小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 英文短篇小说 » Bob Steele In Strange Waters or, Aboard a Strange Craft » CHAPTER XXIX. OFF FOR THE GULF.
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER XXIX. OFF FOR THE GULF.
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
 It was easily seen that Gaines was nearly spent. His breath tore through his lips in gasps1, and when he reached the edge of the wharf2, he fell there, unable to roll over the edge and drop down on the deck of the Grampus.
 
Out of the bushes at the top of the bank came the foremost of the pursuing soldiers. Fortunately for Bob and Gaines, they were armed with muzzle-loaders, and were frantically3 getting another charge into the barrels.
 
Dropping the hatchet4, Bob leaped to the wharf, caught Gaines, and pulled him down on the deck; then, springing back, he picked up the hatchet and severed5 the cable with a blow.
 
The bow of the submarine caught the current, swung farther out into the stream, then whirled around and started away. This placed the conning6 tower between the soldiers and Bob and Gaines, and several bullets hit the tower and glanced singing into the air.
 
“You’re all right, Gaines,” said Bob, bending over the motorist. “You got out of that fix——”
 
“By the skin of my teeth!” panted Gaines. “Oh, what a run! I never ran so fast, and so far, and over so many stones and briers, before in my life. I thought, a dozen times, they had me.”
 
“Hard luck that you should have run into the rebels when you were looking for the soldiers of General Mendez.”
 
“Rebels?” cried Gaines. “Why, Bob, those fellows weren’t rebels. They were the loyalist soldiers!”
 
“The troops of General Mendez?”
 
185
 
“Yes.”
 
“Then,” queried7 Bob angrily, “why were they chasing you, and shooting at you?”
 
“I give it up. They must have taken me for one of the rebels—possibly they thought I was General Pitou.”
 
“They couldn’t have thought that,” answered Bob. “The general is only about half your size.”
 
“Clackett told you why I got out through the torpedo8 tube?”
 
“Yes. But how did you ever do it without being seen by Fingal and his men?”
 
“I was shot along upstream, and straight into the bank. Fingal was sitting on the deck at the time, and the sudden heave of the forward end of the boat drew his attention, but he didn’t see me. As soon as I could I got up the bank, but the compressed air had made me dizzy, and I was obliged to rest before I could travel. After I got started I found that I couldn’t go fast on account of my bare feet. I must have been about a mile away before I saw any soldiers. There was a straggling column of them, and they appeared to be the vanguard of an advancing army. They were Mendez’s men, and I was pleased a lot, because I was sure I could get them to go back with me and help recapture the submarine.
 
“When I started toward them, though, they began to shoot and to run toward me. I couldn’t stop and explain, for I wasn’t at all sure that my explanation would be accepted. So all I could do was turn and see how quick I could get back over the ground. That’s about all, Bob. But how did you get clear? It was a surprise to see you on the boat. I was expecting to be met by Fingal and his gang.”
 
“That’s too much to tell just now, Gaines. We’re186 all free, however, and all together once more. We have been waiting for you.”
 
“What became of Fingal?”
 
“He’s a prisoner.”
 
“Good! Any more prisoners?”
 
“General Pitou——”
 
“General Pitou!”
 
“Yes; and one of Fingal’s men, and another who is more a friend of Ysabel Sixty’s than he is of Fingal’s.”
 
“What about Ysabel Sixty?”
 
“She’s below, too.”
 
“Where did she come from?”
 
“She was one of those we took out of that yawl. We all thought she was a boy until she told us who she was. We owe our escape to her.”
 
While sitting on the deck, Gaines had been slowly recovering his strength. He was still muttering dazedly9 over Bob’s amazing disclosures, when Speake showed himself at the hatch.
 
“You fellows better come below!” he called “Dick said you wanted the boat submerged, Bob, an’ I guess that the quicker we do it the better. There’s an outfit10 of black soldiers, dead ahead, waiting for us.”
 
Bob whirled around and allowed his eyes to follow the direction of Speake’s pointing finger.
 
On a shelflike projection11 of the high bank, perhaps a quarter of a mile ahead, was a group of rebels. They could be seen only indistinctly, but it was apparent from their actions that they were waiting for the Grampus to come within good range.
 
“Climb for the hatch, Gaines!” ordered Bob. “We’ve got to get below the surface. If we stay out here, while we’re passing those soldiers, they’ll shoot us off the deck.”
 
Gaines got to his feet and walked painfully to the187 tower. After he had climbed in, and vanished, Bob followed, closing the hatch behind him.
 
