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首页 » 经典英文小说 » Tom Swift and his Submarine Boat25章节 » Chapter Twelve For a Breath of Air
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Chapter Twelve For a Breath of Air
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 They could hardly realize it, yet the depth-gage1 told the story. It registered a distance below the surface of the ocean of five thousand seven hundred feet—a little over a mile. The Advance had actually come to rest on the bottom of the Atlantic.
 
"Hurrah2!" cried Tom. "Let's get on the diving suits, dad, and walk about on land under water for a change."
 
"No," said Mr. Swift soberly. "We will hardly have time for that now. Besides, the suits are not yet fitted with the automatic air-tanks, and we can't use them. There are still some things to do before we start on our treasure cruise. But I want to see how the plates are standing3 this pressure."
 
The Advance was made with a triple hull4, the spaces between the layers of plates being filled with a secret material, capable of withstanding enormous pressure, as were also the plates themselves. Mr. Swift, aided by Mr. Jackson and Captain Weston, made a thorough examination, and found that not a drop of water had leaked in, nor was there the least sign that any of the plates had given way under the terrific strain.
 
"She's as tight as a drum, if you will allow me to make that comparison," remarked Captain Weston modestly. "I couldn't ask for a dryer5 ship."
 
"Well, let's take a look around by means the searchlight and the observation windows, and then we'll go back," suggested Mr. Swift. "It will take about two days to get the stores and provisions aboard and rig up the diving suits; then we will start for the sunken treasure."
 
There were several powerful searchlights on the Advance, so arranged that the bow, stern or either side could be illuminated6 independently. There were also observation windows near each light.
 
In turn the powerful rays were cast first at the bow and then aft. In the gleams could be seen the sandy bed of the ocean, covered with shells of various kinds. Great crabs7 walked around on their long, jointed8 legs, and Tom saw some lobsters9 that would have brought joy to the heart of a fisherman.
 
"Look at the big fish!" cried Mr. Damon suddenly, and he pointed10 to some dark, shadowy forms that swam up to the glass windows, evidently puzzled by the light.
 
"Porpoises," declared Captain Weston briefly11, "a whole school of them."
 
The fish seemed suddenly to multiply, and soon those in the submarine felt curious tremors12 running through the whole craft.
 
"The fish are rubbing up against it," cried Tom. "They must think we came down here to allow them to scratch their backs on the steel plates."
 
For some time they remained on the bottom, watching the wonderful sight of the fishes that swam all about them.
 
"Well, I think we may as well rise," announced Mr. Swift, after they had been on the bottom about an hour, moving here and there. "We didn't bring any provisions, and I'm getting hungry, though I don't know how the others of you feel about it."
 
"Bless my dinner-plate, I could eat, too!" cried Mr. Damon. "Go up, by all means. We'll get enough of under-water travel once we start for the treasure."
 
"Send her up, Tom," called his father. "I want to make a few notes on some needed changes and improvements."
 
Tom entered the lower pilot house, and turned the valve that opened the tanks. He also pulled the lever that started the pumps, so that the water ballast would be more quickly emptied, as that would render the submarine buoyant, and she would quickly shoot to the surface. To the surprise of the lad, however, there followed no outrushing of the water. The Advance remained stationary13 on the ocean bed. Mr. Swift looked up from his notes.
 
"Didn't you hear me ask you to send her up, Tom?" he inquired mildly.
 
"I did, dad, but something seems to be the matter," was the reply.
 
"Matter? What do you mean?" and the aged14 inventor hastened to where his son and Captain Weston were at the wheels, valves and levers.
 
"Why, the tanks won't empty, and the pumps don't seem to work."
 
"Let me try," suggested Mr. Swift, and he pulled the various handles. There was no corresponding action of the machinery15.
 
"That's odd," he remarked in a curious voice "Perhaps something has gone wrong with the connections. Go look in the engine-room, and ask Mr. Sharp if everything is all right there."
 
Tom made a quick trip, returning to report that the dynamos, motors and gas engine were running perfectly16.
 
"Try to work the tank levers and pumps from the conning17 tower," suggested Captain Weston. "Sometimes I've known the steam steering18 gear to play tricks like that."
 
