MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS
The voice of the mate echoed through the _Mermaid_. Those on deck heard
it, as did Tony in the engine room, where he was vainly trying to
understand the complicated machinery.
An instant later there sounded from beneath the ship a series of
splashes. More sailors were leaping from the deck of the craft to the
ocean. The distance was not great, particularly as they all landed in
water.
"Quick!" cried the mate to a group of sailors that hesitated before
taking the jump. "The ship may blow up any minute now."
The men needed no second urging. As soon as they struck the water they
began to swim ashore, as it was not far away. One after another they
jumped over the rail. Tony was the last to go. He urged the captives to
follow him, but they all refused.
A minute later the only one of the pirate crew left on the ship was the
mate. The others were all struggling in the sea. Eventually they all
reached shore in safety.
The airship was now within about twenty feet of the water. It was still
falling but not so rapidly.
"Better send her up, now," said the mate to Mark, and the boy turned the
necessary levers to accomplish this.
Dipping into the water as a sea gull does when searching for food on the
wing, for she had come quite low, the _Mermaid_ mounted once more into
the air, and was soon sailing along over the heads of Tony and his gang.
"What's it all about?" asked Mr. Henderson, who seemed in a sort of
stupor. "I thought the ship was broken. How, then, can it rise?"
"It was only a trick of mine," Rodgers said. "The gas machine is not
broken. I had Mark fix it so that only a little vapor would be
generated. When the supply in the holder was not enough, and no more was
being made, the ship had to sink. Mark and I pretended it was worse than
it really was just to scare the scoundrels."
"And you evidently succeeded," observed Mr. Henderson. "They have all
left us. I am glad you stayed."
"So am I," said Rodgers. "I was just waiting for a chance to escape from
that crowd. This was the plan I thought of that night. I wanted to see
the men put on some island where they could manage to live, and which
was not too far away."
The _Mermaid_ was now mounting upward rapidly, as Mark had adjusted the
machinery properly. The craft was well rid of the pirate crew, and was
able to proceed on its way, and enable Mr. Henderson to carry out his
plans.
When the _Mermaid_ had reached a certain height her prow was turned the
other way, and she was sent back racing over the ground she had just
covered. But now the ship was in the hands of friends. Fortunately no
great damage had been done by the sailors, and the professor was soon
able to get things in ship-shape. The engines had not been molested and
were working better than ever.
"Now to make another attempt to reach the big hole in the earth," the
professor cried. "We will be careful next time, who we rescue from ships
at sea."
The island was soon left behind, becoming a mere speck on the ocean.
Those aboard the _Mermaid_ knew no harm could befall the sailors, as
there were no savage tribes on the little spot of land. Eventually the
sailors were picked up by a passing vessel and taken to their homes. The
story of their first mutiny leaked out and they were properly punished.
It required several days travel before the airship regained the distance
she had lost because of the plans of the pirates. Also, there were a
number of minor repairs to make, and the professor and his friends were
kept busy.
"How much longer before we come to the big hole?" asked Jack, one day.
"I think we ought to be near it in about two weeks," the professor
replied. "I only hope we shall not be disappointed, and will be able to
explore it."
"'Tain't goin' t' be no fun t' be decimated an' expurgitated inter a
conglomerous aggregation of elements constituting th' exterior portion
of human anatomy," said Washington in dubious tones.
"You mean you're afraid of being boiled in the steam from the big hole?"
asked Mark.
"Jest so," replied the colored man.
"You don't need to worry about that," put in the professor. "I will not
take the ship down if there is any danger, though of course there will
be some risk."
The ship, having been fully repaired, was now able to be speeded up, and
was sent scudding along toward her destination. Rodgers proved a
valuable acquisition toward the crew, for he had sailed many years in
the waters over which they were flying, and was able to give the
professor many valuable hints. He had heard vague stories of the island
with the big hole, but had never been near it. He did not make the trip
however, as, at his request, he was put off at an inhabited island one
night.
