“I thought so,” was the reply, “from the noise he made.”
“Did he go back to the deck?”
“I didn’t wait to listen.”
“If we could git that gang separated,” said Speake, “we could lay ’em out one at a time—an’ I guess the revolvers wouldn’t cut much figure.”
“That would be fine, Speake,” returned Dick, “but Fingal and his gang are not doing the things we want ’em to.”
“If we’re to accomplish anything toward recapturing the submarine,” chimed in Bob, “we’ll have to do it before Don Carlos gets back. He may bring a gang of soldiers with him. Besides, don’t forget what’s to happen to us at nightfall in case we don’t agree to join the revolutionists.”
“I’m not pinin’ to have my name wiped off the articles,” said Speake, with a wry2 grimace3. “For one, I’d rather take long chances tryin’ to run the rebels off the boat. It’s a heap more comfortin’ to get done up that way than by lettin’ Fingal an’ Pitou an’ this Don Carlos do what they please without never liftin’ a hand to help ourselves.”
“I can’t see anything comforting in that proposition, either way,” observed Dick. “All I hope is, just166 now, that Ysabel will be careful, and that Pedro will look after her. Everything depends on her.”
“She’s a brick!” murmured Bob admiringly.
“And she’s doing all this for you, Bob, you know!”
“It’s for all of us!” declared Bob.
“Don’t you never think it,” said Speake. “She’s runnin’ a lot o’ risks, an’ I wouldn’t never have thought a girl could have the grit4. But Bob Steele was in danger! That was enough for her to know.”
“I wonder how Carl came out with his serenade?” remarked Dick. “Ysabel wasn’t at the house, and it’s a fair guess that Carl got into trouble.”
Carl certainly had tumbled into difficulties—but it was not because he had not found any one at home.
“What do you suppose Carl is thinkin’ about us?” said Speake.
“Our disappearance5 will bother a good many people,” answered Bob.
Speake’s conscience troubled him.
“I feel like an ornery cur,” said he, “over the way Gaines an’ Clackett an’ me acted! Ye remember how mad us three was at Cassidy when he got in such a takin’ because Bob was put in charge o’ the Grampus? Well, to my notion, we ain’t acted any better than Cassidy did.”
“You ought to feel cut up,” reproved Dick. “The only way you can square yourself, Speake, is by doing a lot to help recapture the ship.”
“Jest give me the chance,” answered Speake, his eyes flashing, “an’ I’ll show you what I can do.”
The boys finished the food, took a drink all around from the bottle of cold coffee that Ysabel had put in the basket, and then continued their wait for something to happen. They felt better physically6, even if they were not more hopeful.
Dick lay back on one of the cots and went to sleep;167 Speake pulled his hat down over his eyes and leaned against the forward bulkhead; Bob, flat on his back on the other cot, stared upward at the rounded deck, wishing that he could poke7 a hole through the steel plates and so gain freedom for himself and his friends.
Speake dozed8 a little. Something white, poked9 through one of the ventilator holes above his head, floated downward and landed on his knee. He stared at it drowsily10, then brushed at it mechanically with one hand. Suddenly he realized that the falling of a scrap11 of white paper was rather a peculiar12 circumstance, and snatched it off the floor.
“Bob!” he called.
“What is it?” returned Bob, rising on his elbow and directing his gaze at Speake.
“This dropped down on me!” Speake held up the paper.
“Just now.”
“It was pushed through one of the ventilator openings. It’s a note—from Ysabel.”
He passed to Dick’s side and shook him into wakefulness.
“What’s the row?” inquired Dick.
“A note from Ysabel, pushed in to us through one of the holes in the forward bulkhead.”
“From her?” muttered Dick, smothering14 his excitement. “Read it! Perhaps she’s captured the revolvers.”
The note was written in pencil on a ragged15 scrap of paper. Bob, in a guarded voice, read it aloud:
“‘Pedro is asleep at the door. Fingal has gone off on the river bank. The two others are playing cards on the deck. I have Pedro’s revolver and have unlocked168 the door. Now is the time! Capture Pedro and tie him—but don’t hurt him. Be quiet—if he makes an outcry all is lost. Hurry!’”
Speake pulled off his coat.
“It’s an opportunity I wasn’t expecting,” said Bob, pulling off his shoes carefully. “In our stocking feet, fellows! We must not make any noise. While Speake and I are binding17 Pedro, Dick, you go down and let Gaines and Clackett out of the torpedo18 room. If we work this right we may be able to get away from here and down the river.”
All three of the prisoners were excited, as well they might be. An opportunity offered to save themselves and the boat—success or failure hanging on their quickness and silence.
Advancing to the door, Bob laid his hand on the knob. Slowly he twisted the catch out of its socket19, and then inch by inch forced the door open.
Yet, slight though the noise was that accompanied the click of the catch, Pedro heard it. With a startled exclamation20 he leaped to his feet.
