The Tom Swift Megapack

by Victor Appleton

  “Now, Mr. Keith, take care of yourself. Mary and I must be getting back. Try not to worry, and I’ll do my best for you,” Tom concluded.

  Mary added a few words of comfort and encouragement to her uncle, and then she and Tom took leave of him, flying back to Shopton in the speedy Air Scout.

  “What are you going to do, Tom?” asked Mary, as he left her at her home, having told Mr. and Mrs. Nestor his part in the visit to Barton Keith.

  “I’m going to start on the submarine voyage tomorrow,” was the answer of the young inventor.

  “Do you really believe there is a treasure ship?”

  “Well, I’ve satisfied myself that a ship named the Pandora sunk about where Hardley says it did, and she had some treasure on board. Whether it’s just the kind he has told me it was I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.”

  “Then you’ll be saying goodbye for a long time,” observed Mary, rather wistfully.

  “Oh, it may not be for so very long,” and Tom tried to speak cheerfully. “I’ll bring you back some souvenirs from the bottom of the sea,” he added with a laugh.

  “Bring me back—yourself!” said Mary in a low voice, and then she hurried away.

  By appointment Tom met Mr. Damon and Mr. Hardley at the submarine dock the next morning. Everything had been made ready for the start, postponed from the day before. Mr. Hardley’s estimated share of the expenses had been deposited in a bank, to be paid over later.

  “Well, are we really going this time, or are you going to delay again?” asked the gold seeker, and his voice lacked a pleasant tone.

  “Oh, were going this time!” exclaimed Tom. “And I hope everything turns out the way I want it to,” he added meaningly.

  “We’ll find the treasure on the ship all right, if we can find the ship,” said Mr. Hardley. “That part is your job, Mr. Swift.”

  “And I’ll find her if she’s where you say she went down,” answered Tom. “Now then, as soon as Ned comes we’ll start.”

  Ned Newton had been intrusted with some last-moment messages, but he arrived a little later, and hurried on board the M. N. 1 which lay at her dock, just afloat.

  “All aboard!” called Tom, when he saw his financial manager coming down the pier. “We’re ready to start now.”

  “Bless my fountain pen!” exclaimed Mr. Damon, “but we ought to do something, Tom—sing a song, make a speech or something, oughtn’t we?”

  “We’ll sing a song of victory when we come back,” replied Tom, with a laugh. “Everything all right at home, Ned?” he asked, for his chum had just come on from Shopton.

  “Yes; your father sent his regards, but he told me to make a last appeal to you to install a gyroscope rudder.”

  “It’s too late for that now,” said Tom. “He attaches, I think, too much importance to that device. I shan’t need it with the improvements I have made to the craft. Get aboard!”

  Ned climbed down the hatchway, which, however, was not closed, as it was decided to navigate the craft on the surface until it was necessary to submerge her because of too rough water, or when the vicinity of the wreck was reached.

  “Though we will go down to the bottom when we get to the Atlantic for the purpose of testing her in deep water,” decided Tom. “Most of the time we’ll steam on the surface, for we’ll save our batteries that way, and it’s more comfortable breathing natural air.”

  So, with part of her deck above the surface, the M. N. 1 began her voyage, sent on her way by the cheers of the small force of Tom’s workmen at the submarine plant. The general public was not admitted, for the object of the quest was kept secret from all save those immediately interested.

  “Rad, him be plenty mad he not come,” said Koku to Tom, as the giant moved about the cabin, putting things to rights.

  “Well, don’t start crowing over him until we get back,” warned the young inventor. “He may have the laugh on us.”

  “Rad no laugh,” declared Koku. “Rad him too mad dat I come on trip.”

  “A submarine voyage is no place for old, faithful Eradicate,” murmured Tom. “He’s better off looking after my father.”

  The first part of the trip was without incident of moment. No mishap attended the voyage of the M. N. 1 down the river, out into the bay, and so on to the great Atlantic.

  Fairly good time was made, as there was no particular object in speeding, and on the second day after leaving the dock Tom gave orders for the hatch to be closed, the deck cleared, and everything made tight and fast.

