by Roy Rockwood
The Indian had regained his canoe, but he was lying at the bottom in ahalf-fainting condition.
Satisfying himself that the poor fellow would live, and was notseriously injured, the captain signaled to his companions to descend,leaving the Indian gazing at them with haggard eyes, thinking he hadseen some supernatural beings.
Walking as fast as they could along the bottom of the sea, they came intime to the anchor of their boat, reascended to the surface, and, takingtheir seats, removed their head-cases with a feeling of relief.
The negroes immediately began to row back to the _Searcher_.
Captain Vindex was the first to speak.
"Thank you, my lad," he said, extending his hand to Mont.
"It's nothing," rejoined our hero bluntly; "you saved my life when wewere wrecked, and I have now saved yours with my harpoon. We are equalnow, and I owe you nothing."
A sickly smile sat on the captain's lips for a second, and that was all.
"Lay to it!" he cried to his men. "Pull to the _Searcher_."
At half-past eight in the morning they were again on board of the ship,having been absent a little more than three hours.
To Mont the captain was more difficult to understand than ever.
He had risked his own life to save that of a poor Indian whom he hadnever seen before, and was never likely to see again.
This showed that he could not have a bad heart.
His heart was not entirely dead, whatever his faults might be.
As if the captain guessed Mont's thoughts, he observed to him at thebottom of the staircase on board the ship:
"That Indian belonged to an oppressed race. I also am one of theoppressed, and to my last breath I shall continue to be so. Yourecognize now the bond of union between us?"
CHAPTER XXVI.
THROUGH THE EARTH.
The ship again continued her way, traveling toward the Persian Gulf.
If Captain Vindex wanted to visit Europe, it was clear that he wouldhave to go around the Cape of Good Hope, but that did not appear to behis design.
He went direct to the Red Sea, and, as the Isthmus of Suez was not thenpierced by a canal, there was no outlet to the Mediterranean.
This puzzled the professor very much.
One morning the captain sought his prisoners, and said to the professor:
"To-morrow we shall be in the Mediterranean."
Mr. Woddle looked at him with astonishment.
"Does that surprise you?" he continued, with a smile.
"Certainly it does, though I thought I had given up being astonishedsince I have been on board your ship."
"You are a man of science; why should you be astonished?"
"Because you must travel with the speed of lightning almost to EastAfrica and round the Cape of Good Hope."
"I did not say I was going to do so," replied the captain.
"You can't go overland, since there is no canal through the Isthmus ofSuez----"
"But one can go under land," interrupted the captain.
"Under land," answered the professor, holding up his hand.
"Undoubtedly," said Captain Vindex calmly. "For a long while nature hasmade underneath this tongue of land what men are trying to do now on thesurface."
"Does there exist a passage?"
"Yes, a passage or tunnel, which at fifty feet depth touches a solidrock."
"How did you discover it--by chance?"
"No," said the captain. "I guessed that such a tunnel existed, and Ihave been through it several times."
"Well," said the professor, "we live to learn. Our fathers never dreamedof gas, of railways, of telegraphs, and I did not suspect the existenceof your wonderful ship."
"Shortly, my dear sir," said the captain, "your children--that is tosay, the next generation--will travel through the air in flyingmachines; your railway engines will own electricity as their motivepower. There is no end to scientific discovery; the world is in itsinfancy. We are just emerging from barbarism. Wait and watch, that's mymotto. You must not be surprised at anything in these days."
"You are right--we are on the march," said the professor.
The day passed, and at half-past nine the _Searcher_ rose to the surfaceto receive her supply of air.
Nothing disturbed the silence but the cry of the pelican and other birdsof the night, with the occasional sound of the escaping steam of asteamer traveling toward the Far East.
Mont could not rest below, and at once ascended to the platform tobreath the fresh air. In the darkness he saw a pale light, discolored bythe fog, which burned about a mile off.
"A lighthouse," he said.
The captain was by his side, and quietly replied:
"It is the floating lightship of Suez."
"We are near the mouth of the tunnel, I suppose? Is the entrance easy?"
"No," said Captain Vindex, "it is difficult. I always steer the shipmyself, and if you like to come into the wheelhouse with me I will showyou the way. In a moment the _Searcher_ will sink, and we shall not risetill we are in the Mediterranean."
Mont followed the captain into the pilot's cabin, which was at the bowof the vessel, the wheel working the rudder by long chains carried aft.
The cabin measured six feet square, four round windows of thickplate-glass enabled the helmsman to see on all sides, and the electriclight, thrown well forward, made everything as clear as day.
A strong negro, with an eye like a hawk, was at the wheel, but he gavethe spokes to the captain and fell back.
"Now," exclaimed the Wizard of the Sea, "let us search for our passage."
Electric wires communicated with the engine room, so it was easy tocommunicate directly with the engineers by pressing a knob of metal.
Touching this knob, the speed of the screw lessened considerably.
For about an hour the ship passed by a bank of sand, which was varied byrocks, on which Mont saw all kinds of sea weeds, coral formations, andcurious fish agitating their fins in alarm at the apparition of the_Searcher_.
At half-past ten a long and large gallery appeared in front, black andapparently deep.
The ship entered this gloomy tunnel boldly, and an unaccustomed rushingsound made itself heard against the sides, which arose from the watersof the Red Sea rushing into the Mediterranean.
