CHAPTER XI.
EXCITING WORK.
Fingal was a big fellow, and Matt remembered with a shudder thecrushing embrace of his huge arms at the time the crew of the submarinewere routed. But Matt, with so many to help him, was not worrying overthe outcome. What caused him the most concern was the thought that, inspite of their precautions, there would be noise enough to alarm thetwo men who were playing cards.
Fingal came down the ladder slowly. Fortunately for those below he kepthis gaze upward as he descended. When he reached the foot of the ladderhis face was toward the after bulkhead of the periscope room, and thosewho were waiting were behind.
At a signal from Matt the attack was made. Matt himself sprang atFingal's throat and caught his bull-like neck in a strangling grip.Like a huge animal, Fingal pushed himself around. Speake had one of hisarms and Dick the other. Clackett, bending down, caught his feet andjerked them off the floor.
Fighting furiously, Fingal was thus thrown bodily into the hands andarms of Matt, Dick and Speake. They were not expecting to receive theheavy weight, and the huge body crashed to the floor. Matt's grip aboutFingal's throat was wrenched loose, and a half-strangled bellow of furywent up from the desperate scoundrel.
Feet stamped the deck. There was no need of a demand from those aboveas to what was going on, for both the men knew that there was trouble.Fingal would not have bellowed in that fashion if there had not been.
"Never mind the noise, now," panted Matt. "We're in for it, and we mustbe quick."
One of the other men already had his feet on the ladder. Leaving Dick,Speake and Clackett to handle Fingal, Matt jumped up the ladder, caughtthe descending feet and flung his whole weight on them.
As a result, the man's hands were torn from the iron rungs, and he andMatt tumbled in a heap on the floor of the periscope room.
Matt came off better than his antagonist, for the latter struck hishead against the steering wheel, doubled himself up in a ball, thenflung out his limbs convulsively and lay silent and still.
"Look after both of them, fellows!" cried Matt. "I'm going after theother one."
The second of the two men who had been on the deck was showing morewariness than his companion had done. The abrupt disappearance of hiscomrade from the top of the ladder had filled him with doubts, andwhen he saw Matt rushing upward, he must have gained the idea that allthe others were captured. Yet, be that as it may, he whirled from theconning tower in a panic and leaped off the boat.
When Matt lifted his head clear of the hatch, a sharp report echoedout, and a bullet struck the sloping side of the conning tower andglanced harmlessly off into the river.
The ruffian was standing on the planks that had formed the old landing.Undeterred by the shot, Matt threw himself out of the tower, gained therickety wharf at a jump, and raced after the man.
The latter retreated to the bank, turned there, and essayed anothershot. A metallic click echoed out, but no report. Again and again thetrigger fell uselessly.
With an oath, the fellow hurled the weapon at Matt, faced about, anddashed into the timber.
Matt gave pursuit. Had it not been that Gaines was missing from theboat's complement, Matt would not have chased the fugitive; but Gaines'absence made it necessary for the submarine to remain at the landinguntil he should return, and if this man got away he would probablyspread the news of what had happened and cause a detachment of therevolutionists to charge the boat.
Matt, it will be remembered, was in his stocking feet. The ground overwhich he was running was covered with sharp stones, and before he hadgone a hundred yards he realized that he would have to give up thepursuit.
Turning back, he regained the landing, leaped to the deck of thesubmarine and bent over the hatch.
"How are you, down there?" he called.
"Finer'n silk!" came the jubilant voice of Speake. "We've got lashingson both men. Where's the other chap?"
"He jumped ashore and got away. Come up here, Dick, you and Clackett.One of you bring a hatchet. Let Ysabel watch the prisoners, andyou, Speake, go below and see if everything is in shape for a quickdeparture."
"Goin' to leave without Gaines, Matt?" asked Clackett.
"Not unless we have to. We're going to hang out here until the lastmoment."
Dick and Clackett presently showed themselves on deck. Matt had alreadydiscovered that the _Grampus_ was moored to two trees with a couple ofcables at the bow and stern. The boat was pointed upstream.
"Cast off the stern cable, Clackett," ordered Matt, "and throw itaboard. One rope is enough to hold us. Go out on the bow, Dick," headded, "and sit there with the hatchet. If you get an order to cut thecable, don't lose any time in carrying it out."
