John Henry Goldfrap

“ But, after a time, they grew bolder, and came in legions. The lads could hear their squeakings and bickerings as they nosed about them. It was truly a horrible sensation. Little red eyes, like needlepoints of fire, burned through the darkness, and Jack recalled tales he had read of prisoners whose bones had been picked of flesh by the loathsome rodents.
"They'd find us tough picking," laughed Sandy, when Jack communicated his fears, but in his easy manner the Scotch lad concealed a world of real, almost desperate, anxiety. ”

“ The lads lost no time in pouncing on their finds.
Both proved to be loaded, and were of heavy caliber and of business-like looking blued steel.
"Look wicked enough for anything," grinned Sandy, examining his. "I don't know about the law-and-order aspect of this, but—'necessity knows no law.'"
"We would really be justified in doing anything to those ruffians," spoke Jack indignantly, "for all they cared, we might have died of hunger and thirst and suffocation in that miserable hole yonder, without a soul coming near us. I feel like facing the whole crew of the ruffianly wretches." ”

“ OUT OF THE DARK.
"It's no use. They are too fast for us."
Jeff Trulliber spoke from the bridge of the Sea Ranger, some hours after the chase across the waters of Lake Huron had begun.
"It does look that way," said Tom, with a sigh, gazing after the cloud of smoke on the horizon which, fast as the Sea Ranger was urged, never appeared to get any closer.
"The rascals!" exclaimed Professor Podsnap, shaking his fist at the smoke cloud.
The events of the past few hours had transformed the man of science from an abstracted, dreamy individual, into quite a warlike, ferocious being. ”

“ What's this?" came Obadiah's voice. "My dear young man, I'm sorry indeed that I was the cause of stopping you, although, as I said, disaster must have overtaken you if you had kept on."
"I suppose nothing is so bad that it mightn't be worse," muttered Jeff.
"Tell you what," came Obadiah's voice suddenly, "the town of Brownhaven, where I hail from, isn't far from here. You are not too damaged to proceed under your own power, are you?"
"I don't think so," rejoined Tom.
"Then this is my plan: I'll go ahead—on the surface, of course—showing a light to guide you. ”

“ The object, lazily bobbing on the surface, had suddenly turned upward.
Then Tom saw that what had attracted his attention was the body of a man, undoubtedly one of the unfortunates who had been caught below decks when the schooner sank. And now the bomb had set him free from his tomb.
Even as Tom's horrified gaze rested for an instant on the grisly object, it vanished, leaving a widening circle of wavelets about it. Instinctively, Tom bared his head.
"I am saying farewell to a brave man," he said, as the others hastened to his side to inquire the reason of his sudden cry. ”

“ He struggled in vain. A fly on a sheet of sticky flypaper might have tried to free itself as effectually.
The morass gave a queer, sucking sound, and great bubbles of marsh gas rose to the surface and broke as Jack floundered about. But every struggle served only to tighten his slimy bonds.
The quagmire had our two young fugitives fast in its treacherous embrace.
"Help!" shouted Jack.
"Help! Help!" echoed Sandy in a weak, despairing voice.
No answer came back, except the scream of a great blue heron which, alarmed by their cries, arose and flapped lazily out of the slough. ”

“ Across the tempest-lashed waters, Tom, by straining his eyes, could manage to make out a dark point of land.
"That ought to be Dead Fish Point," he observed to Jack. "But I couldn't be sure unless I saw the light."
"What kind of a light is it?" asked Jack.
"White and red, in one-minute flashes, I looked it up on the chart before we left Thunder Bay."
"Well, they ought to light up now. It's dark enough," opined Jack. "By the way," he went on, "wasn't it from that lighthouse that they drove off the gang that has been wrecking vessels by displaying false lights?" ”

“ On the foredeck of the Huron several men had just completed straightening out the damage done to the diving torpedo boat when she had her accidental encounter with the Sea Ranger.
The deck was of whaleback shape, formed of plates of the inventor's secret metal. All round were iron uprights, supporting a rail made of steel chain. Everything about the exterior of the craft was painted a dull gray color—like that of the sea on a cloudy day. Mr. Ironsides explained that this color made the craft almost invisible, even when lying on the waves not more than a mile from another vessel. ”

