TOM TO THE RESCUE
Mr.Damon came to a pause in the compartment from which the diving chamber gave access to the ocean outside.Tom, standing before the sliding steel door, had summoned to him several of his men and was rapidly giving them directions.
"What are you going to do, Tom Swift?" asked the eccentric man.
"I'm going out there to save Ned!" was the quick answer."He's in the grip of some strange monster of the sea.What it is I don't know, but I'm going to find out.Koku, you come with me!""Yes, Master, me come!" said the giant simply, as if Tom had told him to go for a pail of water instead of risking his life.
"Barnes, the electric gun!" cried the young inventor to one of his helpers, while others were getting out the diving suits.
"The electric gun!" exclaimed the man."Do you mean the small one?" "No, the largest.The improved one." "Right, sir! Here you are!""Do you mean to say you are going out there, where that monster is, and attack it with a gun?" asked Mr.Hardley.
"That's what I'm going to do!" answered Tom, as he began to put on the suit of steel and rubber, an example followed by Koku.
"But you may be attacked by the monster! You may be killed! You are risking your life!" cried the gold seeker.
"I know it." Tom spoke simply."Ned would do the same for me!""But hold on!" cried Mr.Hardley."If you are killed there will be no one to navigate this boat to the place of the wreck! You can't desert this way!"Tom gave the man one look of contempt."You need have, no fears," he said."This submarine is under international maritime laws.If I die, Captain Nelson, the next in command, takes charge, and the original orders will be carried out.If it is possible to get the gold for you it will be done.Now let me alone.I've got work to do!""Bless my apple cart, Tom, that's the way to talk!" exclaimed Mr.
Damon, and he, too, for the first time, seemed ready to break with Hardley."If I were a bit younger I'd go out with you myself and help save Ned.""Koku and I can do it--if he's still alive!" murmured the young inventor."Lively now, boys! Is that gun ready?""Yes, and doubly charged," was the answer."Good! I may need it.Koku, take a gun also!""Me take axe, Master," replied the giant.
"Well, perhaps that will be better," Tom agreed."If two of us get to shooting under the water we may hit one another.Quick, now! The helmets.And, Nash, you work the big searchlight!""Aye, aye, sir!" answered the sailor.
The helmets were now put on, and any further orders Tom had to give must come through the telephone, and it was by that same medium that he must listen to the talk of his friends.It was possible for the divers to talk and listen to one another while in the water by means of these peculiarly constructed telephones.
"All ready, Koku?" asked Tom.
"All ready, Master," answered the giant, as he grasped his keen axe.
The inner door of the diving chamber was now opened, and, the water having been pumped out of the chamber since Ned and the sailor had emerged, it was ready for Tom and Koku.They entered, the door was closed, and presently they felt the pressure of water all about them, the sea being admitted through valves in the outer door.
While this was going on Mr.Damon, the gold-seeker, and some of the crew and officers went into the forward chamber to observe the undersea fight against the monster that had attacked Ned.
Suddenly the waters glowed with a greatly increased light, and in this illumination it was seen that the monster, whatever it was, had almost completely enveloped Tom's chum with its five arms.
"What makes it possible to see better?" asked Mr.Damon.
"I've turned on the big searchlight," was the answer."Mr.Swift had it installed at the last moment.It's the same kind he invented and gave to the government, but he retained the right to use it himself.""It's a good thing he did!" exclaimed the eccentric man."Now he cansee what he's doing! Poor Ned! I'm afraid he's done for!""Look!" exclaimed one of the crew."Norton, the sailor who went out with Mr.Newton, is trying to kill the monster with his spear!"This was so.Ned's companion, armed with a lone pole to which he had lashed a knife, was stabbing and jabbing at the black form which almost completely hid Ned from sight.But the efforts of the sailor seemed to produce little effect.
