"Then there was something electric about it?" remarked the first mate.
"Undoubtedly."
"That's a strange yarn," observed the captain.
He took Dr. Homer Woddle, the Secretary of the Society for theExploration of the Unknown Parts of the World, into his cabin, gave himdry clothes, and provided him with the best dinner the resources of theship could afford.
Mont had listened curiously to the conversation between Captain Savageand the newcomer.
Taking Carl's arm, he said:
"That's a wonderful yarn of that fellow who has just come on board."
"Very."
"I don't know what to make of it, exactly. A fish is a fish, and unlessit has a big horn, it can't sink a ship."
"Perhaps he's cracked."
"Not he. I have heard of him. There is something in it. The man is saneenough. He has been wrecked, and he has told his story plainly enough,only I don't believe in the strange animal."
"What is it, then?"
"That's the mystery. There can't be any rocks in the middle of the sea.It isn't a rock."
"Then it must be a wonderful fish."
A couple of hours passed when Dr. Woddle came on deck, arm in arm withCaptain Savage.
After a time the scientist left the captain, and met Mont.
"Nice weather, my lad," he exclaimed.
"Who are you calling 'my lad'?" asked Mont.
"You're one of the crew, I suppose, and you needn't be so snappish."
"I'm a passenger," replied Mont, "and my name is Mont Folsom. Sorry Ihaven't got a card, but I was wrecked yesterday, and that will accountfor it. I and my companions come from Nautical Hall."
"Indeed! I presume you were picked up as I was? Did you meet with thesingular animal that destroyed my ship?"
"Can't say I did. What was he like?"
"A huge, long thing, covered with scales, half in, half out of thewater."
"Are we likely to meet with him again?"
"I should think so," answered the scientist. "Look there!"
"Where?" exclaimed Mont.
"To the right. I don't understand those confounded sea terms, and Idon't know larboard from starboard, but on my right is the creature."
"The dreaded animal?" asked Mont, with a laugh.
"Yes. Look!"
Our hero followed the direction of the outstretched arm, and beheld acurious sight.
Not far from the ship was a long, black-looking thing, lying like agreat round log on the water.
It was the submarine monster.
CHAPTER X.
THE SUBMARINE TERROR.
Captain Savage at once came to the rail, and was soon busily engaged inlooking at the wonderful creature which Homer Woddle declared had sunkthe ship in which he had been sailing.
The crew were much agitated, for seamen are at all times superstitious,and, never having heard of such a strange monster, they fancied itsappearance boded no good.
The monster, which had been perfectly inert up to this time, threw out amarvelous light, which illuminated the depths of the sea.
The magnificent irradiation was evidently the result of electricity, andit revealed the shape of the strange fish, if fish it was, verydistinctly.
Its form was what we may call a lengthened oval, tapering off at thehead and tail, which were under the water, only part of the scaly backbeing exposed to the air.
Dr. Woddle called the captain.
"Sir," he said, "the monster is again close to us. I ask you, in theinterest of science, to capture it."
"Who's going to do it, and how is it to be done?" said Captain Savage.
"This thing is a scourge of the ocean. It destroys ships, therefore itis your duty to destroy it," persisted the man of science.
"We will harpoon it, if you like, though I do not know why I should riskthe lives of my crew. Where's Bowline? Pass the word for Bowline," saidthe captain.
When Bill Bowline made his appearance he was trembling like a leaf.
"Get your harpoon, my man," said the captain.
"Not me, sir," said the sailor firmly. "I wouldn't harm a scale of thecritter's back, were it ever so near. We shall all be sent to the bottomof the sea if I do."
Turning to Homer Woddle, the captain said:
"You see the feeling of my men; what can I do?"
"I'll do it myself," said the man of science grandly. "If no one willattack this monster, the honor and the glory of the task shall belong tome. Give me a boat and loaded guns. It will be hard, indeed, if I cannotput a bullet in him, and lay the mighty brute low. Who will volunteerfor this splendid task?"
There was no response.
"What! Are you all cowards? Will no one volunteer?" continued the man ofscience scornfully.
Mont stepped forward.
"I'm with you, sir!" he exclaimed. "Can't stand by and see a gentlemanleft alone. I'm not afraid of the creature."
Carl, as a matter of course, took his place by our hero's side, and sodid Stump.
Where Mont went his devoted friend and equally attached follower feltbound to go as a matter of duty.
"Three of you. Bravo!" cried the scientist. "Now, we are four, and weshall triumph. Lower a boat, if you please."
The order was given to put the ship about, and a spot favorable for theenterprise being selected near the monster, a boat was lowered, intowhich the volunteers descended.
Carl and Stump took the oars, Mont grasped the tiller, and Dr. Woddlestood in the bows with a loaded gun under each arm.
"My four troublesome customers," said the captain, in a low tone to thefirst mate, "stand a very good chance of never returning."
"It will be a cheap way to get rid of them, although it may cost us theboat," said the mate in the same tone.
