LAND UNDER ICE
Suddenly the craft began to move. Slowly at first, then, with more speed
it forged ahead through the water.
"Are we free?" asked Andy, starting up.
"Who started the machinery?" demanded the professor.
"No one," replied Jack. "We are all here. There is no one in the engine
room."
"But we are moving," said Mark.
"It's dem sucker-fish!" exclaimed Washington. "Dey is takin' us off to
der dens an' dere we'll all be eat up!"
"I'm afraid part of it is true," said Mr. Henderson. "The creatures are
certainly making off with us. How powerful they must be!"
"Will dey take us to a cave?" faltered Washington. "Will dey eat us up?"
"I don't think they'll eat us up," spoke the inventor. "It would defy
even their powerful sucking apparatus to bore through the steel sides of
the _Porpoise_. What I am afraid of is that they may move us to some
hidden depth where we will be caught under the rocks or in the ice, and
so lose what little chance there is of getting free."
"And the worst of it is we can't do a thing to help ourselves!"
exclaimed Andy. "This is the worst game I was ever up against!"
The adventurers were indeed helpless. They could not get out of their
ship to attack the monsters, even had they dared to. Their engine,
powerful as it was, had proved no match for the creatures, and now they
were being carried away, ship and all, to some unknown place.
The ship did not go through the water fast. Though the suckers seemed to
be working in union their bodies were too unwieldly, and the ship so
large, that their pace was slow. Nevertheless they kept steadily on.
Several times, in their desperation, the adventurers tried the force of
the big screw against that of the suckers. It was of no avail. Neither
was the device of emptying the tanks, and trying to force the craft up
as far as the roof of ice would permit it to go.
"It's of no use," announced Mr. Henderson with something that sounded
like a groan. "We must prepare for the worst."
"How long can we live here without going to the surface after a fresh
supply of air?" asked Bill.
"About three days," was the answer. "I took the precaution to put a
double supply into the tanks, in readiness for an emergency, but I never
thought of such a terrible situation as this."
The submarine seemed to be moving more rapidly now. It was useless to
try to see through either the windows in the side or in the conning
tower, for all the glass was covered by the horrible bodies.
"What will they do with us when they get us where they want us?" asked
Andy.
"What can they do except hold us prisoners until--until--" The professor
broke off the sentence he dared not finish.
For an hour or more the craft was moved through the water at moderate
speed. Then it came to a stop. Those on board were alert for what might
happen next.
"I guess dey done got us in der cave," said Washington with chattering
teeth. "Now dey'll begin to devour us wid dem terrible big mouths!
Golly, I wish I was home!"
"Stop that nonsense!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "Be a man! There is no
danger yet. The sides of the _Porpoise_ will defy worse enemies than
those attacking us!"
At that instant the ship began to move again. It was hauled slowly
through the water.
"They are pulling us backward!" said Andy, as he watched the needle of
the compass.
Once more the submarine was stopped. Then it moved forward at a more
rapid pace than at any time since the suckers had seized it. An instant
later it brought up against some solid object with such a jar that those
inside were thrown off their feet.
"Something has hit us!" cried Jack.
"More likely we've struck something," said the professor.
Again the ship forged to the rear, and once again it was sent swiftly
ahead. Then came the second shock, harder than the first, which sent
some of the party headlong.
"They are banging us against a rock!" cried Mr. Henderson.
"Do you mean those sea suckers?"
"Yes. They have probably found that the shell of the _Porpoise_ is too
hard even for their powerful jaws. So they have taken us to some place
where the rocks show and are banging us against them in order to break
the ship, so they can get at what is inside."
Once more the ship was drawn backward and again dashed against the
stone. The shock was a hard one and toppled over all who were not
clinging to something.
"They are ramming us bow on against the rocks," cried Andy. "It will
break us apart if they hit us many more times!"
Washington hurried forward. He came back with his eyes showing terror.
"There's a lot of rocks right ahead ob us!" he exclaimed. "I see 'em
through th' little window jest above th' screw. There's land under this
here water!"
