er lip. "It looks as if that rascal was after us."

"It must be a coincidence," answered the unperturbed optimist.

We submerged once more, but came up again after another half hour.

The torpedo boat still came after us, steaming along in our wake at a
distance of two hundred meters.

"If this is a coincidence, Mate, then it is a very, very peculiar one,"
I said to him.

When it was six o'clock we again took a look around. The Frenchman was
still after us at the same distance.

"The devil! This is no coincidence! I'll be hanged if this is a
coincidence. This is intentional. We are certainly pursued!"

There must be something the matter with us. The enemy must be able to
follow us--there must be some sign that enables him to follow us even
when submerged to a great depth. What could it be?

I was pondering this impossible problem. The only thing I could think of
was that when the mine exploded, it had caused a leakage in one of our
oil tanks and that the escaping oil left a plain trail that betrayed our
presence. It was impossible at any rate on account of our slow speed
under the water, against the current, that by a coincidence and without
knowing about it, the Frenchman kept coming after us at the same precise
distance. I had to find out about it. We submerged once more, changed
our course, and proceeded at full speed. If the Frenchman had really
been able to see anything of us, then he would also follow us now when
we changed our course and were going four times as fast.

At half past six I looked astern through the periscope and again saw,
just as at five, half past five, and six, the Frenchman who, at the same
speed on a changed course, continued to follow us.

VII

A LIVELY CHASE

The fact that the French destroyer continually followed us at the same
distance made me certain. There was no doubt about it. We had been
discovered and were pursued. Soon the Frenchman would call for aid and
would have all the bloodhounds of the sea on our scent and following us.
By this time our storage batteries had begun to be exhausted, and the
water was a hundred meters deep so that it was impossible for us to lie
on the bottom.

"Nice prospects," I thought to myself. To the mate and crew in the
"Centrale," I called loudly so that all could hear me:

"Well, now we have gotten rid of him at last. Didn't I say it was only a
coincidence?"

I wanted to relieve the tension on the nerves of the men, because I k