THE STRANGE SHIPWRECK
The professor, followed by the boys and Tom, Bill and Andy hastened on
deck. They saw Washington pointing excitedly off to the west. There,
rising and falling on the easy swell, was the wreck of a large vessel.
She had been a three masted schooner, but now only the stumps of the
masts remained and the craft was rolling to and fro. It had settled low
in the water, and was quite deep by the head, so that, at times, the
waves broke over the bow in a shower of spray.
But what attracted the attention of the adventurers more than anything
else was the sight of two figures near what had been the after cabin of
the ship.
There they stood, frantically waving their hands toward those on the
submarine. Across the water that separated the two craft, there came a
faint hail.
"I suppose they are nearly dead," exclaimed the inventor. "We must save
them."
He ordered the _Porpoise_ sent ahead slowly toward the wreck. The
distance was about half a mile, and was soon covered. As the submarine
approached closer those on the schooner could be observed more plainly.
"One of 'em is a woman!" exclaimed Jack, who was using the glasses.
"Let me see," spoke the professor.
"You're right," he added. "The other is a little girl."
A few minutes later the _Porpoise_ was alongside. The woman and child
came to the rail of the schooner, which was barely five feet above the
waves.
"Can you jump down, or shall I come aboard and get you?" asked Mr.
Henderson seeing the woman hesitate.
"I can jump down, if you will catch the child," said the woman. "Oh I am
so glad you came," she added. "We are almost dead from hunger and
thirst, and the wreck is ready to sink and cannot last many hours
longer."
"Pass the little girl down to me," spoke Andy. "Then you jump. We'll
save you all right."
The little girl reached the deck in safety, and the woman, who proved to
be her mother, followed.
"Now take us to your ship," said the woman.
"You must be a long way from her, as she is not in sight."
"Our ship is right here," spoke Mr. Henderson with a smile.
"Where, I don't see her," and the woman looked in all directions.
"Allow me to introduce you to Profess Amos Henderson's famous submarine,
the _Porpoise_," spoke the inventor with a bow. "But come, let us go
below. You must be suffering, and here I am making speeches."
"Indeed I am hungry, and thirsty too," said the woman. "So is Nellie.
But I thought this was merely a small boat, sent from some large ship to
get us."
The woman and girl descended to the cabin of the submarine, where
Washington set before them a fine meal. Under the advice of the
professor they partook sparingly of food and drink at first, as, having
eaten nothing in many hours, the inventor said they must begin by taking
a little at a time.
As soon as they had finished and become somewhat rested, the woman told
her story. She was Mrs. Johnson, a widow, her husband having once owned
and been captain of the schooner that was wrecked. After his death she
and her daughter, having become part owners of the craft, disposing of
a third interest to the former mate of the ship, had set out on one of
the voyages to South American ports.
They had had good weather going, and took on a valuable cargo of lumber
and rare woods. But the return trip was more perilous. Heavy storms had
buffeted the craft almost from the time of leaving port, and in one
heavy blow, ten days before, the ship had been wrecked.
"What became of the crew?" asked Mr. Henderson.
"They took to the boats," replied Mrs. Johnson. "My little girl and
myself were to go with the mate and his men. The waves were fearfully
high, and, as they held the boat close to the schooner so we could get
in, a big roller smashed the little craft. The men must have all been
drowned for I never afterwards caught sight of one of them."
"But the other boats?" asked the inventor.
"They had gotten too far away to hail, supposing that I would be taken
care of by the mate. There was nothing for Nellie and I to do but stay
on board, expecting the ship to sink every minute."
"And you have been there ever since?" inquired Andy.
"Ever since. That was ten days ago. Every day I thought it would be our
last. The storm passed away and the sea became calm but the ship kept
settling lower and lower. Only the fact that part of the cargo was wood
kept her afloat so long. I managed to get some provisions and water up
on deck, but the sea had spoiled most of the stuff. We had to eat only a
little at a time, as I knew it would be some days before we could be
rescued, if we ever were. Two days ago we ate the last of the food and
drank almost the last of the water."
"Then you had nothing since then," spoke Jack.
"Only a few drops of rain that I caught on a piece of sail," answered
Mrs. Johnson.
