CHAPTER XIX
A MARVELOUS BOAT
So many new and strange sensations had crowded on the motor boys in the last few days that it hardly needed the additional one of traveling in a submarine to thrill them. Nevertheless the three lads did feel strange as they stood there in the half-darkened cabin, and looked at the greenish water slipping past the thick plate-glass side windows—windows illuminated in such a way that the very life of the sea was visible.
“Look—look!” exclaimed Bob, in a low voice. “See that shark!”
And indeed, at that moment, a great sand shark that was keeping pace with the marvelous boat looked in through the glass window, as if to ask what manner of sea companion he had fallen in with.
“Oh—oh!” cried Grace, as she clutched her father’s arm. “Suppose that window should break!”
“I don’t want to suppose anything like that,” spoke Jerry solemnly. “It’s too—too unpleasant. Oh, but this is wonderful—wonderful!”
“It’s the greatest thing ever!” declared Ned with conviction. “I never dreamed we should ever see anything like this. Oh, there’s another shark—a hammer-head,” and the hideous creature, with its bulging eyes on projections that give it the name, resembling a double-ended hammer, swam up, also to peer in at the windows.
“Wonderful—wonderful,” murmured Professor Snodgrass. “This will just suit my purpose. I must have a talk with Dr. Klauss, and arrange to have him take us on a long trip. I will not only be able to get my hermit crabs, but I can make many other valuable discoveries. Science will be greatly the gainer by our accidental finding of this submarine. Yes, I hope this trip will be a long one.”
“You are not likely to be disappointed in that, sir,” observed Mr. Sheldon, and there was in his tone such a peculiar meaning that Bob asked:
“Why do you say that, Uncle Nelson?”
“Because it’s true. This man—hush, here he comes now. I can’t tell you any more at present. We must have a talk together, presently.”
The sound of someone coming along a steel-floored passage warned them to talk in low tones.
“But what does it all mean?” asked Jerry, in bewilderment.
“Oh, we don’t know—we can hardly guess,” spoke Grace in his ear. “Papa will tell you. I can only say that this Dr. Klauss, in spite of his seeming politeness, is a terrible man. I’m so glad you boys are with us. Perhaps now we can escape!”
“Escape!” gasped Jerry. “Why—why——”
“Hush! Here he is!” warned Grace.
It was not Dr. Klauss, however, but one of his men with a supply of dry clothing for the boys and the professor.
“I will take you to the cabins you are to occupy,” said this man, who spoke without any German accent. Jerry was glad to note this. It meant, in case of trouble, that perhaps they could count on this American to aid them. Jerry was sorely puzzled.
“You are to come with me,” the man went on, respectfully. “After you are dressed I will take your clothing to the engine room to dry. Then you will be served with a meal, Dr. Klauss says. Come.”
“Supper, eh?” cried Bob. “That sounds good, anyhow.”
“I see you haven’t gotten over your old habit,” laughed Mr. Sheldon. “Well, come back when you can, boys. We are certainly glad to see you.”
“Yes, indeed,” echoed Grace, and she looked at Jerry particularly. He understood what she meant.
“And to think that we are actually traveling under water!” marveled Ned. “About how deep are we?” he asked of the man who had brought the clothing.
“Oh, about three hundred feet, I should judge. I didn’t notice the gage as I came through the engine room. But Dr. Klauss will probably let you see for yourselves soon.”
“Are we still going down?” asked Jerry.
“A little, yes. About five hundred feet is as deep as we can go, for, even in this wonderful boat, which is the best submarine I ever saw or heard of, the weight of water much below five hundred feet would crush us like an egg shell. In fact there are very few boats of this class that go more than two hundred feet down, and really that depth isn’t necessary even in war time. But we members of the crew are not supposed to give out information. Dr. Klauss would not like it. So you’ll have to excuse me.”
“That’s all right,” said Jerry. The man seemed a pleasant chap, and spoke like a person of intelligence. Jerry was glad he was aboard, for somehow, the tall lad felt an indefinable sense of danger.
The boys were taken to small adjoining staterooms, where they were told to change, and put their wet garments outside. The clothing that had been supplied to them was all sorts of odds and ends, evidently collected from different members of the crew. But it was dry and warm, and a welcome relief from their drenched garments, the wearing of which much longer would have given them all colds.
“This is some change from out in that storm, on the back of this submarine, knocking to be let in; isn’t it, fellows?” called Jerry from his stateroom.
“I should say yes,” agreed Ned. “Poor old Comet! What do you suppose happened to her?”
“I’m afraid she’s broken up,” answered Jerry, mournfully. “Once the pontoons give way, the weight of the engines will sink her. Well, we can build another.”
“Or a submarine,” added Ned.
“First we’ve got to see if we can get off of this one,” said Jerry in a low voice.
“What do you mean?” asked Ned, who had dressed quickly, and now stood at the door of his chum’s stateroom.
“You’ll see soon enough,” was the answer. “There’s something strange going on here, boys. Grace and Mr. Sheldon could only give a hint of it. We’ll have to be on the watch. This man Klauss——”
“Cheese it!” interrupted Ned, effectively if not elegantly. “He’s coming!”
Jerry halted his remarks just in time, for the inventor of the submarine came along a second later.
“Well, boys,” he asked, in a tone he tried to make cordial, “how are you making out? Will those clothes answer until your own are dry?”
“Very well indeed, yes; thank you,” replied Jerry. “We are sorry to have to put you to so much trouble——”
“It could not be helped,” was the response of the German. “I could not leave you there to drown. Now if you will come with me I will tell you something about my ship—it is my one hobby!”
