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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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
1 gasps | |
v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要 | |
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2 wharf | |
n.码头,停泊处 | |
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3 frantically | |
ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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4 hatchet | |
n.短柄小斧;v.扼杀 | |
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5 severed | |
v.切断,断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 );断,裂 | |
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6 conning | |
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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7 queried | |
v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 );询问 | |
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8 torpedo | |
n.水雷,地雷;v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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9 dazedly | |
头昏眼花地,眼花缭乱地,茫然地 | |
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10 outfit | |
n.(为特殊用途的)全套装备,全套服装 | |
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11 projection | |
n.发射,计划,突出部分 | |
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12 periscope | |
n. 潜望镜 | |
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13 whack | |
v.敲击,重打,瓜分;n.重击,重打,尝试,一份 | |
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14 derisively | |
adv. 嘲笑地,嘲弄地 | |
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15 gasped | |
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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16 treacherous | |
adj.不可靠的,有暗藏的危险的;adj.背叛的,背信弃义的 | |
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17 propeller | |
n.螺旋桨,推进器 | |
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18 obstruction | |
n.阻塞,堵塞;障碍物 | |
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19 cylinders | |
n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 );圆柱;汽缸;(尤指用作容器的)圆筒状物 | |
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20 locker | |
n.更衣箱,储物柜,冷藏室,上锁的人 | |
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21 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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22 gulf | |
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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23 racing | |
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的 | |
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24 stationary | |
adj.固定的,静止不动的 | |
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25 supervision | |
n.监督,管理 | |
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26 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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27 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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