"Never mind, you can have all you want now, mother," said Nellie, coming
over to pat her parent's cheek. "Oh," the child went on, "I was so
thirsty I could just cry when I thought of such things as ice cream
sodas."
"I guess you could," agreed Mark. "Well, we can't give you any soda
water, but we have plenty of the other kind."
Mrs. Johnson was much interested in the _Porpoise_ and Professor
Henderson showed her all about the craft. Though the quarters were
rather cramped, a small cabin was fitted up for the lady and her
daughter.
"We will travel a bit under the water so you can get used to it," said
the captain after a tour of the ship had been made. The tanks were
filled, and the _Porpoise_ sank beneath the waves. At first Mrs. Johnson
was much frightened, and Nellie cried. But when they saw how skillfully
the ship was managed, and how easy it was to rise again, they lost their
fears.
For several days the voyage was continued. Mrs. Johnson and Nellie
remained aboard as there was no place to land them, and they said they
wished to stay until they met some ship sailing north.
One day, just at dusk, when the _Porpoise_, after a long run under the
water had come to the surface, the professor, came up on deck to take a
look around. Washington and Andy accompanied him.
"Looks like land, off there to the left," remarked the old hunter.
"Get the glasses, Washington," said Mr. Henderson. "It may be a ship."
He took a long and careful look through the binoculars.
"It's some sort of land," he announced. "We'll go over in the morning
and see what it is. Probably it's an island, for there's no main land in
these parts. We are in the middle of the southern Atlantic now."
The next morning, after breakfast, the _Porpoise_ was headed toward the
dark spot on the surface of the water that the professor had gazed at
the evening before. As they came nearer it was seen that the place was a
large island.
"But it's a mighty queer one," spoke Mr. Henderson. "It looks more like
a big volcano than anything else."
As the ship came nearer it was seen that this was true. The island rose
abruptly from the surface of the sea in a big ridge, slightly rounded.
There appeared to be no signs of life on the land, but in the air
overhead hovered several big birds. These circled about and then
fluttered down, seemingly about the middle of the island.
"We'll sail around and see if there's a place to land," spoke the
inventor. "There doesn't seem to be a good harbor on this side."
Slowly the _Porpoise_ made the circuit. The island appeared to be almost
round. When they had gone about half way around Andy, who was staring
ahead, cried out:
"Look out Professor! Don't go any nearer or we'll be sucked into the
whirlpool!"
The inventor looked where the hunter pointed. Then he beheld the
strangest sight he had ever seen. The island was low toward where Andy
pointed and they beheld the waters of the ocean pouring over the edge
of it, and falling down into an immense hole with a roar like that of
Niagara Falls.
"Reverse the ship!" cried Professor Henderson. "Send her back quickly,
Washington, or we'll be sucked down!"
The colored man lost no time, and the big screw was sent whirling in the
opposite direction. And it was high time, for already the onward rush of
the falling waters was slowly drawing the ship toward the big cavern.
"That was a lucky escape," commented Amos Henderson. "Well, as we can't
land there we'll try the other way around."
The ship was headed in the opposite direction, and, after an hour's
sailing, a good harbor was discovered. The _Porpoise_ was anchored in
shallow water close to the shore and in a small boat the professor, Andy
and the two boys went to the strange island.
They found it merely an immense circle of land with the middle part
taken up by the big hole. And such a hole as it was! It was so wide
across that they could not see the farther side, and the depth they
could only guess at. Looking down they could only see great rolling
masses of clouds or vapor.
"Perhaps it's steam," suggested Jack.
"Maybe it is," agreed the professor. "If this is a volcano, with lava in
it, the water of the ocean, pouring in on the other side, may be changed
to steam."
"Do you suppose this hole leads to the centre of the earth?" asked Mark.
"I've read somewhere, that the earth is hollow."
"Some scientists believe it," commented the professor. "This looks like
a big enough hole to lead clear through to China. Hark, you can hear the
roar of the water now."
They listened, and the wind brought to them the sound of the sea pouring
down into the unfathomable depths.
"Let's throw a big rock down," suggested Jack. "Maybe we can hear it
strike bottom."
With the aid of Mark he cast a big boulder down into the depths. They
listened intently, but not the slightest sound echoed back.
"I guess the bottom is too far away for you to hear the stone land,"
said the professor.