The machine gun stood on a platform just inside the stockade. Only its muzzle projected, but as quite a big hole had been cut so as to give it plenty of “range,” the operator was protected by a steel “barbette.” As the cheer died down the gun began to bark. It roared and spat like a packet of fire crackers. Howls and yells told of the dismay of the rebels.
“Now!” roared Jameson, who had been looking through the peephole.
The gates were flung open and out dashed the troops, while white fire was burned to illumine the scene. But the sight of the troops was enough. Unable to understand how the regulars had got within the stockade, the superstitious rebels saw something supernatural in it. They broke and fled in all directions, while the regulars, with a great hullabaloo and show of ferocity, chased them.
And after all, nobody was killed. The machine had wounded a few of the rebels, but these had been carried off by their friends. In fact, the rebels had taken good care to keep out of the machine gun’s way. That was not their style of fighting.
It was the next day after the White Shark had been backed out of the cave successfully that the cruiser Dixie appeared, having steamed full speed from Santiago, where her officers had learned of the attack on the mine. Twenty marines were landed further down the coast and placed in defense of the workings till the revolution was over, which event was not far off.
With her mission accomplished and her every faculty tested, the White Shark shortly thereafter left Cuba for the United States. On board she carried a happy, contented crew who had gone through much excitement and some hardship. But not one was the worse for it. All enjoyed radiant health and spirits.
When Mr. Dancer returned home, it was to find that glorious news awaited him. It concerned the White Shark and her type of submarine, and from that day on the name of Daniel Dancer became one of the most famous in the history of his particular line of work. Moreover, he—but that is another story.
You may rest assured that our friends did not lose sight of each other at the conclusion of a voyage which as even Jupe declared had been “conlubrious fo’ all consarned in the contraption”; meaning probably “salubrious for all concerned in the transactions.”
And now the time has come to say good-bye once more to our Boy Inventors. But of their further activities and adventures you may read in a forthcoming volume which will deal with other experiments and inventions. For, not content with what they had already achieved, the cousins determined to convert their already famous automobile into a machine of triple power and purpose. Their success, and the utterly unexpected experiences incident to it, is recorded in “The Boy Inventors’ Flying Ship.”
THE END.