Clarence Young

“ Klauss had really saved their lives. “We are only doing this,” Bob’s uncle went on, “to protect ourselves. If you would agree to set us ashore, or on some vessel that would take us to America——”
“No—no! You must not go!” screamed the commander wildly.
“Then we cannot release you,” said Mr. Sheldon firmly. “But understand, we mean you no harm, and as soon as we have landed we will restore your liberty—or allow your friends to do it for us. Then you may do as you please with your boat!”
Dr. Klauss struggled as only a madman can, but the chains were too strong. He could not escape. ”

“ Jerry, Ned and Bob had risen to go to the engine room, when Grace, who was standing near one of the glass windows in the side of the cabin gave a startled cry:
“What is it?” asked her father.
“Look!” she gasped. “A whale—a great whale, and he seems about to hit us! Oh, tell Dr. Klauss—quick!”
She pointed to the window where could be seen, keeping pace with the submarine, a monster whale that was fairly rubbing against the side of the boat. ”

“ Jerry’s stand was determined.
“Good!” cried Mr. Sheldon, who had understood part of the talk. “That’s the way to handle them!”
Dr. Klauss, still struggling somewhat in the binding chains, shouted something in that strange tongue. The two elderly Germans seemed to hesitate, and Jerry feared they might try to effect a rescue, though he had little doubt of the ability of himself and the others to overpower them.
“Don’t try anything rash!” Jerry shouted. “We intend no harm to Dr. Klauss. We are only anxious to save ourselves. It will be best for you to do nothing.” ”

“ THE WRECK
“We’ve got good weather, anyhow,” remarked Ned, as he and his chums stood in the pilot house of the Comet, which Jerry was guiding on her aerial way. “It couldn’t be better.”
“That’s right,” agreed Bob. “I’m glad, too, for the sake of Uncle Nelson and Cousin Grace—that is, if they are still alive. Bad weather in an open boat at sea is terrible!” ”

“ Jerry, Ned and Bob thus eagerly questioned the three machinists, and Ted Rowland answered:
“If you go into the forward cabin you can look out through the side windows and watch him. Don’t turn on the light, or you can’t see as well. Dr. Klauss carries a submarine lamp with him, and you can make him out by that.”
“Come on!” cried Jerry, eagerly, and he and his chums, followed by Grace, Mr. Sheldon and Professor Snodgrass, went into the main cabin. The two stolid Germans remained in the motor room, seemingly on guard. ”

“ Then began a terrible struggle at the bottom of the sea. The octopus, which they afterward judged must have been a gigantic specimen, much larger than usual, began to pull Jerry and the professor backward. With horror they realized that they might be drawn into some ocean cave, and killed, in spite of their strong diving suits, by the powerful suckers attached to the arms of the creature. It was only the exceptional size of the beast that made it formidable, for with a smaller one either Jerry or the professor could have coped. ”

“ Klauss. The boys and their friends never saw him again.
“What—what in the world did he do that for?” asked Ned, in puzzled tones.
“He’s insane—he doesn’t know what he is doing,” declared Mr. Sheldon. “Poor man!”
“Those two Germans! We must get them up here and have them call to him!” cried Jerry. “We’ll have them tell him we will treat him as kindly as he will let us. All we ask is to be allowed to go home. Then he can do as he likes with his boat. We must get them up here and have them call to him in that queer language they use.” ”

“ The conspirators—they were really that, though it was a conspiracy to save their own lives—the conspirators, then, started half-guiltily as they beheld the form of the insane commander. Had he overheard their plot?
Jerry gave a quick glance at his allies—the machinists. He seemed to be saying:
“If he has heard us we must act now. We must overpower him at once if he tries to attack us.”
Ted Rowland nodded as if he understood, and for a few seconds they all seemed to be waiting.
It was an awkward moment. Then Dr. Klauss spoke. ”

“ Are we gaining any?” cried Ned, as he stood beside the gas machine, trying to hasten the filling of the lifting-bags.
“I think so,” was the answer. Jerry never took his eyes from the pressure gage that told how much gas was being forced out from the containers.
“But we’re still going down!” cried Bob, who was looking at the height-indicator. “And going down fast, too! We’re only five hundred feet up now!”
“I know it, Chunky,” said Jerry, still quietly. “We are doing all we can. Even if we do hit the water you know we still have the hydroplanes.” ”

