Chapter Eighteen
The Electric Gun
There was much excitement aboard the Advance. The submarine came to astop in the water, while the treasure-seekers waited anxiously for whatwas to follow. Would they be rammed again? This time, stationary asthey were, and with the other boat coming swiftly on, a hole might bestove through the Advance, in spite of her powerful sides.
They had not long to wait. Again there came a jar, and once more theSwifts' boat careened. But the blow was a glancing one and,fortunately, did little damage.
"They certainly must be trying to sink us," agreed Captain Weston."Come, Tom, we'll take a look from the stern and see what they're upto."
"And get the stern electric gun ready to fire," repeated Mr. Swift. "Wemust protect ourselves. Mr. Sharp and I will go to the bow. There is notelling what they may do. They're desperate, and may ram us from infront."
Tom and the captain hurried aft. Through the thick plate-glass windowsthey could see the blunt nose of the Wonder not far away, the rivalsubmarine having come to a halt. There she lay, black and silent, likesome monster fish waiting to devour its victim.
"There doesn't appear to be much damage done back here," observed Tom."No leaks. Guess they didn't puncture us."
"Perhaps it was due to an accident that they rammed us," suggested thecaptain.
"Well, they wouldn't have done it if they hadn't followed us so close,"was the opinion of the young inventor. "They're taking too manychances. We've got to stop 'em."
"What is this electric gun your father speaks of?"
"Why, it's a regular electric cannon. It fires a solid ball, weighingabout twenty-five pounds, but instead of powder, which would hardly dounder water, and instead of compressed air, which is used in thetorpedo tubes of the Government submarines, we use a current ofelectricity. It forces the cannon ball out with great energy."
"I wonder what they will do next?" observed the captain, peeringthrough a bull's eye.
"We can soon tell," replied the youth. "We'll go ahead, and if they tryto follow I'm going to fire on them."
"Suppose you sink them?"
"I won't fire to do that; only to disable them. They brought it onthemselves. We can't risk having them damage us. Help me with thecannon, will you please, captain?"
The electric cannon was a long, steel tube in the after part of thesubmarine. It projected a slight distance from the sides of the ship,and by an ingenious arrangement could be swung around in a ball andsocket joint, thus enabling it to shoot in almost any direction.
It was the work of but a few minutes to get it ready and, with themuzzle pointing toward the Wonder, Tom adjusted the electric wires andinserted the solid shot.
"Now we're prepared for them!" he cried. "I think a good plan will beto start ahead, and if they try to follow to fire on them. They'vebrought it on themselves."
"Correct," spoke Captain Weston.
Tom hurried forward to tell his father of this plan.
"We'll do it!" cried Mr. Swift. "Go ahead, Mr. Sharp, and we'll see ifthose scoundrels will follow."
The young inventor returned on the run to the electric cannon. Therewas a whir of machinery, and the Advance moved forward. She increasedher speed, and the two watchers in the stern looked anxiously out ofthe windows to see what their rivals would do.
For a moment no movement was noticeable on the part of the Wonder.Then, as those aboard her appeared to realize that the craft on whichthey depended to pilot them to the sunken treasure was slipping away,word was given to follow. The ship of Berg and his employers shot afterthe Advance.
"Here they come!" cried Captain Weston. "They're going to ram us again!"
"Then I'm going to fire on them!" declared Tom savagely.
On came the Wonder, nearer and nearer. Her speed was rapidlyincreasing. Suddenly she bumped the Advance, and then, as if it was anunavoidable accident, the rear submarine sheered off to one side.
"They're certainly at it again!" cried Tom, and peering from thebull's-eye he saw the Wonder shoot past the mouth of the electriccannon. "Here it goes!" he added.
He shoved over the lever, making the proper connection. There was nocorresponding report, for the cannon was noiseless, but there was aslight jar as the projectile left the muzzle. The Wonder could be seento heel over.
"You hit her! You hit her!" cried Captain Weston. "A good shot!"
"I was afraid she was past me when I pulled the lever," explained Tom."She went like a flash."
"No, you caught her on the rudder," declared the captain. "I thinkyou've put her out of business. Yes, they're rising to the surface."
The lad rapidly inserted another ball, and recharged the cannon. Thenhe peered out into the water, illuminated by the light of day overhead,as they were not far down. He could see the Wonder rising to thesurface. Clearly something had happened.
"Maybe they're going to drop down on us from above, and try to sinkus," suggested the youth, while he stood ready to fire again. "If theydo--"
His words were interrupted by a slight jar throughout the submarine.
"What was that?" cried the captain.
"Dad fired the bow gun at them, but I don't believe he hit them,"answered the young inventor.
"I wonder what damage I did? Guess we'll go to the surface to find out."
Clearly the Wonder had given up the fight for the time being. In fact,she had no weapon with which to respond to a fusillade from her rival.Tom hastened forward and informed his father of what had happened.
"If her steering gear is out of order, we may have a chance to slipaway," said Mr. Swift "We'll go up and see what we can learn."
A few minutes later Tom, his father and Captain Weston stepped from theconning tower, which was out of water, on to the little flat deck ashort distance away lay the Wonder, and on her deck was Berg and anumber of men, evidently members of the crew.
"Why did you fire on us?" shouted the agent angrily.
"Why did you follow us?" retorted Tom.
"Well, you've broken our rudder and disabled us," went on Berg, notanswering the question. "You'll suffer for this! I'll have youarrested."
"You only got what you deserved," added Mr. Swift. "You were actingillegally, following us, and you tried to sink us by ramming my craftbefore we retaliated by firing on you."
"It was an accident, ramming you," said Berg. "We couldn't help it. Inow demand that you help us make repairs."
"Well, you've got nerve!" cried Captain Weston, his eyes flashing. "I'dlike to have a personal interview with you for about ten minutes. Maybesomething besides your ship would need repairs then."
Berg turned away, scowling, but did not reply. He began directing thecrew what to do about the broken rudder.
"Come on," proposed Tom in a low voice, for sounds carry very easilyover water. "Let's go below and skip out while we have a chance. Theycan't follow now, and we can get to the sunken treasure ahead of them."
"Good advice," commented his father. "Come, Captain Weston, we'll gobelow and close the conning tower."
Five minutes later the Advance sank from sight, the last glimpse Tomhad of Berg and his men being a sight of them standing on the deck oftheir floating boat, gazing in the direction of their successful rival.The Wonder was left behind, while Tom and his friends were soon oncemore speeding toward the treasure wreck.