CHAPTER VII.
RUBBING ELBOWS WITH DEATH.
Matt had neither the time nor the strength to manifest any surpriseover the startling revelation made by Glennie. Not only that, but hisbrain was in such a condition it was well-nigh incapable of surprise.
In that critical moment when he felt a terrifying helplessness surelybut steadily creeping over him, he centred every effort on the attemptto make Ah Sin a prisoner.
Swiftly as a lightning flash the idea struck through Matt's brain thatthe Chinaman had all to do with the baffling situation aboard the_Grampus_. If Matt could drag him down and secure him he felt that, ata later moment, the treacherous Celestial might be dealt with as hisevil deeds justified.
But the work the king of the motor boys had mapped out for himselfexceeded his powers. There was none to come to his aid. Below, in thetank room and motor room, was a silence undisturbed by human voice ormovement, and there, in the periscope chamber, the only noise to beheard was the deep breathing of Matt's unconscious friends and therattling sounds of the scuffle going forward between the young motoristand Ah Sin.
The slouch hat and the false queue were kicked into one corner. AhSin's long, lean fingers were gripping Matt's throat. There was no lookof hate, or anger, or even of determination in the Chinaman's face; theexpression was blank and saturnine, as though he was merely a tool,operated by wires like a puppet and carrying out the will of some onein high authority.
Suddenly, putting forth all his strength, Ah Sin lifted Matt by thethroat and threw him bodily across Speake and against the edge of thelocker. Matt tried to rise, but found it impossible.
The awful weakness held him in thrall and was fastening gyves upon hiswrists. Soon he would be utterly helpless, like those lying around him,and what would Ah Sin then do to the _Grampus_?
A spasm of alarm and apprehension rushed through the young motorist.Was this to be the end of the submarine's voyage? Was the sale of theboat to the government destined never to be consummated?
Vaguely Matt thought of Captain Nemo, Jr., lying sick in that house inBelize, of his unswerving confidence in the king of the motor boys, andof his tremendous disappointment if anything happened to the submarineduring her daring cruise.
All this brought every ounce of Matt's failing strength back to him.He shoved his hand along the side of the locker and twined his fingersabout the grip of the revolver dropped by Glennie, then, with adespairing effort, he lifted himself on one elbow and again directedhis gaze at the Chinaman.
Ah Sin had not been idle. He was holding something in his hand--a roundobject from which hung a long, black string. The Chinaman was lightinga match and touching the flame to the end of the string.
Matt could not see very distinctly, for everything in the periscopechamber, even the chamber itself, was reeling about him in fantasticlines.
The glow at the end of the black string sputtered and hissed. Steppingover to one corner, Ah Sin placed the round object on the floor withexceeding care, pulling out the string so that it lay in a straightline, the burning end pointed toward the centre of the room.
For a moment Ah Sin knelt and stared. His face was still inscrutable,his eyes showing nothing more than a mild interest in his fiendish work.
A bomb!
The realization broke over Matt's benumbed brain like a thunder-clap.
Ah Sin was seeking to blow up the submarine, annihilating not only theboat, but those aboard as well.
On Matt alone depended the salvation of the _Grampus_ and her crew. Andhe was almost helpless in the grip of the baneful spell that had fallenover every one on board, with the exception of the Chinaman!
Matt lifted the revolver unsteadily. A report rang out, sending wildechoes clattering through the steel hull.
The bullet missed the kneeling Chinaman, struck clanging against thecurved iron plates, glanced against the bulkhead above the locker, anddropped flattened and harmless at the side of Glennie.
Owing to Matt's unsteady hand the Chinaman had escaped the bit of lead,but he was startled and frightened. Leaping up he whirled and peered atMatt. The latter still clutched the revolver, but his hand swayed backand forth as he leveled it.
Ah Sin made a quick jump toward Matt, evidently with the intention ofdisarming him; but there was something in the lad's wide, strainingeyes that caused him to change his mind. Swerving aside he rushed atthe ladder, mounted swiftly, and disappeared through the hatch.
With a fierce effort Matt concentrated his wandering wits upon thebomb. Someway, somehow, he must reach the infernal machine andextinguish the fuse.
Dropping the revolver, he rolled over and over, a lurch of the boat,running erratically with no guiding hand at either wheel or motor,helping him to reach the foot of the periscope table.
With the utmost difficulty he caught the legs of the rigidly securedtable and pulled himself to his knees. The cup, from which he had takenonly a few swallows of coffee, stood on the floor just below the end ofthe table, and not more than a foot from the burning fuse. By a miraclethe cup had not been overturned.
For him to reach the fuse in his weakened condition was impossible;but, if he could regain his feet and kick the cup over the coffee thatremained in it might quench the fire of the fuse.
Three times he endeavored to draw himself erect by means of the table,but succeeded only in dropping backward as though pushed by a heavy,resistless hand. But the fourth time he managed to remain upright,trembling with the strain he had put upon himself.
It seemed a trifling thing to overset the coffee-cup, but Motor Matthad never planned a harder task.
There are but few things in this life, however, that will not yield topluck and determination, and fortune favored Matt in his grave fight.
The _Grampus_ pitched forward, rising aft and making a steep inclineof the floor. Matt's feet slipped, and he lost his hold on the table.As he came heavily down he shot against a stool, which was overturnedand upset the cup. The liquid in the cup had slopped over the sides,and with the overturning a miniature wave of brown rolled along theinclined floor.
There followed a hiss as it engulfed the tiny blaze at the end of thefuse, and then a little spiral of smoke eddied upward.
This much Matt saw, and a fierce exultation ran through him. The bombwas harmless--but where was Ah Sin? Would he not come back, discoverwhat Matt had accomplished, and again set a match to the fuse?
This might happen, but there was nothing Motor Matt could do to preventit.
He had taken only a few swallows of the coffee, and to this, and tohis superior powers of endurance, was due the fact that he had kept hissenses and a remnant of his strength long enough to accomplish what hehad.
But now a wave of darkness rolled over him. As unconscious of whatwas taking place around him as he was helpless to prevent furtherdisaster, his head fell back and he lay as one dead among his silentand motionless companions.