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Tom Swift And His Submarine Boat

V >> Victor Appleton >> Tom Swift And His Submarine Boat




He made a dash for the ladder, and a glance showed him
that the small boat was in the water at the foot of it. The
craft had not been hoisted on the davits.

"Luck's with us at last!" cried Tom, Seeing it also.
"Shall I help you, dad?"

"No; I think I'm all right. Go ahead."

There came such a gust of wind that the San Paulo was
heeled over, and the wreck of the mast, rolling about,
crashed into the side of a deck house, splintering it. A
crowd of sailors, led by Admiral Fanchetti, who were again
rushing on the escaping prisoners, had to leap back out of
the way of the rolling mast.

"Catch them! Don't let them get away!" begged the
commander, but the sailors evidently had no desire to close
in with the Americans.

Through the rush of wind and rain Tom and his friends
staggered down the ladder. It was hard work to maintain
one's footing, but they managed it. On account of the high
side of the ship the water was comparatively calm under her
lee, and, though the small boat was bobbing about, they got
aboard. The oars were in place, and in another moment they
had shoved off from the landing stage which formed the foot
of the accommodation ladder.

"Now for the Advance!" murmured Captain Weston.

"Come back! Come back, dogs of Americans!" cried a voice
at the rail over their heads, and looking up, Tom saw
Lieutenant Drascalo. He had snatched a carbine from a
marine, and was pointing it at the recent prisoners. He
fired, the flash of the gun and a dazzling chain of
lightning coming together. The thunder swallowed up the
report of the carbine, but the bullet whistled uncomfortable
close to Tom's head. The blackness that followed the
lightning shut out the view of everything for a few seconds,
and when the next flash came the adventurers saw that they
were close to their submarine.

A fusillade of shots sounded from the deck of the warship,
but as the marines were poor marksmen at best, and as the
swaying of the ship disconcerted them, our friends were in
little danger.

There was quite a sea once they were beyond the protection
of the side of the warship, but Captain Weston, who was
rowing, knew how to manage a boat skillfully, and he soon had
the craft alongside the bobbing submarine.

"Get aboard, now, quick!" he cried.

They leaped to the small deck, casting the rowboat adrift.
It was the work of but a moment to open the conning tower.
As they started to descend they were met by several
Brazilians coming up.

"Overboard with 'em!" yelled the captain. "Let them swim
ashore or to their ship!"

With almost superhuman strength he tossed one big sailor
from the small deck. Another showed fight, but he went to
join his companion in the swirling water. A man rushed at
Tom, seeking the while to draw his sword, but the young
inventor, with a neat left-hander, sent him to join the
other two, and the remainder did not wait to try
conclusions. They leaped for their lives, and soon all could
be seen, in the frequent lightning flashes, swimming toward
the warship which was now closer than ever to the submarine.

"Get inside and we'll sink below the surface!" called Tom.
"Then we don't care what happens."

They closed the steel door of the conning tower. As they
did so they heard the patter of bullets from carbines fired
from the San Paulo. Then came a violent tossing of the
Advance; the waves were becoming higher as they caught the
full force of the hurricane. It took but an instant to
sever, from within, the cable attached to the anchor, which
was one belonging to the warship. The Advance began
drifting.

"Open the tanks, Mr. Sharp!" cried Tom. "Captain Weston
and I will steer. Once below we'll start the engines."

Amid a crash of thunder and dazzling flashes of lightning,
the submarine began to sink. Tom, in the conning tower had a
sight of the San Paulo as it drifted nearer and nearer under
the influence of the mighty wind. As one bright flash came
he saw Admiral Fanchetti and Lieutenant Drascalo leaning
over the rail and gazing at the Advance.

A moment later the view faded from sight as the submarine
sank below the surface of the troubled sea. She was tossed
about for some time until deep enough to escape the surface
motion. Waiting until she was far enough down so that her
lights would not offer a mark for the guns of the warship,
the electrics were switched on.

"We're safe now!" cried Tom, helping his father to his
cabin. "They've got too much to attend to themselves to
follow us now, even if they could. Shall we go ahead,
Captain Weston?"

"I think so, yes, if I may be allowed to express my
opinion," was the mild reply, in strange contrast to the
strenuous work in which the captain had just been engaged.

Tom signaled to Mr. Sharp in the engine-room, and in a few
seconds the Advance was speeding away from the island and
the hostile vessel. Nor, deep as she was now, was there any
sign of the hurricane. In the peaceful depths she was once
more speeding toward the sunken treasure.




