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“I am sorry, Mr. Foster, if anything in my attitude has caused such an impression. I have given you no special smiles or favors, no special coldness or disdain.”

“But I love you. I want you. I cannot live without you.”

“You lived a long time without me, before we met.”

“Yes, before we met. Before I fell under the spell of your personality. You have hypnotized me, made yourself necessary to me. I am heartsick all the time, thinking of you.”

“Then you must get over it, Mr. Foster. I must think of myself.”

“Then you do not care for me, at all?”

“I do, but only as an acquaintance.”

“Not even as a friend?”

“I do not like to answer such pointed questions, sir; but, since you ask, I will tell you. I do not like you, even as a friend. You demand so much. You are very selfish, never considering my feelings at all, and you often annoy me with your moods. Frankly, I am happier away from you.”

“My moods!” Foster repeated, bitterly. “You cause my moods. But I know what the real trouble is. I was all right until Ross came along.”

“You have no right, Mr. Foster,” said the girl, angrily, “to bring Lieutenant Ross’ name into this discussion.”

“Oh, I understand. Do you think he can marry you on his pay?”

“Mr. Ross’ pay would not influence him, nor me.”

“Well, I’ll tell you this”–and Foster’s voice became a snarl–“you two won’t be married. I’ll see to it. I want you; and if I can’t have you, no one else shall.”

“Whew!” whistled Ross, softly, while he smiled sweetly, and danced a mental jig in the air. Then he danced a few steps of a real jig, to apprise them of his coming. “Time to end this,” he said; then called out, cheerily: “Look out below,” and entered the hatch.

“Got a bad habit,” he said, as he descended, “of coming down this ladder by the run. Must break myself, before I break my neck. Well, how are you making out? Been looking around?”

The girl’s face, pale but for two red spots in her cheeks, was turned away from him as he stepped off the ladder, and she trembled visibly. Foster, though flushed and scowling, made a better effort at self-control.

“Why, no, lieutenant,” he said, with a sickly smile. “It is all strange and new to us. We were waiting for you. But I have become slightly interested in this–” He indicated a circular window, fixed in the steel side of the boat. “Isn’t it a new feature in submarines?”

“Yes, it is,” answered Ross. “But it has long been known that glass will stand a stress equal to that of steel, so they’ve given us deadlights. See the side of the ship out there? We can see objects about twenty feet away near the surface. Deeper down it is darker.”

“And I suppose you see some interesting sights under water,” pursued Foster, now recovered in poise.

“Yes, very interesting–and some very harrowing. I saw a man drowning not long ago. We were powerless to help him.”

“Heavens, what a sight!” exclaimed Foster. “The expression on his face must have been tragic.”

“Pitiful–the most pitiful I ever looked at. He seemed to be calling to us. Such agony and despair; but it did not last long.”

“But while it did last–did you have a camera? What a chance for a photographer! That is my line, you know. Did ever a photographer get a chance to photograph the expression on the face of a drowning man? What a picture it would be?”

“Don’t,” said the girl, with a shudder. “For mercy’s sake, do not speak of such things.”

“I beg your pardon, Miss Fleming,” said Ross, gently. “It was very tactless in me.”

“And I, Miss Fleming,” said Foster, with a bow, “was led away by professional enthusiasm. Please accept my apology, too. Still, lieutenant, I must say that I would like the chance.”

“Sorry, Mr. Foster,” answered Ross, coldly. “We do all sorts of things to men in the navy, but we don’t drown them for the sake of their pictures. Suppose I show you around, for at two bells the men will be back from their dinner. Now, aft here, is the gasoline engine, which we use to propel the boat on the surface. We can’t use it submerged, however, on account of the exhaust; so, for under-water work, we use a strong storage battery to work a motor. You see the motor back there, and under this deck is the storage battery–large jars of sulphuric acid and lead. It is a bad combination if salt water floods it.”