"Land under this ice do you mean?" asked the professor.
"That's what I mean, an' we's bein' rammed agin th' rocks!"
"There it goes again!" cried Jack, as the ship shivered from stem to
stern against the impact of the blow.
"This can not last long," said Mr. Henderson. "If they strike us many
more times some of the places will start, the water will come in, and we
will drown!"
"But what can we do?" asked Jack.
"Let's go out now and see if we can't kill some of the beasts with the
guns," suggested Andy.
"I cannot permit it," answered the inventor. "Our position is bad enough
as it is, but to go out would be to lose our lives for a certainty. The
suckers would swallow us up in a moment. I must find some other way."
There was a period of silence, while all waited anxiously for what was
to happen next. It was not long in coming. The next impact of the ship
against the rocks was the hardest yet, and it seemed that more of the
suckers must have gripped the craft.
"She's leakin' a little!" exclaimed Washington coming back from an
inspection forward. "De water am tricklin' in!"
"We must fight them!" exclaimed Andy. He ran to get a gun and his diving
suit.
"Don't try to go out!" warned the professor. "You will surely be
killed."
"I'd rather be killed out there than die shut up in the ship!" cried the
old hunter. "I'm going out!"
"Wait!" exclaimed Jack suddenly. "I have a plan that may save us!"
"What is it? Speak quickly!" said Mr. Henderson. "We are in desperate
straits!"
As he spoke there came another crash against the rocks.
"We must electrocute the suckers!" cried the boy.
"Electrocute them? What do you mean?"
"Take the wires from the electric light circuit, attach one to each end
of the ship, and start the dynamo at full speed!" answered Jack.
"What good will that do?"
"The ship is steel," went on the boy. "It will become charged with a
powerful current. We can insulate ourselves by putting on rubber boots,
but the shock of the electricity will kill the creatures!"
"Good for you!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "Quick boys, everybody lend a
hand! Washington, detach the wires and run one to the bow and the other
to the stern of the ship. Then get out the boots."
In a few minutes the dynamo was ready to send a death-dealing current
through the entire ship. The professor and all the others put on the
boots, that were a part of the diving equipment. The dynamo was started
at full speed and the purring hum told that electricity of great power
was being developed.
The professor stood with his hand on a switch, ready to close the
circuit as soon as sufficient power had accumulated. Once more the
suckers backed the ship in order to give it impetus for another impact
on the stones.
Click! The professor snapped the switch shut. There was a burst of
bluish-green flame, and the movement of the boat suddenly ceased.
"I guess that does for 'em!" shouted Andy.
"Wait a few minutes," advised the professor. "The suckers may not all be
dead yet!"
He kept the current flowing throughout the length of the ship for
several minutes, and then turned it off.
"Now to see if the plan worked," he said. The windows in the cabin were
eagerly scanned.
"Hurrah!" cried Mark. "The suckers have gone!"
"I guess the electricity killed them," spoke Mr. Henderson. "We will
venture out now in our diving suits and see what sort of a place we are
in."
Soon the adventurers were arrayed in the heavy suits. Under them they
wore thick clothing, and in each suit was placed a small flat heater,
operated by a storage battery. The heaters were made of coils of fine
wires, and the electric current, meeting with much resistance in passing
through them, heated the coils, so there was considerable warmth.
It was all needed as they found when they felt the water entering the
diving chamber, for the fluid was as cold as an ocean full of icebergs
could make it. Protected however by the heavy suits, warm clothing and
the heaters the divers were fairly comfortable.
The outer door was opened and they all started back in amazement at the
sight which met their eyes. Before them lay a forest of real trees, with
bushes growing among them, while the ground, instead of being like the
usual ocean bed was covered with grass.
As Washington had said, on getting a small view of the place from the
little window, it was real land under water.
Their first surprise at the strange spectacle over, the adventurers
glanced about for a sight of the terrible sea suckers. But they need not
have feared. Lying in a huddled up mass toward the rear of the
_Porpoise_ were the dead bodies of the ugly creatures. The electricity
had finished them.