"No; the canal is fortified all along, and all the fortifications look alike to me." "Well," said Jack, "how about the prisoner? Don't you think he can be made to pilot us out of danger?" "No," was the reply, "I don't. I am absolutely positive he would refuse, no matter what the result. I am convinced that the only reason he agreed before was because he figured he could put us in the power of his friends. I don't believe he scared worth a cent." "Nor I," agreed Frank. "Well, then what is to be done?" asked Jack. "We shall just have to feel our way along carefully," replied Lord Hastings. "But we must get away from this spot immediately. There is no telling what they may dump over on us. Straight ahead, Mr. Templeton, at seven knots." "Very good, sir," replied the lad, and repeated the command to the engine room. Lord Hastings himself took the helm, and Frank again stood watch in the forward compartment. For an hour they proceeded without incident, and then Lord Hastings decided to rise and take a look about. Accordingly the pumps were set to work, and as the water was forced from the submersion tanks, the D-16 rose toward the surface. Lord Hastings, Frank and Jack ascended to the bridge. "Well," said the former, "we seem to have given them the slip." "It looks that way, sir," replied Frank, after a quick glance over the water. In the distance they could make out the forms of the battle cruisers, but evidently those aboard the German vessels did not perceive the submarine, lying low in the water. Suddenly as the three stood talking, a figure bounded upon the bridge from below, and before any of the three could raise a hand to stop him, crossed the deck and hurled himself into the sea. "Great Scott!" cried Frank. "It's the German!" "Impossible!" exclaimed Jack. "He was too securely bound to free himself." "But I am positive that is who it was," said Frank. All rushed to the side of the bridge, and peered intently into the water, waiting for the figure of the man to reappear upon the surface. Perhaps a minute later, they made out his form, quite a distance from the vessel, and swimming toward the distant German vessels with powerful strokes. "Now I wonder how he managed to get----" began Jack, and paused suddenly. For Frank, throwing off his coat, had hurled himself into the water and set out in pursuit of the fugitive. "Here! Come back here!" called Jack to his friend. Lord Hastings added his voice to Jack's. "Come back," he cried. "Let him go." Frank waved one arm in the air and called back over his shoulder: "I'll get him. You wait right here for me if I am gone a year!" Jack turned to Lord Hastings. "Shall I jump over and bring him back?" he asked. Lord Hastings shook his head. "No," he replied. "Let him go. If he can catch the German, all right; but I doubt it. However, when he finds that the chase is hopeless and that he is likely to fall into the hands of the enemy, he will turn back."