"You will do well to remember," said Lord Hastings, "that sometimes I keep my plans to myself." CHAPTER VIII. IN THE BALTIC. "Great Scott! What was that?" It was Frank who spoke. He picked himself up from where he had been thrown by a violent shock and rubbed his head ruefully, glancing at Lord Hastings quietly the while. Lord Hastings also had been hurled against the side of his cabin, as had Jack, who also was now regaining his feet. Lord Hastings' reply was brief, and it was not an answer to Frank's question. "Submerge quickly, Mr. Templeton!" he ordered. Jack gave the command. Lord Hastings stepped to the tube that connected with the engine room. A voice came back to him. "Hello?" it said. "Any damage to the engines, Jarvis?" asked Lord Hastings. "None, sir," was the reply. "Anybody hurt?" "No one but me. Head bruised a bit, sir, by being thrown against the boiler. Nothing serious, sir." "All right." Lord Hastings stepped from the tube. "Now," he said to Frank, "I'll answer your question. While I can't say for sure, my guess would be that, in rising, we came up under an ice floe or an iceberg. That would account for the shock." "By Jove!" Jack ejaculated. "I hadn't thought of such a thing." "Nor had I," said Lord Hastings, "but I should have thought of it. At this time of year it is no uncommon thing for large icebergs to be floating about in the Baltic. I am sure that is what is wrong." "Then what shall we do, sir?" "Well, we'll have to run on a ways. When we are from beneath the berg, we shall try again to get to the surface." He gave the signal for ten knots ahead. The D-17 had passed through the Kiel Canal without difficulty, in spite of the German belief that such a feat was impossible; and this German belief persisted in spite of the fact that Lord Hastings and his two young officers had performed such a feat once before--and the Germans were aware of it. Apparently, however, the enemy was confident a second attempt would never be made. It was a long time ago now that the perilous trip had been made, but all three remembered it well. They had spoken of it often as the submarine made its way along slowly, a keen lookout being kept forward for mines or other obstructions. Half an hour later Lord Hastings decided that the D-17 must have passed from under the iceberg, or whatever it was that had barred the vessel's attempt to come to the surface. "We'll try it again, now," he said briefly. In response to his commands the pumps began to work very slowly, for Lord Hastings had no mind to crash into an obstruction with the same force as before. "The vessel might stand it and it might not," he explained as his reason for his caution. "There is no need testing the strength of our shell unless absolutely necessary." "Don't you think she could force her way through, sir?" asked Jack.