“Fill the ballast tanks, Clackett!” called Bob, through the tank-room tube. “About ten feet will do, just so the periscope12 ball is awash.”
 
A moment more and the submarine began to settle downward.
 
“What are you going to do when we get near the fort, Bob?” asked Speake.
 
“I don’t believe the rebels have had time to plant any submarine mines,” said Bob. “It takes some time to do that, and not enough time has elapsed since Don Carlos reached the fort and reported that the submarine had been captured. We’ll pass the fort under water, and chance the mines. Better that than running on the surface and being bombarded.”
 
Patter, patter came a ringing hail on the deck.
 
“Ah!” cried Gaines; “the soldiers are taking a whack13 at us!” He laughed derisively14. “I guess we can stand as much of that as they want to give us. Their lead slides from the deck like water off a duck’s back.”
 
Smash!
 
“Great guns!” cried Bob. “What was that? Something broke.”
 
“The periscope ball!” gasped15 Speake. “They’ve put the periscope out of commission. Empty the tanks!” he yelled into the tank-room tube.
 
The periscope table reflected nothing of the treacherous16 channel along which the current and the propeller17 were carrying the Grampus at a terrific pace. It was necessary to come to the surface as quickly as possible and use the conning-tower lunettes.
 
“Reverse your engine, Dick!” cried Bob to the motor room. “Full speed astern!”
 
The engine was instantly reversed, but not until188 the submarine had run into some obstruction18, halting her with a jar that threw all her passengers off their feet.
 
For a moment the silence was broken only by the hum of the fiercely working cylinders19, and the splash and bubble of the current as it met the obstruction of the huge steel shell.
 
“Cut out the turbines!” yelled Bob; “empty the tanks by compressed air. Full speed astern, Dick! Every ounce of power now!”
 
“What’s happened, do you think, Bob?” asked Ysabel, who had been sitting on the locker20 in the periscope room, watching eagerly all that had taken place.
 
“The river winds about a good deal, Ysabel,” Bob answered, “and we have probably run into the bank. When the periscope went out of commission it prevented us from keeping track of our course.” “Ah!” he added, noticing that the propeller was dragging them against the current and away from the bank, and that they were rising toward the surface. “We’ll do, now.”
 
“But we can’t pass them cannon21 on the surface,” observed Speake.
 
“There’s nothing else for it, Speake,” answered Bob, “but a dash straight for the gulf22. We’ll have to keep to the surface, and if the rebels are able to aim straight, they’re going to give us a lively time.”
 
Bob relieved Speake in the conning tower. With his eyes against the lunettes, he kept keen watch ahead as turn after turn of the river unfolded before the racing23 boat.
 
At last they came close to a bend on the opposite side of which Bob knew there was a straightway stretch of water leading to the gulf.
 
He signaled the motor room for full speed astern once more, then slowed down until the backward pull189 of the propeller just balanced the rush of the current, the Grampus hanging stationary24 in midstream.
 
“Gaines,” called Bob, “are you well enough to take the engine? I want Dick up here with me.”
 
“Sure,” answered Gaines.
 
“Then go down and send him up.”
 
Dick reached the periscope room in a few moments.
 
“Dick,” said Bob, “our periscope is out of commission and we’ve got to pass the fort on the surface of the river. We could wait until night. That would give the rebels less of a chance at us, but it would also make our dash for the gulf more dangerous. The daylight has advantages as well as disadvantages, and so has the night. What do you say?”
 
“I’m for running their bally old fort,” answered Dick. “We’ll go so fast they can’t hit us.”
 
“Get the Stars and Stripes out of the locker, Dick,” said Bob. “We’ll haul it up to the staff as we pass and see if it commands their respect.”
 
Bob threw open the conning-tower hatch. The next moment, with his body half exposed above the hatch, he rang for full speed ahead.
 
As the Grampus started on the last leg of her dangerous voyage, Dick forced his way up beside his chum.
 
“Give me room now, Bob,” said he, between his teeth. “I’m going out on deck. If the flag commands any respect, it will be under my personal supervision25.”
 
“Run up the flag and then get back below,” answered Bob, squeezing to one side of the tower so that Dick could pass.
 
