CHAPTER XIV
Theboys traveled two weeks longer, and at last Marsovino thought himself near his destination. So he dived into the water to a great depth.
After a while, as he sank deeper and deeper into the sea, Pinocchio became frightened. They were down so far that no light from the sun could reach them.
“Where are you carrying me to, my dear?” he asked. “If we go any farther, we cannot possibly live. How could we, with this immense amount of water over us?”
“We’ll be all right, my boy, never fear. If little fish like that can live here, why, so can we.”
Marsovino was pointing to many horrible dark objects which were swimming around him. They had a round head, great black bodies, no eyes, and from their heads a long thread moved about in the water. At the end of the threads were small lights.
“What ugly things!” said Pinocchio. “What are they, and why do they have those small lights on their heads?”
“If you look closely, you will see that those little beings have no eyes. So they depend on these lights for their food. Other animals are drawn to the lights. When they are near enough these animals feel them. Then they are seized and eaten.”
“The sea is wonderful,” nodded Pinocchio, drowsily, “but don’t you think that we might take some sleep? I am very tired.”
“Very well,” said Marsovino.
Pinocchio threw himself on the sand, and in a few minutes both friends were asleep.
The next morning, bright and early, they were again ready to start. The dolphin, who knew now where he was, began to rise to the surface. A few hours later he had reached the place Tursio had spoken about.
“Here we are at last!” he cried.
“Here? Why, where is the ship?”
“There,” answered Marsovino, pointing to a great black mass which showed through the water.
“That! Why look how it is trimmed!” And he was indeed right. The inhabitants of the sea had taken possession ofeverything. The keel of the ship was overgrown with beautiful slender seaweeds. The decks were covered with sponges. The stairs had disappeared under the work of polyps.
On the lookout bridge hundreds of anemones raised their brightly colored corollas. The needles of sea urchins threatened passers-by from the portholes. Silvery fishes and starfishes were seen all over. Everything was living on the dead ship.
“Now let us hasten,” said Marsovino.
“Very well,” answered Pinocchio.
“We have been so long in coming that now we must be quick,” continued the dolphin.
“Father must be worried. Let us look for the treasure, and then we can begin our return journey to-night.”
“Very well,” again assented Pinocchio.
“Make haste, then. Get into that ship. Don’t lose any more time.”
“Come, let us go.”
“Let us go! How can I go? Don’t you see how small the doors are? You must go alone!”
Pinocchio did not like the idea. He stood still and thought. His courage utterly failed him. To go alone into that great black ship! Why, how could he do such a thing?
“Well, what are you thinking of?” asked Marsovino, who had dropped Pinocchio at the door of the stairs.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet. I don’t like the idea of going in there very much.”
“But you must. I can’t go, and we must have the gold. Will you decide? I thought you had offered to help Mr. Tursio.”
When he heard that, Pinocchio finally made up his mind. He opened the doorand went down a few steps. Then he stopped.
“Must I really go?” he asked.
Marsovino began to lose his patience.
“If you do not make haste getting into that ship, I shall return without you,” he could not help saying.
“Very well. Here I go.”
“You remember Tursio’s instructions, don’t you? At the bottom of the stairs there is a large room. At one end a door leads into the captain’s room. In a corner of the captain’s room, you will find two boxes. They contain the treasure. Good-by and good luck.”
Very slowly Pinocchio went down. Luckily for him a few sunfishes were floating around, giving some light.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw in front of him a large square room.In the walls were long narrow holes, like the shelves of a pantry. These had probably been the sailors’ bunks. But to Pinocchio they were puzzles.
The roof, which was very high, was of glass. This made the room lighter than the stairs, and so Pinocchio took courage.
At one end of the room there was a small narrow door. Pinocchio walked to it and tried to open it. Still, though the door was not locked, it would not open. It seemed as if some one were holding it closed from the inside. The marionette pushed it, kicked it, struggled with it, and finally he succeeded in opening it. He was able to put just the tip of his nose in the crack.
He had no sooner done this, though, than it was held as in a vise. Pinocchio felt something pulling and pulling.
“My nose will surely come off,” he thought;but after trying and trying he was at last free again.
“I wonder what that was? What can be behind that door? In any case it may be better to have some weapon of defense,” and thinking this, Pinocchio looked around.
“Those shelves may hold something useful.”
