CHAPTER XIX
A MARVELOUS BOAT
So many new and strange sensations had crowded on the motor boysin the last few days that it hardly needed the additional one oftraveling in a submarine to thrill them. Nevertheless the three ladsdid feel strange as they stood there in the half-darkened cabin, andlooked at the greenish water slipping past the thick plate-glass sidewindows--windows illuminated in such a way that the very life of thesea was visible.
“Look--look!” exclaimed Bob, in a low voice. “See that shark!”
And indeed, at that moment, a great sand shark that was keeping pacewith the marvelous boat looked in through the glass window, as if toask what manner of sea companion he had fallen in with.
“Oh--oh!” cried Grace, as she clutched her father’s arm. “Suppose thatwindow should break!”
“I don’t want to suppose anything like that,” spoke Jerry solemnly.“It’s too--too unpleasant. Oh, but this is wonderful--wonderful!”
“It’s the greatest thing ever!” declared Ned with conviction. “I neverdreamed we should ever see anything like this. Oh, there’s anothershark--a hammer-head,” and the hideous creature, with its bulging eyeson projections that give it the name, resembling a double-ended hammer,swam up, also to peer in at the windows.
“Wonderful--wonderful,” murmured Professor Snodgrass. “This will justsuit my purpose. I must have a talk with Dr. Klauss, and arrange tohave him take us on a long trip. I will not only be able to get myhermit crabs, but I can make many other valuable discoveries. Sciencewill be greatly the gainer by our accidental finding of this submarine.Yes, I hope this trip will be a long one.”
“You are not likely to be disappointed in that, sir,” observed Mr.Sheldon, and there was in his tone such a peculiar meaning that Bobasked:
“Why do you say that, Uncle Nelson?”
“Because it’s true. This man--hush, here he comes now. I can’t tell youany more at present. We must have a talk together, presently.”
The sound of someone coming along a steel-floored passage warned themto talk in low tones.
“But what does it all mean?” asked Jerry, in bewilderment.
“Oh, we don’t know--we can hardly guess,” spoke Grace in his ear. “Papawill tell you. I can only say that this Dr. Klauss, in spite of hisseeming politeness, is a terrible man. I’m so glad you boys are withus. Perhaps now we can escape!”
“Escape!” gasped Jerry. “Why--why----”
“Hush! Here he is!” warned Grace.
It was not Dr. Klauss, however, but one of his men with a supply of dryclothing for the boys and the professor.
“I will take you to the cabins you are to occupy,” said this man, whospoke without any German accent. Jerry was glad to note this. It meant,in case of trouble, that perhaps they could count on this American toaid them. Jerry was sorely puzzled.
“You are to come with me,” the man went on, respectfully. “After youare dressed I will take your clothing to the engine room to dry. Thenyou will be served with a meal, Dr. Klauss says. Come.”
“Supper, eh?” cried Bob. “That sounds good, anyhow.”
“I see you haven’t gotten over your old habit,” laughed Mr. Sheldon.“Well, come back when you can, boys. We are certainly glad to see you.”
“Yes, indeed,” echoed Grace, and she looked at Jerry particularly. Heunderstood what she meant.
“And to think that we are actually traveling under water!” marveledNed. “About how deep are we?” he asked of the man who had brought theclothing.
“Oh, about three hundred feet, I should judge. I didn’t notice the gageas I came through the engine room. But Dr. Klauss will probably let yousee for yourselves soon.”
“Are we still going down?” asked Jerry.
“A little, yes. About five hundred feet is as deep as we can go, for,even in this wonderful boat, which is the best submarine I ever saw orheard of, the weight of water much below five hundred feet would crushus like an egg shell. In fact there are very few boats of this classthat go more than two hundred feet down, and really that depth isn’tnecessary even in war time. But we members of the crew are not supposedto give out information. Dr. Klauss would not like it. So you’ll haveto excuse me.”