“ Nor did Tom, when he in his turn took his place at the table, display any more ability as a trencherman. He knew the cruel, desperate characters of the men who had captured Sandy and Jack too well to hope for any good treatment for his brother and his chum. On the contrary, he did not know to what sufferings they might be put by their brutal captors, especially as Tom's own escape must have enraged Walstein and Dampier to the point of madness. ”

“ Obadiah Ironsides' twentieth century revenge on the object that had so nearly caused disaster to his wonderful diving craft was complete.
"It's like magic!" gasped Tom, hardly able to believe that the solid timbers had been entirely obliterated before his very eyes.
"It is magic," breathed the professor. ”

“ This fact was evidenced by the sunlight streaming cheerily through the open hatchway leading to the deck. An appetizing aroma of frizzling ham and eggs, and the added savor of hot coffee, filled the air. It proceeded from the galley where Obadiah had already set Rosewater to work.
Tom leaped up and made for the bathroom. He reveled in the shower, and, having aroused the professor and Jeff, he fell to his dressing with a feeling of renewed vigor. In daylight, even inside this steel shell, things looked much brighter than they had during the gloom and uncertainty of the night. ”

“ Jack, only half-conscious of what he was doing, spun the spokes over. He was just in time. Dead ahead of their craft a larger vessel loomed up for an instant. She carried no lights, and a glimpse was all Jack had of her. But it gave him a clue as to what had occurred. In the darkness they must have collided with the lightless craft, and only his quickness in getting the helm over had averted a second collision, which might have proved disastrous. ”

“ Another step, in fact, and they would have trodden on the reptile. As they jumped backward, with the agility of acrobats, the snake hissed angrily and, opening its mouth, showed a forked, darting tongue and ugly-looking fangs.
Sandy aimed a blow at the creature with his stick, but, instead of recoiling, the reptile made as if to strike at the lad. Just then, as the Scotch lad's misfortune would have it, he tripped on a rock and fell forward.
He uttered an involuntary yell as he did so. He could almost feel, in imagination, the fangs of the black snake fastening into his flesh. ”

“ The two lads paled. Here was a peril they had quite forgotten. The two dogs, as they well knew, were ferocious to a degree.
Sandy looked about him. The most dangerous weapon in sight was a blunt dinner knife. The baying of the dogs grew louder. The pattering of their feet could be heard on the inner stairs of the light-house.
"Shut the door!" cried Jack, thinking they could cut off the stairs in this way.
"There isn't one," cried Sandy. ”

“ For the sake of clearness, it may be said here that he was Captain Jeb Rangler, the skipper of the tug, and a man whose character was of the worst.
"Simple enough," rejoined Dampier easily. "His uncle is rich. He was so before they stole the treasure of the sunken galleon away from us."
"That's pretty cool cheek," thought Tom to himself, as he lay listening; "as if the rascals didn't try all sorts of roguery to obtain it from the rightful discoverers."
"Ah; I see what you mean," came in Walstein's rumbling, hoarse tones, "you think we can get a ransom for him?" ”

“ At just about the same moment that the submarine encountered the sunken wreck, Jack Dacre, as well as Sandy MacTavish, was sucked into the black and treacherous slime of the slough. As our readers will recall, we left both lads in about as bad a situation as could be imagined.
Jack's cries were beginning to grow feeble, when aid appeared from an unsuspected quarter. From the margin of woods surrounding the swamp, there suddenly emerged the figure of a rough-looking man. He carried a gun and was accompanied by two savage looking dogs. ”

“ In this darkness we are as likely to get miles off our course as we are to stick to their heels."
"I wish there were some way of making the daylight twenty-four hours long when you wanted it to be," said Jeff impatiently, peering ahead with his hands on the wheel.
"We'd have to be further north for that," said the professor, "to the north pole almost."
"Well, we'll go there, if necessary, to rescue Jack and Sandy," declared Tom, with firm conviction.
In the darkness the professor reached for Tom's hand and found it. He wrung it warmly. Adversity brings men and boys wondrous close. ”