"Aye, aye, matey," replied Dick.
Clackett went ashore and unfastened the rear cable from the tree. Mattdrew it in, coiled it, and dropped it down the hatch.
"What am I to do now, Matt?" shouted Clackett.
"Go up the bank and a little way into the woods," answered Matt; "hideyourself and watch for soldiers. If you hear or see any, rush this wayand give the alarm to Dick. He'll cut the cable, and then the two ofyou dodge below as quick as the nation will let you, the last one downclosing the hatch after him. Understand?"
"That's plain enough," said Clackett, climbing the bank and vanishingin the timber.
Matt went down into the periscope room and found Ysabel sitting on oneof the stools and keeping watch of the prisoners.
Fingal, his great arms twisting fiercely against the ropes and his eyesglaring, lay on the floor. Near him was the other prisoner. The latterhad recovered from the blow that had stunned him, and, to judge fromhis humble appearance, his war-like disposition was entirely gone.
"What shall we do with Pedro, Matt?" asked Ysabel anxiously.
"Does he want to go back with us to Belize? Ask him."
"If he did that, they would probably arrest him for what he has done,"said the girl.
She put the question, however, and Pedro shook his head.
"Ask him if he wants us to put him ashore here."
Pedro nodded as soon as Ysabel had translated the words into Spanish.
"Tell him we'll do that before we leave," said Matt, "but that we can'ttrust him ashore until we are ready to go."
Pedro tried to talk in response to this, and Matt removed the gag for amoment. Turning his face toward Ysabel, Pedro spoke rapidly for a fewmoments. Ysabel's face became very serious as she listened.
"What is it?" inquired Matt.
"He says that the _Grampus_ will never be able to leave the river,"answered the girl; "that the fort is in the hands of the rebels andthat they are planting mines in the river, so close to the bottom thatthe submarine will strike them if she submerges. If she floats on thesurface, then the guns of the fort will sink her."
There was terror in the girl's face as she repeated Pedro's words.
Here was an unlooked-for difficulty, and one that gave Matt the utmostconcern.
"Just ask him, Ysabel," said he, "why the rebels planted mines in theriver when they knew the submarine was in the hands of their friends?Pedro's story sounds improbable, to me. If it comes to that, we passedthe mouth of the river under water, and no one in the fort or the townsaw us."
Ysabel talked for a few moments more with Pedro.
"He says," the girl reported finally, "that Don Carlos saw the flagof the rebels flying from the fort by means of the periscope when weascended the stream; that the don knew there were some submarine minesin Port Livingston, and that he was going to have the soldiers plantthem. He was afraid Fingal might try to run away with the _Grampus_,and intended to pen her in the river."
"Then even these revolutionists can't trust each other!" exclaimedMatt. "With such a lack of confidence as that, if it extends to therank and file, the insurrection will prove a farce. Just----"
At that moment some one landed heavily on the deck of the submarine.Matt straightened erect and stepped to the foot of the ladder. Lookingup, he
saw Clackett gazing down.
"There are two men comin', Matt!" reported Clackett. "One of 'em's DonCarlos, an' the other wears a red coat with shoulder straps and has asword."
"Some officer, I suppose," said Matt. "Come down here, quick,Clackett, and tell Dick to follow you, but not to cut the cable.Speake!" he called through one of the tubes.
"What is it?" came back the voice of Speake.
"Up here with you! More work."
Speake, tumbling up from below, and Dick and Clackett, dropping downfrom above, reached the periscope room at about the same time. Matt hadbeen replacing the gag between Pedro's lips.
"Drag the prisoners into the room where they were keeping us," saidMatt. "There's going to be more lively work here, and we've got toclear decks for action."
While Speake, Clackett and Dick fell to with a will, half dragging andhalf carrying the prisoners into the steel chamber off the periscoperoom, Matt kept close to the periscope and watched the bank above thelanding.
Then, just as his comrades finished their work, and returned tohis side, he gave vent to an exclamation and whirled away from theperiscope table.
"Don Carlos is coming," he whispered, "and General Pitou is with him!Now, at one stroke, we can lay the rebel general by the heels and nipthis revolution in the bud. Steady, now! Not a whisper, mind. There aretwo of them, and we must capture them both."