Chapter Twenty-Two

At the Wreck


"Well," remarked Mr. Damon, as the submarine hurled
herself forward through the ocean, "I guess that firing
party will have something else to do to-morrow morning
besides aiming those rifles at us."

"Yes, indeed," agreed Tom. "They'll be lucky if they save
their ship. My, how that wind did blow!"

"You're right," put in Captain Weston. "When they get a
hurricane down in this region it's no cat's paw. But they
were a mighty careless lot of sailors. The idea of leaving
the ladder over the side, and the boat in the water."

"It was a good thing for us, though," was Tom's opinion.

"Indeed it was," came from the captain. "But as long as we
are safe now I think we'd better take a look about the craft
to see if those chaps did any damage. They can't have done
much, though, or she wouldn't be running so smoothly.
Suppose you go take a look, Tom, and ask your father and Mr.
Sharp what they think. I'll steer for a while, until we get
well away from the island."

The young inventor found his father and the balloonist
busy in the engine-room. Mr. Swift had already begun an
inspection of the machinery, and so far found that it had
not been injured. A further inspection showed that no damage
had been done by the foreign guard that had been in
temporary possession of the Advance, though the sailors had
made free in the cabins, and had broken into the food
lockers, helping themselves plentifully. But there was still
enough for the gold-seekers.

"You'd never know there was a storm raging up above,"
observed Tom as he rejoined Captain Weston in the lower
pilot house, where he was managing the craft. "It's as
still and peaceful here as one could wish."

"Yes, the extreme depths are seldom disturbed by a surface
storm. But we are over a mile deep now. I sent her down a
little while you were gone, as I think she rides a little
more steadily."

All that night they speeded forward, and the next day,
rising to the surface to take an observation, they found no
traces of the storm, which had blown itself out. They were
several hundred miles away from the hostile warship, and
there was not a vessel in sight on the broad expanse of blue
ocean.

The air tanks were refilled, and after sailing along on
the surface for an hour or two, the submarine was again sent
below, as Captain Weston sighted through his telescope the
smoke of a distant steamer.

"As long as it isn't the Wonder, we're all right," said
Tom. "Still, we don't want to answer a lot of questions
about ourselves and our object."

"No. I fancy the Wonder will give up the search," remarked
the captain, as the Advance was sinking to the depths.

"We must be getting pretty near to the end of our search
ourselves," ventured the young inventor.

"We are within five hundred miles of the intersection of
the forty-fifth parallel and the twenty-seventh meridian,
east from Washington," said the captain. "That's as near as
I could locate the wreck. Once we reach that point we will
have to search about under water, for I don't fancy the
other divers left any buoys to mark the spot."

It was two days later, after uneventful sailing, partly on
the surface, and partly submerged, that Captain Weston,
taking a noon observation, announced:

"Well, we're here!"

"Do you mean at the wreck?" asked Mr. Swift eagerly.

"We're at the place where she is supposed to lie, in about
two miles of water," replied the captain. "We are quite a
distance off the coast of Uruguay, about opposite the harbor
of Rio de La Plata. From now on we shall have to nose about
under water, and trust to luck."

With her air tanks filled to their capacity, and Tom
having seen that the oxygen machine and other apparatus was
in perfect working order, the submarine was sent below on
her search. Though they were in the neighborhood of the
wreck, the adventurers might still have to do considerable
searching before locating it. Lower and lower they sank into
the depths of the sea, down and down, until they were deeper
than they had ever gone before. The pressure was tremendous,
but the steel sides of the Advance withstood it.

Then began a search that lasted nearly a week. Back and
forth they cruised, around in great circles, with the
powerful searchlight focused to disclose the sunken treasure
ship. Once Tom, who was observing the path of light in the
depths from the conning tower, thought he had seen the
remains of the Boldero, for a misty shape loomed up in front
of the submarine, and he signaled for a quick stop. It was a
wreck, but it had been on the ocean bed for a score of
years, and only a few timbers remained of what had been a
great ship. Much disappointed, Tom rang for full speed ahead
again, and the current was sent into the great electric
plates that pulled and pushed the submarine forward.

For two days more nothing happened. They searched around
under the green waters, on the alert for the first sign, but
they saw nothing. Great fish swam about them, sometimes
racing with the Advance. The adventurers beheld great ocean
caverns, and skirted immense rocks, where dwelt monsters of
the deep. Once a great octopus tried to do battle with the
submarine and crush it in its snaky arms, but Tom saw the
great white body, with saucer-shaped eyes, in the path of
light and rammed him with the steel point. The creature died
after a struggle.