  “What’s up?” asked Ned, hearing the instructions passed around.

  “We’re approaching deep water,” was the answer. “I’m going to submerge.”

  A little later, by means of her diving rudders, aided also by the tanks, the M. N. 1 began to sink. Down, down, down she went.

  “Now I’ll be able to show you some pretty sights, Mr. Hardley,” said Tom, as he and his friends entered the forward compartment, while the steel shutters were rolled back from the heavy glass windows. “We’ll be in deep waters presently.”

  Ten minutes later the depth gauge showed that they were down about three hundred feet, and that is pretty deep for a submarine. But Tom’s boat was capable of even greater depths than that.

  At first there was nothing much to observe save the opal-tinted water illuminated by the powerful lights of the submarine. Small, and evidently frightened, fish darted to and fro, but there was nothing especially to attract the attention of Tom and his friends, who had made much more sensational trips than this under water.

  Mr. Hardley, however, was fascinated, and kept close to the observation windows.

  “Are there any wrecks around here?” he asked Tom.

  “Possibly,” was the answer. “Though they do not contain any treasure, I imagine—brick schooners or cargo boats would be about all.”

  The submarine went deeper, plowing her way through the Atlantic at a depth of more than three hundred and fifty feet, for Tom wanted to subject her to a good test.

  Suddenly Mr. Hardley, who was now alone at the window on the port side, uttered a cry of alarm.

  “Look! Look!” he fairly shouted. “We’re surrounded by a school of sharks! What monsters! Are we in danger?”

  CHAPTER XIII

  THE SEA MONSTER

  Tom Swift, who had been making readings of the various gauges, taking notes for future use, and otherwise busying himself about the navigation of his reconstructed craft, turned quickly from the instrument board at the cry from Mr. Hardley. The gold-seeker, with a look of terror on his face, had recoiled from the observation windows.

  “Bless my hat band!” cried Mr. Damon. “Look, Tom!”

  They all turned their attention to the glass, and through the plates could be seen a school of giant fishes that seemed to be swimming in front of the submarine, keeping pace with it as though waiting for a chance to enter.

  “Are we well protected against sharks, Mr. Swift?” demanded the adventurer. “Are these sea monsters likely to break, the glass and get in at us?”

  “Indeed not!” laughed Tom. “There is absolutely no danger from these fish—they aren’t sharks, either.”

  “Not sharks?” cried Mr. Hardley. “What are they, then?”

  “Horse mackerel,” Tom answered. “At least that is the common name for the big fish. But they are far from being sharks, and we are in no danger from them.”

  “Oh!” exclaimed Mr. Hardley, and he seemed a little ashamed of the exhibition of fear he had manifested. “Well, they certainly seem determined to follow us,” he added.

  The big fish were, indeed, following the submarine, and it required no exertion on their part to maintain their speed, since below the surface the M. N. 1 could not move very fast, as indeed no submarine can, due to the resistance of the water.

  “They do look as though they’d like to take a bite or two out of us,” observed Ned. “Are they dangerous, Tom?”

  “Not as a rule,” was the answer. “I don’t do
ubt, though, but if a lone swimmer got in a school of horse mackerel he’d be badly bitten. In fact, some years ago, when there was a shark scare along the New Jersey coast, some fishermen declared that it was horse mackerel that were responsible for the death and injury of several bathers. A number of horse mackerel were caught and exhibited as sharks, but, as you can easily see, their mouths lack the under-shot arrangement of the shark, and they are not built at all as are the man-eaters.”

  “Bless my toothbrush!” exclaimed Mr. Damon. “Still, between a horse mackerel and a shark there isn’t much choice!”

  Mr. Hardley, with a shudder, turned away from the glass windows, and Tom glanced significantly at Ned. It was another exhibition of the man’s lack of nerve.

  “We’ll have trouble with him before this voyage is over,” declared the young inventor to his chum, a little later.

  “What makes you think so?” asked Ned.