"Steady, my lads," said the scientist. "Easy all; keep the head beforethe wind, Mr. Folsom, if you please."
"Steady she is," answered Mont.
The boat stopped at a short distance from the monster, and Homer Woddlestood up, placed a gun to his shoulder, and fired.
The ball struck the huge slumbering beast, but glided off its back as ifit had struck a piece of polished steel.
"Hard as the hide of a rhinoceros," said the man of science; "we musttry again. Steady, boys."
The monster, however, did not seem to approve of being shot at, andseemed to tremble violently for a moment.
Then with incredible velocity it darted past the rowboat, which wasupset in a moment, and proceeded to strike the ship.
It struck the unfortunate vessel a terrific blow directly back of thebow.
The crash was distinctly audible, and amid the noise of falling mastsand flapping sails were heard the cries of the sailors and the moans ofthe dying.
After the concussion the monster retired as it had come.
A cloud obscured the surface of the ocean, and it was difficult to tellwhere it had gone, or what had become of the ship.
Mont found himself struggling in the sea, and wondered what had becomeof his companions.
"Hang those monsters of the deep," he said to himself; "I don't likethem."
Swimming gently, he got hold of one of the oars of the boat, and so kepthimself afloat without much exertion.
It was not a hopeful position to be in.
Struggling alone in the middle of a vast ocean, ignorant of the fate ofhis companions, and doubtful of succor, it was not to be wondered at ifhe felt inclined to despair.
Would he sink or swim? The question was, just then, a hard one toanswer.
CHAPTER XI.
ON THE BACK OF THE MONSTER.
Mont was alone on the ocean with nothing but water in sight.
Yet his heart did not fail him.
"Well," he said aloud, "I like adventures, and now I have met with abeautiful one. Perhaps I shall be picked up. Perhaps not."
Five minutes passed. To our hero they seemed an age.
"Hullo! Hi! What cheer? Ship ahoy!" he cried.
He had scarcely clo
sed his lips, after this appeal for help, when hefelt his arm seized vigorously.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"If you will lean upon my shoulder," was the reply, "you will soon gainstrength and swim better."
"Is it you, Stump?" said Mont, recognizing the voice of his faithfulfriend.
"At your service, Master Mont. I have been swimming about everywherelooking for you ever since that submarine beast swamped us. Ugh! What aterrible brute it is! It laughs at bullets, and cares no more forsinking a ship than I should for kicking over a stool."
"Is no one saved?"
"I can't tell any more than you; all I thought of was to swim afteryou."
The situation was as terrible a one as can well be imagined.
Those on board the vessel were in too much trouble, if they were yetliving, to think of the perils of the others who had courted destructionby going in the boat to attack the monster.
Nor would Captain Savage feel very friendly disposed toward them,because it was Dr. Woddle's shot that caused the slumbering creature torush madly upon the vessel.
Mont began to calculate the chances of safety. If the ship had notfoundered the crew might lower another boat in the morning to searchfor them. The sun would not rise for about eight hours. Could theyexist so long in the water without fainting or becoming cramped by thesluggish circulation of the blood?
In vain he tried to pierce the dense darkness which surrounded them, fornow the moon had disappeared, and bad weather seemed imminent again.
About two o'clock in the morning our hero was seized with extremefatigue; his limbs were a prey to an agonizing cramp.
Stump put his arm around him, but he drew his breath with difficulty,and evidently required all his strength for himself.
"Let me go, boy," said Mont; "save yourself."
"Certainly not," said Stump quickly. "We're not going down just yet."
At that moment the moon appeared again from under the edge of a thickcloud which had concealed it for a time, and the surface of the seasparkled under its rays.
This fortunate light put new strength into the boys, and Mont searchedthe horizon with eager, careful gaze.
He saw the ship, or what appeared to be her, about two miles off,looking like a somber, inert mass, but there was no sign of a boat.
At first he was inclined to cry for help, but of what use would it havebeen at that distance?
"Here, this way! Hi! help, help!" shouted Stump.
Was it one of those delusive sounds which the anxious mind sometimesconjures up, or did an answer really come to the lad's cry for help?
"Did you hear anything?" asked Mont.
"Yes, I thought so," said Stump, and he began to cry out again.
"Help, help!"
This time there was no mistake. A human voice clearly responded throughthe darkness.
Stump lifted himself as high out of the water as he could, and taking alook, fell back exhausted, clinging desperately to the oar.
"Did you see anything?" asked Mont anxiously.
"Yes; don't talk, sir; we want all our strength."
There was a hopeful ring in his voice which inspired Mont, who,however, fancied he heard the boy sigh almost directly afterward.
He thought of the monster. Was it still near them? But, if so, whencecame the voice?
They began to swim with all the strength they had left, and after someminutes of continued exertion, for moving was a painful task in theirstate, Stump spoke again.
"Are you far off?" he said.
