Jerry, whom the shock of the lightning bolt had knocked to one side, jumped for the lever of the elevating rudder, hoping, if nothing else could be done, to cause the Comet to volplane more easily to the surface of the sea. At the same time he called out:
“The hydroplanes, Ned! Set them quick! Bob, see if the gas generator is working! There’s something wrong!”
“It’s cracked!” shouted Professor Snodgrass, getting up from where he had been thrown against a locker. “The generator is cracked right across, Jerry!”
“Then we can’t depend on that!”
There was a look almost of despair in Jerry’s eyes, but he was not going to give up yet. In a flash he threw over the switch that connected the storage battery with the propeller motor.
But there was not even a spark to show that the electric current was available.
“Not an ampere!” groaned Jerry. “Everything is dead!”
The entire electrical equipment of the Comet had been disabled by the bolt from the sky. She was as helpless as a collapsed balloon. No gas could be generated to fill the lifting-bags, and the small supply that was already in them had leaked out through rents caused by the lightning. It was the worst accident that had ever befallen the boys, and they had been in dire straits often enough.
Down the motorship was plunging toward the sea that seemed eagerly awaiting her.
“It’s all up with us, I guess!” shouted Ned. “Can you do anything, Jerry?”
“Volplane down—that’s about all. But something seems to be wrong. I’m afraid some of our side planes are split. We are falling so fast that it shows they’re not helping to keep us up.”
A glance at the barograph height gage on the wall of the pilot house showed the hand to be moving swiftly around, indicating how fast the Comet was falling.
“The hydroplanes will keep us afloat a little while,” said Jerry in a tense voice, as he looked about as if for some other means of averting the disaster that was about to overtake them. “But I’m afraid it’s so rough down there we won’t float long. The pontoons will be wrenched off by the waves.”
“Then we’d better get on our bathing suits!” put in Bob, with grim humor.
“You mean life preservers, Chunky!” cried Ned. “And that’s a good stunt, too. I’ll get them out.”
Ever since the motor boys had arranged their craft to navigate over water they had carried life preservers aboard, and it was the work of only a few seconds for Ned to get them out.
“Here, Professor!” he called to the scientist, who was nervously packing up his collection of specimens, as though he could take them with him; “here, put on one of these. We may have to swim for it!”
“We’ll be lucky if we can swim,” muttered Jerry.
Fortunately, when the Comet was struck by the bolt of lightning she had been well up in the air, and now, as she began to fall, there was a considerable distance for her to go. This gave the boys and Professor Snodgrass a little time to prepare for whatever fate had in store for them.
There were looks of despair on all their faces, for not only did they fear for their lives, but it was heart-breaking to know that their fine craft had to meet such an end. And there seemed no way of saving her.
Plunging down toward the ocean as she was, about to be engulfed far from the shore, there appeared to be no hope for her. In the semi-darkness of the cabin the motor boys looked at one another. All the electric lights had been put out by the shock, and only one emergency oil lamp, always kept going in anticipation of some accident, gave illumination.
Once more Jerry tried to start the propellers, so that he might guide the craft upward, but there was no power. He had hoped that perhaps the storage battery might have been only temporarily polarized, but this was not the case. It was “dead.”
“I guess we’re in for it,” murmured the tall lad. “Better get outside, boys,” he went on. “She may go all to pieces when we strike, and we don’t want to get tangled up in the wreckage. Get out on the main deck, and stand ready to jump clear. We can float for some time in the life preservers, and in the morning a steamship may pick us up. It’s our only chance.”
It was still raining hard, but the storm did not seem to be quite as severe as at first. There were many flashes of lightning, and the thunder still rolled and crashed about, but after that one terrific stroke the elements seemed to be satisfied with the damage they had wrought, and were now subsiding.
When a particularly bright and far-illuminating flash came Jerry looked down through the glass cabin floor.
“Only a few seconds left!” he cried, as he saw the waves of the ocean close to them. “Come on out, boys. Professor, I’m afraid you’ll have to leave your specimens.”
