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

by Clarence Young

  CHAPTER XXII

  IN DIVING DRESS

  The presence of the whale, which was almost half the size of the_Sonderbaar_, so close to the submarine, and the menacing attitude ofthe great mammal, which easily kept pace with the under-water ship,were enough to alarm our friends, and cause them to fear for the safetyof the boat.

  “Jove! He is a big one!” gasped Jerry.

  “And he looks wicked, too,” added Ned.

  “Shall I call Dr. Klauss?” inquired Bob, glancing at Mr. Sheldon, towhom Grace was clinging in fright.

  “I think you had better,” was the reply. “There may be no danger, butit is best to be on the safe side. Dr. Klauss may be insane on onesubject, but he probably will know what to do to get rid of this whale.”

  The German commander had not been in the main cabin for some time, norhad any of the crew been seen. As for the doctor’s two countrymen ityet remained for our friends to have a glimpse of them.

  “I’ll get him!” cried Bob, hastening toward the pilot house, alonga well-lighted passage way. The whole interior of the submarine wasilluminated by incandescents, which were always kept aglow. Naturallythis was necessary for, speeding along under water as she had been eversince Jerry and his chums came aboard, the craft was in utter darkness.

  As he sped to summon the commander Bob saw the whale draw off a littleto one side, though still keeping pace with the submarine.

  “He’s getting ready to charge!” cried Jerry.

  Bob lost no time. He found Dr. Klauss in the pilot house, peering aheadinto the dimly lighted path of radiance along which his craft wasspeeding. The commander had before him a bewildering array of controls,while near his ears were the diaphragms that, by their buzzing sound,would give telephonic warning of any obstruction.

  “Dr. Klauss! Dr. Klauss!” gasped Bob. “There’s a big whale alongsidethe main cabin! He acts as though he was going to ram us. Can he do anydamage? Hadn’t you better do something?”

  “Ach! So!” exclaimed the German in his deep, guttural voice. He glancedat Bob with rather a friendly look. In fact Dr. Klauss seemed to haveforgotten his recent insane outburst.

  “A whale; eh? Well, it is not the first time I have been rammed byone, but it is not pleasant, and deranges the machinery. I think wemust stop this one.”

  Setting the automatic steering gear, which, in a way, was like the onethat had been on the _Comet_, Dr. Klauss hastened after Bob.

  “If the whale is still there,” said the German as they went along thepassage, “you shall see a curious sight. I have no desire to takeanimal life except in the interest of science, but I cannot have mycraft damaged.”

  “How can you kill him? By ramming--going at him full speed?” asked Bob.

  “No, I shall use the electric gun that I have rigged up for this verypurpose. Watch and you shall see.”

  They entered the cabin, outside the window of which the whale stillheld his place, swimming along with the submarine. Once again, as theywatched, they saw the great animal draw back as though to come fulltilt, head on against the side of the vessel.

  “And if he hits that glass it will be all up with us!” exclaimed Ned.

  “Oh, the glass is strong, but still I do not wish to have him hit it,”remarked Dr. Klauss. “Now, if you will watch you will see something.”

  He went to a small cabinet set in the wall of the cabin, and when itwas opened there was disclosed a dial, not unlike that of a clock,with a movable pointer in the centre. Around the edge of the dial wereletters and figures.

  “This is my under-water electric gun,” said Dr. Klauss. “By movingthis pointer about the dial I can point the muzzle of the gun in anydirection. There are three guns, one on either side, and one in thebow. I will use the one on the side nearest the whale. You cannot seethe gun, but you will see what it does.”

  The boys, Professor Snodgrass, who had come into the main cabin, andGrace and her father looked on with interested and anxious eyes. Thesubmarine was still shooting along under water, and the whale waskeeping pace, every now and then drawing back as if for an attack.

  “Watch!” suddenly cried Dr. Klauss. He quickly glanced out at thewhale, as if to judge of his aim, and then swung the pointer of thedial about. There was a slight click, and the whale seemed to disappearin a smother of red foam. The submarine rushed on, but the great animalwas nowhere to be seen.

  “Why--why!” gasped Bob. “It--it’s gone!”

  “I thought it would,” remarked the doctor, calmly. “I fired an electricbomb into the whale, and it exploded inside, killing the bruteinstantly. What you saw was really a slight lightning stroke hittingthe creature.”

  “Jove!” murmured Jerry. “That’s some gun, all right!”

  “I am glad you like it,” said Dr. Klauss, and his tone was so differentfrom that he had used before that a gleam of hope came to Mr. Sheldonand the others. Possibly the commander would let his prisoners gowithout the necessity of taking extreme measures.

  “And that is the end of the whale,” remarked Ned.

  “Yes, and I am glad you called me,” said Dr. Klauss. “He might havedamaged us.”

  Mr. Sheldon resolved to pursue the seeming advantage, and asked:

  “How much longer is this voyage going to last, Dr. Klauss?”

  “That I cannot say,” was the somewhat stiff answer. “I am not in aposition to decide yet. But I will say one thing, that, if you like,you will witness some interesting events. I am soon going to the bottomof the sea, and as I wish to make some close observations I am goingout of the boat in a diving suit. You may come with me, if you like,”he said to Professor Snodgrass.