“And you will not forget about giving me a chance to get to the bottom of the sea, and capture some crabs; will you?” asked Professor Snodgrass.
“I will do what I can for you—as a fellow scientist,” said Dr. Klauss.
The boys found Grace and her father eagerly awaiting them, and a hasty midnight meal was served in the main cabin. Dr. Klauss left the little party to themselves, saying that he had to go to see about some of the mechanism.
“Say, I don’t see what we’ve got to complain of,” remarked Bob, with his mouth half full. “Here we are, warm and dry, even if we are under water, and we’ve got plenty to eat——”
“Which, I suppose, excuses many evils in your eyes, Bob, my boy,” interrupted his uncle. “Oh, Dr. Klauss will not starve us—of that Grace and I have had excellent proof.”
“Well, then we’ll be all right,” spoke Chunky, with a contented sigh, as he helped himself to some more cake, for the menu included even that. “They have a good cook here,” went on the stout lad.
“We must find time and the chance for a consultation,” remarked Mr. Sheldon, speaking rapidly, and in a low voice. “I want to explain certain things, and plan what to do.”
“Is there any danger?” asked Jerry.
“Yes—I think so—of a certain kind—though I do not mean that our lives are actually at stake. But our liberty certainly is.”
“You mean——” began Ned.
“I mean that this fanatic refuses to set Grace and me ashore, or to let us go aboard some other vessel. I want you boys to make that same request, when the time comes, and see what he says. Then we will have something to go on. But be very careful. Oh, it is good to be with friends again!” and Mr. Sheldon looked affectionately at the lads.
Dr. Klauss came in before the meal was finished. All this time the Sonderbaar was plowing along beneath the surface, but at what depth, or in what direction the boys could only guess. There were no indicators in this main cabin.
“Would you lads like to see something of my submarine?” asked the German.
“Indeed we would!” exclaimed Jerry with an enthusiasm that was echoed by his chums.
“Then come with me,” invited their strange host, and he led the way toward the engine room, as could be told by the hum and throb that came from it. “Will you accompany us, Mr. Sheldon?”
“Thank you, no. I will stay with my daughter. It is late, and she ought to retire.”
Indeed it was long past midnight, but in that depth of water time did not seem to count for much. There was perpetual darkness at all hours.
But the boys and Professor Snodgrass, though tired after what they had passed through, were not too weary to view the interior of this marvelous boat.
I do not wish to tire my readers with a technical description of the Sonderbaar, so I will merely say that she was, like most submarines, of elliptical shape, tapering to blunt points on either end, though the stern, where the two propellers were, was wider than the bow.
The boat was about two hundred feet long and about forty feet in diameter, her dimensions being greatly in excess of most submarines. It was this that enabled her to be made strong enough to stand the pressure of five hundred feet of water, which pressure is enormous on every square inch of surface.
This large size also gave more room inside for engines, and quarters for captain and crew. Thus there was much more comfort than in the usual submarine.
There were no periscopes, or tubes, elevated above the deck on the Sonderbaar. Observation, when running awash, was by means of a lens flush in the deck, a peculiar arrangement of mirrors and prisms giving the effect of periscopes without their disadvantages.
There was also an automatic arrangement of diaphragms, similar to those in telephone receivers, so that when the craft was running under water, and approached some obstacle, its presence would be made manifest in time to avoid it. Nor was this all. Dr. Klauss had perfected a powerful lamp which was located in the bow of his craft, projecting its beams through the water. This would also disclose any object that might endanger a collision. But the diaphragms acted over a wider area than the lamp, the beams of which were necessarily dimmed by the density of the water.
As in all submarines, it was necessary to let water into ballast tanks in order to make her sink, and to rise it was only necessary to pump out this same water, by means of compressed air. But Dr. Klauss had made many improvements even in this simple and fundamental principle.
The propulsion of the Sonderbaar was by means of twin screws at the stern, and each screw had its own engine—a gasoline one when running on the surface, and an electrical motor, run by a new type of storage battery, when submerged. The propeller shafts passed through the armatures of the motors, which were mounted directly on the shafts, revolving with them, and acting as flywheels when the gasoline engines were being used. At such times the circuits of the field windings were open, and no current was generated.
There were also dynamos for the making of electric illumination and charging the storage battery, and small motors to work pumps and other devices. In fact the craft was complete, mechanically.
She was steered by two rudders, one to guide her to port or starboard—or left and right, as the new navy regulations specify—and another rudder to send her to the surface or toward the bottom of the sea.
All this Dr. Klauss showed the boys, explaining many things, for he saw they were greatly interested; but, of course, there were some secrets he did not reveal. And one of these was the method of firing the deadly torpedoes.
The ship could be controlled from the engine room, or from the pilot house, in the bow, and here there was a perfect maze of levers, wheels, switches and other devices. Gages told of the boat’s speed, of her depth, and gave all the information it was necessary for the pilot to know.
“And now I think you need rest,” said the inventor, when the tour of the boat was completed. “I shall see you in the morning.”
“You have a marvelous boat, Dr. Klauss,” said Jerry, sincerely. “I congratulate you.”
“Thank you, my lad. I am sorry we had to leave your own air craft at the mercy of the sea, for, from what Mr. Sheldon told me of her, in our conversations after I rescued him, I understand it was a wonder of its own kind. But I had my own reasons for not lingering longer there.”
“Oh, well, it couldn’t be helped,” said Jerry, but he could not refrain from sighing.
“Say, I don’t see what’s the matter with Dr. Klauss. He seems very decent,” remarked Bob, when the boys had reached their staterooms.
“Better wait,” remarked Jerry, significantly. “Mr. Sheldon didn’t make his remark for nothing.”