It
forces the cannon ball out with great energy."
"I wonder what they will do next?" observed the captain,
peering through a bull'seye.
"We can soon tell," replied the youth. "We'll go ahead,
and if they try to follow I'm going to fire on them."
"Suppose you sink them?"
"I won't fire to do that; only to disable them. They
brought it on themselves. We can't risk having them damage
us. Help me with the cannon, will you please, captain?"
The electric cannon was a long, steel tube in the after
part of the submarine. It projected a slight distance from
the sides of the ship, and by an ingenious arrangement could
he swung around in a ball and socket joint, thus enabling it
to shoot in almost any direction.
It was the work of but a few minutes to get it ready and,
with the muzzle pointing toward the Wonder, Tom adjusted the
electric wires and inserted the solid shot.
"Now we're prepared for them!" he cried. "I think a good
plan will be to start ahead, and if they try to follow to
fire on them. They've brought it on themselves."
"Correct," spoke Captain Weston.
Tom hurried forward to tell his father of this plan.
"We'll do it!" cried Mr. Swift. "Go ahead, Mr. Sharp, and
we'll see if those scoundrels will follow."
The young inventor returned on the run to the electric
cannon.
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