CHAPTER VI.
"ON THE JUMP."
"You say the schooner got away to the south, Ferral?" asked Jordan.
"Aye, aye, and looked as though she was bound for down the coast. Lookslike Cassidy had deserted, Matt."
"We ought to have jailed him," commented Jordan. "Did Cassidy knowanything about the sealed orders, Matt?"
"Captain Nemo, Jr., had me read the orders aloud in the periscoperoom," Matt answered. "Cassidy had been in the conning tower, but whenI finished with the letter I saw that he was in the room with us."
Jordan's face grew even more foreboding.
"This looks bad!" he exclaimed. "I wouldn't trust that Fingal manaround the corner, and here he's run off with Cassidy and headed downthe coast. There's something in the wind, and if our game is tipped offbefore we get to where we're going it will be a case of up-sticks withColeman."
"I don't think Cassidy would dare tip off our work to Fingal!"exclaimed Matt, somewhat dashed by the course of events.
"A drunken man is liable to do anything."
"But what would Cassidy have to gain by telling Fingal our business tothe southward?"
"Why, as for that, Fingal has been suspected of helping those samerevolutionists. If he can help the scoundrels hang onto Coleman, theymight make it worth his while."
"The letter I read in the periscope room," said Matt, after a moment'sthought, "spoke of the Rio Dolce as the place where Coleman was beingheld. This, you tell me, is wrong. In that event, and assuming thatCassidy heard the whole of the letter, then he has a clue that's not tobe depended on."
"Fingal must know the Rio Dolce is not the place. The fact that theschooner bore away to the south proves that some one has correctinformation. No, Matt, Fingal has learned through Cassidy just whythe _Grampus_ put in at Belize; and Cassidy, intoxicated as he isand worked up over a fancied grievance, has cast in his lot with theschooner. The pair of them are off to the south to make trouble for us,take my word for it. What we must do is to get away as close on theirheels as possible. We can't wait until evening, but must proceed on thejump and get away without losing any more time than necessary."
"Avast a minute," spoke up Dick. "You remember, Matt, that there was aschooner took Captain Sixty off the fruiter _Santa Maria_, and sailedwith him to find the derelict brig. That schooner was to take off thearms and ammunition from the wreck, and would have done so if thesubmarine hadn't shown up and been backed by the cruiser _Seminole_."
"I remember that," said Matt. "What of it, Dick?"
"Well, matey, I'm a Fiji if I don't think the schooner that tookCassidy and the other swab south is the same one that figured in ouraffairs a few days ago."
To all appearances the consul had had news relative to these events inthe gulf. As soon as Dick had finished, he slapped his hands excitedly.
"Jupiter!" he exclaimed. "This is more proof that Fingal ishand-and-glove with the revolutionists. This new move, Matt, means thatthat pair of scamps are off for the south to put a spoke in our wheel.We can't delay the start an instant longer than we find necessary tofinish our preparations."
Before Matt could answer, an open carriage drove along the street.The doctor was in the rear seat supporting the captain. The latterlooked like a very sick man indeed, and was leaning feebly against thedoctor's arm.
"Don't tell him anything about Cassidy's running away," cautioned Matt,starting down the steps and toward the road. "It would only worry him,and we'll carry out the work that has been given to us, in spite ofCassidy and Fingal."
"He knows about it already," said Dick. "We discovered Cassidy and theother chap making for the schooner while we were coming ashore."
"Did the captain give Cassidy permission to leave the submarine?"
"No. Carl said that the captain became unconscious just when the matestarted up to hoist the flag, and that the mate took another pull atthe flask and went on up the conning tower ladder. It was French leavehe took, nothing less. As soon as Dr. Armstrong got to the _Grampus_ hewasn't any time at all in bringing the captain to his senses, and thefirst man Nemo, Jr., asked about was Cassidy."
By that time the carriage, which was proceeding slowly, was oppositeMatt, Dick, and Jordan, who formed a little group on the sidewalk. Inresponse to a gesture from the captain, the vehicle came to a halt.
"You are the American consul?" asked the captain, making an effort tostraighten up.
"Yes," replied Jordan.
"I am Captain Nemo, Jr., of the submarine _Grampus_. My unfortunateillness puts me out of the work that lies ahead of the boat and hercrew, but Motor Matt, there, is perfectly capable of discharging theduties of master. I should feel quite sure of the outcome if it was notfor the mate. He has deserted, and I am positive he intends to maketrouble. You must get away as soon as possible, Matt. Cassidy went theother way from the Rio Dolce--which is a move I can't understand, if heis planning to interfere with the rescue of Coleman."
Matt and Jordan exchanged quick looks. The captain, having noinformation to the contrary, was still under the impression conveyed bythe sealed orders, viz.: that the captured consul was on the Rio Dolceinstead of the river Izaral. Neither Matt nor Jordan attempted to setthe captain straight.
Evidently the captain had talked more than was good for him, forwhen he finished he collapsed, and had hardly strength enough to saygood-by. As he was driven off, Matt gazed after him sympathetically.
