CHAPTER II.
OUT OF THE JAWS OF DEATH.
What the captain had said was true. The _Grampus_, cruising in thosegreat depths, had had the misfortune to hurl herself bodily on into anancient wreck.
The wreck, which must have lain for centuries there on the bottom, wascovered with marine growth, yet, nevertheless, seemed wonderfully wellpreserved. The high bow and poop, covered with serpent-like lianes andcreeping weeds, were erect in the water, for the galleon lay on an evenkeel. The ship's two masts and steep bowsprit had been broken off, andthe decks were a litter of weeds, and shells, and sand.
The _Grampus_, cleaving the heavy submarine growth, had flung her sharpprow into the galleon's side and was embedded almost to the flagstaff.
The captain and Matt descended silently into the periscope room.
"We jammed into an old wreck, did we?" queried Cassidy, calmly but witha look on his face which reflected the perturbation of his mind.
"Yes," answered Matt. "Some Spanish ship went down here--perhaps loadedwith treasure for across the sea."
"Hardly loaded with treasure, Matt," spoke up the captain. "This isthe Spanish Main, and the reefs off Honduras offered shelter for manya pirate in the old days. This galleon, I am inclined to think, wasstripped of her treasure by some buccaneer and sunk. It is too bad thatshe was sunk in the course we happened to be taking."
The rack of the useless motor ceased on an order from Matt; in thedeep, death-like silence that intervened, a wail came up from the tankroom.
"Vat's der madder mit us, Matt? Dit ve run indo a cave in der ocean?Oof ve can't ged oudt vat vill pecome oof us?"
"We ran into an old Spanish ship, Carl," answered Matt, "and we are sojammed in the side of the hulk that we haven't been able, so far, toback out."
"Ach, du lieber! Meppy ve von't nefer be aple to pack oudt! Meppy vevas down here for keeps, hey? Nexdt dime I go down in some supmarines,you bed my life I make a vill pefore I shtart."
Carl, white as a sheet and scared, came rolling into the periscoperoom. Dick likewise showed up from forward.
"Strike me lucky, old ship," said he, "I hadn't any notion this was tobe our last cruise."
"It's not," answered Matt. "We'll get out of this."
He turned to Captain Nemo, Jr., who was again seated quietly, his calmeyes on the king of the motor boys.
"The power of the screw, unaided," said the captain, "will not serve toget us clear of the wreck. What are you going to do, Matt?"
Matt thought for a moment.
"Am I to have my way, captain?" he asked.
"Certainly. I want to see what you can do."
"Speake! Gaines! Clackett!" called Matt. "Come up here, at once."
From the engine room, the torpedo room, and the ballast room came therest of the submarine's crew. Their faces were gray with anxiety, butthey were men of pluck and determination, and could be depended on tofight for life until the very last.
"Men," said Matt, "we have rammed an old hulk that has been lying forcenturies in the bottom of St. George's Bay. The nose of the _Grampus_is caught and held in the wreck's side, and the full power of theengine is not sufficient to pull us out. We shall have to try somethingelse--something that will put a great strain on the steel shell of thesubmarine, considering the pressure the boat is under at this enormousdepth. I am going to give some orders, and on the swiftness with whichthey are carried out our lives may depend. You will all go back to yourstations, Carl with Clackett and Dick with Gaines; and when I shout theword 'Ready!' the engine will be started with all power astern. At thesame instant, Clackett and Carl will open the pipes and admit air intothe ballast tanks, and open the valves that let out the water. We mayhave to do all this several times, if necessary, but you fellows havegot to be prompt in doing what you are told."
Again was admiration reflected in Captain Nemo's pale face. Leaningback against the steel wall of the periscope room, he settled himselfquietly to await developments.
"Count on me," said Clackett, as he and Carl disappeared.
"And on us," said Gaines, leaving the periscope room with Dick.
Cassidy merely gave a nod and turned to his steering wheel. Matt wentup into the tower and placed himself at one of the lunettes.
His heart was beating against his ribs with trip-hammer blows, but hisbrain was cool and clear.
When he had given the crew sufficient time to gain their stations, helifted his voice loudly.
"_Ready!_"
The word rang through the periscope room and echoed clatteringlythrough the steel hull.
The propeller began to whirl like mad, and the sudden opening of theballast tanks depressed the free rear portion of the submarine.
