CHAPTER VI
THE CYCLONE
It was only in the nick of time, for a second later and the big mammalof the ocean would have struck the ship and split it from stem to stern.
Higher and higher into the air mounted the _Flying Mermaid_, while inthe water below, the whale, incensed by missing his prey, was lashingthe waves to foam.
"Well, that was a narrow squeak; as close as I ever care to come to it!"exclaimed Andy as he let go of the steel rail to which he was clingingand entered the conning tower. "I had no idea of hitting the big fish."
"I guess he would have taken after us whether you had fired at him ornot," said Mr. Henderson. "He was probably looking for trouble, and tookthe first thing that came in his way, which happened to be us. Somewhales are like that, so I have read; big bull creatures, exiled fromthe school to which they once belonged, they get like mad creatures andknow neither friend nor foe. Something like rogue elephants, I imagine."
Now, having thus unexpectedly risen into the air, the professor decidedto continue travel in that style for a while at least. It would requireless force to propel the ship, and the going would be more comfortable,since in the upper regions the _Mermaid_ rode on an even keel, while inthe water there was more or less rolling, due to the action of thewaves.
Once recovered from their fright caused by the whale, and having lostsight of the enormous creature, for they were now far above the ocean,the adventurers began to think of something to eat.
Washington lost little time in preparing a meal, and it was eaten with arelish. The electric cooking stove worked to perfection, for the coloredman had learned how to use that aboard the _Porpoise_ and _Monarch_, andcould be depended on to turn out appetizing dishes.
"What do you say to traveling through the air at night?" asked Mr.Henderson, as he arose from the table.
"Suits me," replied Mark. "There's less danger than in the water, Ithink."
Bill, Tom and Washington arranged to stand the night watch, and, whenthe professor had examined the engines and given orders about keepingthe ship on her course through the air, he retired to his bunk. Jack andMark soon followed.
It must have been about midnight when Mark was awakened by a movementthat seemed to come from the storeroom next to where his sleeping placewas located. At first he thought he had been dreaming, but, as he foundhe was wide awake, he knew it was no imagination that had affected him.
"I certainly heard something," he said to himself. "It sounded just asit did the other night. I wonder if I ought to investigate."
He thought over the matter carefully as he sat upright in his bunk inthe darkness. True the noise might be a natural one, due to thevibration of the engine, or to some echo from the machinery. As Marklistened he heard it again.
This time he realized it was the slow movement of some heavy body. Hefelt a cold shiver run over him and his hair evinced an uncomfortabletendency to stand upright. But he conquered his feelings and resolved tokeep cool and see if he could discover what had awakened him.
He got up and moved softly about the little room that contained hisbunk. He could hear better now, and knew it was no echo or vibrationthat had come to his ears.
Once again he heard the strange sound. It was exactly the same asbefore; as if some big creature was pulling itself over the floor.
"Maybe it's a snake; a water snake!" thought Mark. "It may have crawledaboard when we did not notice it."
Then he remembered that the ship had not been open in any way that wouldenable a serpent to come on it, since it had been started on its oceantrip. Before that, he was sure no snake had entered the _FlyingMermaid_. Still it sounded more like a snake than anything else.
"I'm going to make a search," decided the boy.
He took a small portable electric light, run by a storage battery, and,slipping on a pair of shoes and a bath robe, he left his stateroom.
He had decided that the noise came from the storage compartment and somade for that. The door he knew was not locked, since he had seen Mr.Henderson go in late that afternoon, and the professor had used no key.
Moving softly, Mark left his room and soon found himself in a corridor,on either side of which were located the sleeping quarters of theothers. He did not want to awaken them, and, perhaps, be laughed at forhis curiosity.
To get to the storeroom Mark had to go first from the corridor into thedining room. He soon reached the door that guarded what he thought mightbe a strange secret. Trying the knob softly he found it giving under hisfingers.
"I wonder if I had better go in," he thought. "Perhaps, after all, itwas only rats, as Jack said."
But, even as he listened he again heard the odd sound coming from theroom. This determined him. He would solve the mystery if possible.
Cautiously he turned the knob. The door was slowly swinging open whenMark was startled by a noise from behind him. He turned suddenly to seeProfessor Henderson confronting him.
