ENTANGLED
Dr. Klauss, seeing his two friends, called to them something in the
language he and they used between them. It seemed to be an appeal for
help.
“Look out for them!” cried Mr. Sheldon, who had gone on ahead. He had
an iron bar for a weapon.
“Don’t you two interfere!” yelled Ted. “If you do it will be worse for
you.”
“What is it; we don’t understand,” said one of the men in German.
“We have had to subdue Dr. Klauss,” answered Jerry, who could manage to
speak a little of the language of the Fatherland. “He has threatened to
take us down to the bottom of the sea at a depth that would kill us all.
“We are doing this as a precautionary measure,” went on Jerry,
struggling with the German language. “We intend to turn the ship about,
and land ourselves. Then we will give Dr. Klauss his liberty, and he
can do as he pleases. But we will not let you interfere with our plans
now!”
Jerry’s stand was determined.
“Good!” cried Mr. Sheldon, who had understood part of the talk. “That’s
the way to handle them!”
Dr. Klauss, still struggling somewhat in the binding chains, shouted
something in that strange tongue. The two elderly Germans seemed to
hesitate, and Jerry feared they might try to effect a rescue, though he
had little doubt of the ability of himself and the others to overpower
them.
“Don’t try anything rash!” Jerry shouted. “We intend no harm to Dr.
Klauss. We are only anxious to save ourselves. It will be best for you
to do nothing.”
The old men appeared to think so, too. They talked between themselves
in low voices and then spoke to the commander in the secret language.
What they said appeared to displease the fanatic, but his entreaties
were in vain.
“First class in arithmetic!” called Ted, in grim humor, and this seemed
to settle it. The old men went back to their cabin and when the party
passed it, carrying the captive commander, they were again bent over
their papers, calculating, in all probability, the weight of the salt
in the ocean.
“Well, so far so good!” Jerry exclaimed in relief, as they deposited
Dr. Klauss in his cabin.
“I order you to release me! This is an outrage!” cried the insane man.
“You shall all be punished for this.”
“We deeply regret the necessity for it,” said Mr. Sheldon courteously,
for, after all, Dr. Klauss had really saved their lives. “We are
only doing this,” Bob’s uncle went on, “to protect ourselves. If you
would agree to set us ashore, or on some vessel that would take us to
America----”
“No--no! You must not go!” screamed the commander wildly.
“Then we cannot release you,” said Mr. Sheldon firmly. “But understand,
we mean you no harm, and as soon as we have landed we will restore your
liberty--or allow your friends to do it for us. Then you may do as you
please with your boat!”
Dr. Klauss struggled as only a madman can, but the chains were too
strong. He could not escape. The successful plotters placed their
captive in as comfortable a position as possible, securing him in such
a manner that he could move about. But the chains were locked on him,
and arrangements were made to stand watch-and-watch outside his cabin
door.
“Now!” cried Ned, when this had been done, “the next thing to do is to
see about getting back home. Whereabouts are we, anyhow?”
“Somewhere in mid-Atlantic, about three hundred feet down,” announced
Ted. “We can soon go up, and take an observation.”
“Go up!” cried Professor Snodgrass, who had taken no part in the
capture and subduing of Dr. Klauss. “Oh, I had hopes, before this
voyage ended, that I could get my crab specimens from the bottom of the
sea. Would it not be safe to go down just once? I should like to put on
a diving dress and see if I could not get what I want.”
“Well, I suppose we could do that,” agreed Jerry slowly. “Now that we
are in possession of the ship we can do as we please, within certain
limits.”
“But are you sure that if once you get on the bottom of the ocean you
can raise the craft again?” asked Mr. Sheldon, anxiously. “I don’t
begrudge the professor a chance to get his specimens, but we must take
no chances. Our condition has been desperate enough. Now we have an
opportunity to get back home, and we must not let it slip.”
“Oh, we can get up again, easily enough,” said Ted Rowland. “I’ll
guarantee that. With a free hand my mates and I can navigate this boat
all right. We’ll have to get out the charts and maps, though. Dr.
Klauss always kept them to himself. Then I can take an observation,
work out our position, and we’ll know where we are--in which direction
to sail. I guess it will be safe to get your crabs, Professor
Snodgrass.”
“Good!” cried the scientist. “You do not know how happy you have made
me. Let us go down at once, and I will get into one of the diving
suits.”
“And so will I!” cried Jerry.
“What! Are you going to take a chance?” asked Bob.
“It isn’t much of a risk,” declared the tall lad. “I watched Dr. Klauss
do it.”
“I think I’ll try it, too,” decided Ned.
