"We could rise to the surface even if the propeller is stuck!" declared Harry. "I can pump the ballast all out of the tanks!"
"But if we do that we"ll have to dive overboard to clear the wheel!"
protested Frank. "I know that water is good and cold!"
"Wait a minute, boys, and see what the fellow does," cautioned Ned.
"Maybe he wants to help us, so it wouldn"t be nice to run away!"
"Here he is, now!" cried Jack from his position near a porthole. "He"s looking through the gla.s.s, and making motions again!"
"I know what he wants!" declared Harry. "He"s making motions for us to unscrew a pipe! He wants us to let in a lot of the ocean!"
"Wait a minute, Harry!" put in Ned. "He"s walking toward his own boat.
Let"s see what he"s going to do!"
In a short time their rescuer had reached the side of his own vessel. He stepped into an open door in the side and disappeared.
"An air lock!" cried Ned. "Did you see that, boys?"
"Just like the little old Sea Lion we used in the China Sea!"
"Here he comes again with a line!" announced Harry. "Now what?"
The boys heard a hammering and thumping near one of the sea c.o.c.ks.
CHAPTER XIX
MACKINDER AGAIN
Even as the five boys glanced at each other with startled and wondering looks, the thumping ceased abruptly. In a short s.p.a.ce it was resumed.
Instinctively the boys gathered near the spot.
While they stood there trying to determine the cause for the strange procedure, the noise ceased. They heard a tapping at one of the portholes. Jimmie rushed across the compartment to investigate.
"Hey, fellows, come over here a minute!" he called out.
"What have you found now?" questioned Ned, obeying the request.
"Here"s this chap, and he"s making all sorts of signals!"
"That"s funny!" puzzled Ned. "Can you make out what he wants?"
"He"s making his hands go in the strangest way! I"m sure I can"t interpret such motions unless he wants us to turn around while he places a bomb or something close enough to blow us out of the water."
"I know what he wants!" shouted Harry, who had been closely observing the stranger"s repet.i.tion of the strange motions. "He wants us to open the valve leading from that sea c.o.c.k where he has been working!"
"Fine business!" scorned Jimmie. "Open up the sea c.o.c.k and let the ocean come running all over our nice carpets! I guess not!"
"I"m going to try it, anyway!" declared Harry. "If a little water does come in, the pumps will take care of it before it becomes dangerous. At least, it"s well worth trying!"
"Go ahead, then, but don"t blame me if anything happens!"
Harry moved to the vicinity of the spot where the stranger had been occupied but a few moments before. Jimmie was at the porthole.
A turn of the valve resulted in a sudden short inrush of water.
This ceased abruptly, bringing forth an exultant cry from Harry, while the other boys crowded around, speculating on the cause.
"I"ve got it!" cried Harry, dancing about the compartment. "I know what he"s going to do. Go to the porthole, Jimmie, and see where our friend is now. Tell me just what he"s doing. I"m going to stand guard over this valve here for a while in case something happens."
"He"s going back into his little cage!" stated Jimmie from his position.
"He"s just shutting the outer door."
"Stand by to see something happen now, boys!" announced Harry.
"What"s going to happen, Harry?" asked Jack.
Before Harry could answer, a sputter of water and air was observed at the open valve. A small quant.i.ty of water was blown out of the pipe.
Following this came a rush of sweet, pure air that was very grateful to the boys after they had been using the vitiated atmosphere of their craft.
In fact, the lads were much nearer the complete exhaustion of their supply of usable atmosphere than they really comprehended.
"Um-m-m!" exclaimed Jimmie, inhaling great draughts of the incoming current. "Smell that, will you? It"s just like a posy bed!"
"That"s quite remarkable!" declared Ned, as he, too, sniffed the new atmosphere. "It does really seem to carry the odor of flowers!"
"Maybe it"s a sort of gas that he"s unloading on us to render us unconscious, so he can capture the whole outfit!" conjectured Jack.
"I don"t believe it!" protested Ned. "I"m quite convinced that this is pure air. He seems to have quite a lot of it stored up!"
"Let"s pump out some of this foul air and change with the new!"
"Go ahead!" consented Ned. "It"s a good move, I"m sure!"
In a short time the boys began to feel the effects of the inflow of vitalized atmosphere. They were livelier, with less depression.
Directly their attention was attracted to the porthole again by a tapping. The stranger was once more trying to convey some information by signs. He repeated the motions of a short time before.
"I got you!" cried Harry, holding up a hand as a sign of understanding.
"He wants us to shut the valve off. Perhaps he"s given us all the nice fresh air that he feels it possible to spare!"
"Shut the valve, then," directed Ned.
"What"s next?" spoke up Jimmie, listening to a slight hammering outside of the hull. "He"s disconnecting the pipe now!"