"What is it, Mark? Is the ship on fire? What's the matter? Is any onehurt?"
"I was just going in this room to----" began Mark.
"Don't do it! Don't do it!" exclaimed the professor in an excitedwhisper. "No one must go in that room. I forgot to tell you and Jackabout it. No one must enter. It contains a secret!"
"I heard a strange noise and----" Mark began again.
"It could make no noise! It would be impossible for it to make a noise!"the professor exclaimed.
"I heard something," the boy insisted.
"You were dreaming!" said the professor. "Now go back to bed, Mark, anddon't let this happen again. Remember, no one must enter that roomunless I give permission!"
Somewhat crestfallen at the outcome of his investigations, but realizingthat the professor could do what he wanted to aboard his own ship, Markwent back to bed. But he could not sleep. All the rest of the night hewas wondering whether Mr. Henderson had some strange creature hiddenaboard the _Mermaid_. He feared lest the old scientist's mind might beaffected and, in his wildness he had made some infernal machine thatwould, in time, blow the whole ship apart.
But tired nature asserted itself at last, and, weary with vainimaginings, Mark fell into a slumber. The next morning he awoke with astart from a dream that he was being devoured by an immense water snake.
He said nothing to the others about his night's adventure, for, as ittranspired, no one else had been awakened by his investigations. Theprofessor did not refer to his conversation with Mark.
"There's something queer going on aboard the ship this trip," said Markto himself. "But I guess it's none of my business. Professor Hendersonseems to know what he is doing and I guess I can trust him."
He resolved to think no more of the strange noises and movements, and,for several nights thereafter he was not disturbed by them.
The weather, which, up to this time had been fair, took a sudden turnfor the worse about the fourth day after Mark's little night expedition.One evening the sun sank in a mass of dull lead-colored clouds and asharp wind sprang up.
"We're going to have a storm," said Mr. Henderson. "It's liable to be abad one, too, from the way the barometer is falling."
He looked at the glass, and scanned the various instruments that toldhow high up the _Mermaid_ was and how fast she was traveling.
"We're pretty high up in the air," he said, "and scooting along at aboutfifty miles an hour. We are going against the wind, too, but fortunatelyit is not blowing hard."
At that moment there sounded from without a peculiar howling sound, asif a siren whistle was being blown.
"'Pears like there's goin' t' be a tumultuous demonstration ofsub-maxiliary contortions in th' empherial regions contiguous t' th'upper atmosphere!" exclaimed Washington, entering from the engine roominto the conning tower.
"What's the trouble?" asked Mr. Henderson.
"Terrible big black cloud chasin' us from behind!" exclaimed the coloredman.
Noting the alarm in Was
hington's voice the professor glanced from therear window. What he saw caused him to exclaim:
"It's a cyclone! We must drop down to avoid it!"
He sprang to a lever controlling the gas and yanked it toward him. Therewas a shrill hissing sound, and a second later the _Mermaid_ began tosink. The boys watching the gages on the wall of the tower, saw that thecraft was falling rapidly.
But, with a rush and roar, the terrible wind was upon them. It caughtthe craft in its fearful grip and heeled it over as a ship careens tothe ocean blast.
"It's a storm in the upper regions! We'll find it calm below!" cried theprofessor above the howling of the gale. He opened the gas outlet widerand the ship fell more rapidly.
"Are you sure we're over the ocean?" asked Mark.
"Positive!" the professor called back. "We have been traveling straightsouth over the Atlantic for the last week. We will land in the midst ofthe waters and float safely."
Lower and lower went the _Mermaid_. The wind was now blowing with theforce of a tornado, and, as the craft had to slant in order to descend,it felt the power of the gale more than if it had scudded before it.But, by skilful use of the directing tube, the professor was able tokeep the boat from turning over. As they came further down toward theearth the force of the wind was felt less and less, until, as they camewithin two hundred feet of the water which they saw below them in thegathering dusk, it died out altogether.
"Now we are free from it," said the professor as the _Mermaid_ came downon the waves like an immense swan.
"Are you going ahead or going to stop here?" asked Mark.
"We'll keep right on," Mr. Henderson answered. "No telling when thestorm may strike down here. We'll go as far as we can to-night."