CHAPTER XXVII
THE ESCAPE
Jerry felt the horrid arm of the creature of the deep squeezing himtighter and tighter. He could also note that Professor Snodgrass was interrible danger; but, so far, the lad had not a glimpse of the globularbody of the fish itself. He had no doubt that the octopus was hidden insome crevice of the rocks behind him and his companion, and, followingits usual method, had reached out and seized the invaders of its haunts.
Quickly Jerry drew his knife, as he had seen the professor do, butbefore he could use it, to slash through the snake-like tentacle,another was whipped around him, pinning both his arms to his sides.
The lantern dropped from his hand, but it was attached to his waistby a light chain, and did not go out. The right hand of ProfessorSnodgrass--that containing the knife--was the only one that had beencaught by the creature. His other was free, and yet not free, for itheld the lantern and the net into which the sea specimens had been put.
Then began a terrible struggle at the bottom of the sea. The octopus,which they afterward judged must have been a gigantic specimen, muchlarger than usual, began to pull Jerry and the professor backward. Withhorror they realized that they might be drawn into some ocean cave, andkilled, in spite of their strong diving suits, by the powerful suckersattached to the arms of the creature. It was only the exceptional sizeof the beast that made it formidable, for with a smaller one eitherJerry or the professor could have coped.
THEN BEGAN A TERRIBLE STRUGGLE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA.]
Silently the struggle went on, but, fortunately, not in darkness, forboth the submarine electric lamps still glowed, and now they werewithin range of the light that streamed from the glass windows of thecabin of the _Sonderbaar_. Someone had switched them on.
In vain Jerry tried to free his arms. They were too tightly held,another feeler whipping itself about him. The remaining tentacles ofthe creature, the lad realized, must be clinging to a rock to give itan anchorage.
Jerry glanced at Professor Snodgrass. The scientist had now dropped hislantern so that it dangled at the end of the chain about his waist, andwas making fast to the same chain the net containing his specimens.Then Jerry had a gleam of hope, for he saw the little man transfer thelong, keen knife from his right to his left hand, reaching for it withthe latter.
“Oh, if he can only cut off the arms of the octopus!” thought Jerry.And yet, as he glanced down on his chest, and beheld the horridmuscular object, like some snake, with its spasmodically workingsuckers, Jerry had his doubts. Could a knife cut through in time tosave their lives--his life?
There was danger of the pressure of the arms working some damage to thecompressed air apparatus carried at the back of the helmet. AlreadyJerry felt a choking sensation, as the arms drew tighter and tighterabout him.
Professor Snodgrass raised the knife to slash the tentacle of the beastthat held him captive. Then he seemed to hesitate, and Jerry thought heunderstood. The diving suit was partly made of rubber, and the leastrent in this, if the knife should slip, would mean death by drowning.
What could be done?
Tighter and tighter pressed the terrible tentacles. Closer and closerto the unseen cave the creature drew its prey. Neither Jerry nor theprofessor could turn about, but they knew the horrid monster of thedeep was back of them.
Then the lad glanced toward the submarine. Grouped about the glasscabin window were all his friends--horror showing on their faces.
“Oh, if they could only do something--use the electric gun, as Dr.Klauss did on the whale,” thought Jerry. Then he realized that thiswould not be safe. The charge that would kill the octopus would alsokill them.
Suddenly Ned Slade pushed his way close to the cabin glass. He made asign to Jerry, and then, using his fingers to give a message in thedeaf and dumb alphabet (which the chums often practiced) Ned spelledout this:
“I am coming to save you!”
Jerry’s heart gave a bound. He felt that help was coming. He called theattention of Professor Snodgrass to their friends.
The little scientist, however, decided to chance an attack on themonster’s tentacle. He would slash it, even though the beast in itsthroes might do them serious harm. Jerry realized that he could notstand it much longer. He felt as though he were being squeezed to death.
Again he looked toward the glass window, and saw Ned, with a hopefulgesture, leaving it, accompanied by two of the machinists.
“He must be going to put on a diving suit and come out here!” thoughtJerry. “Good old Ned! But he’d better hurry!”
It seemed an hour, but really it was not more than two minutes beforeJerry felt behind him a commotion in the water that told of a changein the situation. He could not turn to see what it was. The pressureof the tentacles of the octopus had increased to what was an almostunendurable point, and then the arms seemed suddenly to relax. Therewas a swirl in the water, and Jerry felt himself grasped in friendlyarms. He turned to see Ned gazing at him through the glass windows ofthe helmet, and another glance showed Ted Rowland helping to pull offthe clinging suckers from Professor Snodgrass.
The two had come to the rescue, and on the bottom of the sea hadadvanced upon the octopus in its lair, stabbing it to death with long,spear-like knives. Jerry and the professor had been saved.
Little time was lost in getting back to the side of the submarine, thewater being stained with the blood of the octopus so that it could notbe seen clearly.
But Ned, who, with the machinist, had had a glimpse of the creaturebefore attacking it, said it was a monster in size, and, as Jerry hadfeared, had been pulling him and the professor backward into a crevicebetween the rocks.
Two at a time the party entered the water-gate in the side of the_Sonderbaar_, and soon they were safely within. The others crowdedabout the rescued ones as the diving suits were taken off.
“Oh, what an awful experience for you!” cried Grace, while Bob graspedhis chum’s hand in a manner that meant much.
“Yes, it wasn’t very pleasant,” agreed the tall lad.
“But I got my specimens,” said the professor proudly when he could gethis breath, for he was well-nigh exhausted, as was his companion.
“And now that you have been successful, let us go up and start forhome,” suggested Mr. Sheldon. “I am sure we have had enough under-waterhorrors.”
There was no dissent from this, and in a little while the _Sonderbaar_began to ascend. Up and up she went, until once more she rested on thewaves in the bright sunlight.
Then a course was laid that would take them back to Boston. It wasdecided not to cruise about to try to find any possible parts of thewrecked _Comet_, and as for picking up the lone sailor on the _Hassen_,it was agreed that he must have been rescued by this time.
“We’ll head for home!” cried Jerry.
“And what will we do with Dr. Klauss?” asked Ned.
“I don’t care what happens to him, once we are safe,” answered the talllad.
Her tanks filled with plenty of fresh, compressed air, the submarinewas again sent down, as they decided to travel under water. She wassunk to a depth of about three hundred feet, and her engines started atfull speed.
“And now let’s have something to eat,” cried Bob, a little later. “Wehaven’t had a good meal--that is, one where we didn’t have to worry--insome time.”
“Right you are, Chunky!” cried Ned, slapping him on the shoulder.
They were all at the table, save the two Germans, who said theypreferred to dine in their cabin, and the automatic steering apparatushad been set so that no one need be in the pilot house for the timebeing.
Suddenly the craft seemed to pitch forward. She assumed a slopingattitude, her nose pointed downward, at a steep angle.
“What’s the matter?” cried Jerry.
“Something’s wrong,” shouted Ned.
Ted Rowland hurried to the corridor and looked into the pilothouse. The door was open, and there, standing before the levers andswitchboard, was Dr
. Klauss!
“He has escaped!” cried the engineer. “He’s in possession of the boatagain! Quick, boys, or he’ll send us to the bottom where we can’t getup!”