For a full minute the wild struggle went on, and so shaken was the boatthat it seemed as though she must fly in pieces. Then, abruptly, the_Grampus_ leaped backward and upward, clearing the forest-like growthof seaweed at a gigantic bound.
The upward motion was felt by every one in the boat, and cries ofexultation came to Matt's ears in clamoring echoes.
Slipping like lightning down the ladder, he shouted to Gaines to stopthe madly-working engine and reverse it at a more leisurely speed.
Like a huge air bubble, the _Grampus_ swung up and up, and when sheemerged above the surface, and Matt could see sunlight through thedripping lunettes, he turned off the electric projector, opened thehatch and threw it back, and gulped down deep breaths of the warm,fresh air.
Once more slipping down the ladder, he saluted the captain.
"I turn the ship over to you, sir," said he, and collapsed on a stool,mopping the perspiration from his face.
"You're a brick!" grunted Cassidy, picking up the course for Belize.
"Hooray for Motor Matt, king of the motor boys!" came a thrilling shoutfrom somewhere in the bowels of the craft.
For an instant, the steel walls echoed with the jubilant yells of Carl,Dick, Gaines, Speake, and Clackett.
"It came near to taking the ginger all out of me, captain," breathedMatt. "The novelty of the thing was mighty trying."
Captain Nemo, Jr., still strangely pale, was regarding the youthfixedly. For some moments after the cheering ceased he said nothing;then, leaning abruptly forward, he caught Matt's hand.
The captain's flesh was as cold as ice.
"Captain!" the young motorist exclaimed, starting up, "there'ssomething wrong with you! Do you feel----"
The captain waved his hand deprecatingly, and the calm, inscrutablesmile hovered about his thin lips.
"Let that pass for a moment, my lad," said he. "I was testing the_Grampus_, but, more than that, I was likewise testing _you_. Sincewe picked up Carl and Dick, off the _Dolphin_, and before that, whilewe were cruising about trying to find them,[A] you have been servingyour apprenticeship on the submarine. I have always had the utmostconfidence in you, Motor Matt, and I have now, I think, tested yourknowledge of the _Grampus_ in a manner which leaves no room fordoubt. You are able to run the boat, and to extricate her from anydifficulties in which she might become entangled, as well, if notbetter, than I could do myself."
[A] This reference of Captain Nemo, Jr., has to do with the thrillingexperiences of Carl and Dick while they were at swords' points withCaptain James Sixty, the filibuster, for an extended account of whichsee No. 15 of the MOTOR STORIES, "Motor Matt's Submarine; or, TheStrange Cruise of the _Grampus_."
Matt, from the captain's manner, had suspected that the gray-hairedinventor of the craft had tried to bring out all that was in him.Captain Nemo, Jr., of course, had not been able to forecast the troublethat was to overtake the submarine in the bottom of the bay, but thisdangerous experience had served only to show Matt's resourcefulness tobetter advantage.
"You are cool-headed in time of danger," proceeded the captain, "and,no matter what goes wrong, your ability is always on tap and can bebrought to bear instantly upon anything you desire to accomplish."
The red ran into Matt's face and he waved a hand deprecatingl
y.
"I'm not a particle better than a lot of other fellows," said he, "whotry to use their eyes, and hands, and brains."
"I expected you to say that, Matt," continued the captain. "The test,in your case, was hardly necessary, for I have watched your work ina lot of trying situations--and it has always been the same, steady,resourceful, reliable. Just now, we are going to Belize, BritishHonduras, to carry out some work for our government. As I have alreadytold you, I don't know what that work is. Two sealed envelopes weregiven me by Captain Wynekoop of the U. S. cruiser _Seminole_. The firstone told us to proceed to Belize. The next one, which I have here in mypocket, will instruct you relative to the work in prospect, and----"
"Instruct _me_?" broke in Matt, startled.
The captain nodded.
"I have not recovered from the strange illness which overtook me inNew Orleans, as a result of inhaling the poisonous odor given off bythe head of that idol. I feel that another attack is coming upon me--Ihave felt it for several hours--and, inasmuch as the government iswatching the work of the _Grampus_ with the intention of buying her ata good round price if she makes good, our sealed orders must be carriedout. For this work, Matt, you are my choice; you are to command the_Grampus_, do everything that you think--that you think----"
Captain Nemo, Jr., paused, struggled with the words for a space, thendrooped slowly forward and fell from his seat to the floor of the room.There he lay, unconscious and breathing heavily.
Motor Matt's Quest; or Three Chums in Strange Waters Page 3