“What—what does this mean?” he cried. “You are interfering with my boat. We are going—to the—bottom of—the sea!”
His voice trailed off into nothingness, and he fell unconscious on the floor.
“The chlorine!” said Ted. “That did it! We’ll be out of it in another minute, though.”
Up shot the Sonderbaar. They could all tell when she reached the surface and bounded out into the open sea. In an instant Jerry had pulled the lever that removed the hatch cover. In rushed the fresh air, quickly reviving the sufferers. But Dr. Klauss still lay in a faint on the floor of the motor room.
“We must get him on deck,” said Jerry. “We can’t let him die, even if he is a maniac and sought our lives.”
It was hard work, but they managed to get the unconscious form up the hatchway. Mr. Sheldon quickly ascertained that Grace and Professor Snodgrass, though suffering, were safe.
As Jerry and his chums lifted the limp form of the insane commander out into the open, they gave a cry of surprise. For there, directly before them, and so close to the submarine that a few yards would have rammed her into it, lay a lonely island—an island in mid-ocean.