Chapter 8

THE NIGHT'S STRUGGLE TO FREE THE VESSEL

The boys wondered at the remark which the captain had made, and were about to ask him for an explanation, when the electric lights suddenly died out, and all were left in total darkness. The captain crawled past the boys and felt his way toward the stern of the vessel.

"The storage batteries!" was all he said.

That there was confusion on the part of the crew of the vessel, was apparent, for the sub-lieutenant shouted one order after the other, until he seemed to be incoherent, and, as a result, no one knew what was expected of him or what to do.

Evidently, the captain knew the trouble and how to remedy it, for within a minute the lights were again in commission, and the captain was noticed at the main switch. From that point he shouted to the sub-lieutenant:

"I found a box on the switchboard. It had slipped down and thrown out the switch bar at the time the boat made the last lurch."

"Thank you for the service," said the sub-lieutenant, to the surprise of the captain and boys.

As the captain returned to their room he remarked: "The sub-lieutenant was very polite; probably he would not be so likely to thank me for some other things I have done."

"What! since you left us two minutes ago?" asked Ralph.

The captain nodded. "But I started to say a few minutes ago," he continued, "that we ought to have our work planned out ahead and thoroughly understand each other. There is one thing I must impress on you, and that is, we must not again be locked up in this room. I have no faith in the present commander, and would be very much mistaken if he permits us to have our freedom after we once get free of the nets."

"What must be done if he again orders us locked up?" asked Alfred.

"That brings us to the point where we must make a canvass of the situation as it confronts us. Let me see; there are three men in addition to the commander, who need not be reckoned with in a contest. Fortunately, one of the men is a machinist, and the only other man except the sub-lieutenant, of any intelligence, is the doctor. I doubt if he would be a strong factor against us," said the captain.

"The fellow who had charge of the men carrying the boxes is nothing but a chump," said Ralph. "I wouldn't be afraid of him."

"I am considering more the character of the men who are able to handle the boat, and who know the intricacies of the mechanism. I can see where men of that sort will be able to make it very interesting for us if we should attempt to capture the officers and crew," said the captain thoughtfully.

It was evident that the vessel was slowly righting itself, for every minute or two there would be a slight sinking movement, which was very gratifying.

"Where are the revolvers?" asked the captain.

"I found a dandy place for them, and can get them in a minute, if wanted," said Ralph.

"Captain, I wanted to ask you some time ago what you meant by saying that the sub-lieutenant didn't know any more about submarining than he ought to. What did you mean by that?" asked Alfred.

"One of the things I had in mind was, when he was trying to start the propellers, that he could have found an easier way to learn whether they were in the water or not," was the answer.

"How so?" asked Ralph.

"The indicator board in the conning tower shows just how far the vessel is under water," replied the captain.

"But," said Alfred, "would that tell it correctly if one end of the vessel should be up and the other down, as this is?"

"Why not? It would indicate how far down in the water the hull would be amidship, and it would not require much involved calculating to figure out where the stern of the vessel would be if he knew the angle at which the hull was resting," answered the captain.

"I would just like to know how far we are down," said Ralph, looking up the stairway into the conning tower.

"Do you think you could spot the right dial face if you went up?" asked the captain.

"I think I could," said Ralph, rather doubtingly, it must be admitted.

"Then I'll give you a little hint, if you'd like to try to make an investigation," said the captain. "Directly forward of the table, which contains the chart, and below the three levers, you will see a glass column with red colored liquid in it,----"

"I know what you mean now," said Ralph, interrupting.

"Well, simply get the number on the card on the right side of the glass column. Do you understand?" remarked the captain.

"Yes; but why not take the numbers on the left side also?" asked Ralph.

"They merely indicate the pressure. Depth below the surface is all we want," rejoined the captain.

"Well, here goes; and I hope they won't catch me at it," said Ralph, as he slowly moved out.

"One moment," said the captain, as he put forth a restraining hand. "What will you do, or how will you act if some one should catch you in the tower?" he asked.

Ralph hesitated: "I hadn't thought of that; why,--well,--I suppose I should try to explain it in some way or other," he said.

"I am afraid that would not do. Allow me to make a suggestion. Go up boldly, as though you had a perfect right to, or that you did not suspect it was a forbidden place; if some one accosts you look at him in a surprised way, make an apology, and retire; I give you this pointer because you may be flustrated and unable to make a prompt reply, and that would show guilt of some kind," said the captain.

Ralph went out and loitered about, gazing at the various pieces of machinery, and finally stood on the steps of the conning tower, which, at the angle of the boat in its inclined position, were almost horizontal. He stretched himself out on the stairs, and turned his head. From that point he could see the red liquid in the glass column, but it was difficult to read the figures.

