"It beats the Old Scratch why Ned and Jack don"t come," Frank said, presently. "I"m afraid something has happened to them."
"There is no use of their staying ash.o.r.e," Jimmie said, "for I found out what Ned wanted to know. He asked me to find out if the Shark communicated with the sh.o.r.e, and I did it. He ought to know I wouldn"t fall down on a little thing like that," the boy added, with a grin.
"I"m the only original snake charmer!"
While this sharp exchange of ideas had been going on, Frank had been working the various levers which controlled the alt.i.tude of the submarine, and the gauge showed that she was close to the bottom as the last word was spoken.
Jimmie turned away from the panel and caught hold of a railing which ran along in front.
"Look out for the b.u.mps!" he cried!
Then there came a shock which threw both boys off their feet. The staunch craft shivered for an instant, then righted, swaying just a little under the heavy pressure of the depth she was in.
Frank sprang to the delicate machinery which controlled the air supply and the lights. No harm seemed to have been done to them.
"The Shark can"t do that again!" Jimmie said, with a sigh of relief.
"We"re on the bottom now, and her prow would slip over our back. The only mischief she would do would be to knock off our conning tower, and that would not disable us."
"Can you see her now?" asked Frank.
"Sure," replied the boy. "Her lights are on."
"What is she doing?"
"Rolling on the bottom. Say, "bo, I believe she hurt herself when she tried to soak us."
The ex-newsboy moved away from the panel and Frank took his place as lookout.
"She"s crippled, all right," the latter said, after a moment"s inspection of their rival, "but I can"t see what"s the matter."
"Course you can"t. The hurt"s on the inside."
"Anyway, she doesn"t seem to be able to move. I know she is trying to get off by the way the water changes around her stern."
"b.u.mp her!" advised Jimmie.
"I reckon that would settle her," Frank replied, "but I"m not in the pirate business just now."
The boys watched the Shark for half an hour or more, and then saw her move slowly away.
"She"s going toward Hongkong," Frank said, "and we may as well bid her good-by."
"Not!" exclaimed Jimmie. "We"ve got to follow her."
"And leave Ned and Jack?"
Jimmie"s jaw fell. This was something he had not thought of. The boys were still on the island--might be in great peril.
"Well, jump up to the surface," the lad said, then, "and I"ll go to the island and see what"s up."
"Fine chance you"d stand!" laughed Frank.
"Bet I can go ash.o.r.e an" find a Boy Scout!" returned Jimmie. "We"ve found "em in every part of the world."
The Shark was still in view, her lights creating faint mists under the water, but the boys did not consider her a formidable opponent now, so they lifted to the top of the ocean.
Jimmie was first out on the conning tower. The sun was still shining brightly and the water lay as quiet as the surface of a pond on a still day.
When the boy turned to the white line of sand at the rim of the sea he saw Ned and Jack standing there with two others. He waved his hat and Jack swung back from where he stood.
"Guess they"ve found some one worth talking with," Frank remarked, stepping up on the conning tower.
"Guess they have," responded Jimmie, "but there"s some one creeping up to "em from the thicket," he added, lifting his gla.s.ses. "Look out, boys!" he shouted, waving one hand frantically. "Look out! There"s some one makin" a sneak on you!"
"They don"t catch what you say!" Frank exclaimed. "Look there!"
CHAPTER XIV
A BOY SCOUT WITH A "PUNCH"
When Ned saw the conning tower of the submarine drop out of sight he rowed over to the spot where she had gone down and tried to look into the depths of the sea.
The water was fairly clear, and he could see two great bulks below instead of one. He knew then what was taking place.
"The Shark is bent on murder," he mused. "Perhaps they wouldn"t be so ready to sink the Sea Lion if they knew that the manager of the whole rotten business was a prisoner on her."
He could not see clearly, of course, but he waited and watched for some moments. Then the Shark crashed with the Sea Lion and fell off, apparently crippled.
"So that"s the reason Frank dropped to the bottom!" thought Ned. "He knew the Shark couldn"t get a good crack at the Sea Lion when she lay on the bottom. Wonder if the Shark is injured seriously?"
He watched until the Shark turned to the east, curving around the point of land which she had pa.s.sed to the attack, then turned toward the sh.o.r.e. Jack was still there, and he must find him before nightfall.
Much to his surprise, he saw Jack, Hans and the Englishman, Hamblin by name, watching him from the beach. He waved his hat and shouted to them, wondering all the time where Jack had picked up his acquaintances. In five minutes he was on the beach.
"Is this the boy you wanted me to talk with?" asked Hamblin, as Ned drew up his boat and approached the group.
"The same," laughed Jack, "only you mustn"t call him a boy! He"s a big man in his own country."
Hamblin eyed Ned critically for a minute and extended his hand. Ned laughed as he took it.
"I"ve met you before!" he said.
"In a cheap lodging house on the Bowery," said Hamblin. "You were looking for a man who had robbed a bank an" made a run for it."