The circular motion, that was now terrible in its speed and power, seemed to culminate in a rush that almost overturned the ship. In the engine room Washington was laboring to keep the machine at top speed. He put on the last ounce of power. "Hurrah!" yelled the professor suddenly. "I think we shall win!" He pointed to the depth gage. The needle, which had showed a constantly increasing record, until it was now at two hundred feet, had stopped. It showed they were going no lower. Then Mr. Henderson looked at the indicator which showed the progress straight ahead. The needle was beginning to tremble. As he watched he saw it move, slowly at first, until, as the powerful screw won a victory over the terrible whirlpool. The gage marked one, two and then three miles an hour. "We are leaving the swirling waters!" cried Mr. Henderson. Then, all at once, as though it was an arrow shot from a gigantic bow, the _Porpoise_ cleft the under-billows and shot ahead, free at last from the grip of the whirlpool. Man had triumphed over nature! On rushed the ship like a race horse, for the engine was working as it never had before, and it did not have the pool to contend against. "Slow down," said Mr. Henderson, "and we will go to the surface." Two minutes later, under the buoyancy of her empty tanks, the _Porpoise_ lay floating on the top of the waves, under the shining stars. CHAPTER XXII UNDER FIRE "I shouldn't want to go through that experience again," remarked Mr. Henderson, as he, with all of the ship's company except Mrs. Johnson and Nellie went on deck. "I thought we were lost, sure." "Lucky our engine didn't go disproportionatin' herself at de mostess criticless moment," put in Washington. "Golly, but she suttinly did hum!" "And you deserve credit for making her do the humming," went on the professor with a smile. "Well, we didn't catch the ghost," remarked Jack, "though I certainly saw him, it or her, whatever the thing is. I felt it too." "It's rather strange," spoke the professor. "Every time, or nearly every time the ghost, as I suppose we must call it for the present, makes its appearance, something terrible happens to the ship. I hope it doesn't show up too often." It was three o'clock in the morning, and they had battled with the whirlpool over two hours. They talked of little else, and each one told how he or she felt. "It was just like twisting yourself up tight in the swing, and then letting the rope unwind," said Nellie, and they all agreed that she had described the sensation perfectly. They laughed, also, a thing they had felt little like doing a short time previous. The engine had run so hard, and some of the bearings had become so warm, that for the rest of the night the professor decided to let the machinery remain stationary. This would give it time to cool down he said, and they could make up the time lost the next day.