“That’s all right,” said Jerry. The man seemed a pleasant chap, andspoke like a person of intelligence. Jerry was glad he was aboard, forsomehow, the tall lad felt an indefinable sense of danger.
The boys were taken to small adjoining staterooms, where they weretold to change, and put their wet garments outside. The clothing thathad been supplied to them was all sorts of odds and ends, evidentlycollected from different members of the crew. But it was dry and warm,and a welcome relief from their drenched garments, the wearing of whichmuch longer would have given them all colds.
“This is some change from out in that storm, on the back of thissubmarine, knocking to be let in; isn’t it, fellows?” called Jerry fromhis stateroom.
“I should say yes,” agreed Ned. “Poor old _Comet_! What do you supposehappened to her?”
“I’m afraid she’s broken up,” answered Jerry, mournfully. “Once thepontoons give way, the weight of the engines will sink her. Well, wecan build another.”
“Or a submarine,” added Ned.
“First we’ve got to see if we can get off of this one,” said Jerry in alow voice.
“What do you mean?” asked Ned, who had dressed quickly, and now stoodat the door of his chum’s stateroom.
“You’ll see soon enough,” was the answer. “There’s something strangegoing on here, boys. Grace and Mr. Sheldon could only give a hint ofit. We’ll have to be on the watch. This man Klauss----”
“Cheese it!” interrupted Ned, effectively if not elegantly. “He’scoming!”
Jerry halted his remarks just in time, for the inventor of thesubmarine came along a second later.
“Well, boys,” he asked, in a tone he tried to make cordial, “how areyou making out? Will those clothes answer until your own are dry?”
“Very well indeed, yes; thank you,” replied Jerry. “We are sorry tohave to put you to so much trouble----”
“It could not be helped,” was the response of the German. “I could notleave you there to drown. Now if you will come with me I will tell yousomething about my ship--it is my one hobby!”
“And you will not forget about giving me a chance to get to thebottom of the sea, and capture some crabs; will you?” asked ProfessorSnodgrass.
“I will do what I can for you--as a fellow scientist,” said Dr. Klauss.
The boys found Grace and her father eagerly awaiting them, and a hastymidnight meal was served in the main cabin. Dr. Klauss left the littleparty to themselves, saying that he had to go to see about some of themechanism.
“Say, I don’t see what we’ve got to complain of,” remarked Bob, withhis mouth half full. “Here we are, warm and dry, even if we are underwater, and we’ve got plenty to eat----”
“Which, I suppose, excuses many evils in your eyes, Bob, my boy,”interrupted his uncle. “Oh, Dr. Klauss will not starve us--of thatGrace and I have had excellent proof.”
“Well, then we’ll be all right,” spoke Chunky, with a contented sigh,as he helped himself to some more cake, for the menu included eventhat. “They have a good cook here,” went on the stout lad.
“We must find time and the chance for a consultation,” remarked Mr.Sheldon, speaking rapidly, and in a low voice. “I want to explaincertain things, and plan what to do.”
“Is there any danger?” asked Jerry.
“Yes--I think so--of a certain kind--though I do not mean that ourlives are actually at stake. But our liberty certainly is.”
“You mean----” began Ned.
“I mean that this fanatic refuses to set Grace and me ashore, or tolet us go aboard some other vessel. I want you boys to make that samerequest, when the time comes, and see what he says. Then we will havesomething to go on. But be very careful. Oh, it is good to be withfriends aga
in!” and Mr. Sheldon looked affectionately at the lads.
Dr. Klauss came in before the meal was finished. All this time the_Sonderbaar_ was plowing along beneath the surface, but at whatdepth, or in what direction the boys could only guess. There were noindicators in this main cabin.
“Would you lads like to see something of my submarine?” asked theGerman.
“Indeed we would!” exclaimed Jerry with an enthusiasm that was echoedby his chums.
