But the Prince had become curiously abstracted. His eyes were on the cylinders in an unseeing contemplation. Ruxton watched him thoughtfully after his monosyllabic interrogatory. He was filled with not a little wonder at the alertness of this man's mentality in a moment of crisis. It was an almost confounding realization in the midst of his early impressions of him. For himself he could not see ahead with any degree of certainty. The Prince had committed himself to a dangerous course in defying the German Government's representative in the place, which was the most treasured secret in the Teuton heart. He judged that certain pursuit would follow, or at least armed interference. Even with a power such as the Prince's, at whatever cost, Von Salzinger must enforce obedience to his order, or---- The Prince broke in upon his reflections. "It is good to defy a--Prussian. It did me much good. But Borga is his nursery. He is its nurse. He must act. I wonder---- Ach, if he should try to stop us I will see him in the deepest pit of hell." He threw up his hands with his final explosion and in an action of almost schoolboyish delight. Then he smiled into the Englishman's face, half questioningly, half eagerly. "Between us and the open sea lie a hundred batteries of heavy, compressed-air guns. One shell from any of those guns could send us to the bottom, if it caught us at the surface. Then there is the mined channel. We are without a pilot. If we submerge the mines are thicker still. For myself and my vessel I do not care. For you?" Ruxton shrugged. "If I am caught and questioned I shall be shot. And you, too, for bringing me here. A gambler's chance is always attractive, even to a man who never gambles." "Then we amuse ourselves at the expense of our friend Von Salzinger. When you are safe in England I will forestall him in Berlin. I have no fear when you are--safe. Let us go on deck." Five minutes later they were standing on the deck of the submersible. They were standing at the rail, with the conning-tower intervening between them and the shore. They were the only souls visible on the deck. The captain of the vessel was in the turret, but the crew were all below. Ruxton observed this at once, as he also observed that the skylights were all sealed ready for submersion. "Your captain is ready for any emergency," he said, indicating these preparations. But the Prince was searching the harbor side of the shore with a pair of powerful glasses. Receiving no reply Ruxton permitted his attention to wander over the rapidly passing panorama. They were travelling very fast, and a great white wake was thrown up behind them. The moored shipping dropped astern of them at an almost incredible speed. Ahead he could see the frowning narrows coming towards them shrouded in their gloomy hood of mist, like the cowled skulls of skeleton sentinels. But even such a threat was preferable to the intolerable, sulphurous atmosphere they were leaving behind.