Tom hurried up the circular stairway into the tower. He pulled the levers and shifted the valves and wheels there. But there was no emptying of the water tanks. The weight and pressure of water in them still held the submarine on the bottom of the sea, more than a mile from the surface. The pumps in the engine-room were working at top speed, but there was evidently something wrong in the connections. Mr. Swift quickly came to this conclusion.
 
"We must repair it at once," he said. "Tom, come to the engine-room. You and I, with Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharp, will soon have it in shape again."
 
"Is there any danger?" asked Mr. Damon in a perturbed19 voice. "Bless my soul, it's unlucky to have an accident on our trial trip."
 
"Oh, we must expect accidents," declared Mr. Swift with a smile. "This is nothing."
 
But it proved to be more difficult than he had imagined to re-establish the connection between the pumps and the tanks. The valves, too, had clogged20 or jammed, and as the pressure outside the ship was so great, the water would not run out of itself. It must be forced.
 
For an hour or more the inventor, his son and the others, worked away. They could accomplish nothing. Tom looked anxiously at his parent when the latter paused in his efforts.
 
"Don't worry," advised the aged inventor. "It's got to come right sooner or later."
 
Just then Mr. Damon, who had been wandering about the ship, entered the engine-room.
 
"Do you know," he said, "you ought to open a window, or something."
 
"Why, what's the matter?" asked Tom quickly, looking to see if the odd man was joking.
 
"Well, of course I don't exactly mean a window," explained Mr. Damon, "but we need fresh air."
 
"Fresh air!" There was a startled note in Mr. Swift's voice as he repeated the words.
 
"Yes, I can hardly breathe in the living-room, and it's not much better here."
 
"Why, there ought to be plenty of fresh air," went on the inventor. "It is renewed automatically."
 
Tom jumped up and looked at an indicator21. He uttered a startled cry.
 
"The air hasn't been changed in the last hour!" he exclaimed. "It is bad. There's not enough oxygen in it. I notice it, now that I've stopped working. The gage indicates it, too. The automatic air-changer must have stopped working. I'll fix it."
 
He hurried to the machine which was depended on to supply fresh air to the submarine.
 
"Why, the air tanks are empty!" the young inventor cried. "We haven't any more air except what is in the ship now!"
 
"And we're rapidly breathing that up," added Captain Weston solemnly.
 
"Can't you make more?" cried Mr. Damon. "I thought you said you could make oxygen aboard the ship."
 
"We can," answered Mr. Swift, "but I did not bring along a supply of the necessary chemicals. I did not think we would be submerged long enough for that. But there should have been enough in the reserve tank to last several days. How about it, Tom?"
 
"It's all leaked out, or else it wasn't filled," was the despairing answer. "All the air we have is what's in the ship, and we can't make more."
 
The treasure-seekers looked at each other. It was an awful situation.
 
"Then the only thing to do is to fix the machinery and rise to the surface," said Mr. Sharp simply. "We can have all the air we want, then."
 
"Yes, but the machinery doesn't seem possible of being fixed," spoke22 Tom in a low voice.
 
"We must do it!" cried his father.
 
They set to work again with fierce energy, laboring23 for their very lives. They all knew that they could not long remain in the ship without oxygen. Nor could they desert it to go to the surface, for the moment they left the protection of the thick steel sides the terrible pressure of the water would kill them. Nor were the diving suits available. They must stay in the craft and die a miserable24 death—unless the machinery could be repaired and the Advance sent to the surface. The emergency expanding lifting tank was not yet in working order.
 
More frantically25 they toiled26, trying every device that was suggested to the mechanical minds of Tom, his father, Mr. Sharp or Mr. Jackson, to make the pumps work. But something was wrong. More and more foul27 grew the air. They were fairly gasping28 now. It was difficult to breathe, to say nothing of working, in that atmosphere. The thought of their terrible position was in the minds of all.
 
