by Roy Rockwood
CHAPTER XXV
HELD BY THE ENEMY
"Keep the doors closed!" cried the professor. "It is our only hope! Iwill send the ship up again!"
But it was too late. Washington, who had obeyed the signal from theconning tower to shut off the engines, had disconnected most of them sothey could not be started again save from the main room. At the sametime there came a yell of dismay from the colored man, who had slid backthe steel covering of the main side entrance to the _Mermaid_.
"I'm caught!" cried Washington.
As the professor and the boys hurried from the tower, they could hear astruggle from where Washington was, and his voice calling:
"Let me go! Let me go!"
Reaching the engine room, which opened directly on the side entrance,the professor saw a pair of enormous hands and arms dragging poorWashington, feet first, out of the ship. Bill and Tom were crouched inone corner, pale with fright.
"Wait until I get my gun!" cried Andy, as he ran for his rifle.
"Hold on!" called the professor in a loud voice. "It will be folly toshoot them! We must try strategy!"
Washington's cries ceased as he was drawn entirely from the ship, thegiant hands disappearing at the same time.
"Follow me!" yelled Mr. Henderson, running out of the door.
Hardly knowing what they did, the boys went after him, and their heartsalmost stopped beating in fright as they saw the terrible things, which,in the glare of the changing lights, were on every side of them.
For the men were very repulsive looking. They were attired in clothes,very similar in cut to those worn by the travelers, and which seemed tobe made of some sort of cloth. But they were loose and baggy and onlyadded to the queer appearance of the giants. Veritable giants they weretoo. Their faces seemed as large as kegs, and they were so clumsy inshape that Mark, even, frightened as he was, exclaimed:
"They look like men made of putty!" At the same time he saw they bore aresemblance to the creature he had observed on the hill top.
"What shall we do?" asked Andy of the professor. "They are reallycarrying Washington away!"
Three of the giants were dragging the colored man along the ground,while the other terrible beings stood about as if waiting to see theoutcome of the first sally.
"I will try to speak to them," Mr. Henderson said. "I know severallanguages. They may understand one."
But before he could start on his parley a surprising thing happened.There was a struggle in the little group about Washington. The coloredman seemed to be fighting, though the odds, it would appear, were toogreat to enable him to accomplish anything. But, making a desperateeffort to escape, Washington quickly wrenched himself free from thegiants' hands and then, striking out with his fists, knocked the threedown, one after another.
"I never knew Washington was so strong!" exclaimed Jack.
"Nor I," put in Mark. "Why I should think the men could carry him in onearm as if he was a baby."
The three giants rose slowly to their feet. They uttered strange cries,and motioned with their hands toward the professor, the boys, and theothers in the crowd.
"Look out! They're goin' t' grab yo'!" cried Washington.
Three of the giants approached Mark, and a like number closed in onJack.
"Back to the ship!" cried the professor. "We must defend ourselves!"
But by this time the big men had grabbed the two boys. Then a strangething took place. Mark and Jack, though they felt that the giants mustovercome them in a test of strength, struggled with all their mightagainst being captured. They fought, as a cornered rat will fight,though it knows the odds to be overwhelming. But in this case theunexpected happened.
Both boys found they could easily break the holds of the giants, andMark, by a vigorous effort, pushed the three men away from him, one at atime violently so that they fell in a heap, one on top of the other.
"Hurrah! We can fight 'em!" cried Mark. "Don't be afraid. They're likemush! They're putty men!"
And, so it seemed, the giants were. Though big in size they were flabbyand had nothing like the muscle they should have had in proportion totheir build. They went down like meal sacks and were slow to rise.
THE BIG MEN HAD GATHERED IN A COMPACT MASS]
Jack, seeing how successful his comrade was, attacked the three giantswho were striving to make him a captive. He succeeded in disposing ofthem, knocking one down so hard that the man was unable to rise untilhis companions helped him.
"That's the way!" cried Washington. "They're soft as snow men!"
The vanquished giants set up a sort of roar, which was answered by theirfellows, and soon there was a terrible din.
"All get together!" called the professor. "They are evidently going tomake a rush for us. If we stand by one another we may fight them off,though they outnumber us a hundred to one. Besides it will soon be dark,and we may be able to escape!"
Washington, Jack and Mark retreated toward the ship, in the direction ofwhich the others had also made their way. The big men had gathered in acompact mass and were advancing on the adventurers.
"What do you suppose makes them so soft?" asked Mark. "I believe I couldmanage half a dozen."
"It must be the effect of the climate and conditions here," theprofessor replied. "Probably they have to be big to stand the pressureof the thick water, and the increased attraction of gravitation. Thentoo, being without the weight of the atmosphere to which we areaccustomed, they have probably expanded. If they were to go up to earth,they might shrink to our size."
"Do you think that possible?"
"Of course. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing in particular," replied Mark. But to himself, he added: "Thatwould explain it all."
It was getting dusk now. The travelers had reached their ship, andrushed inside and tried to close the doors in the face of the advancinghorde. But, by this time the giants were so close that one or two ofthem thrust their big feet in, and prevented this movement. At the sametime they set up a great howling.
"Quick!" cried the professor. "We must start the ship and get away!"
"I can't close the door!" yelled Washington, who had been the last toenter.
"Never mind that! _Go_ up with it open! Drag them along if they won'tlet go!" answered Mr. Henderson, as he ran toward the engine room.
There was a sudden rush among the giants, and a sound as if somethingwas being thrown over the top and ends of the ship. Mark turned the gasmachine on, while Jack worked the negative gravity apparatus. Theywaited for the ship to rise.
"Why don't we go up?" asked the professor.
"'Cause they've caught us!" called out Washington.
"Caught us? How?"
"They've thrown ropes over the top and ends of the ship, and fastenedthem to their big houses!"
Running to a side window the professor saw that the _Mermaid_ wasfastened down by a score of cables, each one six inches thick. They wereheld captives by the enemy.