They were beginning to despair when a full week had passed
and they were seemingly as far from the wreck as ever. They
went to the surface to enable Captain Weston to take another
observation. It only confirmed the other, and showed that
they were in the right vicinity. But it was like looking for
a needle in a haystack, almost, to and the sunken ship in
that depth of water.

"Well, we'll try again," said Mr. Swift, as they sank once
more beneath the surface.

It was toward evening, on the second day after this, that
Tom, who was on duty in the conning tower, saw a black shape
looming up in front of the submarine, the searchlight
revealing it to him far enough away so that he could steer
to avoid it. He thought at first that it was a great rock,
for they were moving along near the bottom, but the peculiar
shape of it soon convinced him that this could not be. It
came more plainly into view as the submarine approached it
more slowly, then suddenly, out of the depths in the
illumination from the searchlight, the young inventor saw
the steel sides of a steamer. His heart gave a great thump,
but he would not call out yet, fearing that it might be some
other vessel than the one containing the treasure.

He steered the Advance so as to circle it. As he swept
past the bows he saw in big letters near the sharp prow the
word, Boldero.

"The wreck! The wreck!" he cried, his voice ringing
through the craft from end to end. "We've found the wreck at
last!"

"Are you sure?" cried his father, hurrying to his son,
Captain Weston following.

"Positive," answered the lad. The submarine was slowing up
now, and Tom sent her around on the other side. They had a
good view of the sunken ship. It seemed to be intact, no
gaping holes in her sides, for only her plates had started,
allowing her to sink gradually.

"At last," murmured Mr. Swift. "Can it be possible we are
about to get the treasure?"

"That's the Boldero, all right," affirmed Captain Weston.
"I recognize her, even if the name wasn't on her bow. Go
right down on the bottom, Tom, and we'll get out the diving
suits and make an examination."

The submarine settled to the ocean bed. Tom glanced at the
depth gage. It showed over two miles and a half. Would they
be able to venture out into water of such enormous pressure
in the comparatively frail diving suits, and wrest the gold
from the wreck? It was a serious question.

The Advance came to a stop. In front of her loomed the
great bulk of the Boldero, vague and shadowy in the
flickering gleam of the searchlight As the gold-seekers
looked at her through the bull's-eyes of the conning tower,
several great forms emerged from beneath the wreck's bows.

"Deep-water sharks!" exclaimed Captain Weston, "and
monsters, too. But they can't bother us. Now to get out the
gold!"




Chapter Twenty-Three

Attacked by Sharks


For a few minutes after reaching the wreck, which had so
occupied their thoughts for the past weeks, the adventurers
did nothing but gaze at it from the ports of the submarine.
The appearance of the deep-water sharks gave them no
concern, for they did not imagine the ugly creatures would
attack them. The treasure-seekers were more engrossed with
the problem of getting out the gold.

"How are we going to get at it?" asked Tom, as he looked
at the high sides of the sunken ship, which towered well
above the comparatively small Advance.

"Why, just go in and get it," suggested Mr. Damon. "Where
is gold in a cargo usually kept, Captain Weston? You ought
to know, I should think. Bless my pocketbook!"

"Well, I should say that in this case the bullion would be
kept in a safe in the captain's cabin," replied the sailor.
"Or, if not there, in some after part of the vessel, away
from where the crew is quartered. But it is going to be
quite a problem to get at it. We can't climb the sides of
the wreck, and it will be impossible to lower her ladder
over the side. However, I think we had better get into the
diving suits and take a closer look. We can walk around
her."

"That's my idea," put in Mr. Sharp. "But who will go, and
who will stay with the ship?"

"I think Tom and Captain Weston had better go," suggested
Mr. Swift. "Then, in case anything happens, Mr. Sharp, you
and I will be on board to manage matters."

"You don't think anything will happen, do you, dad?" asked
his son with a laugh, but it was not an easy one, for the
lad was thinking of the shadowy forms of the ugly sharks.

"Oh, no, but it's best to be prepared," answered his
father.

The captain and the young inventor lost no time in donning
the diving suits. They each took a heavy metal bar, pointed
at one end, to use in assisting them to walk on the bed of
the ocean, and as a protection in case the sharks might
attack them. Entering the diving chamber, they were shut in,
and then water was admitted until the pressure was seen, by
gauges, to be the same as that outside the submarine. Then
the sliding steel door was opened. At first Tom and the
captain could barely move, so great was the pressure of
water on their bodies. They would have been crushed but for
the protection afforded by the strong diving suits.