"Not far--push on," replied the voice, which Mont fancied he knew.
Suddenly an outstretched hand seized him; he was pulled violently out ofthe water, just as his senses were going, and, after someone had rubbedhis hands vigorously, he opened his eyes and murmured:
"Stump."
"Here, sir," replied the lad.
By the rays of the moon our hero saw a figure which was not that ofStump, but which he recognized easily.
"Dr. Woddle?" he said.
"Right, my lad," answered the man of science.
"Where is Carl?"
"Here," answered our hero's chum. "The doctor and I stuck together, andour only concern has been for you."
"Where are we?" asked Mont puzzled; "this thing I am sitting on seemsfirm enough."
"It's a floating island," answered Woddle.
A horrible thought crossed Mont's mind to which he could not giveexpression.
"To put you out of your misery at once," continued Dr. Woddle, "we areon the back of the gigantic creature at whom I shot, and I know now whyI did not kill him."
"Why?"
"Because he is ironclad, or something very like it. I can make noimpression upon the scaly monster with my knife."
These words produced a strange feeling in Mont's mind. He found that hewas really with his friends on the back of the monster, which continuedto float on the surface, after causing the partial destruction of theship.
He got up and stamped his foot. It was certainly a hard, impenetrablebody, and not the soft substance of which all the marine inhabitantsthat he had heard of were made, such as whales, sharks, walruses, andthe like. If anything, it more resembled a tortoise or an alligator. Ahollow sound was emitted when it was struck, and it appeared to be madeof cast-iron plates secured together.
"What is your opinion of the creature, sir?" asked Mont.
"You want my candid opinion as a man of science?" said the doctor.
"Certainly, sir."
"I should say, then, that this peculiarly constructed monster is theresult of human hands and ingenuity."
"In that case, it is not a monster at all."
"By no means; I am very much in the dark at present, but I am positivethat there is some wonderful mystery about this thing, which to my mindis a sort of submarine ship, ingeniously constructed to sail under thewater for a time, and to come to the surface for a supply of fresh airfrom time to time. In short; an electric submarine boat."
CHAPTER XII.
INSIDE OF THE "SEARCHER."
All three of the boys were greatly astonished.
"It beats the Dutch!" cried Carl.
"If that is so," said Mont, "there must be some internal mechanism tomake it work about."
"Evidently."
"It gives no sign of life."
"Not at present," answered the man of science. "But we have seen itmove. It has appeared and disappeared. Consequently, it must have hiddenmachinery."
"Of course."
"So that we come to the conclusion, which is inevitable, that there mustbe a man or men inside to direct the ship."
"Hurrah!" cried our hero; "I didn't think of that. We are saved if thatis so, and it must be as you say."
"Hum!" muttered the professor; "I don't know so much about that. If,when it makes a start, it glides along the surface of the water, we areall right; but if it goes down, we are lost."
"I've got an idea," said Mont, after a pause. "We must knock at thedoor, and see if we can find anyone at home."
His companions laughed.
"I have searched carefully," said Carl, "but I can't find even amanhole."
There was nothing to do but to wait until morning.
Mont wanted to keep his feet warm, so he amused himself by kicking hisheels upon the body beneath him.
"I'll wake 'em up," he said. "They shan't sleep if they won't let mein."
Their safety depended absolutely upon the caprice of the mysterioussteersman who inhabited the ironclad, fish-shaped machine.
It seemed to the professor that before those inside descended again theywould have to open some hole to obtain air.
All were now very tired, wet, and hungry, and soon a raging thirst beganto attack them.
Our hero fancied he heard vague sounds beneath him, but could not besure.
Who were the strange beings that lived in the floating iron shell?
Kicking angrily upon the iron surface, Mont said:
"You are very in
hospitable inside. I am hungry and thirsty. Do you wantme to die up here?"
He had no sooner spoken than a flap beside him opened and a railing cameup as if by magic.
Half the body of a strong, wiry, thick-bearded man appeared. He held acurious wire net.
The net fell over Mont's head, and he felt himself dragged over therailing and down into the interior of the iron shell.
A cry of terror broke from his companions, answered by a smothered yellfrom Mont, as the flap fell back and shut out any further view of theinterior.
Our hero had vanished.
This removal, so brutally executed, was accomplished with the rapidityof lightning.
Dr. Woddle felt his hair stand on end, and as for Carl and Stump theywere chilled to the marrow of their bones with fear.
"What have they done with him?" Carl asked.
"Your friend is the first victim," replied the professor. "Perhaps theymean to eat him. For my part, they may eat me as soon as they like;anything is preferable to this."
"I wish I could get at them," replied Stump. "I'd soon have Master Montout."
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when the trap door openedagain, and the servant was dragged down below in a similar manner.
"Really this is very extraordinary," said the professor; "two of us aregone. We are no doubt in the hands of pirates, wretched rovers of thesea, who have brought science to their aid. It is to be hoped----"