e were fastened in a vise," I joked, "but in accordance
with the map there ought to be a sand bottom here."

"Now it loosens!" the engineer called out.

Yes, the boat pulled loose all right--the hand on the manometer was
rising--but it shot upwards on one side only. The stern arose but the
nose remained fastened in the mud.

"How confoundedly nasty," I heard Groening, who took care of the diving
rudder, growl.

Now the entire ballast shifted. We had to make the boat heavier in the
stern, had to shift the ballast of the heretofore well-balanced boat and
pump ballast water out of the bow to pour water into the stern tanks, in
order to make the bow lighter and the stern heavier. After a few liters
of water had exchanged places the boat changed her mind and again placed
herself in a horizontal position. Then she arose quickly and
satisfactorily, but showed a tendency to list toward the stern, until
we, by a new shift of the ballast, had re-established the old conditions
of equilibrium.

After the boat had pulled loose with apparent reluctance from her bed on
the bottom, she could not get up fast enough to stick her nose into the
fresh air. Having the ballast diminished by nine hundred liters, she
leaped upwards rapidly, but this did not suit my purpose, as I preferred
first to put up the periscope and find out whether the atmosphere was
free from British germs. As I felt I was entirely responsible for my
boat's health, I entertained one fear, based on experience, that germs
in the form of destroyers and trawlers, appearing suddenly, might
endanger it. I made the boat obey my will, let the nine hundred liters
be pumped into her again, and thus checked her quick ascent.

At the same time I had the dynamo motors started, so that we would have
steerageway for the diving rudder, and commanded that the U-boat should
stop at the depth of twenty meters. Thereafter, I soon came to the
periscope depth and took a look around to see if I could discover any
ships. There was nothing in sight, but woe--a heavy storm!

"Well, it can't be helped," I said softly to myself.

I made another careful search of the horizon and then arose entirely to
the surface. What a delightful sensation to be standing on the tower
with my hands to my sides and greedily sucking my lungs full of the
fresh sea air! The air at the bottom had not been so bad. On the
contrary, the engineers had kept it in first-class condition during the
night, but more del