“ Mr. Ironsides, who had some changes of apparel on board his craft, rapidly divested himself of his clothes, as Tom had done.
"I'll leave them behind as souvenirs," he said, giving the pile of garments a shove with his foot.
This done, they both slipped silently over the bow, and dropped into the water. As they did so, a rumble of thunder was heard, and a vivid flash of forked lightning split the sky.
"We're in for a storm, all right," commented Tom.
"So much the better," said the inventor, as they swam side by side toward the submarine, "the worst storm can't hurt the Huron. ”

“ Under the leonine-headed seaman's direction, the sailors ordered Tom to thrust his hands into a pair of rusty and antique-looking handcuffs. His legs, also, were pinioned. This done, he was borne through the door and along the deck, to another doorway. Then his conductors—or rather jailers—conveyed him down a steep flight of metal steps and through the boiler room of the tug, into a dark, ill-smelling hole, suffocatingly hot. ”

“ Inventors, as a class, are a splendid, upright set of men; but, I regret to say, that all are not so. Some of them are unscrupulous to a degree. It was to escape the surveillance of spies of a rival submarine concern that I buried myself up here. And there you have it," he concluded with a laugh, "unless, indeed, you wish to know whence I get my funds?"
Tom and the professor held up their hands in protest.
"My dear sir," said the professor.
"Not at all," laughed Obadiah. "My father was the well-known maker of iridium steel. He amassed a fortune in its manufacture. ”

“ A sharp, metallic clang was the first intimation that Tom and his companions had that Captain Rangler once more held the upper hand. The hatch of the conning tower had been slammed to by the ruffian, and the outside fastenings—used when the submarine was in port—had been locked.
Tom Dacre and the others were as effectually prisoners on their own craft as Mr. Ironsides, the inventor, was in the dark and malodorous forepeak of the tug. ”

“ Ironsides' way of amusing himself.
"Shall we come to the surface?" he asked presently.
"I don't think it would be a bad idea," said the professor, in a rather relieved tone, "this darkness is—is——"
"It kind of gets on one's nerves," said Tom, finishing the sentence for him.
"Oh, you'd soon get over that," said Mr. Ironsides easily. "Of course, it's natural, though. I'll never forget the first time I went down in this craft. I was alone. I didn't want any one else to risk his life. For a time I was in a state of delightful uncertainty as to whether she'd rise again or not." ”

“ Pull for your life!" shouted Sandy.
"Pull! pull for your life!" shouted Sandy, laying hold of an oar. Jack needed no second order, but picked up another. Both lads tugged away for dear life. In the meantime, the sailor, who could swim well, had laid hold of a rope and pulled himself back on board the tug.
The lads had not got a dozen yards from the tug's side before Walstein's voice came across the water:
"Come back to the tug instantly!" he yelled from where he stood, amidst quite a crowd of the crew at the stern of the craft. ”

“ As he spoke, the Scotch lad could feel Jack Dacre quiver as he pressed against him.
Don't think for a minute that the lad was a coward. He had proven his mettle on many a hard-fought diamond and gridiron. But his imagination was lively. Already Jack was picturing the consequences if the jump was miscalculated. Sandy saw that it would only increase the other's fears if they lingered. ”

“ Now it grew dark with great rapidity.
"Well, we might as well put as bold a face as possible on our predicament," said the professor. "Let's have some light, Sam."
"All right," rejoined the old man. "I'll go below and turn on the dynamo."
In a few minutes a cheerful light flooded the submarine from stern to bow. Its rays streamed out through the lenses of the conning tower, and revealed an unwelcome sight. Two sailors from the tug, armed with rifles, were seated on the deck, smoking and making themselves as comfortable as possible. ”

“ The man must be made of his own metal," Tom heard the professor gasp under his breath. But, excepting Rosewater, none of them remonstrated.
While they watched him curiously, Mr. Ironsides shoved the engine room signal lever over to "Ahead, slow."
The backward motion of the diving craft ceased. She began to creep forward.
All at once, Mr. Ironsides pressed a button at his elbow. A sharp click responded, and the water in front of the Huron became illuminated with a flood of brilliant, blinding white light. Tom could see fish dart off out of the lane of light like coveys of partridges. ”