AN UNEXPECTED RESCUE.
Sixty's unprovoked and murderous attack on Matt had been made with such
brutal suddenness that the king of the motor boys had had no chance
to defend himself. Before he fairly realized what had happened he was
under the water and fighting his way upward to the surface. Had he not
been such a good swimmer the weight of his clothing would have dragged
him down and rendered his case hopeless. He was seriously handicapped,
as it was, and when he gained the top of the water he was thankful to
find a life-preserver bobbing and ducking beside him.
How the life-preserver happened to be there he did not know, but he
seized hold of it gratefully and allowed it to support him in the
tumbling waves. By that time the _Santa Maria_ was far in the distance,
but there was a commotion on her decks which indicated that the cry of
"Man overboard!" was receiving a prompt response. The sharp orders of
the officer of the deck, the cries of excited passengers, and even the
jingle of the engine-room bell came distinctly to the ears of the youth
in the water.
Matt, although still bewildered, congratulated himself on escaping the
swiftly-revolving screw. He had been thrown from the ship near the
stern, and it was a piece of luck that the suction had not drawn him
under the sharp propeller-blades.
Buffeted by the waves, Matt swung back and forth in the water and
watched while the boat was lowered. Dick and Carl were in the boat, and
there were two sailors at the oars. Dick, at the bow, was coiling a
piece of rope in his hands, making ready for a cast as soon as the boat
should come near enough.
Matt, his eyes fastened on the boat, gave no attention to the expanse
of water in the other direction. Suddenly he heard a cry, coming from
behind him, and turned his head. His amazement was complete when he saw
a submarine rolling amid the waves. The mystery of the glistening red
speck which had claimed his attention from the steamer was explained.
It was the round periscope ball of the _Grampus_!
Some one--Matt could not see distinctly, for the spindrift was in his
eyes--was half out of the conning tower of the submarine.
"Come aboard of us, Matt!" shouted the man, whirling a rope about his
head and letting it fly.
The youth's ears were filled with the _poppety-pop_ of the submarine's
motor, but he heard the request. He could only guess how the submarine
happened to be there, and guesses were useless, for he would soon be
told everything about the queer situation.
Motor Matt grabbed at the rope as it was thrown to him by the man in
the submarine.
As he hauled himself toward the _Grampus_, hand over hand, he saw that
the man in the conning tower was Townsend, or Captain Nemo, Jr., as he
preferred to be called when afloat.
Presently the young motorist was hauling himself up on the slippery
deck of the submarine.
"Are you all right, Matt?" cried Captain Nemo, Jr.
"All right, captain," answered Matt, "except that I'm as wet as a
drowned rat and can hardly understand why I was thrown from the
steamer."
"You were thrown overboard?" demanded the captain.
"Yes; by your man, Sixty."
"_My_ man? I don't understand you. But we'll let that go for now. Dick
and Carl are in that boat yonder. Shall we take them aboard?"
"I'd like to, sir, but we have some luggage on the _Santa Maria_ and
the boys had better go back after it."
"Tell them to get the luggage and that we'll stand by to take them
off." Nemo, Jr., threw a hasty look around at the sky, which was
rapidly becoming overcast. "Ask them to hurry," he added, "for we'll be
in for dirty weather before long and we must get them on the _Grampus_
before the storm comes down on us."
The rowboat by then had drawn as close to the submarine as safety would
permit. The two sailors were lying on their oars and gazing at the
craft in astonishment, while the rail of the steamer was crowded with
passengers and crew, all staring at the strange scene going forward
there in the waters of the gulf.
"Ahoy, Dick!" shouted Matt.
"Ahoy, yourself, old ship!" roared Dick. "That's the _Grampus_, I take
it?"
"Yes. Captain Nemo, Jr., is going to take you and Carl aboard. Go back
to the _Santa Maria_ and get our traps. Be quick about it, for the
weather is threatening."
"Ay, ay," cried Dick heartily, "and it's glad I am to leave the old
hooker."
Dick dropped down in the boat and the sailors fell-to on the oars.
"Come inside, Matt," called Captain Nemo, Jr. "I'll get out of the way
and make room for you."
The captain disappeared downward, and Matt climbed over the rim of the
conning tower and quickly descended the iron ladder.
In a square chamber called the periscope room, at the foot of the
ladder, Matt found the captain and Cassidy waiting for him. Each
grasped his hand. There was only a moment for congratulations.
"Up into the tower with you, Cassidy," called the captain, "and keep
watch for Dick and Carl. We're going to take them on as soon as they
pick up their belongings."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered Cassidy, "I heard your talk with Matt, and
Matt's talk with the fellows in the boat."
