In that critical moment when he felt a terrifying helplessness surely but steadily2 creeping over him, he centered every effort on the attempt to make Ah Sin a prisoner.
Swiftly as a lightning flash, the idea struck through Bob’s brain that the Chinaman had all to do with the baffling situation aboard the Grampus. If Bob could drag him down and secure him he felt that, at a later moment, the treacherous3 Celestial4 might be dealt with as his evil deeds justified5.
But the work he had mapped out for himself exceeded his powers. There was none to come to his aid. Below, in the tank room and motor room, was a silence undisturbed by human voice or movement, and there, in the periscope6 chamber7, the only noise to be heard was the deep breathing of Bob’s unconscious friends and the rattling8 sounds of the scuffle going forward between the young motorist and Ah Sin.
The slouch hat and the false queue were kicked into one corner. Ah Sin’s long, lean fingers were gripping Bob’s throat. There was no look of hate, or anger, or even of determination in the Chinaman’s face; the expression was blank and saturnine9, as though he was merely a tool, operated by wires like a puppet and carrying out the will of some one in high authority.
247
Suddenly, putting forth10 all his strength, Ah Sin lifted Bob by the throat and threw him bodily across Speake and against the edge of the locker11. Bob tried to rise, but found it impossible.
The awful weakness held him in thrall12 and was fastening gyves upon his wrists. Soon he would be utterly13 helpless, like those lying around him, and what would Ah Sin then do to the Grampus?
A spasm14 of alarm and apprehension15 rushed through the young motorist. Was this to be the end of the submarine’s voyage? Was the sale of the boat to the government destined16 never to be consummated17?
Vaguely18 Bob thought of Captain Nemo, junior, lying sick in that house in Belize, of his unswerving confidence in the king of the motor boys, and of his tremendous disappointment if anything happened to the submarine during her daring cruise.
All this brought every ounce of Bob’s failing strength back to him. He shoved his hand along the side of the locker and twined his fingers about the grip of the revolver dropped by Glennie; then, with a despairing effort, he lifted himself on one elbow and again directed his gaze at the Chinaman.
Ah Sin had not been idle. He was holding something in his hand—a round object from which hung a long, black string. The Chinaman was lighting20 a match and touching21 the flame to the end of the string.
Bob could not see very distinctly, for everything in the periscope chamber, even the chamber itself, was reeling about him in fantastic lines.
The glow at the end of the black string sputtered22 and hissed24. Stepping over to one corner, Ah Sin placed the round object on the floor with exceeding care, pulling out the string so that it lay in a straight line, the burning end pointed25 toward the center of the room.
248
For a moment Ah Sin knelt and stared. His face was still inscrutable, his eyes showing nothing more than a mild interest in his fiendish work.
A bomb!
The realization26 broke over Bob’s benumbed brain like a thunderclap.
Ah Sin was seeking to blow up the submarine, annihilating27 not only the boat, but those aboard as well.
On Bob alone depended the salvation28 of the Grampus and her crew. And he was almost helpless in the grip of the baneful29 spell that had fallen over every one on board, with the exception of the Chinaman!
Bob lifted the revolver unsteadily. A report rang out, sending wild echoes clattering30 through the steel hull31.
The bullet missed the kneeling Chinaman, struck clanging against the curved iron plates, glanced against the bulkhead above the locker, and dropped flattened32 and harmless at the side of Glennie.
Owing to Bob’s unsteady hand, the Chinaman had escaped the bit of lead, but he was startled and frightened. Leaping up he whirled and peered at Bob. The latter still clutched the revolver, but his hand swayed back and forth as he leveled it.
Ah Sin made a quick jump toward Bob, evidently with the intention of disarming33 him; but there was something in the lad’s wide, straining eyes that caused him to change his mind. Swerving19 aside he rushed at the ladder, mounted swiftly, and disappeared through the hatch.
With a fierce effort Bob concentrated his wandering wits upon the bomb. Someway, somehow, he must reach the infernal machine and extinguish the fuse.
Dropping the revolver, he rolled over and over, a lurch34 of the boat, running erratically35 with no guiding249 hand at either wheel or motor, helping36 him to reach the foot of the periscope table.
With the utmost difficulty he caught the legs of the rigidly37 secured table and pulled himself to his knees. The cup, from which he had taken only a few swallows of coffee, stood on a floor just below the end of the table, and not more than a foot from the burning fuse. By a miracle the cup had not been overturned.
For him to reach the fuse in his weakened condition was impossible; but, if he could regain38 his feet and kick the cup over the coffee that remained in it might quench39 the fire of the fuse.
Three times he endeavored to draw himself erect40 by means of the table, but succeeded only in dropping backward as though pushed by a heavy, resistless hand. But the fourth time he managed to remain upright, trembling with the strain he had put upon himself.
It seemed a trifling41 thing to overset the coffee cup, but Bob Steele had never planned a harder task.
There are but few things in this life, however, that will not yield to pluck and determination, and fortune favored Bob in his grave fight.
The Grampus pitched forward, rising aft and making a steep incline of the floor. Bob’s feet slipped, and he lost his hold on the table. As he came heavily down he shot against a stool, which was overturned and upset the cup. The liquid in the cup had slopped over the sides, and with the overturning a miniature wave of brown rolled along the inclined floor.
There followed a hiss23 as it engulfed42 the tiny blaze at the end of the fuse, and then a little spiral of smoke eddied43 upward.
This much Bob saw, and a fierce exultation44 ran through him. The bomb was harmless—but where was Ah Sin? Would he not come back, discover250 what Bob had accomplished45, and again set a match to the fuse?’
This might happen, but there was nothing Bob Steele could do to prevent it.
He had taken only a few swallows of the coffee, and to this, and to his superior powers of endurance, was due the fact that he had kept his senses and a remnant of his strength long enough to accomplish what he had.
But now a wave of darkness rolled over him. As unconscious of what was taking place around him as he was helpless to prevent further disaster, his head fell back and he lay as one dead among his silent and motionless companions.
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1
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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2
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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3
treacherous
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| 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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4
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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6
periscope
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| n. 潜望镜 | |
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7
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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8
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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9
saturnine
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| adj.忧郁的，沉默寡言的，阴沉的，感染铅毒的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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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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thrall
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| n.奴隶；奴隶制 | |
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13
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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14
spasm
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| n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作 | |
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15
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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16
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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17
consummated
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| v.使结束( consummate的过去式和过去分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房 | |
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18
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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19
swerving
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的现在分词 ) | |
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20
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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21
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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22
sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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23
hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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25
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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26
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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27
annihilating
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的现在分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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28
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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29
baneful
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| adj.有害的 | |
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30
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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31
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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32
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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33
disarming
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| adj.消除敌意的，使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 )；使息怒 | |
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34
lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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35
erratically
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| adv.不规律地，不定地 | |
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36
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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37
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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38
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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39
quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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40
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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41
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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42
engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43
eddied
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| 起漩涡，旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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45
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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