At the surface the boys found the water much smoother than they had expected would be the case. Jimmie declared that he intended painting the balance of the name "U-13" on the vessel while the other lads were occupied in airing out the vessel and refilling the compressed air tanks.
Slung in a boatswain"s chair over the sloping deck the lad soon completed this task. Feeling a considerable degree of elation at the success of his undertaking Jimmie returned with his brush and paint.
"If you"re ready now we"ll dive again and proceed!"
"Wait a minute, Mackinder"s still on deck!" stated Jack.
"He wasn"t there when I came below!" protested Jimmie.
CHAPTER XV
MISTAKEN IDENt.i.tY
Ned looked at Jimmie in astonishment. He could scarcely credit his senses. He began ascending the iron ladder leading to the deck.
Eagerly the lad glanced about the upper portion of the submarine which now showed black and gleaming above the surface of the water.
"Harry," he called down the hatchway, "didn"t Mackinder say he was coming on deck to see if he could be of service to Jimmie?"
"He certainly did!" answered Harry. "Then we went on working at the pumps. I was busy with the starboard pump because it wasn"t working just as it should. I saw him start up the ladder!"
"And I saw him when he was about half way up!" put in Jack.
"I"m equally certain he didn"t return, but it may be well enough to stop a minute to search the interior. Perhaps he came back."
In a moment all five boys were busily going over every corner of the craft. From stem to stern they ransacked every place where it would have been at all possible for their guest to have hidden.
At length they met in the s.p.a.ce directly below the hatchway.
"Find anything?" queried Ned glancing about the group.
"Not a hint of anything at all resembling an Englishman!" stated Jimmie.
"Perhaps it would be a good idea to put an ad. in the paper."
"Yes," scorned Jack. "Like this: "Lost--one perfectly good Englishman.
Finder please return to the "U-13" and receive reward"!"
"Sure!" agreed Jimmie. "Have them charge it, please!"
"Hush this nonsense, boys!" cried Ned. "This may be serious!"
"Well, where is he?" protested Jimmie. "We haven"t got him!"
"Maybe he fell overboard!" suggested Ned. "Let"s have a look."
Again the lad mounted the ladder. As he reached the small deck he peered anxiously about the vessel seeking what he hoped he might not find.
The others came crowding after their chum, filling the s.p.a.ce.
"There he goes!" cried Jimmie pointing away to the north.
"Where?" inquired Ned looking in the direction indicated. "Oh, I see him," the lad went on. "He"s swimming a good stroke, too!"
"Is he crazy or just disgusted with the company on board the "U-13"?"
"Perhaps he thinks he"ll be picked up by that boat!" stated Jimmie again directing the attention of his comrades to a small fishing craft. "They seem to be heading a course that will reach Mackinder."
"He was wise enough to take one of the life preservers," said Harry indicating a s.p.a.ce from which a buoy was missing.
"Sure enough!" agreed Ned. "He"s no fool at any rate!"
"Let"s wait a while to see if they pick him up," suggested Jimmie.
"If they don"t get him, we"ll chase over there and take him aboard again.
What do you say?" asked Ned of the others.
There was no dissenting voice raised to this suggestion. Eagerly the lads watched the boat momentarily drawing nearer the swimmer.
In a short time the boat rounded to, losing her way in the water. A sharp skiff was quickly launched over the side. Into this tumbled two men. They soon covered the distance between their vessel and the swimmer. Without difficulty they succeeded in a.s.sisting Mackinder into the skiff, then put quickly back to the sailing vessel.
"Ah, he"s safe at any rate!" gladly stated Ned. "Now we can go on and finish our voyage in peace! I"m glad he"s gone!"
"So am I!" declared Jimmie. "He"s a good fellow as one might say, but he"s too awfully stuck on getting some information for that bloomin"
Hinglish Harmy, don"t you know!"
"That"s hardly fair, Jimmie!" laughed Ned. "He didn"t drop his "H"s" and he did only what he considered his duty."
"He will probably get that fisherman to set him ash.o.r.e on English soil as soon as possible," conjectured Jack. "Suppose we follow them."
"What for?" asked Harry. "Why should we chase after those chaps?"
"Unless we do something of the sort, we"ll have to go at it blindly!"
urged Jack. "We don"t really know where we are!"
"That"s so," admitted Harry reluctantly. "We haven"t a chart nor a course. We don"t know how far we are from anywhere at all!"
"We might keep on steering just as we started," stated Frank. "I believe southeast was the course we used coming away from Helgoland."
"That course would surely bring us up somewhere," put in Ned, "but it would be much better if we could find out exactly where we are. Then we could steer a course with intelligence."
"Aw, what do we need of a chart?" scorned Jimmie. "We know that England lies to the southwest of us. It"s big enough so we can"t miss it. If we blunder into the coast we can just cruise along a ways until we come to some place or other and then head in."
"That"s a good idea, too," agreed Frank. "When we get to a port we can turn the submarine over to the English authorities as a prize of war.
They"ll probably be glad enough to get the machine."