As it rolled over on reaching the curve it was brought up against Judson’s legs. With a shriek3 of horror the lad sprang into the sea.
The splash was almost instantly followed by a second. The dead man had rolled after him.
“Throw us a rope!” he cried, hurriedly, then over he went in a neat dive that placed him within reach of Judson as he bobbed into sight.
The two were speedily hauled on board. Judson cowered5 on deck, completely unstrung. Clif was still pale, but he had recovered his usual composure.
“Whew! excuse me,” he said, wringing6 the water from his blouse. “I don’t want any more scares like that. My teeth are chattering7 yet. Can you see any—anything of it, Trolley8?”
The Japanese youth turned back from where he had been gazing into the sea. His swarthy face was a shade lighter9, and he shook as if from cold.
“I no see him, Clif,” he replied. “And I no want to any more. By Jim! I no think him in there.”
“It has gone down,” reported Joy, grimly.
“Maybe there are more inside,” wailed11 Nanny. “Let’s go back to the launch. I’d rather starve than stay on this spooky old thing.”
Clif laughed in his old, merry way.
“We are children, every one of us,” he said, lightly. “Fancy being afraid of a dead man. Come; we’ll resume our investigating.”
“You don’t g-g-get me to leave th-this deck,” chattered12 Judson. “I know when I—I have had enough.”
“Where are you going?” asked Clif.
“Into the boat.”
“If you do, I’ll cut the painter and let you slide,” continued Faraday. “What a coward you are!”
Judson grumbled14 something, but he remained on board the torpedo boat. He knew that Clif would keep his word.
“We’ll tackle it again, fellows,” announced that youth, cheerily. “If there are any more dead men below we will give them a decent sea burial.”
“Nanny,” he added, “suppose you inspect the after part while we——”
“Not on your life,” hastily interrupted the little lad. “I go where you do.”
He paused before leaving the deck and cast a glance around the horizon. There was nothing in sight. With a sigh he stepped over the threshold.
The interior of the conning tower was fitted up with the usual objects found in such places. There was a steam steering16 wheel, a set of electric calls, a compass and a number of loose articles scattered17 about the deck.
At one side was an iron ladder leading forward into the officer’s quarters. Looking down this Clif saw that the apartment was empty. The deck was littered with broken chairs, clothing and a riffraff of articles. Everywhere were signs of disorder18 and wreck19.
“I believe I understand matters now,” said Clif, slowly.
“For goodness’ sake, tell us!” exclaimed Nanny.
“I think something must have happened on board this boat to frighten the crew, and they abandoned it in a desperate hurry.”
“But that dead man?” said Joy.
“He was caught in the conning tower by the slamming of the door, and was left behind.”
“But what kill him?” spoke up Trolley. “This boat no been long abandoned, and he no die by starvation.”
Clif laughed.
“You stump20 me, Trolley,” he confessed. “I guess we are no nearer the solution than before. We’ll have to search further for clews.”
“And grub,” put in Nanny.
“Yes, and grub.”
Clif led the way into the officers’ mess-room, which was at the foot of the iron ladder. Picking up a coat, he examined it critically.
“We haven’t thought about the nationality of this craft,” he said. “I do not believe it is an American or English torpedo boat.”
“I guess you are right,” called out Joy, holding up a bundle of periodicals. “These are certainly not English.”
Clif took them from his hand and glanced at the first.
“It’s a French newspaper,” he announced. “And the others are also French.”
“Here’s a book on navigation in the same language,” spoke up Nanny from one corner of the apartment.
“This settle it,” cried Trolley, triumphantly21 waving a tricolored flag he had found in an open drawer. “This is French torpedo——”
Bang!
The boys started and exchanged glances of consternation22. The sharp clang of an iron door closing violently came from aft.
Nanny made a leap for the short flight of stairs leading to the deck and disappeared before Clif could stop him.
“What——” began Joy.
Before he could finish the sentence a loud cry came from above and Nanny reappeared in the opening. He was greatly excited.