Cassidy disappeared up the ladder and Matt dropped down on a locker and
began pulling off his water-logged shoes.
"I've got a dry suit in my grip," said he, "and when the boys get here
I'll slide into a more comfortable rig."
"And Sixty threw you overboard!" muttered Nemo, Jr., a black frown
crossing his face. "The murderous scoundrel! I have long known him as a
desperate man, but I would hardly have believed him capable of such a
move as that! What was his reason?"
"That's more than I know."
"You mean to say that you don't know what his motive was for attempting
such a high-handed piece of work?"
"That's exactly what I mean, captain."
"Did any one see him?"
"Only his niece--and yours."
Captain Nemo, Jr.'s, amazement increased.
"_My_ niece?" he echoed. "I have no niece."
"Is your real name Harris, Captain?"
"No, certainly not."
"And Sixty isn't your brother-in-law?"
The captain flung up his hands.
"I should hope not! Where did you get all this queer misinformation?"
"From the girl who called herself Sadie Harris, and who said she was a
niece of yours."
"You and your friends have been badly fooled, Matt," said the captain.
"We must probe to the bottom of this and----"
Just at that moment the _Grampus_ gave a wild roll, nearly upsetting
Captain Nemo, Jr., and almost throwing Matt from the locker. A bucket
of water came sloshing down the conning-tower hatch.
"The squall's hit us!" roared Cassidy. "The weather's so thick with
rain and flying scud I can't see the steamer."
"Did the boys get aboard?"
"Yes, and they've had time to get back into the whaleboat again, but
there's been some sort of a hitch."
The _Grampus_ was rolling and wallowing frightfully, and it seemed at
times as though she must surely turn turtle. The slap of waves on her
steel sides and against the conning tower caused a thunderous noise to
echo through the boat.
"Close the hatch, and come down, Cassidy!" shouted the captain.
"We'll have to submerge her, and try to pick up the steamer with the
periscope."
Cassidy could be heard clamping down the hatch. While he was coming
down the ladder, the captain turned to one of the speaking tubes that
entered the periscope room.
"Let the water into the ballast tanks, Clackett!" he called. "A
ten-foot submergence. Slow speed ahead, Gaines," he added through
another tube. "Keep her south by west, Cassidy," said he to the mate.
"South by west it is, sir," answered Cassidy, posing himself by a small
binnacle and laying hands on a steering wheel.
From a distance Matt heard the old familiar rhythm of the gasoline
cylinders. There was a splashing as water poured into the ballast
tanks, followed by a very perceptible sinking motion. The frightful
wallowing and pitching ceased to a great extent, and the _Grampus_ hung
on a fairly even keel.
"Ten feet of submergence, cap'n!" came from a speaking tube so
distinctly that it almost seemed as though the speaker was in the
periscope room.
"Very good, Clackett," replied the captain. "Hold her so. Now, Matt,"
the captain went on, "we'll see what the periscope has to show us."
The hollow steel mast of the periscope, contrived with powerful
reflectors, terminated in a hood that swung above a table.
Captain Nemo, Jr., pushed aside a fold of the hood and he and Matt
looked down on the highly-polished mirror that formed the top of the
table.
A stormy scene lay under their eyes. Their horizon was narrowed to only
a few yards by rain and spray, but within this brief radius they got a
sight of raging waves and a fierce tumult of waters. Now and again the
scene was blotted out for a moment as the periscope ball was drenched
by a comber.
"We can't take the boys off now, captain," said Matt.
"It would be impossible in this sea," answered the captain. "I was not
looking for the squall to hit us so soon. We'll try and follow the
_Santa Maria_, however, and take them off later."
"How can you follow her when you can't see her?"
"We know her track, and we'll follow her by compass."
The wild roaring of wind and sea came to those in the _Grampus_ like a
dull murmur, and the submarine's rocking, at a ten-foot submergence,
was proof of the power the elements must be showing on the surface.
Both Matt and the captain kept their eyes constantly on the table top,
then, abruptly, Matt gave a gasp and caught at the table to support
himself.
"Look!" he cried. "Captain--the boat----"
But Captain Nemo, Jr.'s, startled eyes had already seen what Matt had
beheld. This was a whaleboat tossed wildly on the crest of a huge wave
adrift, and with Carl and Dick clinging desperately to the oars.
Only Matt's two chums were in the boat. The captain whirled to one of
the tubes.
"Turbines at work, Clackett!" he shouted; "quick, on your life. Empty
the tanks and get us back to the surface! Reverse your engine, Gaines,"
he added through another tube.
Matt, still clinging to the table, stared down on its polished top. The
drifting whaleboat, with his two chums, had vanished as quickly as it
had appeared.