“Then come with me,” invited their strange host, and he led the waytoward the engine room, as could be told by the hum and throb that camefrom it. “Will you accompany us, Mr. Sheldon?”
“Thank you, no. I will stay with my daughter. It is late, and she oughtto retire.”
Indeed it was long past midnight, but in that depth of water time didnot seem to count for much. There was perpetual darkness at all hours.
But the boys and Professor Snodgrass, though tired after what theyhad passed through, were not too weary to view the interior of thismarvelous boat.
I do not wish to tire my readers with a technical description of the_Sonderbaar_, so I will merely say that she was, like most submarines,of elliptical shape, tapering to blunt points on either end, though thestern, where the two propellers were, was wider than the bow.
The boat was about two hundred feet long and about forty feet indiameter, her dimensions being greatly in excess of most submarines.It was this that enabled her to be made strong enough to stand thepressure of five hundred feet of water, which pressure is enormous onevery square inch of surface.
This large size also gave more room inside for engines, and quartersfor captain and crew. Thus there was much more comfort than in theusual submarine.
There were no periscopes, or tubes, elevated above the deck on the_Sonderbaar_. Observation, when running awash, was by means of a lensflush in the deck, a peculiar arrangement of mirrors and prisms givingthe effect of periscopes without their disadvantages.
There was also an automatic arrangement of diaphragms, similar to thosein telephone receivers, so that when the craft was running under water,and approached some obstacle, its presence would be made manifest intime to avoid it. Nor was this all. Dr. Klauss had perfected a powerfullamp which was located in the bow of his craft, projecting its beamsthrough the water. This would also disclose any object that mightendanger a collision. But the diaphragms acted over a wider area thanthe lamp, the beams of which were necessarily dimmed by the density ofthe water.
As in all submarines, it was necessary to let water into ballast tanksin order to make her sink, and to rise it was only necessary to pumpout this same water, by means of compressed air. But Dr. Klauss hadmade many improvements even in this simple and fundamental principle.
The propulsion of the _Sonderbaar_ was by means of twin screws at thestern, and each screw had its own engine--a gasoline one when runningon the surface, and an electrical motor, run by a new type of storagebattery, when submerged. The propeller shafts passed through thearmatures of the motors, which were mounted directly on the shafts,revolving with them, and acting as flywheels when the gasoline engineswere being used. At such times the circuits of the field windings wereopen, and no current was generated.
There were also dynamos for the making of electric illumination andcharging the storage battery, and small motors to work pumps and otherdevices. In fact the craft was complete, mechanically.
She was steered by two rudders, one to guide her to port orstarboard--or left and right, as the new navy regulations specify--andanother rudder to send her to the surface or toward the bottom of thesea.
All this Dr. Klauss showed the boys, explaining many things, for he sawthey were greatly interested; but, of course, there were some secretshe did not reveal. And one of these was the method of firing thedeadly torpedoes.
The ship could be controlled from the engine room, or from the pilothouse, in the bow, and here there was a perfect maze of levers, wheels,switches and other devices. Gages told of the boat’s speed, of herdepth, and gave all the information it was necessary for the pilot toknow.
“And now I think you need rest,” said the inventor, when the tour ofthe boat was completed. “I shall see you in the morning.”
“You have a marvelous boat, Dr. Klauss,” said Jerry, sincerely. “Icongratulate you.”
“Thank you, my lad. I am sorry we had to leave your own air craft atthe mercy of the sea, for, from what Mr. Sheldon told me of her, in ourconversations after I rescued him, I understand it was a wonder of itsown kind. But I had my own reasons for not lingering longer there.”
“Oh, well, it couldn’t be helped,” said Jerry, but he could not refrainfrom sighing.
“Say, I don’t see what’s the matter with Dr. Klauss. He seems verydecent,” remarked Bob, when the boys had reached their staterooms.
“Better wait,” remarked Jerry, significantly. “Mr. Sheldon didn’t makehis remark for nothing.”