LAND UNDER ICE
Suddenly the craft began to move. Slowly at first, then, with more speed it forged ahead through the water.
"Are we free?" asked Andy, starting up.
"Who started the machinery?" demanded the professor.
"No one," replied Jack. "We are all here. There is no one in the engine room."
"But we are moving," said Mark.
"It's dem sucker-fish!" exclaimed Washington. "Dey is takin' us off to der dens an' dere we'll all be eat up!"
"I'm afraid part of it is true," said Mr. Henderson. "The creatures are certainly making off with us. How powerful they must be!"
"Will dey take us to a cave?" faltered Washington. "Will dey eat us up?"
"I don't think they'll eat us up," spoke the inventor. "It would defy even their powerful sucking apparatus to bore through the steel sides of the Porpoise. What I am afraid of is that they may move us to some hidden depth where we will be caught under the rocks or in the ice, and so lose what little chance there is of getting free."
"And the worst of it is we can't do a thing to help ourselves!" exclaimed Andy. "This is the worst game I was ever up against!"
The adventurers were indeed helpless. They could not get out of their ship to attack the monsters, even had they dared to. Their engine, powerful as it was, had proved no match for the creatures, and now they were being carried away, ship and all, to some unknown place.
The ship did not go through the water fast. Though the suckers seemed to be working in union their bodies were too unwieldly, and the ship so large, that their pace was slow. Nevertheless they kept steadily on.
Several times, in their desperation, the adventurers tried the force of the big screw against that of the suckers. It was of no avail. Neither was the device of emptying the tanks, and trying to force the craft up as far as the roof of ice would permit it to go.
"It's of no use," announced Mr. Henderson with something that sounded like a groan. "We must prepare for the worst."
"How long can we live here without going to the surface after a fresh supply of air?" asked Bill.
"About three days," was the answer. "I took the precaution to put a double supply into the tanks, in readiness for an emergency, but I never thought of such a terrible situation as this."
The submarine seemed to be moving more rapidly now. It was useless to try to see through either the windows in the side or in the conning tower, for all the glass was covered by the horrible bodies.
"What will they do with us when they get us where they want us?" asked Andy.
"What can they do except hold us prisoners until—until—" The professor broke off the sentence he dared not finish.
For an hour or more the craft was moved through the water at moderate speed. Then it came to a stop. Those on board were alert for what might happen next.
"I guess dey done got us in der cave," said Washington with chattering teeth. "Now dey'll begin to devour us wid dem terrible big mouths! Golly, I wish I was home!"
"Stop that nonsense!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "Be a man! There is no danger yet. The sides of the Porpoise will defy worse enemies than those attacking us!"
At that instant the ship began to move again. It was hauled slowly through the water.
"They are pulling us backward!" said Andy, as he watched the needle of the compass.
Once more the submarine was stopped. Then it moved forward at a more rapid pace than at any time since the suckers had seized it. An instant later it brought up against some solid object with such a jar that those inside were thrown off their feet.
"Something has hit us!" cried Jack.
"More likely we've struck something," said the professor.
Again the ship forged to the rear, and once again it was sent swiftly ahead. Then came the second shock, harder than the first, which sent some of the party headlong.
"They are banging us against a rock!" cried Mr. Henderson.
"Do you mean those sea suckers?"
"Yes. They have probably found that the shell of the Porpoise is too hard even for their powerful jaws. So they have taken us to some place where the rocks show and are banging us against them in order to break the ship, so they can get at what is inside."
Once more the ship was drawn backward and again dashed against the stone. The shock was a hard one and toppled over all who were not clinging to something.
"They are ramming us bow on against the rocks," cried Andy. "It will break us apart if they hit us many more times!"
Washington hurried forward. He came back with his eyes showing terror.
"There's a lot of rocks right ahead ob us!" he exclaimed. "I see 'em through th' little window jest above th' screw. There's land under this here water!"
"Land under this ice do you mean?" asked the professor.
