The presence of the whale, which was almost half the size of the Sonderbaar, so close to the submarine, and the menacing attitude of the great mammal, which easily kept pace with the under-water ship, were enough to alarm our friends, and cause them to fear for the safety of 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, to whom Grace was clinging in fright.
“I think you had better,” was the reply. “There may be no danger, but it is best to be on the safe side. Dr. Klauss may be insane on one subject, 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, nor had any of the crew been seen. As for the doctor’s two countrymen it yet remained for our friends to have a glimpse of them.
“I’ll get him!” cried Bob, hastening toward the pilot house, along a well-lighted passage way. The whole interior of the submarine was illuminated by incandescents, which were always kept aglow. Naturally this was necessary for, speeding along under water as she had been ever since 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 little to 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 ahead into the dimly lighted path of radiance along which his craft was speeding. 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 alongside the main cabin! He acts as though he was going to ram us. Can he do any damage? Hadn’t you better do something?”
“Ach! So!” exclaimed the German in his deep, guttural voice. He glanced at Bob with rather a friendly look. In fact Dr. Klauss seemed to have forgotten his recent insane outburst.
“A whale; eh? Well, it is not the first time I have been rammed by one, but it is not pleasant, and deranges the machinery. I think we must stop this one.”
Setting the automatic steering gear, which, in a way, was like the one that had been on the Comet, Dr. Klauss hastened after Bob.
“If the whale is still there,” said the German as they went along the passage, “you shall see a curious sight. I have no desire to take animal life except in the interest of science, but I cannot have my craft 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 very purpose. Watch and you shall see.”
They entered the cabin, outside the window of which the whale still held his place, swimming along with the submarine. Once again, as they watched, they saw the great animal draw back as though to come full tilt, 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 it was 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 were letters and figures.
“This is my under-water electric gun,” said Dr. Klauss. “By moving this pointer about the dial I can point the muzzle of the gun in any direction. There are three guns, one on either side, and one in the bow. I will use the one on the side nearest the whale. You cannot see the gun, but you will see what it does.”
The boys, Professor Snodgrass, who had come into the main cabin, and Grace and her father looked on with interested and anxious eyes. The submarine was still shooting along under water, and the whale was keeping pace, every now and then drawing back as if for an attack.
“Watch!” suddenly cried Dr. Klauss. He quickly glanced out at the whale, as if to judge of his aim, and then swung the pointer of the dial about. There was a slight click, and the whale seemed to disappear in a smother of red foam. The submarine rushed on, but the great animal was nowhere to be seen.
“Why—why!” gasped Bob. “It—it’s gone!”
“I thought it would,” remarked the doctor, calmly. “I fired an electric bomb into the whale, and it exploded inside, killing the brute instantly. What you saw was really a slight lightning stroke hitting the creature.”
“Jove!” murmured Jerry. “That’s some gun, all right!”
“I am glad you like it,” said Dr. Klauss, and his tone was so different from that he had used before that a gleam of hope came to Mr. Sheldon and the others. Possibly the commander would let his prisoners go without 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 have damaged 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 a position 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 bottom of the sea, and as I wish to make some close observations I am going out 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. I must get those specimens of hermit crabs. Oh! what an opportunity has come to me. I would not have missed it for a fortune!”
The three chums looked at one another and at Mr. Sheldon. The same thought was in the minds of all. If the German left the ship might they not easily gain control of her? Then their problem would be solved. But if Professor Snodgrass went out also that would make it more difficult.
Mr. Sheldon made a sign to Jerry that he would speak to Professor Snodgrass, and Jerry nodded comprehendingly.
Dr. Klauss did not seem to have seen this byplay. He closed the little cabinet containing the gun pointer, and remarked:
“If you will come with me now, I will show you how we leave the ship and 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 were busy over the machinery. On the way the party, including Grace, who kept close to her father, passed a small room in which could be seen two elderly Germans, busy over books and papers. Dr. Klauss said something to them in a foreign tongue—not German, as the boys could tell, for they had studied that language at school.
The two men, who seemed like learned professors, got up and followed the party to the engine room.
“I always have them near at hand when I leave the ship to go out in my diving dress,” explained the commander. “There might be an—accident, you know,” and Jerry thought the fanatic regarded his guests in a peculiar manner.
Mr. Sheldon found a chance to hurriedly whisper to Professor Snodgrass that 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 take advantage of the offer of Dr. Klauss at this time.
“As you may have realized,” said the inventor to his guests, “a very strong diving dress is needed in working at great depths, in order to sustain the enormous pressure of water. The greatest depth to which an ordinary diver can descend is two hundred feet—seldom this. But I am going to reach the bottom of the sea at a point where it is about six hundred feet deep, and so the pressure will increase in proportion. It will be perfectly safe in my diving suit, though, and if any of you would like to try it——”
He paused suggestively.
“I think we will wait,” said Mr. Sheldon.
“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 hope to 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 to realize his mood of a short time before.
“We could have a dandy time here, if he was only all right,” thought Jerry. “If we could go when we pleased, and could send word to our folks, I’d like a submarine voyage.”
But, under the circumstances, the very lives of Jerry and his chums might be in danger.
“Get ready!” called the inventor to his three engineers. “Sink the boat!”
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 downward one. For a moment the visitors felt a queer sensation as when an elevator drops suddenly, but they soon grew used to this. In a few minutes the boat came to a rest with a slight shock.
“We are now on the bottom of the sea,” explained Dr. Klauss. “I shall now don my diving suit, and go out of the boat. Probably you have anticipated how this is done.
“I enter a small opening in the side of my ship—a sort of niche that opens inside. The inner door is then hermetically sealed. I am in a sort of closet. By means of valves, water is then admitted until it equals the pressure outside. The outer door is then opened, and I can step upon the bottom of the sea. I carry about with me, on my back, a tank of compressed air, so I have no need of the air hose ordinarily used by divers.”
“Say! That’s great!” cried Jerry, almost wishing he could try on one of the suits.
“All ready now!” called the doctor, and one of the machinists began taking 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 the helmet was more complicated, as it had to be because of its detachment from the usual air hose.
The doctor was soon encased in his modern suit of water-armor, and with the screwing shut of his helmet he could no longer communicate with his men except by signs. But they understood him.
The boys were fascinated by the strangeness of the proceeding, and hardly stopped to consider their position. Nor did they realize that they were resting upon the bottom of the sea.
Dr. Klauss moved slowly toward a steel-studded door in the side of the engine room. It opened, disclosing a closet-like compartment. Beyond the outer door of this was the sea, pressing with enormous force.
Dr. Klauss made a sign—he seemed to be bidding farewell to those in the submarine. Then he stepped into the compartment, the door was shut and sealed. Jerry and his chums drew long breaths. They had not realized the nervous strain they were under.
An instant later there was a hissing sound, as the water rushed in through the valves. It lasted only a short time. Then came a slight click.
“He is out!” exclaimed Ted Rowland.
Dr. Klauss was walking around on the bottom of the ocean!