THE boys traveled two weeks longer, and at last Marsovino thought
himself near his destination. So he dived into the water to a great
depth.
[Illustration]
After a while, as he sank deeper and deeper into the sea, Pinocchio
became frightened. They were down so far that no light from the sun
could reach them.
“Where are you carrying me to, my dear?” he asked. “If we go any
farther, we cannot possibly live. How could we, with this immense
amount of water over us?”
“We’ll be all right, my boy, never fear. If little fish like that can
live here, why, so can we.”
Marsovino was pointing to many horrible dark objects which were
swimming around him. They had a round head, great black bodies, no
eyes, and from their heads a long thread moved about in the water. At
the end of the threads were small lights.
“What ugly things!” said Pinocchio. “What are they, and why do they
have those small lights on their heads?”
“If you look closely, you will see that those little beings have no
eyes. So they depend on these lights for their food. Other animals
are drawn to the lights. When they are near enough these animals feel
them. Then they are seized and eaten.”
“The sea is wonderful,” nodded Pinocchio, drowsily, “but don’t you
think that we might take some sleep? I am very tired.”
“Very well,” said Marsovino.
Pinocchio threw himself on the sand, and in a few minutes both
friends were asleep.
The next morning, bright and early, they were again ready to start.
The dolphin, who knew now where he was, began to rise to the surface.
A few hours later he had reached the place Tursio had spoken about.
[Illustration]
“Here we are at last!” he cried.
“Here? Why, where is the ship?”
“There,” answered Marsovino, pointing to a great black mass which
showed through the water.
“That! Why look how it is trimmed!” And he was indeed right. The
inhabitants of the sea had taken possession of everything. The keel
of the ship was overgrown with beautiful slender seaweeds. The decks
were covered with sponges. The stairs had disappeared under the work
of polyps.
On the lookout bridge hundreds of anemones raised their brightly
colored corollas. The needles of sea urchins threatened passers-by
from the portholes. Silvery fishes and starfishes were seen all over.
Everything was living on the dead ship.
“Now let us hasten,” said Marsovino.
“Very well,” answered Pinocchio.
“We have been so long in coming that now we must be quick,” continued
the dolphin.
“Father must be worried. Let us look for the treasure, and then we
can begin our return journey to-night.”
“Very well,” again assented Pinocchio.
“Make haste, then. Get into that ship. Don’t lose any more time.”
“Come, let us go.”
“Let us go! How can I go? Don’t you see how small the doors are? You
must go alone!”
Pinocchio did not like the idea. He stood still and thought. His
courage utterly failed him. To go alone into that great black ship!
Why, how could he do such a thing?
“Well, what are you thinking of?” asked Marsovino, who had dropped
Pinocchio at the door of the stairs.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet. I don’t like the idea of going in
there very much.”
“But you must. I can’t go, and we must have the gold. Will you
decide? I thought you had offered to help Mr. Tursio.”
When he heard that, Pinocchio finally made up his mind. He opened the
door and went down a few steps. Then he stopped.
“Must I really go?” he asked.
Marsovino began to lose his patience.
“If you do not make haste getting into that ship, I shall return
without you,” he could not help saying.
“Very well. Here I go.”
“You remember Tursio’s instructions, don’t you? At the bottom of
the stairs there is a large room. At one end a door leads into the
captain’s room. In a corner of the captain’s room, you will find two
boxes. They contain the treasure. Good-by and good luck.”
Very slowly Pinocchio went down. Luckily for him a few sunfishes were
floating around, giving some light.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw in front of him a
large square room. In the walls were long narrow holes, like the
shelves of a pantry. These had probably been the sailors’ bunks. But
to Pinocchio they were puzzles.
The roof, which was very high, was of glass. This made the room
lighter than the stairs, and so Pinocchio took courage.
At one end of the room there was a small narrow door. Pinocchio
walked to it and tried to open it. Still, though the door was not
locked, it would not open. It seemed as if some one were holding
it closed from the inside. The marionette pushed it, kicked it,
struggled with it, and finally he succeeded in opening it. He was
able to put just the tip of his nose in the crack.
He had no sooner done this, though, than it was held as in a vise.
Pinocchio felt something pulling and pulling.
“My nose will surely come off,” he thought; but after trying and
trying he was at last free again.
[Illustration]
“I wonder what that was? What can be behind that door? In any case
it may be better to have some weapon of defense,” and thinking this,
Pinocchio looked around.
“Those shelves may hold something useful.”