The glare from the electric light interfered with his sight, and before he had an opportunity to get a glimpse of the figures from his new position, one of the petty officers crawled along the passageway, and, noticing him lying on the stairs, peremptorily ordered him to get down.

Ralph glanced at the man, smiled at him, and promptly complied, chagrined at his failure. As he entered the little room the captain eagerly questioned him: "What did it say?" he asked.

"That fellow ordered me away before I could make out the figures," said Ralph, "but I'm going to try it again."

"How near was the liquid from the top of the glass tube?" asked the captain.

"Well, I should say about so far," replied Ralph, indicating space between his thumb and finger. "I guess it was about an inch."

"How long do you think the tube is?" asked the captain.

"I think it must be a foot long; probably more," was the answer.

"I asked you to give me an estimate of the length of the entire tube so as to give me some assurance that you knew the value of an inch. You were right; those tubes are twelve inches long. Now let me see; I ought to know what figures are an inch from the top!" remarked the captain thoughtfully.

"Pardon me, Captain, but how does it come that you know all about these boats?" asked Alfred.

"I used to be an officer on a French submarine," he replied in a quiet tone, and immediately proceeded to make certain mental calculations. Then he continued: "One inch below the top! That is twenty."

"Twenty what?" asked Ralph.

"Twenty feet; the Germans have the English foot on all their boats. I wonder they didn't think about that, and make a change before starting out."

"Maybe it's twenty meters," said Alfred, with a slight laugh.

"Oh, no," replied the captain. "That would be too Frenchy for the Germans. Besides, it would be too much by all odds. I am sure the conning tower is not more than twenty feet below the surface of the water."

"Then the stern of the submarine must be sticking out of the water," remarked Alfred.

"Unquestionably," replied the captain.

"How far, do you suppose?" asked Ralph.

"We can easily figure that out," said the captain. "Let me see; we must first get the angle at which the boat is lying."

After looking about for some time he continued: "The door jamb is built in vertically; that is sure. A string, or piece of thread will make a plumb-bob; here it is: now let us see; according to the plumb line the boat is at an angle of 33 degrees, as nearly as our imperfect device indicates. There, now this line A shows the top of the boat and B the base of the conning tower. A line C, from the top of the water to the center of the conning tower, measuring 20 feet, shows where the water line is. Do you understand how I am doing it?"

"That is very plain," said Alfred, "and it is an interesting way to get at it, too. Then how far is the tail of the boat out of the water?"

"I should say it is about nine feet," replied the captain.

"No wonder the propellers didn't do any good when they sent them spinning!"

"There is one thing I forgot about," said the captain, as he shook his head. "Why didn't I tell you to note the time. We are in the greatest danger, I fear."

"Why, what makes you think so?" asked Ralph.

"This accident happened during the night, and we have now been in this condition for at least four hours. If we are caught here at daylight it is all up with us," remarked the captain.

"Why, is it any more dangerous then than now?" asked Alfred.

"Because the patrol boats and submarine chasers will spy us, and then a shot, and all will be over," replied the captain with a solemn voice.

"Then I think we ought to do something right away," said Ralph, as he half rose and glanced out.

"I am afraid that will put the burden of getting out of the nets on our shoulders," replied the captain. "No, let them work at it, as long as they care to, but we must try by some means to determine the time."

"Do you think the seamen would object to telling us?" inquired Alfred. "Just let me alone; I am going to try it on, anyway," he said, as he slipped out of the door, picked up a box and stowed it away snugly at one side out of the way of a young fellow who was making his way up the incline toward the stern.

Alfred struck up a conversation, and asked: "Can I help you in any way? Tell me what to do."

The request seemed to warm up the fellow, and the information was given that the officer had instructed him to remove the stray boxes from the machinery. The two engaged in this work for more than fifteen minutes. Finally Alfred said: "How are you, pretty tired? You haven't had much sleep so far?"

"Oh, no; but we're used to that," he replied, "why, in the last run we had hardly an hour's sleep in the last four days before reaching port."

"That must be very trying," rejoined Alfred. "But it must be near daylight."

"It is just about an hour off; and when the day comes I don't know what will happen," remarked the seaman.

"Why, what are you afraid of?" asked Alfred, appearing to be greatly alarmed.

"They have caught us this time for good, as I heard the lieutenant,----"

The sentence was never finished, for at that moment there was another rasping sound, and the stern of the boat came down with a sudden spring, then rebounded, and after two or three oscillations, rested quietly in the water, still at quite an angle.

The sub-lieutenant sprang toward the conning tower as fast as he could scramble. The signal was given to reverse, the motors began to hum and the ship vibrated. It was a glorious feeling, and the captain grasped the hands of the boys in an ecstacy of joy.