"That's what I mean, an' we's bein' rammed agin th' rocks!"
"There it goes again!" cried Jack, as the ship shivered from stem to stern against the impact of the blow.
"This can not last long," said Mr. Henderson. "If they strike us many more times some of the places will start, the water will come in, and we will drown!"
"But what can we do?" asked Jack.
"Let's go out now and see if we can't kill some of the beasts with the guns," suggested Andy.
"I cannot permit it," answered the inventor. "Our position is bad enough as it is, but to go out would be to lose our lives for a certainty. The suckers would swallow us up in a moment. I must find some other way."
There was a period of silence, while all waited anxiously for what was to happen next. It was not long in coming. The next impact of the ship against the rocks was the hardest yet, and it seemed that more of the suckers must have gripped the craft.
"She's leakin' a little!" exclaimed Washington coming back from an inspection forward. "De water am tricklin' in!"
"We must fight them!" exclaimed Andy. He ran to get a gun and his diving suit.
"Don't try to go out!" warned the professor. "You will surely be killed."
"I'd rather be killed out there than die shut up in the ship!" cried the old hunter. "I'm going out!"
"Wait!" exclaimed Jack suddenly. "I have a plan that may save us!"
"What is it? Speak quickly!" said Mr. Henderson. "We are in desperate straits!"
As he spoke there came another crash against the rocks.
"We must electrocute the suckers!" cried the boy.
"Electrocute them? What do you mean?"
"Take the wires from the electric light circuit, attach one to each end of the ship, and start the dynamo at full speed!" answered Jack.
"What good will that do?"
"The ship is steel," went on the boy. "It will become charged with a powerful current. We can insulate ourselves by putting on rubber boots, but the shock of the electricity will kill the creatures!"
"Good for you!" exclaimed Mr. Henderson. "Quick boys, everybody lend a hand! Washington, detach the wires and run one to the bow and the other to the stern of the ship. Then get out the boots."
In a few minutes the dynamo was ready to send a death-dealing current through the entire ship. The professor and all the others put on the boots, that were a part of the diving equipment. The dynamo was started at full speed and the purring hum told that electricity of great power was being developed.
The professor stood with his hand on a switch, ready to close the circuit as soon as sufficient power had accumulated. Once more the suckers backed the ship in order to give it impetus for another impact on the stones.
Click! The professor snapped the switch shut. There was a burst of bluish-green flame, and the movement of the boat suddenly ceased.
"I guess that does for 'em!" shouted Andy.
"Wait a few minutes," advised the professor. "The suckers may not all be dead yet!"
He kept the current flowing throughout the length of the ship for several minutes, and then turned it off.
"Now to see if the plan worked," he said. The windows in the cabin were eagerly scanned.
"Hurrah!" cried Mark. "The suckers have gone!"
"I guess the electricity killed them," spoke Mr. Henderson. "We will venture out now in our diving suits and see what sort of a place we are in."
Soon the adventurers were arrayed in the heavy suits. Under them they wore thick clothing, and in each suit was placed a small flat heater, operated by a storage battery. The heaters were made of coils of fine wires, and the electric current, meeting with much resistance in passing through them, heated the coils, so there was considerable warmth.
It was all needed as they found when they felt the water entering the diving chamber, for the fluid was as cold as an ocean full of icebergs could make it. Protected however by the heavy suits, warm clothing and the heaters the divers were fairly comfortable.
The outer door was opened and they all started back in amazement at the sight which met their eyes. Before them lay a forest of real trees, with bushes growing among them, while the ground, instead of being like the usual ocean bed was covered with grass.
As Washington had said, on getting a small view of the place from the little window, it was real land under water.
Their first surprise at the strange spectacle over, the adventurers glanced about for a sight of the terrible sea suckers. But they need not have feared. Lying in a huddled up mass toward the rear of the Porpoise were the dead bodies of the ugly creatures. The electricity had finished them.