CHAPTER IX.
NORTHWARD BOUND.
The _Grampus_ had no more than dropped anchor in her old berth thanMatt, Glennie, Captain Pons, the captain of the port, and the negroeswere alongside in the boat.
"Great spark plugs," cried Matt, "but you fellows gave me a scare."
"Vell, bard," answered Carl, "ve vas a leedle schared ourselufs."
"Here's another scare for you, matey," called Dick. "The Sons of theRising Sun have a submarine of their own, and are after us. They werehere, off Lota, and just went north with that torpedo in tow."
"Jupiter!" exclaimed Glennie. "How did you fellows know that?"
"You act as though it wasn't any news to you."
"It isn't, but we thought you fellows were not informed and would falla victim to the _Pom_."
"_Pom?_" echoed Dick.
"That's the name of the other submarine," went on Matt. "She's a Frenchcraft and was brought here by this man, Captain Pons, to be turned overto the Chilian government. Five Japs worked a trick and succeeded ingetting hold of her."
"Why, how----"
"We'll tell you all about it later, Dick. Where were you when thattorpedo went off?"
"Just diving to the bottom to go hunting for the other torpedo. ThatWhitehead they fired never touched us."
"It must have touched something," put in Speake, "or the firing pinwouldn't have got in its work."
"It hit a harbor buoy," said Matt. "At least, the captain of the portsays there was a buoy at this point. As it isn't here now, it must havebeen demolished. It's a lucky thing for all of us that the buoy wasbetween the _Grampus_ and the Whitehead. Glennie and I will go back tothe shore, Dick, and get a barrel of gasoline. You get the hose riggedand have everything ready to discharge the gasoline in short order.We're northward bound, and are going to get away from these waters justas quick as the nation will let us."
There was something of a disappointment in this for the men on thesubmarine. They had hoped for a chance to stretch their legs ashore,but they appreciated the necessity of getting the _Grampus_ out ofharm's way as quickly as possible.
"Won't the _Pom_ lay for us as we pull out of the bay, Matt?" askedDick.
"She can't lay for us. You see, she had only two torpedoes. One ofthose was destroyed in the attack made on the _Grampus_ in the bay;the other one the _Pom_ is dragging off to some place where she canget it in shape for work. We need not fear any attack from the Sonsof the Rising Sun until the other Whitehead is ready for use. If weact quickly, we can get well away from the _Pom_ before she becomesdangerous."
"_Diable!_" rasped out Captain Pons. "Is it ze American vay to r-runfrom ze enemy? Pur-r-r-soo and capture, zat is ze sing. I will go wizyou, _oui_, I, myself, Captain Pons. You will help me get back ze_Pom_. Eh?"
"We're not here to take any risks with the _Grampus_, captain," saidMatt. "Responsibility for the safety of the boat rests on my shoulders,and you'll have to get some Chilian war ship to help you."
"Zat is not right!" cried the captain. "One mariner is in ze duty boundto help anozzer mariner in ze distress. Me, I call on you. You refuse,zen zat is mos' contemptible."
"I'm sorry you look at it in that way, captain," replied Matt; "butit's just possible I know my own business better than you do."
Captain Pons had a little fit all by himself, and while he had it hewas saying unpleasant things.
"What's the matter with the frog eater?" cried Dick. "Throw himoverboard!"
Matt signed for the captain of the port to have the negro oarsmen getthe boat back to the landing. The captain at once gave the order andthe boat danced away in the direction of the wharf.
Captain Pons was still calling down anathemas on the heads of allAmericans who refused to help a Frenchman in "ze distress."
"By gar," he cried, "I vill vire my government how you haf treat' me! Ivill use ze cable, and let ze president of my country know it all. Itis mos' contemptible!"
"Captain," said Matt, "we are not allowed to take any strangers aboardthe _Grampus_. Our submarine has appliances which put her so far aheadof every other boat in her class that we are all under seal of secrecyand are bound by a pledge to keep strangers away. So, you see, it wouldbe impossible for you to take a cruise in the _Grampus_."
Captain Pons glared.
"It is mos' contemptible!" was all he could say.
Matt and Glennie, without delaying further, pushed into the town. Matthad little difficulty in finding the gasoline he wanted. He had to goto two or three places before he found fuel that answered the severetests he put it to, but finally he got what he desired and had ithauled to the landing.
