CHAPTER VIII.
THE MAN-OF-WAR.
With an armor of steel between him and the arrows, Matt could laugh atthe puny efforts of the Fuegans to do any harm. With his eyes at thelunettes, he guided the _Grampus_ toward the outlet of the bay.
The savage ardor of the Fuegans increased as they saw the monsterapparently running away. Closer and closer they drew their circle ofboats, two in each small craft using the paddles and the other twocontinuing to discharge their arrows. The canoes on the side towardwhich the submarine was making did not give way an inch, but continuedto come boldly on. Two warriors in each leaped to their feet and hurledtaunts at the frightened leviathan, letting their arrows fly directlyagainst the bow. In a few moments the _Grampus_ was upon one of thesecanoes, staving it in and tossing its splintered pieces to right andleft.
Four Fuegans were in the water. They were canoe Indians, however, andas much at home in the water as on dry land. Swimming away, they werepicked up by some of their comrades in the other canoes.
Meanwhile, three canoes had managed to come alongside. Some of theiroccupants clambered to the deck of the _Grampus_ and began stabbing atthe plates with the points of their arrows. Fearing they might come tothe tower and damage the lunettes, Matt ordered a ten-foot submergence.
As the submarine began to sink, the Fuegans flung themselves from thedeck--and that was the last Matt saw of them.
"Take the wheel below, Glennie," called the young motorist. "We'lltravel a short distance submerged and see if we can't leave thosetroublesome little fellows behind."
Glennie went to his work and Matt descended. Ten minutes later the_Grampus_ again sought the surface, and a look from the conning towershowed that the savages had been left out of sight around a point ofland.
"Here is our course, Glennie," said Matt, laying a chart on theperiscope table, and running his finger along the route they were totake; "through the first and second narrows, and so on to Cape Negro.I've got to leave you to do the steering for a time while I open thedoor and release Clackett and Speake. One of those two Chilians gotaway with the key, and, for all the good it can do us, it might as wellbe in the bottom of the ocean."
"I can take care of the _Grampus_, all right," answered Glennie.
"How's your head?"
"It feels as big as a barrel, but otherwise it's comfortable."
Matt went below. Dick was at the motor and Carl was in the tank roomwith Gaines. The latter had been released and was keeping a watchfuleye on the two Chilian prisoners.
"What's been going on overhead, matey?" called Dick.
"The other two Chilians got away," replied Matt, "and we were attackedby a lot of Fuegans in canoes. But their attack didn't amount to much."
"Dose fellers," and Carl nodded to the prisoners, "vas in der vay. Vynod take dem oop to dot shdeel shamper, Matt?"
"That will be all right, Carl, just as soon as I can get the steelchamber opened. Just now it's locked, and the key is somewhere in thepocket of one of the escaped Chilians. I've got to break the lock inorder to let Speake and Clackett out."
Matt went on to the torpedo room, opened a tool box and possessedhimself of a hammer and cold chisel. With these he was not long insmashing the lock on the door of the steel room. Speake and Clackettrushed out.
"Jumpin' jerushy!" exclaimed Clackett disgustedly. "We didn't cut muchof a figure in the recapture of the boat, Matt."
"We didn't need you," answered Matt. "Carl turned the trick. Once therest of us got started there was no stopping us. Two of the rascals werescued got away, but the other two are nicely tied down in the tankroom. You fellows had better go down and relieve Dick and Carl, sothey can bring up the prisoners. Or, better still, Speake, you mightlet Gaines take the motor, Clackett the tanks, and you get somethingfor us to eat. We don't want to neglect our appetites during all thisexcitement."
"I'm hungry myself," replied Speake, following Clackett out of theroom, "and I'll not be long getting our whack ready."
"Get every ounce of power out of the motor down there," called Matt."We've already lost a couple of hours--and we didn't have any time towaste."
Matt took a look at the periscope. They were gliding past the low,sandy shores of Patagonia, on one hand, and the rugged mountains ofTerra del Fuego on the other, headed for the Narrows.
"We ought to be at Punta Arenas late this afternoon," said Glennie,"providing we keep up this rate of speed. Shall we put in there?"
"We might as well pass the night there, Glennie," answered Matt."There's danger in it, but we've got to land these prisoners."
"Where's the danger?" asked Glennie. "Our worst enemies are sailingaround the Horn; we're well to the north of them and are due in thePacific before they are."
