The Motor Boys Under the Sea; or, From Airship to Submarine

by Clarence Young

  CHAPTER XX

  A CRAZED CAPTAIN

  “Say, wouldn’t it have been a joke if he had followed us all the way?”chuckled Bob Baker, as he awoke late in the morning, and called toJerry.

  “Who?” asked the tall lad, yawning, for he had slept well after the dayof excitement, with its various happenings.

  “Noddy Nixon,” went on the stout lad. “You know he started to followus--he and Bill Berry. Wouldn’t they have had the surprise of theirlives if they’d seen us get aboard this submarine.”

  “They sure would,” agreed Ned. “And I reckon they’d be glad because our_Comet_ went to smash. Poor old ship! Will we ever have another?”

  “I think we’ll go in for submarines,” announced Jerry. “This boat is amarvel! If we could only get one like this--or half the size, we couldhave no end of adventures!”

  “And think of the service you could render science,” broke in ProfessorSnodgrass. “There are wonders of the sea never even dreamed of, and wecould bring them to light. Oh, I must see when Dr. Klauss can let meget after those hermit crabs.”

  “Are we still moving?” asked Bob, beginning to dress.

  “We seem to be,” said Jerry, as he felt a tremor throughout the craftthat showed her engines to be working. “No telling where we are,though.”

  “Well, let’s get up, and see what Mr. Sheldon has to say, boys,”advised Jerry.

  They were about to don the borrowed garments when a member of thecrew--the same one who had taken away their own clothes to dry--cameback with them. The boys were glad to get into their own things again.

  “How large a crew is there aboard?” asked Jerry.

  “There are five of us, but really three men can work the whole ship,”replied the sailor. “There are two old German scientists aboard, whowill help if they are needed, but I and my two mates generally worktogether. My name is Ted Rowland, and my mates’ names are Bill Burkeand Tom Flynn. We’re machinists, and we’re all wishing we hadn’t signedfor this voyage. But we’re in for it now. You see we’re all Irish,”he explained with a twinkle in his blue eyes, “and the Dutch and theIrish never mix any too well. Still I shouldn’t talk so. Dr. Klausspays us well.”

  “What about his German friends?” asked Bob.

  “Oh, we don’t see much of them. They keep to their own quarters, allthe time figuring something on paper, drawing plans, and the like. Dr.Klauss spends a lot of time with them, too. They’re planning something,but we’re not supposed to know what it is.”

  “How did you come to get in with the doctor?” asked Jerry, who thoughtit would be a good plan to obtain all the information he could.

  “Oh, it was just by chance. I and my mates had been on one of UncleSam’s submarines, and a short time ago we saw an advertisement to takea private berth at a good figure, so we answered it. In that way we metDr. Klauss and his two foreign friends.

  “It seems he built this vessel in Germany, and brought it over herewith a foreign crew. But there was a quarrel and he fired them. He hadto have help, so he got us.”

  “Who steers her?” asked Ned.

  “Dr. Klauss, mostly, though I’ve taken a hand at it. I understandnavigation, though you have to go pretty much by dead reckoning whenyou’re under water. Then, too, there’s an automatic steering apparatusthat will work for a limited time.”

  “Has Dr. Klauss any special object in cruising about?” Jerry wanted toknow.

  “If he has he hasn’t told me and my mates,” was the man’s answer. “He’sjust been scooting about here, there--anywhere. I recall the time wefirst sighted you--he got away from that vicinity in a hurry. Seemedafraid, like.”

  “I wonder why?” mused Ned.

  “Well, I’ll be getting back to quarters,” said Ted Rowland. “I have tolook after the oiling. See you again,” and he took away with him theborrowed garments.

  “Well, what’s the program?” asked Ned, when he and his chums had hadbreakfast. They ate alone save for Professor Snodgrass, Mr. Sheldon andhis daughter having eaten earlier.

  “I fancy we had better first have a talk with your uncle, Bob,” repliedthe tall lad. “He may be able to advise us. It is all very nice to beaboard here, scooting along under the sea, but we ought to be home. Ourfolks will surely be worried about us, especially if any part of ourwrecked motorship is picked up by some vessel. Word will go back toCresville that we are lost.”