"Oh, for one breath of fresh air!" cried Mr. Damon, who seemed to suffer more than any of the others. Grim death was hovering29 around them, imprisoned30 as they were on the ocean's bed, over a mile from the surface.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 gage YsAz0j     
n.标准尺寸,规格;量规,量表 [=gauge]
参考例句:
  • Can you gage what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗?
  • It's difficult to gage one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。
2 hurrah Zcszx     
int.好哇,万岁,乌拉
参考例句:
  • We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
  • The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。
3 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
4 hull 8c8xO     
n.船身;(果、实等的)外壳;vt.去(谷物等)壳
参考例句:
  • The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
  • The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。
5 dryer PrYxf     
n.干衣机,干燥剂
参考例句:
  • He bought a dryer yesterday.他昨天买了一台干燥机。
  • There is a washer and a dryer in the basement.地下室里有洗衣机和烘干机。
6 illuminated 98b351e9bc282af85e83e767e5ec76b8     
adj.被照明的;受启迪的
参考例句:
  • Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
  • the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市
7 crabs a26cc3db05581d7cfc36d59943c77523     
n.蟹( crab的名词复数 );阴虱寄生病;蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 jointed 0e57ef22df02be1a8b7c6abdfd98c54f     
有接缝的
参考例句:
  • To embrace her was like embracing a jointed wooden image. 若是拥抱她,那感觉活像拥抱一块木疙瘩。 来自英汉文学
  • It is possible to devise corresponding systematic procedures for rigid jointed frames. 推导出适合于钢架的类似步骤也是可能的。
9 lobsters 67c1952945bc98558012e9740c2ba11b     
龙虾( lobster的名词复数 ); 龙虾肉
参考例句:
  • I have no idea about how to prepare those cuttlefish and lobsters. 我对如何烹调那些乌贼和龙虾毫无概念。
  • She sold me a couple of live lobsters. 她卖了几只活龙虾给我。
10 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
11 briefly 9Styo     
adv.简单地,简短地
参考例句:
  • I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
  • He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。
12 tremors 266b933e7f9df8a51b0b0795733d1e93     
震颤( tremor的名词复数 ); 战栗; 震颤声; 大地的轻微震动
参考例句:
  • The story was so terrible that It'sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕,它使我不寒而栗。
  • The story was so terrible that it sent tremors down my spine. 这故事太可怕,它使我不寒而栗。
13 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。
14 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的,陈年的
参考例句:
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了,也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老,然而记忆力还好。
15 machinery CAdxb     
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构
参考例句:
  • Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗?
  • Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。
16 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
17 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
18 steering 3hRzbi     
n.操舵装置
参考例句:
  • He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
  • Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵,口吻也马上变得温和了。
19 perturbed 7lnzsL     
adj.烦燥不安的v.使(某人)烦恼,不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I am deeply perturbed by the alarming way the situation developing. 我对形势令人忧虑的发展深感不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Mother was much perturbed by my illness. 母亲为我的病甚感烦恼不安。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
20 clogged 0927b23da82f60cf3d3f2864c1fbc146     
(使)阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 ); 淤滞
参考例句:
  • The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
  • The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。
21 indicator i8NxM     
n.指标;指示物,指示者;指示器
参考例句:
  • Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
  • His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。
22 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
23 laboring 2749babc1b2a966d228f9122be56f4cb     
n.劳动,操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转
参考例句:
  • The young man who said laboring was beneath his dignity finally put his pride in his pocket and got a job as a kitchen porter. 那个说过干活儿有失其身份的年轻人最终只能忍辱,做了厨房搬运工的工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • But this knowledge did not keep them from laboring to save him. 然而,这并不妨碍她们尽力挽救他。 来自飘(部分)
24 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
25 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。
26 toiled 599622ddec16892278f7d146935604a3     
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉
参考例句:
  • They toiled up the hill in the blazing sun. 他们冒着炎炎烈日艰难地一步一步爬上山冈。
  • He toiled all day long but earned very little. 他整天劳碌但挣得很少。
27 foul Sfnzy     
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规
参考例句:
  • Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
  • What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气!
28 gasping gasping     
adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词
参考例句:
  • He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
  • "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗?”“我巴不得能喝点!”
29 hovering 99fdb695db3c202536060470c79b067f     
鸟( hover的现在分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫
参考例句:
  • The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
  • I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。
30 imprisoned bc7d0bcdd0951055b819cfd008ef0d8d     
下狱,监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁,合并执行。
  • They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。


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