“Come on deck!” he gasped23, swinging his arms. “Quick! there’s a ship in sight, and Judson has stolen the launch to go to it!”
The three cadets dashed through the conning tower, and on reaching the upper deck saw instantly that Nanny had spoken the truth.
Just barely visible above the rim10 of the sea off the port beam were the upper topsails of a ship. And standing25 away toward it was the sailing launch with Judson in the stern.
“Hi! come back you——” Trolley ended with a string of Japanese expletives.
Clif remained silent. Leaning against the conning tower he watched the launch skim over the dancing waves. But there was an expression upon his handsome face that bodied ill for the traitor31.
In the excitement of the moment the mysterious slamming of the door below had been forgotten, but it soon recurred32 to Clif.
“We’ve got to find out what’s aft,” he said, after a pause. “Nanny, you remain on deck and keep watch while Trolley, Joy and I go below.”
“Hard to say. It may be. I wish we could make some kind of a signal.”
“Why not start a smoke?” suggested Nanny, brightly. “We can make a fire on this iron deck and——”
“We’ll do it in the furnaces,” hastily interrupted Clif. “It’s a good idea.”
He ran along the sloping top of the torpedo boat and was soon tugging34 away at the door of the after conning tower. He knew from previous study on the subject that crafts of that class have the crew’s quarters in the stern.
The hull36 is too narrow for passage from one end to the other, and all communications must necessarily be made by way of the upper deck. The mysterious noise had come from this part of the craft, Clif reasoned, so if there were any one on board they would be found in the after apartments.
The combined efforts of the three boys finally sprung the door open. As it yielded they hastily jumped aside. Their experience with one dead man was sufficient.
“I guess the supply has run short,” said Clif, grimly, as he peered into the circular room.
“Everything looks shipshape down there,” remarked Joy, pointing to where a glimpse of the lower interior could be seen. “Come on.”
He made one step over the threshold, then he stopped with a gasp24. From some spot below came a weird37, shrill38 voice.
“Au secours! au secours!” it said. “J’ai faim. Au secours!”
“There’s a man below there,” he cried. “Did you hear that?”
“I heard him,” replied Clif, eagerly. “It’s a Frenchman, sure enough. He is calling for help.”
Leaping past his companions, he disappeared down the ladder leading to the lower deck. Joy and Trolley tumbled after him.
They found themselves in a much larger apartment than that forward. It was not furnished so comfortably, containing only a few benches, a swinging table and half a dozen hammocks.
A pile of broken crockery occupied one corner, and swinging from hooks were several pans, and strings40 of tin cups.
Forward of the larger apartment was another, also containing hammocks. In this latter room were several chests, one being marked with a name in black letters. It was evidently the name of the torpedo boat. It ran:
“Le Destructeur,”
and after it was the word “Havre.”
“That settles the nationality,” said Clif.
He peered about the apartments, but nowhere could he see a man or anything resembling a man. The voice had surely come from this part of the ship.
“Hello! hello!” called out Joy, stamping his foot. “Qui, qui, monseer, avec vous in here anywhere?”
Clif was compelled to smile at the lanky cadet’s attempt at French. He had studied it at home himself sufficiently41 to read and understand, but he could not speak it correctly.
“This is certainly strange,” he said, poking42 behind the chests. “Where in the deuce is the fellow?”
“Maybe he in fire-room,” suggested Trolley.
“That’s so. Let me see, the only way to get in there is by way of the hatch on deck. We’ll try it.”
After another thorough search the three boys started to ascend43 the ladder. Just as Clif, who was last, reached the conning tower, a shrill, queer voice broke out behind him:
“C’est epatant qu’en Angleterre.
Y’ait des Anglais.”
It was a snatch of a recent popular Parisian air!
The cadets stood as if turned to stone. The voice came from almost directly under their feet. And the tone! And the words!
Trolley, ordinarily jolly, had an expression much like that of a man who had met a ghost in a dark wood. And Joy was not a whit45 better.
“Guess the d-d-darned thing’s too much for me,” he said, shakily. “Suppose we go on deck and th-think it over?”