But when he came near them, what did he see? A mattress, pillows, sheets!
“What could this have been? A hospital?”
Poor Pinocchio! He was most certainly a dunce!
On the floor in a corner he found a pair of large boots.
“These will do,” he thought.
Again he pushed the door. This time he was able to open it wide. As soon as he had done so, he threw a large boot in blindly. Had he never done so, it would have been better! In a second the room became as black as pitch.
“Marsovino! Oh! Oh! Oh! Marsovino!” screamed the poor boy, thinking himself blinded.
The dolphin, waiting for Pinocchio at the head of the stairs, became frightened at this appeal. He thought something serious had happened. He swam to the top of the deck and broke several panes of glass. Looking into the room hecalled: “What is the matter? I am here.”
Pinocchio felt a little better when he saw Marsovino.
“Oh, Marsovino!” he cried.
“What has happened, my poor Pinocchio?”
“I have found a bottle of ink.”
“A bottle of what?”
“Of ink. I threw a boot at something, and now the room is full of ink.”
“Oh, now I understand. You have to deal with an octopus.”
“What’s that?”
“A mollusk.”
“Oh, if that’s what it is, I’m not afraid. I know them well.”
“‘Marsovino! Oh! Oh! Oh!’”
“Yes, but not this one. This is the greatest mollusk known. It is a near relation of the calamary, but much larger. There are some even five or six yards long.”
“Oh!” shivered Pinocchio, looking around.
“The one in the captain’s room must be a small one, though. If I were with you, I should free you in a second. There is nothing a dolphin likes better than an octopus or a calamary.”
“But the ink?”
“The ink is the means of defense of these mollusks. When pursued or in danger, this animal ejects this inky liquid. In that way, it forms a cloud in the water and is able to escape.”
“Shall I be killed?”
“If you keep out of reach of its long arms, you will be all right.”
“Oh, now I see what got hold of my poor nose. It is aching yet. Now tell me, Marsovino, if this animal is guarding the treasure,how shall I possibly get at it? We might as well give it up,” and Pinocchio started towards the stairs.
“How very courageous you are! After trying so hard, are you going to give up at the last minute?”
Pinocchio did not answer, but very slowly he retraced his steps. Going over to the bunks, he took a large mattress. Holding it in front of him, he moved toward the door, which was still ajar.
The water from the captain’s room had mixed with the water of the large room, and now it was not so dark. Very cautiously,the marionette peeked over the mattress.
In a corner of the room lay the poulpe or octopus. As Marsovino had said, it was not very large. Still it was very ugly.
Think of a large head, soft and jellylike, with two great eyes staring at you. Think of that head and eight long thick arms around it. No wonder Pinocchio felt like turning back.
The monster moved restlessly about, stretching and twisting its arms. In one of them it held Pinocchio’s boot. Every minute its huge body changed color. At first it was white, then gray, then brown, then spotted with purple. Pinocchio hardly knew what to think of it.
“You are certainly very ugly, my dear bottle of ink,” he thought.
“Well, why am I standing here? Imight as well try to kill him. Hurrah! Here comes the brave marionette!”
Very slowly Pinocchio walked up to the octopus, but not near enough to be in reach of those arms. Then with a quick move he threw the mattress over the struggling mass. Pressing it down tightly, he held it there.
For a long time the arms twitched nervously about, but at last they stopped moving. The boy waited a few minutes longer, and then, thinking the creature dead, he stood up.
The mattress, however, he left on top of the poulpe. Not only that, but running back, he took another and put it on top of the first. He wanted to be sure the octopus would not move. At last he breathed easily and set to work to get the boxes.
Yes, think of it! That lazy marionettereally set to work. He dragged the boxes one after the other into the large room, and then he called Marsovino.
“Here is the treasure, Marsovino. Now how am I to carry these heavy boxes upstairs?”
Marsovino then lowered a stout rope which he had carried with him. Pinocchio tied the boxes to it, one after the other, and the dolphin pulled them up.
“Throw the rope down again, Marsovino!”
“What for? Are there three treasure boxes?”
“You will see.”
As soon as the end of the rope touched the floor of the room, Pinocchiotied it around his waist. “Now pull!” he called.
Marsovino pulled, and in a second Pinocchio stood on the bridge.
“I really had no wish to return by those dark dusty stairs,” he laughed, seeing Marsovino’s look of wonder.