the ladder. It was hard work to maintain one's footing, but they
managed it. On account of the high side of the ship the water was
comparatively calm under her lee, and, though the small boat was
bobbing about, they got aboard. The oars were in place, and in another
moment they had shoved off from the landing stage which formed the foot
of the accommodation ladder.

"Now for the Advance!" murmured Captain Weston.

"Come back! Come back, dogs of Americans!" cried a voice at the rail
over their heads, and looking up, Tom saw Lieutenant Drascalo. He had
snatched a carbine from a marine, and was pointing it at the recent
prisoners. He fired, the flash of the gun and a dazzling chain of
lightning coming together. The thunder swallowed up the report of the
carbine, but the bullet whistled uncomfortable close to Tom's head. The
blackness that followed the lightning shut out the view of everything
for a few seconds, and when the next flash came the adventurers saw
that they were close to their submarine.

A fusillade of shots sounded from the deck of the warship, but as the
marines were poor marksmen at best, and as the swaying of the ship
disconcerted them, our friends were in little danger.

There was quite a sea once they were beyond the protection of the side
of the warship, but Captain Weston, who was rowing, knew how to manage
a boat skillfully, and he soon had the craft alongside the bobbing
submarine.

"Get aboard, now, quick!" he cried.

They leaped to the small deck, casting the rowboat adrift. It was the
work of but a moment to open the conning tower. As they started to
descend they were met by several Brazilians coming up.

"Overboard with 'em!" yelled the captain. "Let them swim ashore or to
their ship!"

With almost superhuman strength he tossed one big sailor from the small
deck. Another showed fight, but he went to join his companion in the
swirling water. A man rushed at Tom, seeking the while to draw his
sword, but the young inventor, with a neat left-hander, sent him to
join the other two, and the remainder did not wait to try conclusions.
They leaped for their lives, and soon all could be seen, in the
frequent lightning flashes, swimming toward the warship which was now
closer than ever to the submarine.

"Get inside and we'll sink below the surface!" called Tom. "Then we
don't care what happens."

They closed the steel door of the conning tower. As they did so they
heard the patter of bulle