THE “SONDERBAAR”
Jerry, whom the shock of the lightning bolt had knocked to one side,
jumped for the lever of the elevating rudder, hoping, if nothing else
could be done, to cause the _Comet_ to volplane more easily to the
surface of the sea. At the same time he called out:
“The hydroplanes, Ned! Set them quick! Bob, see if the gas generator is
working! There’s something wrong!”
“It’s cracked!” shouted Professor Snodgrass, getting up from where
he had been thrown against a locker. “The generator is cracked right
across, Jerry!”
“Then we can’t depend on that!”
There was a look almost of despair in Jerry’s eyes, but he was not
going to give up yet. In a flash he threw over the switch that
connected the storage battery with the propeller motor.
But there was not even a spark to show that the electric current was
available.
“Not an ampere!” groaned Jerry. “Everything is dead!”
The entire electrical equipment of the _Comet_ had been disabled by
the bolt from the sky. She was as helpless as a collapsed balloon. No
gas could be generated to fill the lifting-bags, and the small supply
that was already in them had leaked out through rents caused by the
lightning. It was the worst accident that had ever befallen the boys,
and they had been in dire straits often enough.
Down the motorship was plunging toward the sea that seemed eagerly
awaiting her.
“It’s all up with us, I guess!” shouted Ned. “Can you do anything,
Jerry?”
“Volplane down--that’s about all. But something seems to be wrong. I’m
afraid some of our side planes are split. We are falling so fast that
it shows they’re not helping to keep us up.”
A glance at the barograph height gage on the wall of the pilot house
showed the hand to be moving swiftly around, indicating how fast the
_Comet_ was falling.
“The hydroplanes will keep us afloat a little while,” said Jerry in a
tense voice, as he looked about as if for some other means of averting
the disaster that was about to overtake them. “But I’m afraid it’s so
rough down there we won’t float long. The pontoons will be wrenched off
by the waves.”
“Then we’d better get on our bathing suits!” put in Bob, with grim
humor.
“You mean life preservers, Chunky!” cried Ned. “And that’s a good
stunt, too. I’ll get them out.”
Ever since the motor boys had arranged their craft to navigate over
water they had carried life preservers aboard, and it was the work of
only a few seconds for Ned to get them out.
“Here, Professor!” he called to the scientist, who was nervously
packing up his collection of specimens, as though he could take them
with him; “here, put on one of these. We may have to swim for it!”
“We’ll be lucky if we can swim,” muttered Jerry.
Fortunately, when the _Comet_ was struck by the bolt of lightning she
had been well up in the air, and now, as she began to fall, there was a
considerable distance for her to go. This gave the boys and Professor
Snodgrass a little time to prepare for whatever fate had in store for
them.
There were looks of despair on all their faces, for not only did they
fear for their lives, but it was heart-breaking to know that their fine
craft had to meet such an end. And there seemed no way of saving her.
Plunging down toward the ocean as she was, about to be engulfed far
from the shore, there appeared to be no hope for her. In the
semi-darkness of the cabin the motor boys looked at one another.
All the electric lights had been put out by the shock, and only one
emergency oil lamp, always kept going in anticipation of some accident,
gave illumination.
Once more Jerry tried to start the propellers, so that he might guide
the craft upward, but there was no power. He had hoped that perhaps the
storage battery might have been only temporarily polarized, but this
was not the case. It was “dead.”
“I guess we’re in for it,” murmured the tall lad. “Better get outside,
boys,” he went on. “She may go all to pieces when we strike, and we
don’t want to get tangled up in the wreckage. Get out on the main deck,
and stand ready to jump clear. We can float for some time in the life
preservers, and in the morning a steamship may pick us up. It’s our
only chance.”
It was still raining hard, but the storm did not seem to be quite as
severe as at first. There were many flashes of lightning, and the
thunder still rolled and crashed about, but after that one terrific
stroke the elements seemed to be satisfied with the damage they had
wrought, and were now subsiding.
When a particularly bright and far-illuminating flash came Jerry
looked down through the glass cabin floor.
“Only a few seconds left!” he cried, as he saw the waves of the ocean
close to them. “Come on out, boys. Professor, I’m afraid you’ll have to
leave your specimens.”
