Supper was eaten with the ship on the surface of the ocean, for it was impossible to go below until the leak in the air tanks had been repaired. Work was begun on this the next day, and though it proved a difficult job it was accomplished by Mr. Henderson and the boys. There were several minor repairs to be made to the machinery, and it was a week before all was in readiness for another descent beneath the waves. In the meanwhile the craft had moved slowly southward on the surface, where no very great speed was possible. Toward evening, on the seventh day after their adventure with the Sargasso Sea, the travelers closed the man hole, and with air tanks well filled slowly sank beneath the waves. Supper was eaten at a depth of sixty feet, and after the meal, while Washington was washing the dishes, the others sat and looked out through the bull's-eyes at the big fishes which floated past. "I wouldn't like to catch one of them air things on my hook an' line," observed Bill, as a particularly large fish went past. "I reckon I'd have trouble landin' him." "More likely he'd pull you in," said Mark. For several minutes they watched the strange procession of deep-sea life. Presently Jack, who was sitting near the engine room door, sprang up. At the same instant there was the sound of an explosion. "What's the matter?" cried the professor. "Come quick!" yelled Washington. "It's a fire!" yelled Jack. "One of the electrical fuses has blown out, and the ship is on fire!" CHAPTER XIII THE GHOST OF THE SUBMARINE They all rushed toward the engine room. It was dark, because the lights had gone out all over the ship, and they could see only by the glare of the flames, which were increasing. "Light one of the oil lanterns!" called the professor, and Bill did so. "Unreel the hose," the inventor continued, and Mark and Jack ran to do this. In a few minutes the line was stretched into the engine room, and water was being thrown on the flames, for Washington had started the pump as soon as he saw the conflagration. The fire was in one corner, near the electrical switch board, and had been caused by the blowing out of one of the fuses, which occasioned the little explosion. The wood work near the switches was blazing fiercely, and soon the ship was filled with smoke. "Empty the ballast tanks!" called the professor. "We must rise to the surface!" "We'll all be burned up!" cried Tom. "First we nearly smother and then we get on fire. Neber saw such luck!" With a rush the _Porpoise_ began to rise, as her tanks were lightened. With steady hands, though with fear in their hearts, Jack and Mark continued to play the water on the flames, while the professor and Washington got out a second line and aided them. "The fire is dying out!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "We'll soon get the best of it."