ium sneak-box in three divisions, with capacity
for a crew of six, to be worked on occasion by two men pulling at
levers, driving the propeller by means of endless chains and cog-
wheels, the gear to be made of best oil-tempered nickel-steel, with
hardened ball bearings. Each division, when detached, of such weight
that it could be easily carried by three men, but no guarantee given
that the propeller would give the speed desired.

"That is good enough for us, I think," said Mr. Hume.

"They give no guarantee," remarked Compton, cautiously.

"No; but they would not undertake the work unless they had some
belief in the idea, and if the propeller proves useless, we can at
the worst unship it. In any case we must have the boat, and we could
not improve on the makers."

The order was given, and by the fourth week the little boat was
launched on the Thames for its first trial. It looked workmanlike in
spite of its wide beam and shallow draught, for the great designer
who had fashioned the lines of the fastest destroyer afloat had
himself drawn up the plans after giving a day's careful thought to
the job. The shaft, which rested on nickel-steel sockets, with ball
bearings supported by nickel-steel ribs for lightness, was protected
by a water-tight casing, and all the other parts made of the very
best metal, so as to secure both lightness and strength, with a
complicated set of cog-wheels to take off the strain. The steering
was by a neat wheel right forward, where the look-out man could have
an uninterrupted view. Forward, too, was the socket for the metal
mast. The boat was fifteen feet in length, with a beam of four feet
amidships, tapering fore and aft, with a well in the centre, and the
remaining space covered in with a light aluminium deck, strengthened
by oak bends. There was sleeping-room for two, so that with a crew
of four there would have to be four watches of three hours each. The
peculiar features of the long, low craft were the two levers rising
above the after-deck through slots, which gave each a thrust of
about one and a half feet, and two saddle-like seats borne on stout
supports, one near the stem facing the bows, and the other further
forward facing the stem. Venning perched himself on one seat,
Compton on the other, one of the hands took the wheel, and Mr. Hume
and the designer sat in the well.

Compton's clear-cut face, with well-formed jaws, showed no other
sign of interest than a rather amused sm