“Well, let’s first find a place where the bottom is not too far down,”
suggested Mr. Sheldon, with a smile. “Then after the professor gets his
crabs we will start for home.”
“Oh, how glad I will be!” cried Grace, who, now that the struggle was
over, had joined her father. “Oh, to be safe ashore once again!”
“Yes, it will seem good,” agreed Jerry. “I only wish we could arrange
to keep this boat, though.”
“We sure could have good times in her,” added Ned. “I wonder if we
couldn’t go back, and pick up our _Comet_ on the way?”
“The _Comet_ must have sunk long ago,” declared Bob. “But we might
rescue that old sailor.”
“Oh, I fancy he has, by this time, been picked up and towed to port,”
put in Jerry. “Well, shall we go down?”
“First go up, and renew our air supply,” suggested Ted. “We can’t have
too much of that. Then we’ll work out our observations, and decide
where we are.”
This was voted a good plan, and in a short time, under the manipulation
of the boys and the members of the crew, the _Sonderbaar_ was tossing
about on the sun-lit waves. She was in the midst of a watery waste, no
other craft being in sight.
While the air tanks were being filled, Ted Rowland worked out their
position. They were about a thousand miles from the coast of America,
and not far from the Bermuda Islands.
“Not so bad,” announced Ted. “We will soon be home now.”
“But not before I get my crabs,” stipulated the professor. “Can we go
down here?”
“It is too deep just at this point,” said Ted, as he consulted a chart
obtained from the pilot house. “But about fifty miles from here there
is a bank that is only about four hundred feet down. We can safely make
that, I think.”
Meanwhile Dr. Klauss had seemed to accept his fate with resignation.
He remained quietly in his cabin, and his two foreign friends were in
theirs.
The deck hatch of the _Sonderbaar_ was closed, and she sank below the
surface. She was then headed for the comparatively shallow part of the
ocean, and speeded up.
“We can run as well as if Dr. Klauss were here,” said Ned, who was
allowed to attend to one of the motors.
“Yes, your experience in your motorship comes in well,” observed Ted.
The boys were beginning to be delighted with their experience on the
submarine, now that there was a chance to escape and get home.
In due time they reached the place where it was decided to descend
to the bottom of the sea, and in a little while the _Sonderbaar_ was
resting on the white sand. About her swam big and little fishes--all
curious about this new monster of the deep.
Jerry and the professor decided to go out together in diving suits, and
later, if he wished, Ned could take a turn. No one else seemed to want
to.
The diving suits were soon brought out and Jerry and the scientist,
donning them, shut themselves up in the water chamber. Everything went
along without a hitch, and a few minutes later the heavy steel door
swung open, and the two could step out on the ocean bed.
It was a novel sensation, and Jerry enjoyed it to the utmost, although
there was a spice of danger to the adventure. He could not help
wondering what would happen should an accident take place, or if the
_Sonderbaar_ should suddenly go off and leave them.
But he put these thoughts out of his mind, and followed the professor.
They had their lanterns, and they could look through the glass
windows, and see their friends in the cabin, waving their hands. Of
course Jerry and the professor could not talk to each other, but there
was no need.
Professor Snodgrass lost no time in looking for his crab specimens. At
first he was not successful, though he did find some rare shellfish
which gave him manifest delight. Then he came close to where Jerry
was standing on the bed of the ocean, looking at a great fish, of an
unknown species, that was eyeing the intruders as if in doubt what to
do.
The professor stooped down and picked up something. He held it so Jerry
could see, and the lad beheld a large crab, comfortably established in
the vacant shell of some other creature. The professor had found what
he wanted--a hermit crab.
“I guess he wishes he could talk now,” thought Jerry. “He sure will
make up for it, though, when we get on board again. Well, I’m glad he’s
found it. I don’t fancy staying down here too long, though it certainly
is a wonderful thing to have done.”
The professor walked on a little farther, finding more specimens which
he placed in a net he had brought along for the purpose. Jerry kept
pace with him.
Suddenly the lad saw what seemed to be a dark rope dart out, and
encircle the professor’s waist. The scientist turned about, and Jerry
could see that he was surprised. Then another rope was entwined about
Professor Snodgrass. Quickly the scientist pulled out the long, keen
knife with which the diving suit was equipped, but, before he could
use it Jerry saw a third rope-like appendage whip itself about the
professor’s arm.
Then Jerry understood. Professor Snodgrass had been attacked by a giant
octopus. With a cry of horror which almost deafened him, reflected back
as it was from the sides of his copper helmet, Jerry strode to the
rescue of his companion. But before he had taken two steps he felt the
giant arms about himself also.
He and Professor Snodgrass were entangled in living ropes at the bottom
of the sea!