“ Sheldon’s plan. “That’s what we’ve got to talk over.”
“And if he refuses again, as he most likely will?”
Jerry looked around the cabin before answering. Then, in a low voice he said:
“There’s but one course left—mutiny!”
“Mutiny!” gasped Grace.
“I mean that we shall have to try to influence the crew against their captain. I know that is considered contrary to marine law, but in dealing with a maniac there is no law. We have to save our lives, and that is the first law of nature.”
“But will the crew help us?” queried Ned.
“That’s what we’ve got to find out,” returned Jerry. ”

“ I thought whales had to spout every ten minutes or so, and that one’s been in sight about that time.”
“You’re off on your natural history, Bob,” said Jerry, with a smile. “Whales don’t have to spout oftener than a half-hour. And besides, that’s only when they’ve been swimming under water. This one is on the surface, running awash, you might say, and so doesn’t have to send out a long breath that it’s been holding in a long while. It can breathe naturally.” ”

“ At the same time the propellers, which had been revolving slowly, to keep the Comet from drifting, were whirled with great rapidity as more power was turned into the motor. While navigating as a dirigible balloon the propellers were not needed to keep the ship afloat, but once the lifting-gas was not used they were vitally necessary, for only by keeping in motion can a “heavier than air” machine be prevented from falling.
Bob, who was looking through the glass floor in the main cabin, tracing the course of the object that had so excited the boys, suddenly looked up at Jerry. ”

“ With the four lads aboard the staunch motor boat started out on the search, going with the wind. So fierce was the gale, and so swiftly did it send the boat along, that there was hardly need for the propeller, but Jerry kept it going at top speed, for he wanted to make the best time he could, and save the Scud, which was the name of the racing boat, before she pounded herself to pieces on the rocks. ”

“ When taunted with this Bob used to say it kept him so busy cooking for Ned and Jerry that he had no time to brush up on the latest inventions.
“Periscopes are the eyes of a submarine, when it is running in about twenty feet of water,” explained Jerry. “I mean at that depth below the surface. They are hollow tubes, and are just above the surface when the boat is down about twenty feet. They run through the deck, and into the pilot house. By looking into the lower end of them the observer can get a view all around him at the surface.” ”

“ The others followed, Professor Snodgrass being the last to go down. And as he entered the hole that led into the boat Ned, who was just ahead of him, heard him say:
[140]
“Oh, that lovely black beetle. I have lost him. Oh, what a calamity.”
“Better lose him than your life,” commented Ned. “And we couldn’t have stayed aboard the Comet another minute. It’s too bad we had to desert her. Dear old Comet! There’ll never be another like her.”
“Yes, she served us well,” spoke the scientist. “But perhaps all is for the best. At least I am in a submarine, and now I may get those crabs. ”

“ Of course there was a certain element of luck, or chance, in their quest, as there is in anything in this world, but after Bob’s fine spread they felt that luck was going to be even more with them in the future than it had been in the past.
“Are you going to navigate to-night, or just drift about, Jerry?” asked Ned, as the tall lad went to the pilot house.
“I think we’ll drift. If we sail we might lose too much ground and have to come back over it in the morning. If what the old sailor thought was true—that Mr. Sheldon has no oars in his boat—he can’t make any progress himself. ”

“ Poor old ship! Will we ever have another?”
“I think we’ll go in for submarines,” announced Jerry. “This boat is a marvel! If we could only get one like this—or half the size, we could have no end of adventures!”
“And think of the service you could render science,” broke in Professor Snodgrass. “There [166] are wonders of the sea never even dreamed of, and we could bring them to light. Oh, I must see when Dr. Klauss can let me get after those hermit crabs.”
“Are we still moving?” asked Bob, beginning to dress. ”

“ But the boys were not destined to immediately consider ways and means of obtaining a submarine. Hardly had Jerry and his chums put away the airship in the big shed than the storm through which they had passed, out near Boston, reached Cresville. The blow began gently enough, and for a time it seemed that there would be no special disturbance. But, as the day advanced, the fury of the gale grew until the wind had attained the force of a hurricane. ”

“ Up shot the Sonderbaar. They could all tell when she reached the surface and bounded out [237] into the open sea. In an instant Jerry had pulled the lever that removed the hatch cover. In rushed the fresh air, quickly reviving the sufferers. But Dr. Klauss still lay in a faint on the floor of the motor room.
“We must get him on deck,” said Jerry. “We can’t let him die, even if he is a maniac and sought our lives.”
It was hard work, but they managed to get the unconscious form up the hatchway. Mr. Sheldon quickly ascertained that Grace and Professor Snodgrass, though suffering, were safe. ”

