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‘. moss-covered stems.
- )
_ After five ‘minutes of violent and useless churning of
the screw, Matt. turned to Cassidy.. The mate, grave-
faced and anxious, was looking at him and waiting for
orders.
“Rig the electric projector, Cassidy,” said Matt calmly.
“Aye, aye, sir,” replied the mate.
When the little searchlight ‘was in position, a gleam
was thrown through one of the forward lunettes out
over the bow of the Grampus. Matt, feeling keenly the
weight of responsibility that rested on his shoulders,
mounted the iron ladder to the conning tower and looked “
through one of the small windows.
To his intense astonishment he found the bottom of
the sea pervaded with a faintly luminous light, perhaps
due to some phosphorescence given off by the marine
growth. Through this glow traveled the brighter gleam
of the searchlight.
The Grampus was lying in a dense forest of nodding,
The algae of the ocean bed, with its
lianes and creeping growth, twisted all about the sub-
marine, fluttering and waving in the currents caused by
the swiftly revolving propeller.
A gasp escaped Matt’s lips, however, when he fixed his
attention forward. For a full minute ‘he stood on the
ladder, taking in the weird and dangerous predicament,
of the Grampus.
Then-an exclamation fell from his lips, and he looked
down to see Captain Nemo,.Jr., slowly mounting to his
side.
“Took!” whispered Matt hoarsely, nodding toward the
lunettes.
The captain Pressed his eyes against the thick glass
and then dropped back . ° .
“A ship!” he exclaimed, “We have rammed an old”
Spanish galleon and are caught in her rotting timbers
He looked upward, his startled eyes engaging Matt's,
and the two staring at each other.
‘ '
CHAPTER II.
OUT OF THE JAWS OF DEATH.
What the captain had said was true. The Grampus,
cruising in those great depths, had had the misfortune
to hurl herself bodily on into an ancient wreck.
The wreck, which must have lain for centuries there on
the bottom, was covered with marine growth, yet, never-
theless, seemed wonderfully avell. preserved. The high
bow and poop, covered with serpent-like lianes and creep-
ing weeds, were erect in the water, for the galleon lay
on.an even keel. The ship’s two masts and steep bow-
sprit had been broken off, and the decks were a litter of
weeds, and shells, and sand..
The Grampus, cleaving the heavy submarine growth,
had flung her sharp prow into the galleon’s side and
was embedded almost to the flagstaff.
The captain and Matt descended silently into the peri-
sccpe room.
“We jammed into an old wreck, did we?” queried
Cassidy, calmly but with a look on*his face which re-
flected the perturbation of his mind.
“Yes,” answered Matt. ‘Some Spanish ship went
down hére—perhaps loaded with treasure for across the
”
. the water.
MOTOR STORIES. - 3
2
“Hardly loaded with treasure, Matt,” spoke up the
captain. “This is the Spanish Main, and the reefs off
Honduras offered shelter for many,a pirate in the old >
days. This galleon, I am inclined to think, was stripped
of her treasure by some buccaneer and sunk. It is too
bad that she was sunk in the course we happened to be
taking.”
The .rack of the useless motor ceased on an order’
from Matt; in the deep, death-like silence that inter-
vened, a wail came up from the tank room.
“Vat’s der madder mit us, Matt? Dit ve run indo a
cave in der ocean? Oof ve can’t ged oudt vat vill pe-
coma oof us?”
“We ran into an old Spanish ship, Carl,” answered
Matt, “and we are so jammed in the side of the hulk
‘that we haven’t been able, so far, to back out.” .
: Meppy ve von’t nefer be aple to
“Ach, du. lieber!
pack oudt! Meppy ve vas down here for. keeps, hey?
Nexdt dime I go down in some supmarines, you bed my
life I make a vill pefore I shtart.”
Carl, white as a sheet’ and scared, came rolling into
the periscope room. Dick likewise showed up,.from
forward.
“Strike me lucky, old ship,”. said whe, “T hadn't; any
notion this was’ to’be our last cruise.’
“Tt’s not,” answered Matt. “We'll get out of this.”
He turned to Captain Nemo, Jr., who was again seated
quietly, his calm eyes on the king of the motor boys.
“The power of the screw, unaided,” said the captain,
“will not serve to, get us*clear of the wreck. What are
you going to do, “Matt?”
Matt thought for a moment.
“Am I to have my way, captain?” he asked.
“Certainly. I want to see what you can do.”
“Speake ! Gaines! Clackett!” called Matt. “Come up
here, at once.’
From the engine room, the torpedo room, and the
ballast room came the rest of the submarine’s crew.
Their faces were gray with anxiety, but they were men
of pluck and determination, and could be depended on_
to fight for life until the very last.
“Men,” said Matt, “we have rammed an old hulk that
has been lying for centuries in the bottom of St. George’s
Bay. The nose of the Grampus is caught and held in the
~ wreck’s side, and the full power of the engine is not
sufficient to pull us out. We shall have to try sémething
else—something that will put a great strain on the steel
shell of the submarine, considering the préssure the boat
is under at this enormous depth. I am going to give
some orders, and on.the swiftness with which they are
carried out our lives may depend. You will all go back «
to your stations, Carl with Clackett and Dick with
Gaines; and when I shout the word ‘Ready!’ the engine
will be started with all power astern. At the same in-
stant, Clackett and Carl will open the pipes and admit
air into the ballast tanks, and open the valves that let out
We may have to do all this several times, if
necessary, but you fellows have got to be prompt in
doing what you are told.”
‘Again was admiration reflected in Captain Nemo’s ©
pale face. Leaning back against the steel wall of the
periscope room, he settled himself quietly to await de-
velopments.
“Count on me,’
* said Clackett, as he and Carl disap-
peared.