“They’re going to let us have it!” called Ferral, still working with the flag.
“Get the bunting up and return below!” ordered Bob.
“I suppose you think that you’re the only one who’s privileged to show himself while the rebels are shaking out their loads at us.”
“I don’t want you to expose yourself to needless danger, Dick,” said Bob.
“Danger!” Dick gave vent4 to a scornful laugh. “I don’t think the greasers can shoot. Let’s give ’em a chance at us and see if——”
Four cannon commanded the river side of the fort, and four the bay side. It was one of the guns on the river side that had spoken. A round shot plunged6 into the water on the port side of the boat, sending a jet of spray high into the air.
“I told you so!” yelled Dick, and shook his fist at the fort.
As he looked upward he saw three soldiers on the wall getting ready to shoot.
Two more cannon were fired, almost at the same time. The solid shot plunged into the water altogether too close to the boat for comfort.
191
“Up with the colors, Dick!” shouted Bob Steele; “let’s see if they dare fire on that flag!”
Dick hauled up the flag. As the gay little banner caught the breeze and opened out, a crack of rifles was heard from the fort.
The flag fluttered sharply.
“What do you think of that!” roared Dick, once more shaking his fist upward in the direction of the fort; “they’ve put a hole through the flag. Oh, strike me lucky! If it was the British flag they treated like that, an army would march through the country before the scoundrels were a month older.”
“They’re an irresponsible lot, anyhow,” said Bob. “Besides, we’ve got General Pitou below, and General Mendez will have an easy time of it when he gets here with his army. The uprising is as good as squelched7. If anything——”
A perfect roar of guns echoed from the hill. With a crash the periscope8 mast went by the board, and the round shot caused the water to bubble and boil all around the submarine.
“We’ll have to have a new mast and ball as soon as we get back to Belize,” said Bob, as he guided the Grampus in a wide sweep around the headland to the left of the river mouth.
“A moment more,” said Dick, “and we’ll have the town between us and the fort. They’re slow at loading those old carronades. Those fellows’ hands must be all thumbs. If——”
Dick did not finish his sarcastic10 remarks. Just then there was a tremendous explosion just behind the submarine. A column of water arose high in the air, and, descending11 in a huge wave, carried the stern of the192 boat under and threw the bow high in the air. The water all around was a veritable caldron.
Frantic12 cries came from within the hull13. Bob, owing to the almost vertical14 inclination15 of the steel hull, was hurled16 out of the conning17 tower and came into violent collision with Dick, who was clinging with a life-and-death grip to the flagstaff guys.
For a second the Grampus heaved and tossed on the waves, then righted herself and drove ahead.
Bob picked himself up and climbed hastily back into the conning tower. He was sore and bruised18, but he realized that he could not leave the submarine to steer19 herself.
“What was that?” cried Dick, rising to his knees and lifting a pale face upward.
“It must have been a submarine mine,” answered Bob, in a voice that shivered perceptibly.
“A mine!” returned Dick. “But it exploded behind us! If we set it off, why didn’t it explode under us and blow us to smithereens?”
“It must have been a mine of the floating variety—a contact mine which was out of working order. We passed over it; and then, when we were safely out of the way, the pesky thing let go.”
Dick Ferral’s face grew even paler than it had been. As the dread20 import of Bob’s words dawned on him, he realized the close call the submarine and all her passengers had had.
“A narrow escape!” Dick muttered, getting slowly to his feet and rubbing his head, “I never want to get so close to kingdom come as that again! Why, Bob, we couldn’t have done that trick once in a thousand times.”
“We did it this time, anyhow,” answered Bob quietly. “A miss is as good as a mile, Dick. Better go below and explain to our friends.”
193
Dick staggered back and climbed into the tower, and his face was still white as he dropped off the ladder into the periscope room.
Clackett, Speake, and Ysabel crowded around him.
“What happened?” cried Clackett. “The old catamaran turned a regular handspring; then she stood on her propeller21 for about a minute and seemed to be thinking of going down to stay.”
Dick explained in a low voice what had happened, sitting on the locker22 and almost overcome by the narrow escape of the boat and her living cargo23.
Speake began to shake; Clackett rubbed a dazed hand across his eyes; and Ysabel, dropping on one of the low seats, buried her face in her hands.
“Bob!” she gasped24, looking up; “how can he stay up there in the conning tower after such a hairbreadth escape as that?”
“Listen!” called Clackett. “Bob’s saying something.”
“Speake!” came the voice from the conning tower.
“Aye, aye, sir!” answered Speake.
“Get to work on your electric stove, providing it wasn’t smashed by that somersault we turned, and see if we can’t have a piping-hot meal. Ysabel will help you.”
“That’s what he’s thinking of,” muttered Dick, “something to eat. Well, Bob Steele has got more nerve than I have.”
While Speake and Ysabel were getting supper ready, Dick and Clackett went into the prison room and looked at the men confined there.
They were all lying in an indiscriminate heap near the after bulkhead.
There was a chorus of wild gurgling behind the194 gags, and Dick and Clackett set to work and laid the prisoners around the room in something like order. The overturned cots were placed upright, and Pedro was laid on one, and the unknown member of Fingal’s gang was placed on the other. Fingal and the general were left lying on the hard floor.
“The general,” remarked Clackett, poking26 him in the ribs27 with the toe of his boot, “was goin’ to take care o’ us in a summary fashion. He couldn’t hardly wait till nightfall, the general couldn’t. Ain’t he a nice-lookin’ specimen28, Dick?”
“He’s the worst-looking swab I ever saw!” averred29 Dick. “He was all sword and spurs, and he didn’t know how to use ’em. That’s the reason he got captured. I guess he’ll be hung, fair enough. He ought to be hung, anyhow, and he would have been if he had fallen into the hands of General Mendez. We ought to have put him ashore30 to take the place of Gaines. We robbed the soldiers of one victim, and we should have given them another.”
“I tell ye what we ought to have done,” averred Clackett. “We ought to have laid all these here prisoners out on the deck when we was passing that fort.”
“You’re right,” cried Dick. “That was a bright idea. But,” and Dick’s face fell, “like a good many bright ideas it came too late.”
“With them fellers on the deck,” said Clackett, waxing eloquent31 over his afterthought, “I’ll bet somethin’ handsome we could have run past that fort and never been fired at once.”
“Like enough. But we’re past the fort, and we’re right side up with care, and we’ve got Bob Steele to thank for it all. Let’s go back and see how near it is to supper time.”
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1
muzzles
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| 枪口( muzzle的名词复数 )； （防止动物咬人的）口套； （四足动物的）鼻口部； （狗）等凸出的鼻子和口 | |
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2
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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3
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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4
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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5
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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6
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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7
squelched
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| v.发吧唧声，发扑哧声( squelch的过去式和过去分词 )；制止；压制；遏制 | |
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8
periscope
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| n. 潜望镜 | |
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9
grouch
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| n.牢骚，不满；v.抱怨 | |
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10
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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11
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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12
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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13
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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14
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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15
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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16
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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17
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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18
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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19
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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21
propeller
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| n.螺旋桨，推进器 | |
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22
locker
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| n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人 | |
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23
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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24
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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25
ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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26
poking
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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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27
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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28
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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29
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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30
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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31
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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