“ The others saw the destruction on every side, caused by the high wind. Scarcely a street but what was littered with debris, and many houses were uninhabitable by reason of being unroofed or through the breaking of water and drain pipes.
“We’ve got to get busy and help!” exclaimed Ned. “See! there’s another volunteer corps being organized. Let’s join it. We can’t get any wetter; and it will help to take Bob’s mind off his trouble,” Ned added in lower tones to Jerry.
“You’re right, old man. Work is the best thing for that. Come on, Bob, let’s get busy. You, too, Andy Rush!” ”

“ If that submarine captain knows anything about physics he must know that an object can travel through the air quicker than it can in water.”
“That’s right,” agreed Bob, “but he’s going along at a pretty good clip.”
This was indeed so. The submarine was fairly flying over the surface of the sea, a smother of [120] foam at her stern showing where the propeller, or whatever form of propulsion she used, was working, while at her blunt nose was a long ripple as the water was pushed away on either bow.
“She is certainly making time,” conceded Jerry. “She must have powerful engines.” ”

“ With the sea boiling and seething as it now was, the Comet would have been wrecked had she fallen into it.
[30]
“I almost wish we were in that submarine,” said Ned, as he came to stand near Jerry, to aid him if necessary.
“Why?” called Bob from the little galley.
“Because then we wouldn’t mind the storm, no matter how hard it blew. Don’t you remember reading that a comparatively short distance below the surface the effect of a storm is not felt? Those fellows can sail along, deep down under the ocean, and not even know a blow is going on up above.” ”

“ So, while Noddy and Bill were preparing to follow our friends, in the hope of trailing them to some hidden fortune, Jerry and his chums were getting ready for the rescue flight.
“I’ll be with you in a few minutes!” called Professor Snodgrass when he was told that the start would soon be made. “I just want to get a small net, with a long handle, because I may see some rare insects in the upper air. We’ll have to let the sea crabs go for a time, until you boys can build a submarine.” ”

“ But one man can’t work the machinery, so I’m just letting her [95] drift. I’m going to get up a bit of a sail, if I can, to give her steerage way, and then I’ll make for the nearest port. If I can fetch it my salvage money will make me rich.”
“Hadn’t you better let us take you in our airship,” suggested Jerry. “We have plenty of room, and you could hire a tug and get the Hassen to port more quickly.”
“What! Trust myself in an airship? I guess not!” cried the old sailor. “I’ll stick here, thank you just the same. And I hope you find your uncle, son,” he said to Bob. ”

“ Sit down and I’ll spin you the yarn in proper fashion.”
“We can’t stay long,” said Jerry, foreseeing a lengthy tale. “If our friends aren’t here we must go aloft and search for them. They may be suffering.”
“I don’t doubt but what they are,” returned the sailor, in a low voice. “They went off in an open boat, and there wasn’t much time to put water and provisions aboard. But I won’t keep you long. I’ll tell you what happened then—at the time of the storm—and since. Your friends may not be as far away as you think.”
“Where? Where are they?” cried Bob, eagerly. ”

“ Sheldon found a chance to hurriedly whisper to Professor Snodgrass that it might not be wise for him to go out on the bottom of the sea, and the scientist, who quickly grasped the reason, agreed not to take advantage of the offer of Dr. Klauss at this time.
“As you may have realized,” said the inventor to his guests, “a very strong diving dress is needed in working at great depths, in order to sustain the enormous pressure of water. The greatest depth to which an ordinary diver can descend is two hundred feet—seldom this. ”

“ I’m afraid some of our side planes are split. We are falling so fast that it shows they’re not helping to keep us up.”
A glance at the barograph height gage on the wall of the pilot house showed the hand to be moving swiftly around, indicating how fast the Comet was falling.
“The hydroplanes will keep us afloat a little while,” said Jerry in a tense voice, as he looked about as if for some other means of averting the disaster that was about to overtake them. “But I’m afraid it’s so rough down there we won’t float long. The pontoons will be wrenched off by the waves.” ”

“ Klauss!” began Jerry. “If we——”
“Silence! Not another word!” was the sharp retort. “I shall never let you go. I hate you Americans! Bah! Now go below!” and he pointed to the open hatch.
Jerry hesitated a moment. He was debating in his mind whether it would not be well to attack the madman then and there and settle matters. But the small open deck was no place for a struggle. Then, too, there was Grace to consider. Mr. Sheldon made Jerry a single sign to obey, and the tall youth started down the narrow hatch. The others followed. ”