In a few minutes they became used to it, and stepped out
on the floor of the ocean. They could not, of course, speak
to each other, but Tom looked through the glass eyes of his
helmet at the captain, and the latter motioned for the lad
to follow. The two divers could breathe perfectly, and by
means of small, but powerful lights on the helmets, the way
was lighted for them as they advanced.

Slowly they approached the wreck, and began a circuit of
her. They could see several places where the pressure of the
water, and the strain of the storm in which she had
foundered, had 'opened the plates of the ship, but in no
case were the openings large enough to admit a person.
Captain Weston put his steel bar in one crack, and tried to
pry it farther open, but his strength was not equal to the
task. He made some peculiar motions, but Tom could not
understand them.

They looked for some means by which they could mount to
the decks of the Boldero, but none was visible. It was like
trying to scale a fifty-foot smooth steel wall. There was no
place for a foothold. Again the sailor made some peculiar
motions, and the lad puzzled over them. They had gone nearly
around the wreck now, and as yet had seen no way in which to
get at the gold. As they passed around the bow, which was in
a deep shadow from a great rock, they caught sight of the
submarine lying a short distance away. Light streamed from
many hull's-eyes, and Tom felt a sense of security as he
looked at her, for it was lonesome enough in that great
depth of water, unable to speak to his companion, who was a
few feet in advance.

Suddenly there was a swirling of the water, and Tom was
nearly thrown off his feet by the rush of some great body. A
long, black shadow passed over his head, and an instant
later he saw the form of a great shark launched at Captain
Weston. The lad involuntarily cried in alarm, but the result
was surprising. He was nearly deafened by his own voice,
confined as the sound was in the helmet he wore. But the
sailor, too, had felt the movement of the water, and turned
just in time. He thrust upward with his pointed bar. But he
missed the stroke, and Tom, a moment later, saw the great
fish turn over so that its mouth, which is far underneath
its snout, could take in the queer shape which the shark
evidently thought was a choice morsel. The big fish did
actually get the helmet of Captain Weston inside its jaws,
but probably it would have found it impossible to crush the
strong steel. Still it might have sprung the joints, and
water would have entered, which would have been as fatal as
though the sailor had been swallowed by the shark. Tom
realized this and, moving as fast as he could through the
water, he came up behind the monster and drove his steel bar
deep into it.

The sea was crimsoned with blood, and the savage creature,
opening its mouth, let go of the captain. It turned on Tom,
who again harpooned it. Then the fish darted off and began a
wild flurry, for it was dying. The rush of water nearly
threw Tom off his feet, but he managed to make his way over
to his friend, and assist him to rise. A confident look from
the sailor showed the lad that Captain Weston was uninjured,
though he must have been frightened. As the two turned to
make their way back to the submarine, the waters about them
seemed alive with the horrible monsters.

It needed but a glance to show what they were, Sharks!
Scores of them, long, black ones, with their ugly, undershot
mouths. They had been attracted by the blood of the one Tom
had killed, but there was not a meal for all of them off the
dying creature, and the great fish might turn on the young
inventor and his companion.

The two shrank closer toward the wreck. They might get
under the prow of that and be safe. But even as they started
to move, several of the sea wolves darted quickly at them.
Tom glanced at the captain. What could they do? Strong as
were the diving suits, a combined attack by the sharks, with
their powerful jaws, would do untold damage.

At that moment there seemed some movement on board the
submarine. Tom could see his father looking from the conning
tower, and the aged inventor seemed to be making some
motions. Then Tom understood. Mr. Swift was directing his
son and Captain Weston to crouch down. The lad did so,
pulling the sailor after him. Then Tom saw the bow electric
gun run out, and aimed at the mass of sharks, most of whom
were congregated about the dead one. Into the midst of the
monsters was fired a number of small projectiles, which
could be used in the electric cannon in place of the solid
shot. Once more the waters were red with blood, and those
sharks which were not killed swirled off. Tom and Captain
Weston were saved. They were soon inside the submarine
again, telling their thrilling story.

"It's lucky you saw us, dad," remarked the lad, blushing
at the praise Mr. Damon bestowed on him for killing the
monster which had attacked the captain.

"Oh, I was on the lookout," said the inventor. "But what
about getting into the wreck?"

"I think the only way we can do it will be to ram a hole
in her side," said Captain Weston. "That was what I tried to
tell Tom by motions, but he didn't seem to understand me."

