton next morning.
"So did I," replied Gerald. "But how did they manage to raise the boat?"
"Mainly by a slice of luck, and also through Captain Brookes's perseverance and energy, old chap. Directly we felt certain that something was amiss the captain ordered a couple of hands to the cable-cutting room. The dynameter detected the presence of a very weak current----"
"That must have been after we shut off the searchlight and stopped the motors."
"Well, at any rate, it was sufficient to enable us to fix your position. Three times the grab was lowered without result. During these operations a torpedo came to the surface."
"Yes, we discharged it without allowing the propellers to actuate, so that it would come nearly straight to the surface."
"By jove, it did! I should never have believed it had I not seen the thing jump. It shot nearly twenty feet in the air, missing the cutter by a bare boat's length. Then someone suggested unfixing the head, and within we found your message.
"With that we knew you were still alive, and that the submarine had not collapsed under the pressure of the water, as Captain Brookes had feared. Shortly afterwards the grab engaged, and we found that under a strain of half a ton it was beginning to come home. It was an anxious time, as the cable was only tested to twelve hundredweights, but it held, after all, as you know."
"Bad. The strain coming on top of the narcotic has played havoc with him. The other men are progressing favourably; but Gerald, old man, where's your shaving-mirror? Then hold it so that you can see the back of your head."
Tregarthen did so, and to his surprise he found that on his dark brown hair was a patch as white as snow, almost the size of a man's hand.
"That's strange, Jack. I remember putting my hand to my head when the boat began to tilt. It's a case of utter funk, I suppose."
"You've something to remember the eighty-fathom dive by for the rest of your natural life."
"I don't want that to remind me," replied Gerald, with a shudder.
"Well, it's all over now, and little harm done; but do you know there was something very remarkable about that message you sent up? You gave an account of everything that happened save one thing--the object of your trip. You never mentioned the missing wireless gear."