  “May I?” cried the little scientist eagerly. “Then I certainly shall. Imust get those specimens of hermit crabs. Oh! what an opportunity hascome to me. I would not have missed it for a fortune!”

  The three chums looked at one another and at Mr. Sheldon. The samethought was in the minds of all. If the German left the ship might theynot easily gain control of her? Then their problem would be solved. Butif Professor Snodgrass went out also that would make it more difficult.

  Mr. Sheldon made a sign to Jerry that he would speak to ProfessorSnodgrass, and Jerry nodded comprehendingly.

  Dr. Klauss did not seem to have seen this byplay. He closed the littlecabinet containing the gun pointer, and remarked:

  “If you will come with me now, I will show you how we leave the shipand walk on the bottom of the sea. We are about at the place.”

  They went with him to the engine room, where the three Americans werebusy over the machinery. On the way the party, including Grace, whokept close to her father, passed a small room in which could be seentwo elderly Germans, busy over books and papers. Dr. Klauss saidsomething to them in a foreign tongue--not German, as the boys couldtell, for they had studied that language at school.

  The two men, who seemed like learned professors, got up and followedthe party to the engine room.

  “I always have them near at hand when I leave the ship to go out in mydiving dress,” explained the commander. “There might be an--accident,you know,” and Jerry thought the fanatic regarded his guests in apeculiar manner.

  Mr. Sheldon found a chance to hurriedly whisper to Professor Snodgrassthat it might not be wise for him to go out on the bottom of the sea,and the scientist, who quickly grasped the reason, agreed not to takeadvantage of the offer of Dr. Klauss at this time.

  “As you may have realized,” said the inventor to his guests, “a verystrong diving dress is needed in working at great depths, in order tosustain the enormous pressure of water. The greatest depth to which anordinary diver can descend is two hundred feet--seldom this. But I amgoing to reach the bottom of the sea at a point where it is about sixhundred feet deep, and so the pressure will increase in proportion. Itwill be perfectly safe in my diving suit, though, and if any of youwould like to try it----”

  He paused suggestively.

  “I think we will wait,” said Mr. Sheldon.

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bsp; “Yes, and I have also changed my mind,” added Professor Snodgrass.“There are no hermit crabs in these waters, anyhow.”

  “No,” assented Dr. Klauss, with a smile. “Well, some other time I hopeto have the pleasure of taking you to the bottom of the sea with me.”

  The commander seemed so pleasant and affable that it was hard torealize his mood of a short time before.

  “We could have a dandy time here, if he was only all right,” thoughtJerry. “If we could go when we pleased, and could send word to ourfolks, I’d like a submarine voyage.”

  But, under the circumstances, the very lives of Jerry and his chumsmight be in danger.

  “Get ready!” called the inventor to his three engineers. “Sink theboat!”

  There was a hissing as more water was pumped into the ballast tanks,and the forward motion of the craft ceased, to give place to a downwardone. For a moment the visitors felt a queer sensation as when anelevator drops suddenly, but they soon grew used to this. In a fewminutes the boat came to a rest with a slight shock.

  “We are now on the bottom of the sea,” explained Dr. Klauss. “I shallnow don my diving suit, and go out of the boat. Probably you haveanticipated how this is done.

  “I enter a small opening in the side of my ship--a sort of niche thatopens inside. The inner door is then hermetically sealed. I am in asort of closet. By means of valves, water is then admitted until itequals the pressure outside. The outer door is then opened, and I canstep upon the bottom of the sea. I carry about with me, on my back, atank of compressed air, so I have no need of the air hose ordinarilyused by divers.”

  “Say! That’s great!” cried Jerry, almost wishing he could try on one ofthe suits.

  “All ready now!” called the doctor, and one of the machinists begantaking out a diving dress from a compartment. It was a heavy affair,with lead-soled shoes, and it took two men to help the doctor into it.In appearance it was not unlike the usual diving dress, save that thehelmet was more complicated, as it had to be because of its detachmentfrom the usual air hose.

  The doctor was soon encased in his modern suit of water-armor, and withthe screwing shut of his helmet he could no longer communicate with hismen except by signs. But they understood him.

  The boys were fascinated by the strangeness of the proceeding, andhardly stopped to consider their position. Nor did they realize thatthey were resting upon the bottom of the sea.

  Dr. Klauss moved slowly toward a steel-studded door in the side of theengine room. It opened, disclosing a closet-like compartment. Beyondthe outer door of this was the sea, pressing with enormous force.

  Dr. Klauss made a sign--he seemed to be bidding farewell to those inthe submarine. Then he stepped into the compartment, the door wasshut and sealed. Jerry and his chums drew long breaths. They had notrealized the nervous strain they were under.

  An instant later there was a hissing sound, as the water rushed inthrough the valves. It lasted only a short time. Then came a slightclick.

  “He is out!” exclaimed Ted Rowland.

  Dr. Klauss was walking around on the bottom of the ocean!