CHAPTER VII.
A FRUITLESS SEARCH.
"That boat was adrift!" cried Matt, as soon as he could find his tongue.
"Yes," answered the captain in a tense voice, "and only Dick and Carlwere aboard of her."
"How could that have happened?"
"When the boys got back to the ship, the boat must have been left atthe steamer's side while the luggage was being secured. The boys hadtime to get down into the boat, and before the sailors could follow thesquall came rushing down and tore the boat away from the _Santa Maria_.Hard luck, Matt! Still, the case isn't hopeless by any manner of means.The whaleboat has an air chamber at each end and can't be sunk. If theboys can stay in her, and keep her right side up, we'll be able torescue them."
The fierce pitching and plunging of the submarine told Matt that shewas again battling with the elements on the surface. A look into theperiscope also laid bare the heaving and churning waters within anarrow zone of observation, but nowhere could the whaleboat be seen.
"Follow the wind, cap'n," said Cassidy. "By doin' that we ought to beable to find the boat."
"That's my intention, Cassidy," returned the captain. "Take thewaist-tarp and go up into the conning tower. Carry a rope with you, andbe ready to throw it the moment we sight the boat."
"Let me go, captain!" requested Matt. "I'm already as wet as I canpossibly be, and I should like to do my part."
"Very well, Matt," replied the captain. "Put the tarp around him,Cassidy."
Cassidy lifted the lid of the locker and took a circular oilskin frominside. There was a round hole in the centre of the oilskin, and aroundthe outside edge were eyelets.
The mate pulled the tarp over Matt's head and tied it about his waist.
"There's a ring of hooks around the rim of the tower, Matt," heexplained, "and by fitting the edge of the tarp over them you'll keepus from being drowned out down here."
"I understand," answered Matt.
That was not his first voyage in the _Grampus_, and he was fairlyfamiliar with the boat's equipment.
When he was ready, Cassidy handed him the coil of wet rope recentlyused by the captain to get Matt aboard.
"When you get tired, Matt," said the captain, "come down and Cassidywill relieve you."
"I hope we'll find the boys before then," answered Matt hopefully."They were drifting, and if we go with the wind we ought to overhaulthem."
"We'll keep track of operations through the periscope and do all we canto lay you alongside the boat if we sight her."
Matt climbed the ladder, pushed back the lever that held the air-tighthatch in place, and threw over the cover just in time to get a barrelof water over his head and shoulders.
Quickly as he could he pushed on until his body, from the waist upward,was over the top of the conning tower. Then, with deft fingers, he madethe circular tarp fast along the edge of the hatch. A minute more, whenhe had leisure to look around over the riotous waters, the novelty ofhis position caused his pulses to leap.
Forward and aft the water creamed over the steel deck of the _Grampus_,hiding the hull and leaving only the upper part of the conning towerand the steel periscope mast exposed. It seemed to Matt as thoughhe was afloat in nothing more substantial than a barrel, with theclamoring, rushing waves all around him.
Forward, backward and sideways the submarine rolled through a terrificarc, and an occasional wave charged over him, leaving his dripping hairtumbled about his eyes.
For a brief space only did the awful spectacle claim his attention, andthen he turned his eyes over the roaring waves in an attempt to locatethe whaleboat. The _Grampus_ was now racing with the wind, and thestinging lines of rain struck against the young motorist's back. Againand again he brushed the water from his eyes and continued to peereagerly ahead.
But his heart was steadily sinking. Dick was a sailor, but what skillcould keep the whaleboat right side up in such a tempest? The wavesdrove past the _Grampus_ at racehorse speed, flinging their foamy armshigh in the air. Matt shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voicewas puny and ineffective. The gale caught it, feathered it out into athousand wisps of sound and scattered it into the roar and crash of thewaves.
From below him came the notes of a Gabriel horn, but these were littlemore effective than Matt's voice had been. The minutes passed, andMatt's hopes declined steadily. After a time, he knew not how long, hefelt a hand tugging at his feet. Quickly unhooking the edges of thetarp, he descended.
"You've been up there an hour, Matt," said Captain Nemo, Jr., "andCassidy will relieve you."
"I don't think there's much hope," returned Matt heavily, removing thewaist-tarp and handing it to the mate. "I don't see how Dick and Carlcould possibly stay in the boat in such a frightful sea."
"We never can tell what we're able to do in this world," said thecaptain hopefully, "until we're called upon to put forth our bestpowers. Dick is a cool one, and he knows the sea. If any one could pullthrough that storm and bring Carl along with him, it's Dick Ferral. Wemay not find them while the gale is on, but afterward we can cruiseabout and perhaps be able to pick them up. That is my hope, at allevents."
Cassidy, rope in hand, was already on his way up the ladder. When hehad taken up his position, the captain turned to Matt.
"That locker is our slop chest," said he, "and in it you will findsome dry clothes. Better make a change, Matt, and be as comfortable aspossible."
This was good advice, and Matt proceeded to carry it out.
"I had thought of taking Cassidy's place again in an hour," he observed.
"No use," was the answer. "If we don't sight the boat within an hour,then the chances are that we have gone wide of her--perhaps left herbehind. We'll sink into quieter waters and come up again when the stormhas abated. Then we'll cruise around and do everything possible tolocate Dick and Carl."
The captain drew up a chair and braced himself at the periscope table.
At the end of an hour night had fallen, closed in with the Stygiangloom of the clouds and tempest. From that on the periscope wasuseless, and even a lookout from the top of the conning tower was of noavail.
Cassidy descended, closing the hatch behind him. His face was long andominous.
"This ends it till mornin', cap'n," said he.
"Exactly so, Cassidy," replied the captain; "but the case isn'thopeless, by any means." He whirled to a speaking tube. "Fill thetanks, Clackett," he ordered, "and descend to twenty yards. Shut offyour engine, Gaines," he added through another tube; "we'll pass thenight where we are, sixty feet down."
The orders were repeated back, and the _Grampus_ began to sink. Whenthe periscope ball was submerged an automatic valve closed the hollowmast against an inrush of water.
Down and down they went, slipping noiselessly into great depths.Cassidy turned on a light from the storage batteries and anincandescent bulb flooded the periscope room.
Climbing the ladder into the conning tower, Matt stole a look throughthe lunettes. To see under water, contrary to the usual fiction on thesubject, is impossible. Only a sombre void met Matt's eyes. By means ofelectric light and powerful reflectors Captain Nemo, Jr., could throw agleam several yards through the lunettes; but this was a drain on thestorage batteries, and for use only in case of emergency.
At sixty feet down the _Grampus_ lay as easily under the enormous waterpressure as a man in a hammock. At the captain's suggestion, Mattstretched himself out on a blanket on the floor of the periscope roomand, in spite of his worry, was soon asleep.
When he was aroused by Cassidy a gleam of day was shining down theconning-tower hatch.
"Speake is getting breakfast, Matt," said Cassidy, "and we're up at thesurface again. The storm is over, and the cap'n is on deck, calling foryou. Better go up."
Matt jumped to his feet and raced up the ladder. The sea was still abit rough, although part of the submarine's deck was high and dry.Captain Nemo, Jr., was on the deck, clinging to one of the wire guysthat supported the periscope mast.
> "Do you see anything of the whaleboat, captain?" were Matt's firstwords.
"Not a sign," answered the captain, handing Matt a pair of binoculars."Take a look for yourself."
Bracing himself in the top of the tower Matt swept the glasses over thevast expanse of sunlit, heaving water.
There was nothing to be seen. From horizon to horizon the gulf heldonly the dancing, gleaming waves.