INTRODUCING THE "JULES VERNE"
"All out for the _Jules Verne_!"
A familiar voice sounded in the ears of Dick Monaghan as he swung
up through the big shipyard at Bridgeford bound for the office of
Superintendent Brown in the hope that he would find Captain Austin and
his own chum, Jay Thacker, and learn from them some interesting news
concerning the next move to be made in the game of deep-sea salvage.
"All out for the _Jules Verne_!" It was a familiar phrase to every
Brighton student. At the academy, it was always "all out" when the boys
quit their books at night for a romp in the corridors before "lights
out."
"All out yourself, old chappie," retorted Dick. "And what's the good
news this morning?"
"The good news is that the _Jules Verne_ is ready for her maiden trip
out into Long Island Sound, and we are bound thither, old boy, by the
light of this afternoon's sun."
Dick was pleased. They had been back nearly two weeks now from Cape May
and the recovery of government plans from the lost U-boat. There had
been some tedious delay in fitting out the new salvage ship with its
finishing touches, and the inactivity had tried the mettle of the two
lads.
Eagerly they set their steps toward the offices of "Montey" Brown,
the yard superintendent, intent upon procuring further and definite
information. On the way they were accosted by "Laughing Larry"
Seymour--"the original optimist" the boys had labeled him.
"Look who's here!" chortled Jay as Larry came swinging along.
For once the volatile Seymour was repressed.
"Heard the news yet today?" Larry was all earnestness.
"Sure, we know all about the _Jules Verne_--" Jay was in excellent
spirits and not to be daunted by the changed demeanor of the usually
debonair Seymour.
"Naw, I don't mean the _Jules Verne_! I mean this."
Larry snatched a newspaper from his pocket and was pointing to a
glaring front page headline.
"Spy Suspect Escapes Receiving Ship _Exeter's_ Brig at Charlestown Navy
Yard in Boston--Carl Weddigen, Believed to be German Secret Service
Emissary, Makes Getaway on Eve of Trial."
It was a copy of the Providence _Journal_ that had come into Bridgeford
by the morning mail. Seymour was ready to "blow up" with indignation.
"What do you know about that!" he was groaning.
Jay and Dick, their faces buried in the outspread sheet, read every
detail of the news item. How their erstwhile shipmate, Carl Weddigen,
he of the diamond-theft fame and the U-boat plot, had slipped
his chains at Boston, dropped over the side of the _Exeter_ and
successfully made his getaway. Within a few days he was to have been
haled before a Naval Board of Inquiry; and both Jay and Dick were to
have appeared as witnesses in the case.
"Out of luck!" expostulated Jay. "Just after we round up that
bird--then they let him slip away. Fine state of affairs."
Weddigen was soon forgotten in the plans for going aboard the _Jules
Verne_ and testing her out on the initial voyage. Captain Austin,
meeting the three lads near the drydock, told them they should report
for duty at seven o'clock the next morning. Jay had heard that they
would go out that same afternoon; but now their chief executive told
them it would be morning before they would get their first peek at the
new salvage ship.
The hours dragged slowly, so impatient were the youths to see the
_Jules Verne_ at last. They had heard so much about her and speculated
so much on the kind of ship that it might be and how it would operate.
Even carefree Larry Seymour, not much given to the serious side of
life, avowed for once all this secrecy had "got his goat."
"Must be something wonderful's all I can say," he laughed with a toss
of the head.
"And tomorrow we're to find out all about it," Jay could hardly wait.
Morning found the three youths on hand early. Fismes, the war dog,
accompanied them to the yard. Jay had wanted to take the pet along on
the _Nemo_ as a mascot, but it had been decided there was no space
on the under-water craft for a dog. Now it might be different; for
the _Jules Verne_ was a surface cruising craft from which under-water
operations were conducted--that much the boys had wormed out of Captain
Austin.
"Cap" himself was waiting to greet the lads and escort them aboard the
_Jules Verne_.
"Ho! Ho! what have we here?" interposed Captain Austin as he wheeled to
look the dog over.
"Some tramp dog that followed you fellows in?"
Jay was quick to tell the story of the famous dog of war, and to
introduce Fismes formally to the Bridgeford Yard official.
"Good enough, old boy," was Cap's greeting as he took the extended paw
of the dog.
"And now you shall come right aboard the _Jules Verne_ with us. We
need a mascot for this new ship. I know of none better, and forthwith
propose you as a member of the crew. What do you say, boys?"
Jay and Dick, who shared the pet between them, heartily agreed, and Jay
told how he had really wanted to take Fismes along on the _Nemo_, but
had desisted, knowing there would not be room.
"But there's plenty of room on the _Jules Verne_. Come along, fellows;
let's be on our way." So saying, the four deep-sea navigators set out
for the new craft, closely pursued by a shaggy brown dog, who, stiff
and proud, walked like an animal all conceited over new honors heaped
upon him.
"Here she is all ready for us," announced Captain Austin as they came
at last in sight of the _Jules Verne_.
Both Brighton lads stopped short in their tracks. They had expected
to see something pretentious. Instead, here was anchored a flat
wide-beamed vessel that at first glance looked for all the world like a
car-float with the superstructure of a ferry boat. It might have been a
houseboat at one time in its career.