Dick had kicked off his shoes and thrown aside his hat. Stripped for action, he bent26 the flag to the halyards as the submarine swept onward27 toward the threatening wall of the fort.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 gasps 3c56dd6bfe73becb6277f1550eaac478     
v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • He leant against the railing, his breath coming in short gasps. 他倚着栏杆,急促地喘气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • My breaths were coming in gasps. 我急促地喘起气来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 wharf RMGzd     
n.码头,停泊处
参考例句:
  • We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
  • We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。
3 frantically ui9xL     
ad.发狂地, 发疯地
参考例句:
  • He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
  • She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。
4 hatchet Dd0zr     
n.短柄小斧;v.扼杀
参考例句:
  • I shall have to take a hatchet to that stump.我得用一把短柄斧来劈这树桩。
  • Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.别用斧头拍打朋友额头上的苍蝇。
5 severed 832a75b146a8d9eacac9030fd16c0222     
v.切断,断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 );断,裂
参考例句:
  • The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 conning b97e62086a8bfeb6de9139effa481f58     
v.诈骗,哄骗( con的现在分词 );指挥操舵( conn的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • He climbed into the conning tower, his eyes haunted and sickly bright. 他爬上司令塔,两眼象见鬼似的亮得近乎病态。 来自辞典例句
  • As for Mady, she enriched her record by conning you. 对马德琳来说,这次骗了你,又可在她的光荣历史上多了一笔。 来自辞典例句
7 queried 5c2c5662d89da782d75e74125d6f6932     
v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 );询问
参考例句:
  • She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事?”琴向觉民问道,她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
8 torpedo RJNzd     
n.水雷,地雷;v.用鱼雷破坏
参考例句:
  • His ship was blown up by a torpedo.他的船被一枚鱼雷炸毁了。
  • Torpedo boats played an important role during World War Two.鱼雷艇在第二次世界大战中发挥了重要作用。
9 dazedly 6d639ead539efd6f441c68aeeadfc753     
头昏眼花地,眼花缭乱地,茫然地
参考例句:
  • Chu Kuei-ying stared dazedly at her mother for a moment, but said nothing. 朱桂英怔怔地望着她母亲,不作声。 来自子夜部分
  • He wondered dazedly whether the term after next at his new school wouldn't matter so much. 他昏头昏脑地想,不知道新学校的第三个学期是不是不那么重要。
10 outfit YJTxC     
n.(为特殊用途的)全套装备,全套服装
参考例句:
  • Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
  • His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。
11 projection 9Rzxu     
n.发射,计划,突出部分
参考例句:
  • Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
  • The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。
12 periscope IMhx2     
n. 潜望镜
参考例句:
  • The captain aligned the periscope on the bearing.船长使潜望镜对准方位。
  • Now,peering through the periscope he remarked in businesslike tones.现在,他一面从潜望镜里观察,一面用精干踏实的口吻说话。
13 whack kMKze     
v.敲击,重打,瓜分;n.重击,重打,尝试,一份
参考例句:
  • After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食,卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
  • He gave me a whack on the back to wake me up.他为把我弄醒,在我背上猛拍一下。
14 derisively derisively     
adv. 嘲笑地,嘲弄地
参考例句:
  • This answer came derisively from several places at the same instant. 好几个人都不约而同地以讥讽的口吻作出回答。
  • The others laughed derisively. 其余的人不以为然地笑了起来。
15 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
16 treacherous eg7y5     
adj.不可靠的,有暗藏的危险的;adj.背叛的,背信弃义的
参考例句:
  • The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
  • The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。
17 propeller tRVxe     
n.螺旋桨,推进器
参考例句:
  • The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
  • A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。
18 obstruction HRrzR     
n.阻塞,堵塞;障碍物
参考例句:
  • She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
  • The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。
19 cylinders fd0c4aab3548ce77958c1502f0bc9692     
n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 );圆柱;汽缸;(尤指用作容器的)圆筒状物
参考例句:
  • They are working on all cylinders to get the job finished. 他们正在竭尽全力争取把这工作干完。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • That jeep has four cylinders. 那辆吉普车有4个汽缸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 locker 8pzzYm     
n.更衣箱,储物柜,冷藏室,上锁的人
参考例句:
  • At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
  • He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。
21 cannon 3T8yc     
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮
参考例句:
  • The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
  • The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。
22 gulf 1e0xp     
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂
参考例句:
  • The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
  • There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
23 racing 1ksz3w     
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的
参考例句:
  • I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
  • The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。
24 stationary CuAwc     
adj.固定的,静止不动的
参考例句:
  • A stationary object is easy to be aimed at.一个静止不动的物体是容易瞄准的。
  • Wait until the bus is stationary before you get off.你要等公共汽车停稳了再下车。
25 supervision hr6wv     
n.监督,管理
参考例句:
  • The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
  • The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。
26 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
27 onward 2ImxI     
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先
参考例句:
  • The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
  • He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533