  “Because he’s yellow; that’s why. I thought him that once before, and then I revised my opinion. Now I’m back where I started. You watch—we’ll have trouble.”

  “Well, I guess we can handle him,” observed the financial manager.

  “I’m going a little deeper,” announced Tom, toward evening on the first day of the voyage on the open ocean. “I want to see how she stands the pressure at five hundred feet. I feel certain she will, and even at a greater depth. But if there’s anything wrong we want to correct it before we get too far away from home. We’re going down again, deeper than before.”

  A little later the submarine began the descent into the lower ocean depths. From three hundred and fifty feet she went to four hundred, and when the hand on the gauge showed four hundred and fifty there was a tense moment. If anything went wrong now there would be serious trouble.

  But Tom Swift and his men had done their work well. The M. N. 1 stood the strain, and when the gauge showed four hundred and ninety feet Mr. Damon gave a faint cheer.

  “Bless my apple dumpling, Tom!” he replied, “this is wonderful.”

  “Oh, we’ve been deeper than this,” replied the young inventor, “but under different conditions. I’m glad to see how well she is standing it, though.”

  Suddenly, as the needle pointer on the depth gauge showed five hundred and two feet, there came a slight jar and vibration that was felt throughout the craft.

  “What’s that?” suddenly and nervously cried Mr. Hardley. “Have we struck something?”

  “Yes, the bottom of the ocean,” answered Tom quietly. “We are now on the floor of the Atlantic, though several hundred miles, and perhaps a thousand, from the treasure ship. We bumped the bottom, that’s all,” and as he spoke he brought the submarine to a stop by a signal to the engine room.

  And there, as calmly and easily as some of the masses of seaweed growing on the ocean floor around her, rested the M. N. 1. It was a test of her powers, and well had she stood the test, though harder ones were in store for her.

  And inside the submarine Tom and his party were under scarcely greater discomfort than they would have been on the surface. True, they were confined to a restricted space, and the air they breathed came from compression tanks, and not from the open sky. The lights had to be kept aglow, of course, for it was pitch dark at that depth. The sunlight cannot penetrate to more than a hundred feet. But sunlight was not needed, for the craft carried powerful electric lights that could illuminate the sea in the immediate vicinity of the submarine.

  “Are you going to stay here long?” asked Mr. Hardley, when Tom had spent some time making accurate readings of the various instruments of the boat. “Of course, I realize that you are the commander, but if we don’t get to the treasure ship soon some one else may loot her before we have a chance. She’s been given up as a hopeless task more than once, but the lure of the millions may attract another gang.”

  “I want to stay here until I make sure that nothing is leaking and that everything is all right,” answered the young inventor. “This is a test I have not given her since the rebuilding. But I think she is coming through it all right, and we can soon start off again. Before we do, though, I want to try the new diving outfit. Ned, are you game for it now? This is a little deeper than you have gone out in for some time, but—”

  “Oh, I’m game!” exclaimed the young financial manager. “Get out the suit, Tom, and I’ll put it on. I’ll go for a stroll on the bottom of the sea. Who knows? Perhaps I may pick up a pearl.”

  “Pearls aren’t found in these northern waters, any more than are sharks,” said Tom with a laugh. “However, I’ll have the suits made ready. I’ll send Koku with you, and I’ll stay in this time. Mr. Damon, do you want to go out?”

  “Not this time, Tom,” answered the eccentric man. “My heart action isn’t what it used to be. The doctor said I mustn’t strain it. At a depth not quite so great I may take a chance.”

  “How about you, Mr. Hardley?” asked Tom. “Do you want to put on one of my portable diving suits and walk around on the bottom of the sea?”

  “I—I don’t believe I’ve had enough experience,” was the hesitating answer. “I’ll watch the others first.”

  Tom felt that it would be this way, but he said nothing. He ordered the diving suits made ready, a special size having been built for the giant, and soon preparations were under way for the two to step outside the craft.

  Those who have read of Tom Swift’s submarine boat know how his special diving outfit was operated. Instead of the diver being supplied with the air through a hose connected with a pump on the surface, there was attached to the suit a tank of compressed air, which was supplied as needed through special reducing valves.