“Never!” cried the brave little scientist. “I’ll take them with me,
or----”
It was no time for ceremony. Jerry took hold of his scientific friend,
who had consented to don a life preserver, and fairly carried him out
on the deck. Fortunately the _Comet_ had assumed an even keel after her
first sickening plunge, so the boys could move about unhampered.
They all reached the deck in safety, and not a moment too soon. A
second later and with a splash that sent a shower of spray high into
the air, the _Comet_ landed on the surface of the sea.
There was a crash--a sound of splitting and rending wood--then a
silence.
“We struck something!” cried Ned. “We sure hit something as we came
down, Jerry! What was it?”
No one could tell, for the lone lamp in the cabin had fallen and gone
out. But when the next lightning flash came the boys, who were standing
near the rail, ready to jump, saw some dark object, setting low in the
water. One of their hydroplanes had hit it, and had broken off.
“It’s a raft!” cried Bob. “Fellows, we’ve landed on a raft! Of all the
luck!”
“Quick then!” shouted Ned. “Get aboard it. The _Comet_ is sinking!”
Indeed it did seem so. The gallant craft of the air, caught crippled as
she was in the grip of the sea, was fast settling in the water.
“I guess we’d better take to the raft,” said Jerry, mournfully. “Oh! if
we only had a good light, and could see what we are doing we might save
her yet! The sea isn’t as rough as I thought!”
As if in answer to his plea there seemed to come from the centre of
that dark mass they had struck--a raft, as Bob thought--a soft glow of
radiance, that seemed to spread all about them.
“Look!” cried Ned. “That’s no raft! See the riveted plates. Boys, it’s
the submarine again! Three times and out. We’ve landed on the deck of
that mysterious submarine!”
“By Jove you’re right!” yelled Jerry. “Fellows, it’s our only chance.
Jump over there, and pound for all you’re worth. They’ve got to take us
in before they sink, or we’ll go down in the suction. Jump and pound!
It’s our last chance. The _Comet_ is going down!”
Ned and Bob lost no time in obeying. Part of the wrecked motorship
rested on the deck of the submarine. So it was easy for the boys and
the professor to make the change.
And it was from this deck that the strange radiance came--a glow, as
the boys could see, from beneath some thick glass bullseye.
Quickly the four sprang to the deck of the submarine. As they did
so the _Comet_, relieved of their weight, rose slightly but almost
immediately sank lower in the water.
[Illustration: QUICKLY THE FOUR SPRANG TO THE DECK OF THE SUBMARINE.]
“Pound--make a racket!” cried Jerry. “Make them hear us and take us in.
It’s our only chance!”
Ned and Bob kicked with their heels on the steel plates that formed
the deck. Jerry made his way to the glass which covered the light, and
rapped on that with his knife. At the same time he looked around for
the hatchway by which admittance could be gained to the interior of the
mysterious vessel.
Even while he was looking for it--and not seeing it--there was a noise
almost at his feet. It was the sound of steel moving on steel, and an
opening appeared, flush with the deck. It was a round opening, large
enough to admit a man, and framed in it was the face of the same
white-bearded and snowy-haired commander they had seen on the submarine
when the boys had had their first view of her.
“Well, what is it? Why have you dared to board my vessel without being
invited?” growled, rather than asked the man, speaking with a strong
German accent. “What do you want?”
“To save our lives!” exclaimed Jerry, talking rapidly. “Our airship was
struck by lightning, and disabled. We fell into the ocean, fortunately
for us, landing partly on your submarine.”
“Ach! So!” exclaimed the German, in surprise.
“And you can’t refuse to take us in,” went on Jerry. “We will pay you
for your time and trouble--if you wish. We appeal to you for help.
Surely you’ll take us in.”
The commander seemed to hesitate.
“As one scientist to another I appeal to you!” broke in Professor
Snodgrass. “I am connected with several museums, and I am a member of
several societies to which you, no doubt, belong. You may have heard of
me,” and he mentioned his name.
“Ach! So!” exclaimed the German again.
“The _Comet_ is sinking!” cried Ned, who was watching their beloved
airship.
“The _Comet_! Are you from the _Comet_?” asked the commander of the
submarine quickly.
“We are,” answered Jerry, wondering what that had to do with it.
“Then I invite you aboard my vessel. Welcome to the _Sonderbaar_!”
came the quick answer. “I heard something strike my deck, and came up
to see what it was. Will you not come below?” and he stepped down out
of the way, affording a passage to Jerry and his friends.