“Not much,” replied Clif, but with no great emphasis. “There’s a man down there somewhere, either sick or crazy, and it’s our duty to find him.”
“Where in thunder is he? We’ve searched the confounded place from deck to ceiling.”
“He not in fire-room,” said Trolley.
“No. That voice——”
“De l’eau! de l’eau! de l’eau!”
The words floated up the opening as plainly as words can be spoken. But this time they seemed to come from the after end of the crew’s quarters.
Clif sprang down the ladder at great risk to his neck.
When the others followed they found him tumbling the hammocks about.
Trolley and Joy assisted him, but the three had only their labor46 for their pains. Not a sign of the mysterious stranger could they find.
[Pg 186]announced Joy, “but this child is going on deck. Excuse me; I don’t want any French shades in mine. The old tank is—oh, lud!”
This time Clif was thoroughly49 startled. The place, the circumstances and the voice was too much for him, and he hastened after Joy with Trolley a close third.
On reaching the deck they found the lanky cadet leaning against the conning tower and looking rather foolish. He evaded50 their gaze and pointed astern.
The action of the waves had brought the distant sail in that direction.
Clif gave an exclamation51 of keen disappointment.
“She’s passing!” he said. “She’s much further away. We must do something if we want to attract her attention.”
He paused only to see that the sailing launch was still in view, then he began to tug35 away at the iron hatch leading to the after fire-room. It required considerable effort to open it, but the iron hatch yielded at last, revealing a perpendicular52 ladder leading into a dark space below.
Clif’s anxiety to start a signal caused him to forget his previous fears. With a cheery “come on, fellows,” he dropped down the ladder.
It was the after of the two fire-rooms with which Le Destructeur was provided. The small furnace—small in comparison with the general run of men-of-war furnaces—occupied the greater part of the compartment53.
The fire-box door swung open, clanging back and forth54 with each roll of the hull. Scattered about were heaps of coal and ashes. Over in one corner was a pile of oily waste.
Seizing an armful, Clif thrust it into the fire-box, then he began to search his pockets. He looked up with a laugh as Trolley and Joy descended55 the ladder.
“If you want to see a first-class chump, just look at me,” he said.
“What’s up?” asked Joy.
“Been looking for matches in a pocket that’s soaked with salt water. We must have something to light this fire with. Joy, run down aft and see if you can find a match.”
“Excuse me,” hastily objected the lanky cadet. “Send Trolley.”
“Not much,” exclaimed that youth. “I no like French ghosts.”
“Then I’ll go myself,” replied Clif, moving toward the ladder.
“I say,” interrupted Joy, stopping him. “Why not send Nanny? The kid didn’t hear the voice. Perhaps he’ll solve the mystery.”
Presently Nanny’s head and shoulders darkened the opening.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Where is the ship now?”
“Almost disappeared. Can just see a smudge.”
“And the launch?”
“Judson is still sailing in that direction.”
“I say, Nanny,” said Clif, sweetly, “just drop down into the crew’s quarters and see if you can find a match. I want to start a smoke. Hurry, that’s a good fellow. We haven’t any time to lose.”
Nanny vanished. The boys exchanged grins, and awaited results.
“I am rather sorry I sent him,” said Clif, regretfully. “He’s such a timid little chap that it may——”
A shrill yell interrupted him, then came a distant rattling59 and banging, then another wild shriek.
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收听单词发音
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1
torpedo
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| n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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8
trolley
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| n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车 | |
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9
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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13
spoke
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| 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 | |
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14
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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15
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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16
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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21
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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23
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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24
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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25
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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26
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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27
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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recreant
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| n.懦夫；adj.胆怯的 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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lanky
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| adj.瘦长的 | |
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34
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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38
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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41
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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42
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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43
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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44
tingle
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| vi.感到刺痛，感到激动；n.刺痛，激动 | |
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45
whit
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| n.一点，丝毫 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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47
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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48
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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49
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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50
evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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51
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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52
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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53
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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54
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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55
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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56
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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58
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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59
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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