"Are you all ready, Mr. Hammond?" called his commander as he bent over
the mouth of the breech cap and reached forward to give the boy a
friendly tug at one foot.
"All ready, sir," answered Jack.
The breech cap was swung shut and Jack could hear the click of the
mechanism as he was locked in by his comrades and they prepared to
shoot their human torpedo out of the sunken submarine.
Now he was completely isolated in the dark, cold tube. The voices
of his companions were not audible. It was a time to test the nerve
of the most callous individual.
Whis-s-s-h! The compressed air came hurtling into the tube with a roar
as of a mighty Niagara. It enveloped him and seemed pressing against
his body like many tons of steel. Instinctively the lad inhaled
deeply and gritted his teeth.
In another moment the bowcap was swung open and then came a rush of air
that shot him forward at a dizzy velocity. As though driven by the
force of a thousand tornadoes the boy felt himself, catapulted out of
the tube and into the cold salt water that closed around him like a
great wall.
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