Following the current with the speed of an arrow, the ship made its way,though the engines were reversed and the screw went backward to abatethe velocity of its progress.
A single false turn of the wheel, and the _Searcher_ would have beendashed to atoms against the ironlike rocks on each side, above, andbelow.
Mont held his breath.
He could see nothing but the foaming waters, made transparent by theelectric light.
Half an hour later the captain gave up the helm to the negro, and,turning to our hero, exclaimed:
"We are in the Mediterranean."
In less than half an hour the ship, carried by the current, hadtraversed the Isthmus of Suez.
The next morning they came to the surface, and were able to breathe thefresh air again.
Stump was in high spirits when he found that they were near civilizationagain, because he thought they had a chance of escaping, and this ideawas always uppermost in his mind.
He spoke to his companions about it, and they all agreed to follow himif a good opportunity offered.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE ESCAPE--CONCLUSION.
The ship traveled leisurely along the Mediterranean, often rising insight of land and lying like a log upon the water.
In the evening it was the custom of the prisoners to play at checkers,dominoes, or some game they liked; and after the fourth day in theMediterranean, Stump, instead of putting the games on the table, shutthe door, and, in a mysterious way, exclaimed:
"I've squared the nigger!"
"Which?" asked Mont.
"Number One. He as waits upon us. His real name's Smunko. I've foundthat out. Me and he's firm friends. I've told him
I want to bolt, and hesays he shan't let on to the skipper, or any of them, though they areall a lot of spies."
"Perhaps he's one, too," observed the professor, smiling.
"Not he, sir," answered the boy; "Smunko's right enough. He's going tokeep all the other chaps quiet, some dark night, when we are near theland. Then we are to go on the platform and swim for our lives."
"A very good arrangement, if it can be carried out," remarked theprofessor. "But I fear your friend Smunko is not to be depended upon."
Stump was indignant.
"The fact is," went on the professor, "I don't want to discourage thelad, but I have no wish that he should do anything rash, and involve usin a mess. The captain might doom us to solitary confinement. At presentwe are treated liberally, if we are prisoners."
"All right, sir," replied Stump, "I'll turn it up as far as you areconcerned. If Master Mont likes to come with me, all well and good; ifnot he can let it alone. I know my game, and I mean to stick to it."
"Don't show your nasty temper, Stump," said our hero.
"Aint being cooped up here like a turkey in a pen, fatting forChristmas, enough to rile a bishop?" asked the boy. "But I shan't sayno more. When all's ready I'll give you one more chance, and if you aintwith me, I'm off alone."
It was impossible to check Stump's will. The only one who had anyinfluence over him was Mont.
He was a boy rudely brought up, unaccustomed to control his passions,and having a decided character, but to our hero he was deeply attached.
The next day the ship floated near an island, which the professordeclared to be the Isle of Cyprus.
In the evening Stump whispered to Mont:
"Now, sir, all's ready. Smunko's piping off the other blacks; we're nota quarter of a mile from the land."
Mont's heart beat high.
"Tell the others," he said.
"No; let you and I go together."
"I can't leave Carl, and the professor is one of us."
In this Mont was firm.
He would not leave the _Searcher_ without Carl and the professor.
So the two were told that all was ready.
"Come on, now," said Mont. "We must not lose our chance."
With the valuable pearls they had secured in the Indian Ocean in theirpockets, the others followed Mont to the deck.
All hearts beat loudly.
"There is a boat!" whispered Carl. "Come on."
He dropped into the sea, and the others did the same.
Not far away floated a log, and to this they clung.
They paddled with their hands, and were soon some distance away from thesubmarine monster.
Then they cried for help.
The boat they had seen came in their direction.
They were seen, and the natives from the island let out a shout.
Then suddenly Captain Vindex appeared on the deck of the _Searcher_.
He shook his fist at the party.
Stump laughed at him; the others waved him off.
"She is going down!" cried Mont. "Quick, pull for the shore, before youare wrecked!"
The natives did not like the looks of the strange submarine ship, andthey pulled with all strength.
By the agitation in the water the party knew the _Searcher_ was afterthem.
But the shore was gained, and they were safe.
Then came a fearful shock.
In his eagerness to catch them Captain Vindex had allowed the _Searcher_to run into the rocks.
The submarine craft shot out of the water, and then----
Bang! Boom! Crash!
It was as if heaven and earth were splitting in twain.
The whole island shook, and all in the boat fell flat.
The _Searcher_ had been blown to atoms.
The air was filled with flying bits of iron and steel.
Of course all on board were instantly killed.
It was a long while before Mont and his companions recovered.
"Out of it at last, thank Heaven!" murmured Professor Woddle, and allsaid "Amen."
A month later the little party returned to the United States.
Mont's widowed mother was overjoyed to see him alive, and Carl's parentswere equally elated, and so were the many friends at Nautical Hall.
The pearls were equally divided, and to-day all of the party are richmen.
"But I wouldn't take another such trip," says Mont. "No, not to pick upall the hidden treasures of the ocean. After this I'm going to remain atNautical Hall and take the balance of my sea training on land. I've hadall I want of such submarine ships as the _Searcher_, and suchmysterious men as was the Wizard of the Sea."
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page 34, "slooop" changed to "sloop". (hire a sloop)
Page 101, "life" changed to "lives". (lives of the)
Page 103, "breath" changed to "breathe". (breathe the fresh)