  The diving dress, too, was exceptionally strong, to withstand the awful pressure of water at more than five hundred feet below the surface. The usual rubber was supplemented by thin, reinforced sheets of steel, and this feature, together with an auxiliary air pressure, kept the wearer safe.

  Thus Ned and Koku could leave the submarine, walk about on the floor of the ocean as they pleased, and return, unhampered by an air hose or life line. In dangerous waters, infested by sea monsters, weapons could be carried that were effective under water. The diving suit was also provided with a powerful electric light operated by a new form of storage current, compact and lasting.

  “Well, I think we’re all ready,” announced Ned, as he and Koku were helped into their suits and they waited for the glass-windowed helmets to be put on. Once these were fastened in place talk would have to be carried on with the outside world by means of small telephones or by signals.

  “Give me axe!” exclaimed Koku, as some of the sailors were about to put his helmet in place.

  “What do you want of an axe?” Tom asked.

  “Maybe so one them cow fish come along,” explained the giant. “Koku whack him with axe.”

  “He means horse mackerel,” laughed Ned. “Give him the axe, Tom. I don’t like the looks of those fish, either. I’ll take a weapon myself.”

  Two keen axes were handed to the divers, their helmets were screwed on, and they immediately began breathing the compressed air carried in a tank on their shoulders.

  Slowly and laboriously they walked to the diving chamber. Their progress would be easier in the water, which would buoy them up in a measure. Now they were heavily weighted.

  To leave the submarine the divers had to enter a steel chamber in the side of the craft. This craft contained double doors. Once the divers were inside the door leading to the interior of the submarine was hermetically closed. Water from outside was then admitted until the pressure was equalized. Then the outer door was opened and Ned and Koku could step forth.

  They entered the chamber, the door was closed tightly and then Tom Swift turned the valve that admitted the sea water. With a hiss the Atlantic began rushing in, and in a short time the outer door would be opened.

  “If you’ll come around to the observation windows you can see them,” said Tom, when a look at the indicators told him Ned and K
oku had stepped forth.

  To the front cabin he and the others betook themselves, and when the interior lights were turned out and the exterior ones turned on they waited for a sight of the two divers.

  “Bless my pickle bottle!” cried Mr. Damon, “there they are, Tom.”

  As he spoke there came into view, moving slowly, Ned and Koku. Their portable lights were glowing, and then, in order to see them better, Tom turned out the exterior searchlights. This made the two forms, in their rather grotesque dress, stand out in bold relief amid the swirling green waters of the Atlantic.

  Ned and the giant moved slowly, for it was impossible to progress with any speed under that terrific pressure. They looked toward the submarine and waved their hands in greeting. They had no special object on the ocean floor, except to try the new diving dress, and it seemed to operate successfully. Ned made a pretense of looking for treasure amid the sand and seaweed, and once he caught and held up by its tail a queer turtle. Koku stalked about behind Ned, looking to right and left, possibly for a sight of some monster “cow fish.”

  “They’re coming back in, I think,” remarked Tom, when he saw Ned turn and start back for the side of the craft, where, amidships, was located the diving chamber. “They’re satisfied with the test.”

  Suddenly Koku was seen to glide to the side of Ned, and point at something which none of the observers in the M. N. 1 could see. The giant was evidently perturbed, and Ned, too, showed some agitation.

  “Bless my rubber shoes! what’s the matter?” cried Mr. Damon.

  “I don’t know,” answered Tom. “Perhaps they have sighted a wreck, or something like that.”

  “Look! It’s a sea monster!” cried Mr. Hardley. “I can see the form of some great fish, or something. Look! It’s coming right at them!”

  As he spoke all in the observation chamber saw a great, black form, as if of some monster, move close to the two divers.

  CHAPTER XIV

  IN STRANGE PERIL

  “What is it, Tom? What is it?” cried Mr. Damon, not stopping in this moment of excitement to bless anything. “What is going to attack Ned and Koku?”