But when he came near them, what did he see? A mattress, pillows,
sheets!
“What could this have been? A hospital?”
Poor Pinocchio! He was most certainly a dunce!
On the floor in a corner he found a pair of large boots.
“These will do,” he thought.
Again he pushed the door. This time he was able to open it wide. As
soon as he had done so, he threw a large boot in blindly. Had he
never done so, it would have been better! In a second the room became
as black as pitch.
“Marsovino! Oh! Oh! Oh! Marsovino!” screamed the poor boy, thinking
himself blinded.
The dolphin, waiting for Pinocchio at the head of the stairs, became
frightened at this appeal. He thought something serious had happened.
He swam to the top of the deck and broke several panes of glass.
Looking into the room he called: “What is the matter? I am here.”
Pinocchio felt a little better when he saw Marsovino.
“Oh, Marsovino!” he cried.
“What has happened, my poor Pinocchio?”
“I have found a bottle of ink.”
“A bottle of what?”
“Of ink. I threw a boot at something, and now the room is full of
ink.”
“Oh, now I understand. You have to deal with an octopus.”
“What’s that?”
“A mollusk.”
“Oh, if that’s what it is, I’m not afraid. I know them well.”
[Illustration: “‘MARSOVINO! OH! OH! OH!’”]
“Yes, but not this one. This is the greatest mollusk known. It is a
near relation of the calamary, but much larger. There are some even
five or six yards long.”
“Oh!” shivered Pinocchio, looking around.
“The one in the captain’s room must be a small one, though. If I were
with you, I should free you in a second. There is nothing a dolphin
likes better than an octopus or a calamary.”
“But the ink?”
“The ink is the means of defense of these mollusks. When pursued or
in danger, this animal ejects this inky liquid. In that way, it forms
a cloud in the water and is able to escape.”
“Shall I be killed?”
“If you keep out of reach of its long arms, you will be all right.”
“Oh, now I see what got hold of my poor nose. It is aching yet.
Now tell me, Marsovino, if this animal is guarding the treasure,
how shall I possibly get at it? We might as well give it up,” and
Pinocchio started towards the stairs.
“How very courageous you are! After trying so hard, are you going to
give up at the last minute?”
[Illustration]
Pinocchio did not answer, but very slowly he retraced his steps.
Going over to the bunks, he took a large mattress. Holding it in
front of him, he moved toward the door, which was still ajar.
The water from the captain’s room had mixed with the water of the
large room, and now it was not so dark. Very cautiously, the
marionette peeked over the mattress.
In a corner of the room lay the poulpe or octopus. As Marsovino had
said, it was not very large. Still it was very ugly.
Think of a large head, soft and jellylike, with two great eyes
staring at you. Think of that head and eight long thick arms around
it. No wonder Pinocchio felt like turning back.
The monster moved restlessly about, stretching and twisting its arms.
In one of them it held Pinocchio’s boot. Every minute its huge body
changed color. At first it was white, then gray, then brown, then
spotted with purple. Pinocchio hardly knew what to think of it.
“You are certainly very ugly, my dear bottle of ink,” he thought.
“Well, why am I standing here? I might as well try to kill him.
Hurrah! Here comes the brave marionette!”
Very slowly Pinocchio walked up to the octopus, but not near enough
to be in reach of those arms. Then with a quick move he threw the
mattress over the struggling mass. Pressing it down tightly, he held
it there.
For a long time the arms twitched nervously about, but at last they
stopped moving. The boy waited a few minutes longer, and then,
thinking the creature dead, he stood up.
The mattress, however, he left on top of the poulpe. Not only that,
but running back, he took another and put it on top of the first. He
wanted to be sure the octopus would not move. At last he breathed
easily and set to work to get the boxes.
Yes, think of it! That lazy marionette really set to work. He
dragged the boxes one after the other into the large room, and then
he called Marsovino.
[Illustration]
“Here is the treasure, Marsovino. Now how am I to carry these heavy
boxes upstairs?”
Marsovino then lowered a stout rope which he had carried with him.
Pinocchio tied the boxes to it, one after the other, and the dolphin
pulled them up.
“Throw the rope down again, Marsovino!”
“What for? Are there three treasure boxes?”
“You will see.”
As soon as the end of the rope touched the floor of the room,
Pinocchio tied it around his waist. “Now pull!” he called.
Marsovino pulled, and in a second Pinocchio stood on the bridge.
“I really had no wish to return by those dark dusty stairs,” he
laughed, seeing Marsovino’s look of wonder.
[Illustration]