“Trawlers is the word you want, Frank!” said Jimmie.
“That’s it!” agreed Frank. “I’ll bet we’re tangled in one of their nets. Maybe we can’t get loose again, either,” he added.
“Don’t you believe it!” scorned Jimmie. “If it was a fisherman had hold of us, we’d be yanked around pretty lively. I think it is that rope we saw hanging in front of the port light!”
“I believe you’re right, Jimmie!” Ned put in as he gazed through the heavy glass on the port side. “I can see that we’re swinging close to the mainmast. There is no motion to the boat, so that makes me think your solution is about right. Now to get loose!”
“Yes, I agree with you!” stated Harry. “But how? If your assumption is correct, we’ve got a big piece of line wound around the outboard end of the shaft. It is probably more or less tangled up in the propeller also. We can’t turn the engines over!”
“Maybe we could throw out the clutch and turn the shaft backwards enough to unwind the line!” suggested Frank.
“I’m in favor of rising to the surface if the slack of line will permit,” offered Jack. “We could then open the hatchway. It would be easy enough from there to clear the line from the screw.”
“That’s probably the best way out of it,” commented Ned. “Suppose we try that. Harry, can we rise as Jack suggests?”
“I don’t know,” came Harry’s hesitating reply. “I’ll try!”
Accordingly the boy clambered from his position near the forward bulkhead to the compartment amidships, where the pumps were located. A shift of valves followed by a touch on the levers connecting the storage batteries with the electric pumps started the process of emptying the ballast tanks.