“Never!” cried the brave little scientist. “I’ll take them with me, or——”
It was no time for ceremony. Jerry took hold of his scientific friend, who had consented to don a life preserver, and fairly carried him out on the deck. Fortunately the Comet had assumed an even keel after her first sickening plunge, so the boys could move about unhampered.
They all reached the deck in safety, and not a moment too soon. A second later and with a splash that sent a shower of spray high into the air, the Comet landed on the surface of the sea.
There was a crash—a sound of splitting and rending wood—then a silence.
“We struck something!” cried Ned. “We sure hit something as we came down, Jerry! What was it?”
No one could tell, for the lone lamp in the cabin had fallen and gone out. But when the next lightning flash came the boys, who were standing near the rail, ready to jump, saw some dark object, setting low in the water. One of their hydroplanes had hit it, and had broken off.
“It’s a raft!” cried Bob. “Fellows, we’ve landed on a raft! Of all the luck!”
“Quick then!” shouted Ned. “Get aboard it. The Comet is sinking!”
Indeed it did seem so. The gallant craft of the air, caught crippled as she was in the grip of the sea, was fast settling in the water.
“I guess we’d better take to the raft,” said Jerry, mournfully. “Oh! if we only had a good light, and could see what we are doing we might save her yet! The sea isn’t as rough as I thought!”
As if in answer to his plea there seemed to come from the centre of that dark mass they had struck—a raft, as Bob thought—a soft glow of radiance, that seemed to spread all about them.
“Look!” cried Ned. “That’s no raft! See the riveted plates. Boys, it’s the submarine again! Three times and out. We’ve landed on the deck of that mysterious submarine!”
“By Jove you’re right!” yelled Jerry. “Fellows, it’s our only chance. Jump over there, and pound for all you’re worth. They’ve got to take us in before they sink, or we’ll go down in the suction. Jump and pound! It’s our last chance. The Comet is going down!”
Ned and Bob lost no time in obeying. Part of the wrecked motorship rested on the deck of the submarine. So it was easy for the boys and the professor to make the change.
And it was from this deck that the strange radiance came—a glow, as the boys could see, from beneath some thick glass bullseye.
Quickly the four sprang to the deck of the submarine. As they did so the Comet, relieved of their weight, rose slightly but almost immediately sank lower in the water.
“Pound—make a racket!” cried Jerry. “Make them hear us and take us in. It’s our only chance!”
Ned and Bob kicked with their heels on the steel plates that formed the deck. Jerry made his way to the glass which covered the light, and rapped on that with his knife. At the same time he looked around for the hatchway by which admittance could be gained to the interior of the mysterious vessel.
Even while he was looking for it—and not seeing it—there was a noise almost at his feet. It was the sound of steel moving on steel, and an opening appeared, flush with the deck. It was a round opening, large enough to admit a man, and framed in it was the face of the same white-bearded and snowy-haired commander they had seen on the submarine when the boys had had their first view of her.
“Well, what is it? Why have you dared to board my vessel without being invited?” growled, rather than asked the man, speaking with a strong German accent. “What do you want?”
“To save our lives!” exclaimed Jerry, talking rapidly. “Our airship was struck by lightning, and disabled. We fell into the ocean, fortunately for us, landing partly on your submarine.”
“Ach! So!” exclaimed the German, in surprise.
“And you can’t refuse to take us in,” went on Jerry. “We will pay you for your time and trouble—if you wish. We appeal to you for help. Surely you’ll take us in.”
The commander seemed to hesitate.
“As one scientist to another I appeal to you!” broke in Professor Snodgrass. “I am connected with several museums, and I am a member of several societies to which you, no doubt, belong. You may have heard of me,” and he mentioned his name.
“Ach! So!” exclaimed the German again.
“The Comet is sinking!” cried Ned, who was watching their beloved airship.
“The Comet! Are you from the Comet?” asked the commander of the submarine quickly.
“We are,” answered Jerry, wondering what that had to do with it.
“Then I invite you aboard my vessel. Welcome to the Sonderbaar!” came the quick answer. “I heard something strike my deck, and came up to see what it was. Will you not come below?” and he stepped down out of the way, affording a passage to Jerry and his friends.