A MARVELOUS BOAT
So many new and strange sensations had crowded on the motor boys
in the last few days that it hardly needed the additional one of
traveling in a submarine to thrill them. Nevertheless the three lads
did feel strange as they stood there in the half-darkened cabin, and
looked at the greenish water slipping past the thick plate-glass side
windows--windows illuminated in such a way that the very life of the
sea was visible.
“Look--look!” exclaimed Bob, in a low voice. “See that shark!”
And indeed, at that moment, a great sand shark that was keeping pace
with the marvelous boat looked in through the glass window, as if to
ask what manner of sea companion he had fallen in with.
“Oh--oh!” cried Grace, as she clutched her father’s arm. “Suppose that
window should break!”
“I don’t want to suppose anything like that,” spoke Jerry solemnly.
“It’s too--too unpleasant. Oh, but this is wonderful--wonderful!”
“It’s the greatest thing ever!” declared Ned with conviction. “I never
dreamed we should ever see anything like this. Oh, there’s another
shark--a hammer-head,” and the hideous creature, with its bulging eyes
on projections that give it the name, resembling a double-ended hammer,
swam up, also to peer in at the windows.
“Wonderful--wonderful,” murmured Professor Snodgrass. “This will just
suit my purpose. I must have a talk with Dr. Klauss, and arrange to
have him take us on a long trip. I will not only be able to get my
hermit crabs, but I can make many other valuable discoveries. Science
will be greatly the gainer by our accidental finding of this submarine.
Yes, I hope this trip will be a long one.”
“You are not likely to be disappointed in that, sir,” observed Mr.
Sheldon, and there was in his tone such a peculiar meaning that Bob
asked:
“Why do you say that, Uncle Nelson?”
“Because it’s true. This man--hush, here he comes now. I can’t tell you
any more at present. We must have a talk together, presently.”
The sound of someone coming along a steel-floored passage warned them
to talk in low tones.
“But what does it all mean?” asked Jerry, in bewilderment.
“Oh, we don’t know--we can hardly guess,” spoke Grace in his ear. “Papa
will tell you. I can only say that this Dr. Klauss, in spite of his
seeming politeness, is a terrible man. I’m so glad you boys are with
us. Perhaps now we can escape!”
“Escape!” gasped Jerry. “Why--why----”
“Hush! Here he is!” warned Grace.
It was not Dr. Klauss, however, but one of his men with a supply of dry
clothing for the boys and the professor.
“I will take you to the cabins you are to occupy,” said this man, who
spoke without any German accent. Jerry was glad to note this. It meant,
in case of trouble, that perhaps they could count on this American to
aid them. Jerry was sorely puzzled.
“You are to come with me,” the man went on, respectfully. “After you
are dressed I will take your clothing to the engine room to dry. Then
you will be served with a meal, Dr. Klauss says. Come.”
“Supper, eh?” cried Bob. “That sounds good, anyhow.”
“I see you haven’t gotten over your old habit,” laughed Mr. Sheldon.
“Well, come back when you can, boys. We are certainly glad to see you.”
“Yes, indeed,” echoed Grace, and she looked at Jerry particularly. He
understood what she meant.
“And to think that we are actually traveling under water!” marveled
Ned. “About how deep are we?” he asked of the man who had brought the
clothing.
“Oh, about three hundred feet, I should judge. I didn’t notice the gage
as I came through the engine room. But Dr. Klauss will probably let you
see for yourselves soon.”
“Are we still going down?” asked Jerry.
“A little, yes. About five hundred feet is as deep as we can go, for,
even in this wonderful boat, which is the best submarine I ever saw or
heard of, the weight of water much below five hundred feet would crush
us like an egg shell. In fact there are very few boats of this class
that go more than two hundred feet down, and really that depth isn’t
necessary even in war time. But we members of the crew are not supposed
to give out information. Dr. Klauss would not like it. So you’ll have
to excuse me.”