Bob and Speake sprang at him, Bob catching21 his wrists and Speake throwing an arm about his throat and clapping a hand over his lips.
The odds22 were against Pedro, and he was helpless; yet, for all that, he managed to squirm about and make considerable noise.
There was a drone of voices overhead, coming down the open hatch. The voices suddenly ceased, and some one was heard floundering over the deck to the top of the tower.
The electric light was not burning in the periscope23 room, and the only light that entered the chamber169 came from the hatch. Any one looking downward would not have been able to see anything distinctly except in the immediate24 vicinity of the bottom of the ladder. Bob, Speake, and Pedro, as it chanced, were close to the locker25.
“Anythin’ wrong down there, greaser!” called a husky voice.
“No, se?or,” answered Bob, trying to imitate the rough voice of the Mexican.
“Thought I heard you movin’ around,” said the man above, turning away from the top of the tower.
Pedro was forced down on the locker, and Ysabel glided26 forward with a piece of rope for bonds and a piece of cloth for a gag. Pedro turned his wild eyes on the girl with startled inquiry27 and suspicion.
“You will not be hurt, Pedro!” whispered the girl; “don’t make a noise—please.”
She followed this with some soft words in Spanish. But Pedro, loyal though he undoubtedly28 was to the girl, continued to struggle. Bob and Speake, however, managed to get him bound and gagged.
“This is only the beginning, Bob Steele,” breathed Ysabel, her cheeks flushed with excitement and her eyes bright as stars. “Here is Pedro’s revolver—take it.”
Bob took the weapon and thrust it in his pocket.
“We can’t use firearms,” he whispered, “for they make too much noise. Our hope lies in capturing our enemies one at a time, then cutting the cables and dropping down the river. If possible, we must do this before Fingal gets back.”
“Where did Dick go?” asked the girl.
“To release Gaines and Clackett. The torpedo-room door is fastened by a bolt on the outside, so he’ll have no trouble in getting them out. We’ll wait till they come before making our next move.”
170
Bob had hardly finished speaking before Dick came in through the forward door of the room. Clackett followed him—but Gaines was not along.
Bob lifted a warning finger as Dick was about to speak, pointed29 upward toward the deck and then motioned for Dick and Clackett to come closer.
“Where is Gaines?” he whispered.
“He got out through the torpedo tube, half an hour ago,” said Dick.
Bob, as will be remembered, had already thought of this maneuver30. But it was unfortunate that Gaines had put it into effect, in view of what was transpiring31.
“What was Gaines going to do?” asked Bob of Clackett.
“He reckoned he’d go up the river an’ try an’ find General Mendez,” replied Clackett. “We sort o’ figgered it out between us that some of the soldiers under Mendez could come here and capture the boat and release the rest of us.”
Here was an awkward situation, and Bob wrinkled his brows over it.
They could not leave without Gaines. He was taking chances and doing his best to be of service to his comrades, and dropping down the river without him was not to be thought of.
“What shall we do now?” asked Dick.
“Keep on with our plan,” answered Bob. “There are two of the scoundrels playing cards on deck. We must get them as safely as we have got Pedro.”
“Shall we make a racket and bring them down?”
“They’ll both come, if we do that. We can capture them with less noise if they come one at a time.”
Ysabel started forward.
“I’ll go up the ladder,” said she, “and say that Pedro wants one of them. After you capture him, I’ll go up after the other.”
171
“Good!” exclaimed Bob. “Get ropes, boys,” he added to the others, “and stand ready for some swift and noiseless work.”
Ysabel glided to the ladder. Before she could mount, however, some one was heard climbing over the top of the conning tower. As those below looked upward, a pair of booted feet swung down.
Bob motioned her out of the room. “Stand ready for him,” he whispered, “as he reaches the bottom of the ladder. The smallest mistake now means failure. Ready!!”
Scarcely breathing, Bob, Dick, Speake, and Clackett stood waiting for the burly ruffian who, jointly33 with Don Carlos, was responsible for all their troubles.
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收听单词发音
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1
conning
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| v.诈骗，哄骗( con的现在分词 )；指挥操舵( conn的现在分词 ) | |
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wry
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| adj.讽刺的；扭曲的 | |
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grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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5
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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6
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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7
poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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10
drowsily
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| adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地 | |
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11
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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13
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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14
smothering
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的现在分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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15
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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16
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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17
binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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18
torpedo
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| n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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19
socket
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| n.窝，穴，孔，插座，插口 | |
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20
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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21
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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22
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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23
periscope
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| n. 潜望镜 | |
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24
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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locker
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| n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人 | |
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26
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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27
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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28
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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30
maneuver
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| n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略 | |
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31
transpiring
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的现在分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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32
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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33
jointly
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| ad.联合地，共同地 | |
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