The captain of the port was not in evidence, but his two negroes werewaiting at the boat.
Matt had come down to the wharf in the wagon that brought the gasoline,and Glennie had been left to follow on foot. The ensign put in anappearance just as the barrel had been transferred to the boat. Mattwas surprised to see him carrying a rifle.
The only firearms aboard the _Grampus_ consisted of a six-shooter whichhad accompanied the ensign when he first assumed his duties on thesubmarine.
"What are you going to do with that, Glennie?" laughed Matt. "ShootJaps?"
"Well, no, not exactly," answered Glennie, "There are a good many waysin which a weapon of this sort might come in handy, besides using itfor shooting Japs. It's an American gun, Matt--a Marlin. It looked sortof homelike, so I just took it in, along with a box of cartridges."
If Matt hated one thing more than another, it was a gun. He had seenfirearms used so recklessly while he was in the Southwest that he hadacquired a strong prejudice against them. Notwithstanding this fact,he was a crack shot, and had more than once carried off the prize in ashooting contest.
"All right, Glennie," said he, although a trifle reluctantly, "bring italong."
"You don't like guns, Matt," observed the ensign as he lowered himselfinto the boat and dropped down on one of the thwarts.
"Or knives, either," added Matt, "when they are used to get the betterof another fellow. A pair of fists make pretty good weapons."
"Fists are all right," laughed Glennie, "so long as the other chap usesthem; but when you find an enemy standing off forty or fifty feet andlooking at you over the sights of a gun--well, that's the time anothergun would be mighty valuable."
By the time the small boat fell in alongside the _Grampus_, Dick, Carl,and the rest had the hose ready and it took only a few moments to rigthe pump. Presently the gasoline was flowing down the tower hatch andinto the reservoir below.
Dick, keeping one eye on the negroes while they bent over the pumphandles, leaned against the conning tower and heaved a long breath.
"I'm hoping, old ship," said he to Matt, "that we'll be able to leavethe Japs behind, this time, for good and all. Those on the _Pom_ musthave seen us while we had their craft under our search light, and Iguessed good and hard why they didn't turn and send another torpedo atus. I didn't know, you see, that they only had two Whiteheads to theirblessed name. We could have pulled their fangs if we had opened up thattorpedo and took out the dynamite."
"I intended," answered Matt, "to take the torpedo aboard through oneof our tubes as soon as we reached this harbor, but the captain of theport came down on us before I had the chance."
"How did you find out about that submarine, and the Japs being incharge of her?"
Matt straightened out this point to his chum's satisfaction. That partof Matt's recital which had to do with the Jap who had been capturedunder the wharf was particularly interesting to Dick.
"Those fellows don't care a rap for their own lives," muttered Dick,"and that's what makes 'em such nasty fighters. When that fellow gotout through the _Pom's_ torpedo tube, he must have come up directlyunder the Whitehead. By hugging the torpedo close, he could have gothis head out of water without any of us on the _Grampus_ seeing him.But he took long chances, just the same, and there are only four Japsleft to navigate the other craft. The work probably calls for allhands, a
nd there's bound to be a time when the _Pom_ can't run for lackof hands to navigate her. The Japs are only human, and they'll have tohave a spell of rest like every one else."
"We've got a good chance to show them our heels," said Matt, "and it'sour duty to make the most of it."
"I'm a Fiji, though," said Dick, "if I don't hate to run away fromthose Sons of the Rising Sun. It looks as though the United States andGreat Britain had struck their colors to the yellow rascals."
"I feel the same way, Dick, but this submarine is worth a hundredthousand dollars, and we're only her trustees. It's our duty not totake any chances with her."
"Right-o, matey. I understand that just as well as you do. CaptainNemo, Jr., ought to give you a good slice of that hundred thousand whenyou tie up the _Grampus_ at the navy-yard wharf."
"I'm not looking for that, Dick," returned Motor Matt earnestly. "It'sthe idea of _making good_ that appeals to me beyond anything andeverything else. It isn't so much the money that comes to us for whatwe do, but the way we toe the scratch that counts."
An hour later all preliminaries were finished and the _Grampus_ was offup the bay, tanks emptied and steel hull high in the water, her motorshumming and setting a record pace.