  “And my uncle, too,” added Bob. “Probably father and mother havealready given him up for lost.”

  “Then we’ve got to make a bid to get back to land,” decided Ned.“Let’s look up Mr. Sheldon.”

  Professor Snodgrass was so busy over some of his scientific notes thathe paid little attention to the boys, and they felt they could leavehim for the time being.

  They found Bob’s uncle and cousin in the main cabin. Dr. Klauss, Mr.Sheldon said, had gone to the engine room, as there was some difficultywith one of the motors.

  “And where are we?” asked Jerry anxiously.

  “Well, we’re running along, about three hundred feet under thesurface,” answered Mr. Sheldon. “I was just in the pilot house, andnoted the depth gage. As for our exact location, I can’t say. Somewherebeneath the Atlantic ocean.”

  “That’s a big place,” remarked Bob. “And have we been under water allnight?”

  “Yes.”

  “The air is very fresh,” observed Ned.

  “Oh, we carry enough for several days,” remarked Mr. Sheldon. “The_Sonderbaar_ could be submerged nearly a week at a pinch, so Dr. Klausssays.”

  “I wouldn’t want to stay down here that long,” came from Jerry. “Whatare we going to do, Mr. Sheldon? We have come to you for advice. Wefeel that we ought to go back home.”

  “That’s exactly how I feel about it, my boy. But the difficulty isthat Dr. Klauss won’t put us ashore.”

  “He won’t?”

  “No. He refused in my case; decently enough, but firmly. Now my plan isto have you boys ask him. If he acts in the same way he must have somereason for it. If he acts and talks differently it may indicate what Ihave begun to suspect.”

  “What’s that?” inquired Bob.

  “Wait until you make your request,” was the reply. “Then you can judgefor yourselves. He is a very strange man. Ask him the first chance youget.”

  The opportunity came sooner than the boys expected. Shortly after theirtalk with Mr. Sheldon, Dr. Klauss came into the main cabin.

  “Doctor,” began Jerry, “can you spare us a few moments?”

  “What for?” and the words came with a snap.

  “We wish to find out when you are going to set us ashore, or put us onsome other vessel. You have been very kind, but we must not tax yourhospitality further. We want to get back to America.”

  “And I say you shall not go!” fairly shouted the captain. “I am notgoing back to the United States until I come again with a fleet thatwill destroy all their ships!”

  “Doctor!” cried Mr. Sheldon, leaping to his feet. “What do you mean?”

  “Just what I say! I am going back to my own country, and build moresubmarines. I have proved what this one will do. With her, and morelike her, I can destroy the whole United States navy. And I’m going todo it! I’m going to do it!

  “I hate you! I hate all Americans. They shot my brother in theSpanish-American War, and I am going to revenge him. They called him aspy. He was not! I say he was not!

  “America! You shall never see it again. I did not ask you to comeaboard my vessel, but, since you are here, you must take theconsequences. I shall not turn you free to have you reveal mysecrets--the secrets I have guarded for years. I shall keep you with meforever. You shall never see home again!

  “America! Bah! How I hate her!” and he stamped his feet with rage.“I shall wipe her from the face of the earth. No, I will not put youashore! I shall not put you aboard some other vessel, to let her crewpry into my secrets! I tell you I will not! You are here--here youshall stay. Don’t ask me
again!

  “When my brother was shot--shot unjustly as a spy--I vowed to berevenged. Now my chance has come. After many years I have perfectedmy submarine. In it I can carry enough torpedoes to destroy a wholeflotilla of United States warships, and some day I will do it.

  “I hate Americans! I have three in my crew, but they shall never seetheir own land again. Nor will you! Don’t ask me again.”

  “But, Dr. Klauss,” said Mr. Sheldon, endeavoring to speak calmly,“please consider----”

  “No! I will consider nothing! Here you are--and here you willremain--aboard my submarine. I did not ask you to come--I did not wantyou. I am a monster, perhaps--a monster when I think of my wrongs; butI could not leave you to drown. You owe me a debt for saving your lives.

  “Very well! You will pay that debt by never seeing your own countryagain. I have you--I shall keep you!” and his voice rose to a screamas, clapping his hands together, he rushed from the cabin.