"You forget one important point: The Japs have a wireless outfitaboard, and there is another station at Punta Arenas. Suppose the newsis flashed out that the submarine _Grampus_ is in the harbor? What's toprevent the Japs from picking it up?"
"That's so," muttered Glennie. "I hadn't thought of that, but it isn'tmuch that gets away from you, Matt."
"I've got a big responsibility on my shoulders and can't afford to letanything get away from me. Even if the news did reach the Japs thatwe're in the harbor at Sandy Point, headed west, we'd still be ahead ofthem and their steamer. But they're so full of wily tricks they mighthatch up something to make us trouble."
"I'm mighty glad they're going around the Horn, and not us," saidGlennie. "You were wise when you made that change in the programme,Matt."
At that moment, Dick and Carl came dragging the leader of the escapedconvicts into the periscope room. The fellow began to talk as soon ashe saw Glennie.
"Pay attention to him, Glennie," said Matt, taking the wheel out of theensign's hand, "and let us know what he's saying."
Glennie stepped over to the prisoner and listened to his talk.
"He's making threats," observed Glennie, "and his talk's not worthlistening to."
"What does he say?"
"Why, he says that if we turn him over to the authorities at SandyPoint he'll make us more trouble than we can take care of."
"The duffin' old jailbird!" exclaimed Dick angrily. "Tell him that ifhe talks too much like that we'll toss him overboard, tied as he is."
"He's talking for effect," said Matt. "Take him into the steel room."
"I vish, py shinks," cried Carl, "dot I could dalk Spinnish so I couldtell dis feller vat I t'ink oof him!"
When both men had been brought up from below and put into the steelroom, Speake had breakfast ready. It was ten o'clock, and rather a latehour for breakfast aboard the _Grampus_.
Some attempt was made, while the boys were eating, to get someinformation from the wounded Chilian, but he would not say a word. Heate with his usual heartiness, however, and when the meal was finished,Dick went into the prison chamber and supplied the other Chilians.
No boats were passed, and hour after hour drifted by with the motorsinging its song of speed, and the _Grampus_ just "humping herself"through the strait.
Matt kept to the steering himself. He had made a long study of thechart and felt that he was more competent than any of the others tokeep the submarine out of danger.
At Cape Negro the scenery began to change, and for the better. The lowbrushwood became good-sized trees, and there was some character to theshores the submarine was passing.
"It was just our luck to fall in with a bunch of convicts--that isthe way our luck has been running ever since we left Port of Spain,"grumbled Speake.
"Avast dere a leedle, Shpeake!" warned Carl. "Don'd go finding somefault mit our luck. Ditn't ve got der poat pack from dem confictfellers? Dot vasn't a pad luck, you bed you!"
"Yes, but look at the time we've lost."
"We're making it up, Speake," said Matt. "By the way, Carl," and heturned his eyes on his Dutch pard, "how did you get those ropes offyour hands down there in the torpedo room?"
"I vas some foxy fellers, you bed my life," chuckled
Carl. "Ven youshkipped oudt, I t'inks, py shiminy, dot I vill make some surbrises.Der dool shest hat its gorner in der shmall oof my pack, und I ruppedder ropes oop und down der gorner ondil I rupped dem in doo. Den I vasretty, und you saw vat I dit. Some shtar blays, eh?"
"One of the finest things you ever did, matey," averred Dick, "andyou've done a lot of things that stand pretty high on the record."
"T'anks," said Carl. "I ain'd von oof der pragging kindt, aber you bedsomet'ing for nodding I'm a hot von ven I durn meinseluf loose. Now----"
"Ship ahoy!" exclaimed Matt suddenly, his eyes fixed on the periscope.
Every one in the periscope room leaped up excitedly.
"What is she?" came from all of them in chorus.
"A Chilian war ship," said Matt.
"Not the--the Jap boat?" gasped Glennie.
"Hardly. The Jap boat wasn't a war ship. This isn't the same steamer,but an armor-clad. Run up the hatchway, Dick, and hail her. We can turnour prisoners over to the captain and won't have to go ashore at PuntaArenas."
"A capital piece of work!" applauded Glennie.
But it was not to turn out such a capital piece of work as they allthought.
Motor Matt's Defiance; or, Around the Horn Page 8
