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

by Clarence Young

  CHAPTER II

  A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE

  “Jerry, we’ve got to do something!” cried Ned.

  “And do it quick!” added Bob.

  “We’re doing all we can,” responded the tall youth in tense tones. Inall the excitement he remained calmer than did his chums, and calmnesswas a necessary virtue in this emergency. Jerry Hopkins had that onehappy faculty of seldom “losing his head.”

  Now he was striving desperately, however, in spite of his seeming calm,to prevent the accident which seemed so imminent. And his companions,catching something of his cool self-control, restrained their ownexcitement and came to Jerry’s aid.

  And while strenuous efforts are thus being made to save the _Comet_from plunging into the sea, I will beg the indulgence of my old readersfor a few moments while I describe, for the benefit of my new ones,something about the three chums and their various activities as setforth in the previous books of this series.

  As might be guessed the lads were called the “Motor Boys” for obviousreasons. They were always seen on some form of motor, beginning with abicycle (which in a way is a motor vehicle) and ending with an airship.No, not ending, for the activities of the motor boys are far fromended, I hope.

  To describe the boys themselves I will say that Bob Baker was the sonof a wealthy banker, while Ned’s father, Aaron Slade, kept a largedepartment store in which Mr. Baker was also interested. The fatherof Jerry Hopkins was dead, but his mother had been left comfortablyoff, and by means of wise investments, recommended by Mr. Baker, hadmanaged to accumulate a small fortune. It will thus be seen that mythree heroes were well supplied with money to carry out their ideas ofsport in motor vehicles. And they did not depend on their parents forall their funds. The boys were part owners of a valuable gold mine, andthey received profits from it.

  They lived in the New England town of Cresville, not far from Boston,and were well known in the country roundabout, for they made trips farand near. Often on these trips they had unpleasant experiences withNoddy Nixon, a sort of town bully, and his crony, Bill Berry, as wellas with Jack Pender, with whom Noddy chummed.

  The first book of this series is entitled “The Motor Boys,” and init is described how our heroes took part in some bicycle races, andeventually obtained motorcycles for themselves, on which they had anumber of adventures.

  In a later race they won an auto as a prize, and one of theiractivities was to take a trip overland. Their companion on this, aswell as on other journeys, was a certain Professor Uriah Snodgrass,who was an enthusiastic collector of rare specimens of the animalkingdom, from black fleas to luminous snakes. The professor was an oddcharacter, as you will doubtless soon discover.

  After an exciting tour the boys went to Mexico, and, coming back fromthere, they were instrumental in locating the hermit of Lost Lake.

  In the fifth book of the series, entitled “The Motor Boys Afloat,” Irelated what happened when Jerry, Ned and Bob got a motor boat. Theyhad surprising adventures in their voyage on the Atlantic, later in thestrange waters of the Florida Everglades, and then on the Pacific.

  Naturally, with the gradual perfecting of air craft, the boys turnedtheir thoughts to them, and in the volume called “The Motor Boys in theClouds,” I had the pleasure of telling you of their adventures abovethe earth. They had a long trip which ended in both fame and fortune,and in going over the Rockies they solved a mystery of the air, latereffecting a rescue near the clouds, over the ocean.

  Again they were on the wing, and learning of a strange treasure theywent in search of it. In the book that immediately preceded this one,called “The Motor Boys on the Border,” I told how the boys, returningfrom the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, found new opportunities awaitingthem. This was to undertake a search for sixty nuggets of gold thathad been secreted by an old prospector when he had to flee from hisenemies. He had hidden them in a deep valley, near the border betweenMontana and Canada, and sought the aid of the boys and their airship torecover them.

  How the sixty nuggets were found, how the enemies were outwitted, andhow Professor Snodgrass located his luminous snakes--all this you willfind set down in the book.

  After these adventures the boys returned home, and to while away thetime they had again put in commission their motorship _Comet_ and goneto the Boston aviation meet. They had taken some part in it, winningtwo prizes for all-around efficiency.

  Perhaps my new readers will like a brief description of the _Comet_.It was a craft built for comfort, and for long trips rather thanfor speed, though it could skim along very fast when necessary. Themotorship was, as its name indicates, a veritable ship, and theaddition of hydroplanes enabled it to navigate on the water as well asin the air. Wheels could be attached, if desired, so that it could alsomove along on smooth ground, but this was seldom done, and no greatspeed was attained that way.

  As I have said the _Comet_ could be used either as a biplane, or as adirigible balloon. There was considerable machinery aboard it--motors,dynamos, gas-producing apparatus; and on board the boys and theirfriends could live comfortably for many days without descending.

  There was a main cabin, sleeping berths, the motor room, where mostof the machinery was installed, and a pilot house that contained theguiding levers and wheels. The bottom of part of the craft containedheavy plate glass, so observations of the earth could be made throughit.