But what particularly struck the fancy of the boys was a strange
ram-like nose that projected straight out from the bow of this
odd-looking craft. At this distance it looked like a series of huge
steel cistern sections linked together after the fashion of a long
sewer system. For approximately a hundred feet this cylindrical
projection extended out from the bow of the _Jules Verne_. Less than a
third of it was exposed to view, the remainder being under water. At
the end it terminated in a queer flatiron-shaped turret something like
eight or ten feet across at the back and tapering forward to a thin
prow of inches.
Truly this was a strange looking outfit! Never in all their maritime
experience had the boys seen anything like it.
"You sure have one on me," faltered Dick as he surveyed the craft.
Jay was shaking his head too. "Might be the houseboat on the Styx so
far as my store of knowledge is concerned."
Captain Austin turned to Larry Seymour. "What do you think of her?"
"Nix for me, Captain; you have me buffaloed," was all Larry could
hazard.
Captain Austin laughed aloud.
"I thought you chaps would be surprised. Well, now let's see. The
_Jules Verne_ is the mother ship"--he pointed out the "houseboat" that
had first caught the eyes of the boys. "She is nothing more than an old
Fall River liner that we bought in and converted into our own uses. She
is simply the base of operations. We live on the _Jules Verne_. She
takes us wherever we want to go and she is entirely seaworthy, I assure
you.
"Now, look at the access tube." The captain was pointing now to the
long cylindrical tube that led away forward from the bow of the _Jules
Verne_. "That is the way we get into the _Nautilus_. Oh, yes, the
_Nautilus_ is really the big secret of our plan. It is the small diving
compartment that sets out there in the water."
"You mean the flatiron-shaped section nearly awash?" queried Dick.
"Exactly," replied the captain. "Call it a diving bell if you will.
What we have here is two distinct vessels connected by a long
passageway. 'The Subway' as Superintendent Brown calls it. First we go
aboard the _Jules Verne_. Then we find the lost ship on the bottom of
the sea that we want to work on. When we are ready we lower the access
tube and the _Nautilus_ right over the wreck. Down goes the tube.
Down we climb just like walking down an enclosed ladder. Through the
air-lock--and there we are in the _Nautilus_! Don't you get it?"
Jay and Dick nodded understandingly.
"Tell us more about the _Nautilus_," asked Dick inquisitively.
"Well, the _Nautilus_ is nothing more or less than a submarine diving
chamber," explained Austin. "It is set on the end of the access tube
by means of a huge differential that enables it to work back and forth
like a flexible hinge. Under the _Nautilus_ and under the access tube
are ballast tanks. You boys who have been in the submarine and the
diving business in the Navy know how easily that works. We raise or
lower the diving compartment simply by 'trimming,' or blowing the
tanks. In case the ballast apparatus gets out of commission, we have
the _Nautilus_ suspended on cables. They will bring her up again if she
gets stuck down there."
"Oh, I commence to see it now," interrupted Jay. "The mother boat, or
_Jules Verne_, is like your shoulder. The access tube through which you
effect an entrance into the _Nautilus_ is like your arm. The _Nautilus_
is like your hand. You raise or lower at will, and you can put the
_Nautilus_ down in the water at a distance equal to the length of the
access tube, or arm. Isn't that it?"
"Exactly, my boy," countered "Cap" Austin. "And can't you see the
advantages of such an equipment? Heretofore, we have had to send you
divers down to go groping around over the bottom of the sea after we
found our quarry. You had to prod and dig and scratch around to find
out the condition of the lost ship, how best she was to be entered, and
all that. And by that time, you were pretty well played out and had to
stop until you got in good trim again."
"To say nothing of the tides and the storms that kept pulling us away
from our work," added Dick.
"Right you are," continued the captain. "But now all that is done away
with. When we come to a wreck now we lower the _Nautilus_; you chaps go
down with us and from the ports of the _Nautilus_ we inspect the wreck
without one of you having to step a foot on the bottom of the sea. When
we have looked her over carefully and are all ready to get down to
work, then we can let you out the bottom of the _Nautilus_, instead of
sending you over the sides of the _Jules Verne_. What do you think of
that? Think of it! You are already down in the sea a hundred feet or
more. You are not only conserving your strength, but you are much safer
than when out in diving armor floundering around in quest of your prey."
"What is the _Nautilus_ like inside, and how does she operate?" Dick,
mechanically inclined, was eager to solve the whole of this riddle.
"You shall know intimately for yourselves within a very short time,"
answered his captain. "We are going right aboard now, and as soon as
Superintendent "Montey" Brown and a number of officials higher up come
along we are going to cast off and go out in the Sound to make our
first practical tests."
That was good news to the Brighton boys and Larry Seymour. Headed by
Captain Austin and followed by their good friend Fismes, they crossed
the gangplank and stepped on the deck of the _Jules Verne_.
"Not made for grace or beauty, but a very practical old craft,"
remarked "Cap" as he led the way forward. The new recruits were anxious
to learn all about the new diving operations as quickly as possible.
In a few minutes the rest of the party came aboard and the _Jules
Verne_ slipped out into Long Island Sound--ready for business!