He seemed dazed. "Now listen to me, Perry," I continued. "This killing stuff has got to quit; if you make another break at me, I'm going to handcuff you. Furthermore, from now on I'll take charge; you'll do whatever I tell you. We're in a mess. I doubt if we'll ever get out of it. Anyway, throwing wrenches at me isn't going to help any."

"I'm sorry," he said. He appeared thoroughly cowed.

"Now, how about the engine?"

"It's gone, beyond repair."

"So are the compass and the altimeter."

"What happened to them?" he demanded. Again his manner changed; he showed excitement.

"When you threw the wrench at me it hit the instrument board. "

"It wouldn't have if you hadn't dodged," he growled. He was slowly getting back to form. "We're finished now; how can I navigate the ship without a compass?"

"You can do it as well now without a compass as with one; we haven't any engine," I reminded him.

He didn't reply; just sat there on the edge of his cot staring at the floor. And there he sat all the rest of the day; not that it made any difference to me, for he wasn't the best of company anyway.

We gained altitude slowly all day up to about four o'clock. Of course, without the altimeter I could only guess at slight variations; but I should say that we didn't commence to drop appreciably until after five. After dark that night there was a light fog or haze lying close to the surface of the water, shutting it from our view. I sure missed the altimeter then.

About nine o'clock I told Perry to go into the control room and stand watch until midnight, after which I would relieve him until four in the morning. He got up without a word and went forward, and I stretched myself out on my cot. Sleeping in that little gondola with Perry at large was nerve-racking, but I hated to handcuff him until I was absolutely forced to do so. I know that I should have, but I didn't.

However, I slept so lightly that I heard his first footfall as he came from the control room into the cabin. "Want anything?" I asked, sitting up.

"It's twelve o'clock," he said.

So that was all it was! I realized that my nerves must be on edge if every time Perry moved I thought he was coming to kill me. Perhaps, however, under the circumstances, it is not so strange that I was that way; no one can imagine what the strain of those past six days had been.

I got up and went into the control room. Perry didn't lie down. He commenced pacing up and down the cabin. "Better go to bed, Perry," I suggested. "You've had a hard day, and you ought to get some rest."

He did not answer, but presently he commenced to mutter to himself. I couldn't understand what he was saying. He kept up his pacing and his muttering, and I had to sit so that I could keep an eye on him.

I couldn't see anything from the windows of the control room. We were right in the fog now. Whether we were a thousand feet above the ocean or a hundred or ten there was no way of telling. To be on the safe side I opened the ballast tank valve again.