But the naval officer was aboard as an official spectator. If the lieutenant aided in any way, then the Pollard submarine would be disqualified.
Jack"s work was more slow, this time. It was some moments before he had the new range figured out.
"How far astern of the "Zelda" are we now?" called Jacob Farnum.
"A shade over a half a mile."
"Whew! And the race only a third run."
"In other words," went on the young captain, "the Rhinds boat is gaining steadily on us at the rate of a quarter of a mile an hour. Not much, yet enough to win the race beyond any dispute."
"Can"t we catch up over that distance?" asked Jacob Farnum.
"Not now, anyway, sir."
Jack went back beside the wheel. Somehow, he did not feel like taking the spokes into his own hands. Instead, he wheeled, silently, going back, through the conning tower, and down to the engine room.
"How do we stand with the Rhinds craft?" asked David Pollard, who sat on one of the cushioned seats in the engine room.
"Half a mile behind, sir."
Pollard got up slowly, then went through and up the stairs to the deck.
For some moments Hal and Jack talked together, in low tones. Both looked rather glum, until Hal suggested something that sent a little ray of hope into Benson"s eyes.
"We"ll see," muttered the young captain. "It looks like a forlorn hope, though, Hal."
At the end of the third hour the "Zelda" had added another quarter mile to the lead, while the "Oakland" showing the way, was a good mile ahead of the foremost racer.
When four hours had gone by the Rhinds boat was discovered to be just about a mile ahead of her nearest compet.i.tor. The Seawold boat, third in line, was half a mile behind the "Benson," and the Blackson boat, last of all, was two miles behind the Pollard boat"s stern. But Jack and his friends had long ago ceased to feel any interest in the tail-enders.
The race was to be over at five o"clock. At half-past three, or four hours and a half after the start, Jack found, by the help of the rangefinder, that the Rhinds boat led by a mile and an eighth.
"Keep the wheel, Eph!" called the Young commander. "Steer as straight as you can. I"ll be up soon."
Then Jack Benson darted below, though his legs trembled a bit under him.
"All ready, Hal!" shouted the youthful commander. "Play our one trump card, and play it as hard as you can! Though I"m afraid Rhinds has just such a card in his own pack."
Then up to the platform deck hastened Jack Benson. He moved quietly to the wheel, taking it from Eph. The young captain did not propose to leave again until the race was over.
Soon after this something happened that must have made those aboard the Rhinds boat feel uneasy. The "Benson" began to crawl up on the "Zelda."
"What are you doing now, Jack?" called Jacob Farnum sharply, as he and Pollard moved forward to stand by the young captain.
"I"ll tell you, in a few minutes, if our move seems to be any good, sir,"
Jack answered.
By four o"clock half the s.p.a.ce between the Rhinds boat and the Pollard craft had been covered. By this time two men were observed aft on the "Zelda," their gaze turned steadily on the "Benson."
"Take the wheel for two or three minutes, Eph," begged the young captain, on whom the strain was beginning to tell.
Then, turning to his employers, Jack went on:
"The way Hal and I figured it out, sir, the "Benson" is really the faster boat. But the Rhinds people may have been overheating their engines--slightly, systematically, and using a lot of water to cool the metal. Now, if that is the case, they may be doing their best at forced speed. Hal and I determined, if we didn"t lose more than a quarter of a mile an hour, we"d rather let the "Zelda" keep the lead, and go on slowly overheating her engines. But now, in the last hour and a half of the race, Hal is up to the same trick. If that has been the case with the "Zelda," and they now, at this late hour, go to any greater lengths in overheating, they"re likely to blow the engines out of their hull. But we can stand the present speed, with its gradual overheating, up to the finish time for the race. If both boats keep going at the speed they"re using now, and neither has an accident, we stand to come in half a mile in the lead."
"Good strategy, that, Jack!" cried Jacob Farnum, his eyes gleaming. "To let the other fellow take the risk of overheating his machinery all day, while we do it only in the last part of the race. My boy, I"m hopeful we may win yet."
"So am I, sir," muttered Benson. "Still, there"s the risk that John C.
Rhinds may have something more up his sleeve. We"ll know before long, anyway."
By twenty minutes past four the "Benson" was almost close enough to the other submarine to throw a biscuit across the intervening s.p.a.ce, had any on board the Pollard craft been inclined that way.
John C. Rhinds stood by the starboard rail of his own craft, regarding the rival with anxious eyes. But Jack knew the rascal to be so wily that the look of anxiety might be feigned.
Up, nearer and nearer! Jack was moving to the starboard of the "Zelda,"
as the "Oakland" was on that same side of the course.
"The old wretch isn"t shouting out anything about fair play and good luck to us, now," muttered Jack, vengefully, as, at half-past four, the two craft ran neck and neck, but little over a hundred yards apart.
Then the "Benson" began to forge ahead. The "Zelda" still hung on, but she was plainly in second place.
David Pollard hurried below, to see what he could do to help Hal Hastings in this supreme crisis.
"We"re leaving her right behind," rang Jack Benson"s voice, exultantly.
"The "Zelda"s" old speed was her best, even at overheating. If nothing happens, now, we"ll go in first!"
Interest, now, led those on the "Benson"s" deck aft. Eph, being at the wheel, could be trusted not to look around, but to keep his eyes straight on the gunboat mark ahead.
John C. Rhinds could be seen, hanging limply over the rail of the "Zelda," his straining vision turned ahead. But he was being left more and more to the rear.
Boom! The sound came suddenly over the water, at last. All hands aft on the "Benson" ran forward, to find the "Oakland" swinging around so that her bow pointed the path for the leading submarine.
Eph remained at the wheel, steering steadily. He carried the "Benson"
past the gunboat"s bow, some seventy yards away. A cheer went up from the sailors crowding forward on the gunboat"s spar deck. The cheer would have sounded, no matter which submarine had won.
Then Eph cut a wide circle, coming back close to the gunboat.
"You win!" shouted an officer at the "Oakland"s" rail.
"Of course," nodded Lieutenant Danvers, "But what distance?"
"The board allows you half a mile and a furlong."
Captain Jack Benson, now that the strain was over, felt as though the platform deck were sinking under him.
"Let me have that wheel," commanded Jacob Farnum, stepping forward.
"Jack, you and Eph, below with you! Coffee, steak--and anything else--for all three of you youngsters!"