“That’s all right,” said Jerry. The man seemed a pleasant chap, and
spoke like a person of intelligence. Jerry was glad he was aboard, for
somehow, the tall lad felt an indefinable sense of danger.
The boys were taken to small adjoining staterooms, where they were
told to change, and put their wet garments outside. The clothing that
had been supplied to them was all sorts of odds and ends, evidently
collected from different members of the crew. But it was dry and warm,
and a welcome relief from their drenched garments, the wearing of which
much longer would have given them all colds.
“This is some change from out in that storm, on the back of this
submarine, knocking to be let in; isn’t it, fellows?” called Jerry from
his stateroom.
“I should say yes,” agreed Ned. “Poor old _Comet_! What do you suppose
happened to her?”
“I’m afraid she’s broken up,” answered Jerry, mournfully. “Once the
pontoons give way, the weight of the engines will sink her. Well, we
can build another.”
“Or a submarine,” added Ned.
“First we’ve got to see if we can get off of this one,” said Jerry in a
low voice.
“What do you mean?” asked Ned, who had dressed quickly, and now stood
at the door of his chum’s stateroom.
“You’ll see soon enough,” was the answer. “There’s something strange
going on here, boys. Grace and Mr. Sheldon could only give a hint of
it. We’ll have to be on the watch. This man Klauss----”
“Cheese it!” interrupted Ned, effectively if not elegantly. “He’s
coming!”
Jerry halted his remarks just in time, for the inventor of the
submarine came along a second later.
“Well, boys,” he asked, in a tone he tried to make cordial, “how are
you making out? Will those clothes answer until your own are dry?”
“Very well indeed, yes; thank you,” replied Jerry. “We are sorry to
have to put you to so much trouble----”
“It could not be helped,” was the response of the German. “I could not
leave you there to drown. Now if you will come with me I will tell you
something about my ship--it is my one hobby!”
“And you will not forget about giving me a chance to get to the
bottom of the sea, and capture some crabs; will you?” asked Professor
Snodgrass.
“I will do what I can for you--as a fellow scientist,” said Dr. Klauss.
The boys found Grace and her father eagerly awaiting them, and a hasty
midnight meal was served in the main cabin. Dr. Klauss left the little
party to themselves, saying that he had to go to see about some of the
mechanism.
“Say, I don’t see what we’ve got to complain of,” remarked Bob, with
his mouth half full. “Here we are, warm and dry, even if we are under
water, and we’ve got plenty to eat----”
“Which, I suppose, excuses many evils in your eyes, Bob, my boy,”
interrupted his uncle. “Oh, Dr. Klauss will not starve us--of that
Grace and I have had excellent proof.”
“Well, then we’ll be all right,” spoke Chunky, with a contented sigh,
as he helped himself to some more cake, for the menu included even
that. “They have a good cook here,” went on the stout lad.
“We must find time and the chance for a consultation,” remarked Mr.
Sheldon, speaking rapidly, and in a low voice. “I want to explain
certain things, and plan what to do.”
“Is there any danger?” asked Jerry.
“Yes--I think so--of a certain kind--though I do not mean that our
lives are actually at stake. But our liberty certainly is.”
“You mean----” began Ned.
“I mean that this fanatic refuses to set Grace and me ashore, or to
let us go aboard some other vessel. I want you boys to make that same
request, when the time comes, and see what he says. Then we will have
something to go on. But be very careful. Oh, it is good to be with
friends again!” and Mr. Sheldon looked affectionately at the lads.
Dr. Klauss came in before the meal was finished. All this time the
_Sonderbaar_ was plowing along beneath the surface, but at what
depth, or in what direction the boys could only guess. There were no
indicators in this main cabin.
“Would you lads like to see something of my submarine?” asked the
German.
“Indeed we would!” exclaimed Jerry with an enthusiasm that was echoed
by his chums.