It was about a week after the sailors were frightened from the ship,
that a curious experience befell Mark. Washington was on duty in the
conning tower, attending to the apparatus as the ship flew through the
air, and all the others had gone to bed. Mark had remained up, later
than the others as he was interested in reading a book on science.
About ten o'clock he became hungry, and going to the pantry got some
bread and cold meat. He set these on a table, and then, remembering he
would need some water to drink, started after some in the cooler, which
was in a little room near the tower.
Washington heard the boy as he turned the faucet to draw the liquid, and
spoke to him, as the colored man was rather lonesome at his post. Mark
did not linger more than a minute or two, but when he returned to where
he had left the food he was much surprised.
There was not a trace of it to be seen. The dishes were on the table,
but every vestige of bread and meat had disappeared.
"I wonder if a cat or dog has been here," was Mark's first thought. Then
he remembered that no such animals were aboard the _Mermaid_.
Something on the floor caught his eye. He stooped and picked it up. It
was a slice of bread, but in such shape that the boy stared at it,
puzzled as to how it could have become so.
It was flattened out quite thin, but the strangest part of it was that
it bore what seemed to be the marks of thumb and fingers from a very
large hand. So big, in fact, was the print, that Mark's hand scarce
covered half of it, and, where the bread had been squeezed into a putty
like mass (for it was quite fresh) the peculiar markings on the skin of
the tips of the fingers were visible.
"It looks as if a giant grabbed this slice of bread," Mark observed.
"There are strange happenings aboard this ship. I wish I knew what they
meant."
He looked all around for the food, thinking perhaps a rat had dragged it
off, but there was no trace of it.
Suddenly the boy thought he heard a sound from the big storeroom. He was
almost sure he heard something moving in there. He started toward the
door when he was stopped by hearing the professor's voice call:
"Don't open that door, Mark. Have I not told you that place must not be
entered?"
"I thought I heard some one in there," Mark replied.
"There is nothing in there but some apparatus of mine," Mr. Henderson
said. "I want no one to see it. What is the matter?"
Mark explained matters to the scientist, who had, as he said later,
arisen on hearing the boy moving about.
"Oh, it was a rat that took your stuff," Mr. Henderson said. "I guess
there are some pretty big ones on the ship. Get some more food and go to
sleep."
Mark felt it best to obey, though he was by no means satisfied with the
professor's explanation. He listened intently to see if any more noises
came from the storeroom, but none did, and he went to bed.
Several times after that Mark tried the experiment of leaving food
about. On each occasion it was taken.
"It looks as if the ship was haunted," he said. "Of course I know it
isn't, but it's very queer. They must be strange rats that can get food
from shelves when there is only the smooth side of the ship to climb
up," for on some occasions Mark had tried the experiment of putting the
food as nearly out of reach as possible.
It took several nights to learn all this, and, as he did not want to
take any one into his confidence, he had to work in secret. But, with
all his efforts he learned nothing, save that there was something odd
about the ship that he could not fathom.
At first he believed the professor had some strange animal concealed in
the storeroom, but he dismissed this idea almost as soon as he thought
of it. For what could the scientist want with an animal when they were
going to the interior of the earth? That some beast had slipped aboard
was out of the question. Mark was much puzzled, but finally, deciding
the matter did not concern him a great deal, gave up trying to solve the
mystery, at least for a time.
The ship was now in the neighborhood of the equator and the climate had
become much warmer. So hot indeed were some nights that they slept out
on deck, with the _Mermaid_ flying through the air at a moderate pace,
for it was deemed best not to go at any great speed after dark.
One night the professor, after consulting various charts and maps, and
making calculations which covered several sheets of paper announced:
"We should sight the mysterious island to-morrow."
"That's good news!" exclaimed Jack. "I'm anxious to see what's below
inside of that big hole."
"Everybody git ready for their funerals!" exclaimed Washington in a deep
voice. "I ain't got many----"
"Cheer up," interrupted Jack, poking Washington in the ribs. The colored
man was very ticklish, and he began to laugh heartily, though, perhaps,
he did not feel like it.
Suddenly, above the sound of his shouts, there came a crashing, grinding
noise from the engine room.