“Jump! Jump for your lives!” he exclaimed. “The ship is about to blow up!”
CHAPTER XI
MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS
The voice of the mate echoed through the Mermaid. Those on deck heard it, as did Tony in the engine room, where he was vainly trying to understand the complicated machinery.
An instant later there sounded from beneath the ship a series of splashes. More sailors were leaping from the deck of the craft to the ocean. The distance was not great, particularly as they all landed in water.
“Quick!” cried the mate to a group of sailors that hesitated before taking the jump. “The ship may blow up any minute now.”
The men needed no second urging. As soon as they struck the water they began to swim ashore, as it was not far away. One after another they jumped over the rail. Tony was the last to go. He urged the captives to follow him, but they all refused.
A minute later the only one of the pirate crew left on the ship was the mate. The others were all struggling in the sea. Eventually they all reached shore in safety.
The airship was now within about twenty feet of the water. It was still falling but not so rapidly.
“Better send her up, now,” said the mate to Mark, and the boy turned the necessary levers to accomplish this.
Dipping into the water as a sea gull does when searching for food on the wing, for she had come quite low, the Mermaid mounted once more into the air, and was soon sailing along over the heads of Tony and his gang.