Chapter 11

THE CAMPAIGN




So the undiscoverable commander had reappeared upon the territory of
the United States! He had never shown himself in Europe either on the
roads or in the seas. He had not crossed the Atlantic, which
apparently he could have traversed in three days. Did he then intend
to make only America the scene of his exploits? Ought we to conclude
from this that he was an American?

Let me insist upon this point. It seemed clear that the submarine
might easily have crossed the vast sea which separates the New and
the Old World. Not only would its amazing speed have made its voyage
short, in comparison to that of the swiftest steamship, but also it
would have escaped all the storms that make the voyage dangerous.
Tempests did not exist for it. It had but to abandon the surface of
the waves, and it could find absolute calm a few score feet beneath.

But the inventor had not crossed the Atlantic, and if he were to be
captured now, it would probably be in Ohio, since Toledo is a city of
that state.

This time the fact of the machine's appearance had been kept secret,
between the police and the agent who had warned them, and whom I was
hurrying to meet. No journal -- and many would have paid high for the
chance -- was printing this news. We had decided that nothing should