  And I must not forget the kitchen and dining room. These places werethe especial delight of Bob Baker, for I think I have already indicatedthat “Chunky,” as Bob was often called, because of his short and plumpconformation, was very fond of eating. His chums joked him about it,but he seldom minded that.

  And it was in the _Comet_ that our heroes now were, having decided tonavigate for a while over the sea after witnessing some sensationalflights at the aviation grounds outside of Boston. And it was also inthe _Comet_ that danger had now come to the boys as they sought todescend to get a nearer view of what they thought might be a greatwhale, but which did not act as a whale should.

  “How about it, Jerry? Are we gaining any?” cried Ned, as he stood besidethe gas machine, trying to hasten the filling of the lifting-bags.

  “I think so,” was the answer. Jerry never took his eyes from thepressure gage that told how much gas was being forced out from thecontainers.

  “But we’re still going down!” cried Bob, who was looking at theheight-indicator. “And going down fast, too! We’re only five hundredfeet up now!”

  “I know it, Chunky,” said Jerry, still quietly. “We are doing allwe can. Even if we do hit the water you know we still have thehydroplanes.”

  “Oh, it isn’t a question of actually sinking,” called Ned, as he openedthe gas valve to the limit. “We’d probably float safely enough, butwe’re going down so fast that if we hit at this speed, we’ll be sure torip the planes off, and do no end of other damage to our boat!”

  “That’s the point,” agreed Jerry. “It’s only the speed at which we arefalling that I’m afraid of. Ordinarily we could volplane down and takethe water easily enough, but the jamming of that deflecting rudder cameso suddenly that we couldn’t get in position to make a good descent.”

  “We’re on a more even keel now,” observed Ned, as he looked at theindicating pendulum.

  “Yes,” agreed Bob, “and we’re going slower, too. We’ve got threehundred feet more, Jerry.”

  “Then we can do it, fellows! I guess we’re all right now. Is all thegas out, Ned?”

  “About all, yes.”

  “And just in time,” murmured the stout lad, his eyes again seeking theheight indicator. “Two hundred feet is a pretty close call, as fast aswe were falling. We’ve almost stopped now, Jerry.”

  “That’s good. We won’t lose any time putting on a new kind of rudder,either. I’ve had it in mind a good while to change ours. I wish Ihadn’t delayed so long.”

  A moment later the motorship ceased her descent, and was floating on aneven keel, a short distance above the rolling
waves, blown gently alongby the wind, for her propellers were not revolving.

  “Well, we may as well start again, and make for shore as a dirigibleballoon,” said Jerry, after a little pause, in which they all breathedmore freely. It had been an exciting time for them, but they had metthe emergency bravely, and with the grit and spunk of true Americanyouths.

  “I wonder what has become of the cause of all our trouble?” venturedNed. “I haven’t thought to look for that whale. Let’s take a peep,fellows.”

  Before starting the propellers the boys went out on the partiallyenclosed deck and looked about them. At first they did not see thestrange object that had attracted their attention. Then, as he gazed tothe North, Bob cried:

  “There she is--and, fellows, as I’m alive it isn’t a whale at all!Look! It’s a submarine! See the men on her decks! They’re looking atus!”

  With gasps of astonishment, Ned and Jerry turned toward where Bobpointed.

  There, lazily rolling with the action of the waves, was indeed a largesubmarine boat, of the latest type, as the boys could see, for theywere well up on naval matters. The half-rounded deck, the sides andblunt stern and bow of the strange craft glistened from the water thathad splashed over her, or perhaps it was wet from just having dived,and come to the surface again.

  And, as Bob had said, there were several men on the low deck, that wasalmost awash. They looked curiously at our heroes. The men appeared tobe mechanics, for their clothes were rough and grease-covered. Butthen, in a submarine, even the officers get that way, for the quartersare very cramped.

  “That’s a foreign submarine!” exclaimed Ned, suddenly.

  “How do you know?” asked Jerry.

  “Because I can tell by her build, and by the look of the men. That’s aforeign submarine, and I shouldn’t be surprised if she was the one----”

  Ned stopped suddenly.

  “What is it? Why don’t you go on?” asked Jerry, turning to his chum.

  “Because I think they can hear us. Sound carries very clearly overwater, you know. I’ll tell you later, and----”

  “There comes another man on deck!” interrupted Bob. The men on topof the submarine turned their gaze away from the airship as someone,evidently their superior officer, appeared among them, coming up by thedeck hatch. They saluted him, and pointed toward the _Comet_.

  Instantly the newcomer turned. The boys could see that he was a largeman, with a stern and forbidding face, and his hair and beard weresnow-white.

  He started as he beheld the craft of our heroes, and evidently gavea command, for the others at once left the deck of the submarine.Then, with a last look at the _Comet_, the aged commander hurrieddown through the deck hatch. There was a rattle of metal as the coverwas clapped into place, and a second later the submarine disappearedbeneath the waters of the bay.