to the vessel's bottom, and row away and leave it there. Inside it
was a clock, which could be set to run a certain time and then loosen a
sort of gunlock. This struck a spark and set fire to the powder, and
up--or down--went the vessel.

You can see that Dave Bushnell's invention was a very neat one; but, for
all that, luck went against it. He first tried his machine with only two
pounds of powder on a hogshead loaded with stones. The powder was set on
fire, and up went the stones and the boards of the hogshead and a body
of water, many feet into the air. If two pounds of powder would do all
this, what would one hundred and fifty pounds do?

In 1776 the _Turtle_ was sent out against a big British ship named the
_Eagle_, anchored in New York Bay. The man inside rowed his boat very
well under water, and after some time found himself beneath the King's
ship. He now tried to fasten the torpedo to the bottom, but the screw
struck an iron bar and would not go in. Then he moved to another place,
but now he lost the ship altogether. He could not find her again, and he
had to row away, for he could not stay much longer under water.

There is a funny story told about the man in the _Turtle_. He was a
queer fellow named Abijah Shipman, but called by his companions "Long
Bige."

As he entered the craft and was about to screw down its cover, he opened
it again and asked for a chew of tobacco. All those present felt in
their pockets, but none of the weed was on hand.

"You will have to go without it, old chap," said General Putnam, who was
present. "We Continental officers can't afford even a plug of tobacco.
To-morrow, after you have sent the _Eagle_ on her last flight, we will
try and raise you a whole keg of the weed."

"That's too bad," growled Bige. "Tell you what, Gineral, if the old
_Turtle_ don't do her duty, it's all along of me goin' out without
tobacco."

After he had gone Putnam and his officers watched anxiously for results.
Time passed. Morning was at hand. The _Eagle_ rode unharmed. Evidently
something had gone wrong. Had the torpedo failed, and was "Long Bige"
resting in his wrecked machine on the bottom of the bay? Putnam swept
the waters near the _Eagle_ with his glass. Suddenly he exclaimed.
"There he is." The top of the _Turtle_ had just emerged, some distance
from the ship.

Abijah, fearing that he might be seen, had cast off the torpedo that he
might go the faster. The clock had been set to run an hou