"Strange that a few hours should make such a difference in CaptainNemo, Jr.," he murmured.
"The climatic change perhaps had something to do with it, Matt,"suggested Jordan. "But we can't stand around here, my lad. We've got tohustle--and this isn't a very good climate to hustle in, either. It'sthe land of take-it-easy. You get the submarine in shape, and I'll huntup the pilot, get together the war plunder and my own traps, and joinyou just as quick as the nation will let me. On the jump, my lad, onthe jump."
Jordan, suddenly energetic, turned and hastened back into the consulate.
"There's a whole lot to that land lubber, matey," remarked Dick. "He'sas full of snap and get-there as any chap I ever saw. But what's thefirst move? You're the skipper, now, and it's up to you to lay thecourse."
"We've plenty of stores aboard for the trip we're to make, with theexception of gasoline. The _Grampus_ will be in strange waters on asecret mission, and we must make sure of an abundant supply of fuel atthe start-off."
The boys were not long in finding a place where they could secure thegasoline, and but little longer in getting a negro carter to convey thebarrel to the landing. Here the same colored boatman who had broughtMatt and Dick ashore was waiting, and the barrel was loaded and carriedout to the submarine.
The sailboat hove-to as close alongside the _Grampus_ as she could get,and both vessels were made fast to each other by ropes. The gasolinebarrel was tapped, a hose run out from the conning tower hatch, and thenegroes laid hold of a pump and emptied the barrel into the gasolinereservoir of the submarine.
Dick took charge of the transfer of the gasoline, while Matt went downinto the periscope room and called up Speake, Clackett, and Gaines.
"Friends," said the king of the motor boys, "we're off on a shortcruise in strange waters--a cruise that will probably call for courage,and will certainly require tact and caution. Mr. Hays Jordan, theAmerican consul, is going with us, and when he comes aboard he willbring a pilot who knows where we are to go and will take us there. Youmen know that it is Captain Nemo, Jr.'s order that I take charge of thework ahead of us. Have you any objection to that?"
"The captain knew his business," averred Gaines heartily, "and whateveris good enough for him is good enough for us."
Speake and Clackett likewise expressed themselves in the samewhole-souled manner.
"Thank you, my lads," said Matt. "I suppose you have heard how the matewent off in a huff. That makes us short-handed, in a way, although thepilot we're to take on will help out. Our work is government work,something for Old Glory, and I feel that we will all o
f us do our best.We shall have to run all night, and I will arrange to have Ferralrelieve Gaines, and Carl relieve Clackett. As for Speake, he will haveabundant opportunity to rest, as most of our night work will be on thesurface. Speake may now get us something to eat, and after that youwill all go to your stations."
Speake was not long in getting his electric stove to work. There wereonly a few provisions he could prepare without causing an offensiveodor, and the limited menu was quickly on the table. Hardly was themeal finished when a boat hove alongside with Jordan. Matt, Dick, andCarl went up on deck to assist the consul in getting his traps aboard.
Jordan had exchanged his white ducks for a trim suit of khaki. Twobelts were around his waist, one of them fluted with cartridges, andthe other supporting a brace of serviceable revolvers. With him camethree Mauser rifles and a box of ammunition.
The pilot was an unkempt half-blood named Tirzal. He was bareheaded andbarefooted, and had a ferret-like face and shifty, bead-like eyes.
As soon as the impedimenta was stowed below decks, Matt instructedTirzal in the steering of the submarine. The boat could be maneuvredeither from the conning tower or from the periscope room. Whenmaneuvred from the conning tower, the pilot stood on the iron ladder,using his eyes over the top of the tower hatch; when steered frombelow, compass and periscope were used.
Tirzal grasped the details with surprising quickness, his little eyessnapping with wonder as they saw the panorama of ocean, shore andshipping on the mirror top of the periscope table.
While these instructions were going forward, Gaines and Dick had goneinto the motor room, Clackett and Carl had posted themselves in theplace from which the submerging tanks were operated, and Speake hadgone forward into the torpedo room.
"We're all ready," said Matt. "Take to the conning tower, Tirzal, andgive your signals."
The half-breed, as proud as a peacock to have the management of thisstrange craft under his hands, got up the ladder until only his barefeet and legs from the knees down were visible.
Matt, posting himself by the periscope, divided his attentionbetween the panorama unfolded there and the work of Tirzal. He wasconsiderably relieved by the handy manner in which the half-breed tookhold of his work.
With ballast tanks empty, and the _Grampus_ riding as high in the wateras she could, the motor got to work the instant the anchors were offthe bottom and stowed.
"We're off, Jordan!" cried Matt.
"Off on one of the strangest cruises I ever took part in," returned theconsul, his face glowing with the novelty of the situation; "and it'sa cruise, my boy," he added, a little more soberly, "which is goingto demand all our resourcefulness in the matter of tact, skill, andcourage. Even then there's a chance that----"
Jordan did not finish, but gave Matt a look which expressed plainly allthat he had left unsaid.