CHAPTER VIII.
CARL IN TROUBLE.
The most prominent object that met Motor Matt's startled eyes was abig bull alligator. The creature was thrashing about in the water, nowstriking the sides of the _Grampus_ with its powerful tail, and nowmaking an attack on the pitpan, or dugout canoe, which has alreadybeen referred to.
Carl Pretzel was in the canoe, and he was wildly anxious to get back tothe submarine. The alligator, however, was floundering around in thestretch of water between Carl and the _Grampus_.
"Helup!" whooped Carl. "Der olt man-eader vill ged me oof you don'd dosomet'ing."
It hadn't seemed to occur to the Dutch boy that he could goashore--being much nearer the bank, in fact, than the submarine.
Dick had a hatchet which he had picked up from somewhere on the deck.He rushed back to the conning tower and climbed into it, thus securingan elevated position which offered some advantage in case he hurled thehatchet at the big saurian.
"Paddle ashore, Carl!" called Matt.
"Dot's so," gasped Carl; "meppy I vill. Coax der pig feller avay; Idon'd like how he uses dot tail oof his."
Carl fell to work with his paddle. By that time, however, thealligator's temper was aroused, and, before Carl had got the pitpanturned, the big creature glided forward, opened its ponderous jaws andclosed them about the forward end of the dugout.[B]
[B] The common supposition that an alligator uses only his tail as aweapon of offense and defense is erroneous. His tail is for swimmingpurposes, and his big jaws are his main reliance in combat.
There was a frightful crash, and the sides of the pitpan were stove inlike an eggshell. One end of the wrecked boat was pushed high in thewater, and Carl, at the other end, was in sore straits.
"Helup, or I vas a goner!" yelled Carl, leaping into the water as MotorMatt made ready to hurl the harpoon.
Carl's predicament had become serious in the extreme. If the enragedreptile turned on him, his doom was sealed. The task for Matt and Dick,which they recognized on the instant, was to wound the alligator andtake its attention from the boy in the water.
The harpoon left Matt's hand, and the hatchet left Dick's, at the samemoment. The hatchet was turned by the reptile's scaly coat as by somuch armor plate. The harpoon, however, by a chance, struck just backof the alligator's fore-leg in the place where the hide was not sothick. The big fellow had lifted head and shoulders out of the waterin the fierceness of the attack on the pitpan--which fact alone madeMatt's blow possible.
Dick, tumbling out of the conning tower, seized one end of a coil ofrope and hurled it toward Carl. The Dutch boy grabbed it, and Dick drewhim in rapidly, hand over hand.
The alligator, meantime, had whipped away around the bow of the_Grampus_, half its head only on the surface, and leaving a reddenedtrail in its wake.
Carl, sputtering and gasping, fell dripping on the submarine's deck.
"Be jeerful, be jeerful," he mumbled. "I tell you somet'ing, dot vasder glosest call vat efer I hat mit meinseluf. Dot's righdt."
He pulled himself up by means of the periscope mast, and shook his fistafter the alligator, which was returning to the bayou.
"You don'd make some meals off me, I bed you!" he taunted. "Nexdt dimeyou do a t'ing like dot, meppy I vill haf a rifle hanty. Den, pyshinks, I gif you more as you can dake care oof."
"You'll have to pay Speake for that harpoon, Carl," laughed Matt.
"Mit bleasure," answered Carl. "Id vas der harboon vat safed my life."
"How did you come to get in that fix?"
"Veil, I t'ink I vould like to look at dot bitban, so Tick he bulls onder rope und prings der supmarine glose inshore. I shdep off der pow,valk along der pank und ged indo der tugoudt; den I bick oop der baddleund t'ink I vill row pack, as Tick hat let der supmarine oudt indoder rifer again. Schust as I got shdarted, dot pig alligador pobs ooprighdt py der poat. I say 'shoo' aber he von'd shoo vort' a cent. DenI drow vone oof der baddles ad him, und he geds madt as some vet hensund pegins vorking dot dail aroundt. Den I vished dot I vas some blaceelse, und make some yelling. Der resdt iss vat you know. Ach, blitzen!Der bitban iss gone oop, und I vas poody near gone oop meinseluf.Anyhow, a miss iss as goot as a mile, don'd it?"
"It's just as well, I guess," said Matt, "that the dugout has beendestroyed. If we were attacked here by the rebels, the boat would havehelped them. But you should not have left the submarine, Carl. Thenoise we have made here may have been heard. In that event, we canexpect trouble."
Just at that moment, Clackett and Gaines came up through the hatch.
"What's been going on?" Clackett asked.
"You've missed the fun, matey," returned Dick. "Carl had a littletrouble with an alligator, and just got out of it by the skin of histeeth."
"Clackett an' me was asleep," said Gaines. "Blamed funny, though, wedidn't hear the rumpus. What woke me was you fellows, talking andwalking over the deck. Haven't Speake and Jordan shown up yet?"
"What time is it?" asked Matt.
"It was a little after twelve when Clackett an' me left the torpedoroom."
"Great spark plugs!" exclaimed Matt, startled. "I must have sleptlonger than I supposed. It was nine o'clock when Jordan and the otherswent ashore. Jordan said they'd be back in three hours, at the outside.More than three hours have passed and they're not back."
Matt's eyes, suddenly filled with anxiety, swept the tree-covered bank.
"Tirzal knew the country, mate," said Dick, "and I guess those fellowsare wise enough to steer clear of the rebels while they're trying tolocate Coleman."
"Something may have gone wrong with them, for all that. If Cassidy andFingal managed to get word to the revolutionists, then quite likelyJordan, Speake, and Tirzal got into a snare. If they did, and if----"
Matt was interrupted by the distant report of a rifle, echoing andre-echoing through the dense timber. There was just one report, andthen silence fell again; but, during the silence, the troubled glancesof those on the _Grampus_ met questioningly.
"Our landing party has been discovered," declared Matt, who was firstto collect his wits. "Dick and I will go ashore and see if we can be ofany help. I'll leave you in charge of the _Grampus_, Gaines. As soonas we are off the boat, you, and Clackett, and Carl cast off from theshore, go below and sink until the periscope ball is just awash. Youmay have to put out an anchor to hold the boat against the current.One of you keep constantly at the periscope, watching the left-handbank. If you see one of us come there and wave his arms, you'll know wewant you to come up and take us aboard. Be as quick as you can, too,for we may be in a hurry."
"Depend on me, Matt," said Gaines.
"Depend on all of us," added Clackett.
Matt turned to his sailor chum.
"Go into the periscope room, Dick," said he, "and get those tworevolvers of Jordan's. Never mind the belts. Empty out some of thecartridges and put them in your pocket. Hustle, old chap."
Dick was only gone a few minutes. During that time Gaines and Clackettwere busy with the rope, hauling the submarine back to the bank, andMatt was listening for more firing.
No more reports came from the timber, however, and when Dick reappearedand handed Matt one of the revolvers, both hurried to the bow of thesubmarine and sprang ashore.
"Don't forget your orders, Gaines," cautioned Matt.
"You can bank on it that I won't, Matt," answered the motorist. "Youand Dick look out for yourselves. Don't make a bad matter worse byletting the revolutionists get a grip on you. If they did, we'd be inhard shape for sure."