“Then come with me,” invited their strange host, and he led the way
toward the engine room, as could be told by the hum and throb that came
from it. “Will you accompany us, Mr. Sheldon?”
“Thank you, no. I will stay with my daughter. It is late, and she ought
to retire.”
Indeed it was long past midnight, but in that depth of water time did
not seem to count for much. There was perpetual darkness at all hours.
But the boys and Professor Snodgrass, though tired after what they
had passed through, were not too weary to view the interior of this
marvelous boat.
I do not wish to tire my readers with a technical description of the
_Sonderbaar_, so I will merely say that she was, like most submarines,
of elliptical shape, tapering to blunt points on either end, though the
stern, where the two propellers were, was wider than the bow.
The boat was about two hundred feet long and about forty feet in
diameter, her dimensions being greatly in excess of most submarines.
It was this that enabled her to be made strong enough to stand the
pressure of five hundred feet of water, which pressure is enormous on
every square inch of surface.
This large size also gave more room inside for engines, and quarters
for captain and crew. Thus there was much more comfort than in the
usual submarine.
There were no periscopes, or tubes, elevated above the deck on the
_Sonderbaar_. Observation, when running awash, was by means of a lens
flush in the deck, a peculiar arrangement of mirrors and prisms giving
the effect of periscopes without their disadvantages.
There was also an automatic arrangement of diaphragms, similar to those
in telephone receivers, so that when the craft was running under water,
and approached some obstacle, its presence would be made manifest in
time to avoid it. Nor was this all. Dr. Klauss had perfected a powerful
lamp which was located in the bow of his craft, projecting its beams
through the water. This would also disclose any object that might
endanger a collision. But the diaphragms acted over a wider area than
the lamp, the beams of which were necessarily dimmed by the density of
the water.
As in all submarines, it was necessary to let water into ballast tanks
in order to make her sink, and to rise it was only necessary to pump
out this same water, by means of compressed air. But Dr. Klauss had
made many improvements even in this simple and fundamental principle.
The propulsion of the _Sonderbaar_ was by means of twin screws at the
stern, and each screw had its own engine--a gasoline one when running
on the surface, and an electrical motor, run by a new type of storage
battery, when submerged. The propeller shafts passed through the
armatures of the motors, which were mounted directly on the shafts,
revolving with them, and acting as flywheels when the gasoline engines
were being used. At such times the circuits of the field windings were
open, and no current was generated.
There were also dynamos for the making of electric illumination and
charging the storage battery, and small motors to work pumps and other
devices. In fact the craft was complete, mechanically.
She was steered by two rudders, one to guide her to port or
starboard--or left and right, as the new navy regulations specify--and
another rudder to send her to the surface or toward the bottom of the
sea.
All this Dr. Klauss showed the boys, explaining many things, for he saw
they were greatly interested; but, of course, there were some secrets
he did not reveal. And one of these was the method of firing the
deadly torpedoes.
The ship could be controlled from the engine room, or from the pilot
house, in the bow, and here there was a perfect maze of levers, wheels,
switches and other devices. Gages told of the boat’s speed, of her
depth, and gave all the information it was necessary for the pilot to
know.
“And now I think you need rest,” said the inventor, when the tour of
the boat was completed. “I shall see you in the morning.”
“You have a marvelous boat, Dr. Klauss,” said Jerry, sincerely. “I
congratulate you.”
“Thank you, my lad. I am sorry we had to leave your own air craft at
the mercy of the sea, for, from what Mr. Sheldon told me of her, in our
conversations after I rescued him, I understand it was a wonder of its
own kind. But I had my own reasons for not lingering longer there.”
“Oh, well, it couldn’t be helped,” said Jerry, but he could not refrain
from sighing.
“Say, I don’t see what’s the matter with Dr. Klauss. He seems very
decent,” remarked Bob, when the boys had reached their staterooms.
“Better wait,” remarked Jerry, significantly. “Mr. Sheldon didn’t make
his remark for nothing.”