[CHAPTER V.]
OFF FOR THE AMAZON.
Motor Matt considered himself personally responsible for the safety of the Grampus. The boat had been placed in his charge by Captain Nemo, Jr., her owner, and the captain's faith in the king of the motor boys was unlimited. Matt was to take the submarine to Mare Island Navy Yard and collect one hundred thousand dollars for her from the government. Those were his instructions, and the captain not only expected them to be carried out to the letter, but he also expected to pay Motor Matt well for doing it.
All this responsibility, it may be, had got on Matt's nerves a little, so that he was apt to shy at imaginary dangers. But this fact in no wise interfered with his coolness and courage.
The whole under part of the submarine's hull was filled with smoke—a smoke that had the acrid smell of burned gas. On hands and knees, Matt groped his way through the haze, pulled a switch, and set an electric ventilator fan at work. The fan soon cleared the ship, and the first figure Matt saw was that of the gasping Chinaman. He was on his knees in the tank room. In front of him lay a twisted and broken gasolene tank—a small reserve reservoir sometimes used to help out the larger tank when the fuel in it was running low. This auxiliary tank had not been used for a month, but had hung empty from a rack in the tank room.
At the Chinaman's side lay a cigarette and a half-burned match.
"What the deuce happened?" cried Glennie, creeping after Matt.
"Your Chinaman tried to light a cigarette," answered the young motorist, quick to reason out the cause of what had happened. "He was under an auxiliary gasolene reservoir, and the match set it off."
"Thunder, Matt!" exclaimed Gaines, who had dropped down below after Glennie, "there hasn't been any gasolene in that tank for a month."