第24章

THE SEA MONSTER

Tom Swift, who had been making readings of the various gauges, taking notes for future use, and otherwise busying himself about the navigation of his reconstructed craft, turned quickly from the instrument board at the cry from Mr.Hardley.The gold- seeker, with a look of terror on his face, had recoiled from the observation windows.

"Bless my hat band!" cried Mr.Damon."Look, Tom!"They all turned their attention to the glass, and through the plates could be seen a school of giant fishes that seemed to be swimming in front of the submarine, keeping pace with it as though waiting for a chance to enter.

"Are we well protected against sharks, Mr.Swift?" demanded the adventurer."Are these sea monsters likely to break, the glass and get in at us?""Indeed not!" laughed Tom."There is absolutely no danger from these fish--they aren't sharks, either.""Not sharks?" cried Mr.Hardley."What are they, then?""Horse mackerel," Tom answered."At least that is the common name for the big fish.But they are far from being sharks, and we are in no danger from them.""Oh!" exclaimed Mr.Hardley, and he seemed a little ashamed of the exhibition of fear he had manifested."Well, they certainly seem determined to follow us," he added.

The big fish were, indeed, following the submarine, and it required no exertion on their part to maintain their speed, since below the surface theM.N.1 could not move very fast, as indeed no submarine can, due to the resistance of the water.

"They do look as though they'd like to take a bite or two out of us," observed Ned."Are they dangerous, Tom?""Not as a rule," was the answer."I don't doubt, though, but if a lone swimmer got in a school of horse mackerel he'd be badly bitten.In fact,some years ago, when there was a shark scare along the New Jersey coast, some fishermen declared that it was horse mackerel that were responsible for the death and injury of several bathers.A number of horse mackerel were caught and exhibited as sharks, but, as you can easily see, their mouths lack the under-shot arrangement of the shark, and they are not built at all as are the man-eaters.""Bless my toothbrush!" exclaimed Mr.Damon."Still, between a horse mackerel and a shark there isn't much choice!"Mr.Hardley, with a shudder, turned away from the glass windows, and Tom glanced significantly at Ned.It was another exhibition of the man's lack of nerve.

"We'll have trouble with him before this voyage is over," declared the young inventor to his chum, a little later.

"What makes you think so?" asked Ned.

"Because he's yellow; that's why.I thought him that once before, and then I revised my opinion.Now I'm back where I started.You watch--we'll have trouble.""Well, I guess we can handle him," observed the financial manager."I'm going a little deeper," announced Tom, toward evening on the firstday of the voyage on the open ocean."I want to see how she stands the pressure at five hundred feet.I feel certain she will, and even at a greater depth.But if there's anything wrong we want to correct it before we get too far away from home.We're going down again, deeper than before."A little later the submarine began the descent into the lower ocean depths.From three hundred and fifty feet she went to four hundred, and when the hand on the gauge showed four hundred and fifty there was a tense moment.If anything went wrong now there would be serious trouble.

But Tom Swift and his men had done their work well.The M.N.1 stood the strain, and when the gauge showed four hundred and ninety feet Mr.Damon gave a faint cheer.

"Bless my apple dumpling, Tom!" he replied, "this is wonderful.""Oh, we've been deeper than this," replied the young inventor, "but under different conditions.I'm glad to see how well she is standing it,though."

Suddenly, as the needle pointer on the depth gauge showed five hundred and two feet, there came a slight jar and vibration that was felt throughout the craft.

"What's that?" suddenly and nervously cried Mr.Hardley."Have we struck something?""Yes, the bottom of the ocean," answered Tom quietly."We are now on the floor of the Atlantic, though several hundred miles, and perhaps a thousand, from the treasure ship.We bumped the bottom, that's all," and as he spoke he brought the submarine to a stop by a signal to the engine room.

And there, as calmly and easily as some of the masses of seaweed growing on the ocean floor around her, rested the M.N.1.It was a test of her powers, and well had she stood the test, though harder ones were in store for her.

And inside the submarine Tom and his party were under scarcely greater discomfort than they would have been on the surface.True, they were confined to a restricted space, and the air they breathed came from compression tanks, and not from the open sky.The lights had to be kept aglow, of course, for it was pitch dark at that depth.The sunlight cannot penetrate to more than a hundred feet.But sunlight was not needed, for the craft carried powerful electric lights that could illuminate the sea in the immediate vicinity of the submarine.