Instantly all was in an uproar. Hoarse shouts and cries came from the crews’ quarters. The boys, with frightened faces and still rubbing dazed and sleep-filled eyes, rushed from their cabin with Mr. Pauling and Mr. Henderson at their heels and through the din of the clanging gong, the excited questions and warning shouts, Rawlins, with the quartermaster by his side, hustled the men and boys up the ladder to the deck, checking them off one by one as they passed.
“All up?” demanded Rawlins as a drowsy oiler stumbled through the fast-rising water to the foot of the ladder.
“Aye, aye, Sir!” responded the old sailor. “Better be gettin’ aloft, Sir.”
The water was now up to the men’s hips and as they reached the outer air Rawlins and the quartermaster found the waves lapping the edges of the deck. But perfect order prevailed. The two boats were manned and ready and as Rawlins and the sailor sprang into them the men bent to the oars and a few moments later the boats’ keels grated on the sand beach under the ghostly palms.
“I’ll say we’re lucky!” were Rawlins first words. “Wonder what in blazes burst loose!”
But no one could offer an explanation. The man who had been on watch and whose cry had roused Rawlins declared that the first thing he had noticed had been that the submarine was settling. The engineers insisted that no sea-cock or valve had been left open. There had been no blow, shock or explosion and, huddled together on the beach, shivering and shaken, the men and the boys waited for the dawn. Presently a fire was started and the survivors, glad of its warmth in the chill night air, gathered close about it, discussing the disaster, surmising as to its cause and thanking their stars that they had all escaped and that help was not far away.
“If we don’t turn up, Disbrow will suspect something is wrong and send a boat in,” declared Mr. Pauling. “We won’t have to wait here many hours.”
“Perhaps we could call him,” suggested Mr. Henderson. “Are those radio instruments still in the boats?”
“One is.” replied Rawlins. “I noticed it as we came ashore.”
“But we haven’t any aerial,” said Tom. “The resonance coil was on board the submarine.”