"No," replied the lad, who was still a little nervous from
his recent experience. "I thought you meant for us to turn
it over, bottom side up," and he laughed.

"Bless my gizzard! Just like a shark," commented Mr.
Damon.

"Please don't mention them," begged Tom. "I hope we don't
see any more of them."

"Oh, I fancy they have been driven far enough away from
this neighborhood now," commented the captain. "But now
about the wreck. We may be able to approach it from above.
Suppose we try to lower the submarine on it? That will save
ripping it open."

This was tried a little later, but would not work. There
were strong currents sweeping over the top of the Boldero,
caused by a submerged reef near which she had settled. It
was a delicate task to sink the submarine on her decks, and
with the deep waters swirling about was found to be
impossible, even with the use of the electric plates and the
auxiliary screws. Once more the Advance settled to the ocean
bed, near the wreck.

"Well, what's to be done?" asked Tom, as he looked at the
high steel sides.

"Ram her, tear a hole, and then use dynamite," decided
Captain Weston promptly. "You have some explosive, haven't
you, Mr. Swift?"

"Oh, yes. I came prepared for emergencies."

"Then we'll blow up the wreck and get at the gold."




Chapter Twenty-Four

Ramming the Wreck


Fitted with a long, sharp steel ram in front, the Advance
was peculiarly adapted for this sort of work. In designing
the ship this ram was calculated to be used against hostile
vessels in war time, for the submarine was at first, as we
know, destined for a Government boat. Now the ram was to
serve a good turn.

To make sure that the attempt would be a success, the
machinery of the craft was carefully gone over. It was found
to be in perfect order, save for a few adjustments which
were needed. Then, as it was night, though there was no
difference in the appearance of things below the surface, it
was decided to turn in, and begin work in the morning. Nor
did the gold-seekers go to the surface, for they feared they
might encounter a storm.

"We had trouble enough locating the wreck," said Captain
Weston, "and if we go up we may be blown off our course. We
have air enough to stay below, haven't we, Tom?"

"Plenty," answered the lad, looking at the gages.

After a hearty breakfast the next morning, the submarine
crew got ready for their hard task. The craft was backed
away as far as was practical, and then, running at full
speed, she rammed the wreck. The shock was terrific, and at
first it was feared some damage had been done to the
Advance, but she stood the strain.

"Did we open up much of a hole?" anxiously asked Mr.
Swift.

"Pretty good," replied Tom, observing it through the
conning tower bull's-eyes, when the submarine had backed off
again. "Let's give her another."

Once more the great steel ram hit into the side of the
Boldero, and again the submarine shivered from the shock.
But there was a bigger hole in the wreck now, and after
Captain Weston had viewed it he decided it was large enough
to allow a person to enter and place a charge of dynamite so
that the treasure ship would be broken up.

Tom and the captain placed the explosive. Then the Advance
was withdrawn to a safe distance. There was a dull rumble, a
great swirling of the water, which was made murky; but when
it cleared, and the submarine went back, it was seen that
the wreck was effectively broken up. It was in two parts,
each one easy of access.

"That's the stuff!" cried Tom. "Now to get at the gold!"

"Yes, get out the diving suits," added Mr. Damon. "Bless
my watch-charm, I think I'll chance it in one myself! Do you
think the sharks are all gone, Captain Weston?"

"I think so."

In a short time Tom, the captain, Mr. Sharp and Mr. Damon
were attired in the diving suits, Mr. Swift not caring to
venture into such a great depth of water. Besides, it was
necessary for at least one person to remain in the submarine
to operate the diving chamber.

Walking slowly along the bottom of the sea the four gold-
seekers approached the wreck. They looked on all sides for a
sight of the sharks, but the monster fish seemed to have
deserted that part of the ocean. Tom was the first to reach
the now disrupted steamer. He found he could easily climb
up, for boxes and barrels from the cargo holds were
scattered all about by the explosion. Captain Weston soon
joined the lad. The sailor motioned Tom to follow him, and
being more familiar with ocean craft the captain was
permitted to take the lead. He headed aft, seeking to locate
the captain's cabin. Nor was he long in finding it. He
motioned for the others to enter, that the combined
illumination of the lamps in their helmets would make the
place bright enough so a search could be made for the gold.
Tom suddenly seized the arm of the captain, and pointed to
one corner of the cabin. There stood a small safe, and at
the sight of it Captain Weston moved toward it. The door was
not locked, probably having been left open when the ship was
deserted. Swinging it back the interior was revealed.

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