CHAPTER XXIV.
SINKING OF THE IVAN II.
"We shall be killed!"
Such was the cry which came from the lips of Andy Greggs as he stared in helpless horror at the bomb, and its smoking fuse.
It was a moment to act, not to think.
By instinct more than reason Oscar leaped forward and caught the bomb in his hands.
His fingers closed over the burning fuse, to put out the fire.
But the action was too late—the fire had gone inside!
Then with a lightning-like movement the young captain hurled the shell up through the trap-door into the air.
Before it had time to drop into the ocean it went off with a loud report.
Pieces of the shell came down through the trap-door, hitting both of the young men on the head and hands and in the face.
Andy had the skin taken from one cheek and Oscar's left hand was somewhat bruised.
But they and the Holland were saved!
By this time George Dross was running forward to shut the trap-door with an instrument made for that purpose.
"What's up?" he asked, in astonishment.
"Shut the trap first and I'll tell you," gasped Oscar. For the moment he could scarcely speak.
Once the trap was closed the new Holland sank down to a depth of thirty feet.
The movement came none too soon.
The Ivan II. now had several guns trained on the submarine craft and the balls from these struck the water and swept past them with no room to spare.
"We'll fix you for that!" murmured Oscar.
Then he told George Dross of what had occurred.
"Oscar's move was the bravest I ever saw!" declared Andy.
The young captain now ordered that they follow the Ivan II. closely and this was done.
As expected, the course of the big Russian cruiser was for Cape Nome and soon she came to a stand about five miles from the sea front of the city.
"Now we have her at our mercy," said Andy.
But for once the young lieutenant was mistaken.
The foreign ships—or at least a fair number of them—had profited by the destruction of the craft wrecked by the Holland XI. and had adopted a curious device by which they might be warned of the near approach of a submarine ship.
From the under side of the keel of the Ivan II. there ran a number of wires, stretching out in all directions, like the spokes of some gigantic bicycle wheel.
These wires were connected with an alarm bell on the ship, which would ring, by an electric circuit, the moment any large mass of metal touched them.
The new Holland was going ahead at a fair rate of speed, when, by aid of the searchlight, the lookout announced the discovery of some odd-looking wires ahead.
An inspection was made, and those on board of the submarine craft soon learned the nature of the defensive method the Russian naval officers had adopted.
"That's pretty good," mused Oscar.
"I'm afraid its going to beat us!" declared Andy. "No telling what may happen if we run into those wires."
"They may contain current enough to shock the Holland and kill everybody on board," said George Dross.
The matter was talked over for a quarter of an hour.
In the meantime the other warships had drawn up in line and all were preparing to bombard the city beyond, which contained so much of gold and silver.
"Well, we've got to do something," said Oscar. "I have an idea."
His idea was nothing less than to float a torpedo out of the Holland XI. and attach it to a long line, setting the time fuse at ten minutes.
They would then tow the torpedo into such a position that the drift of the ocean would pull it under the Ivan II.
The job was a delicate and dangerous one, for the fuse when once set, might become entangled in the line and set the torpedo off prematurely.
Oscar superintended the task himself and in a quarter of an hour the torpedo was drifting close to the Ivan II.
The guns of the Russian warship had just spoken up against the city forts, when the warning bell attached to the wires began to ring.
"Ha! that boat is now at hand!" cried the Russian commander. "We will soon give him more than he sends!"
An electric current was touched off, but this only struck the torpedo, which was slowly traveling toward the Russian cruiser's keel.
Two minutes passed and the Russians were wondering what had happened on board of the Holland XI.
"Let the line go!" sang out Oscar, as he saw that the time for the explosion was about up.
Then the new Holland ran for safety.
Boom! Bang!
Loud and clear came the report over and under the ocean, as the torpedo, charged with both high explosives and electricity, went off.
It would have been impossible to smash up a craft of the size of the Ivan II. with one torpedo, but a great hole was torn in her keel and through this the water rushed in a veritable cataract.
"We are ruined!" shrieked one of the Russian officers. "The Holland has torpedoed us after all!"
Then commenced a scene which beggars description.
To the upper deck rushed the sailors, gunners, ammunition men, engineers and all others connected with the big craft.
There were men cursing, men praying, and men rushing around as if crazy. Some leaped overboard, some climbed the tall masts, and some stood as if turned to stone, too paralyzed to move.
Those on the other warships were horrified.
Then they realized that the Holland XI. must be at work and the various captains gave orders to get into motion without delay.
Cape Nome and its gold were forgotten. The one thought of all was to get away from this frightful submarine ship which had brought so many foreign vessels to their doom.
Off went the ships, in all directions, putting on their best steam, and running so well that the Holland did not attempt to follow them until some time later.
Slowly and majestically the Ivan II. sank until reaching the bottom she stood where she had gone down, only her tall masts showing above the bosom of the ocean.
The going down of the Ivan II. and the sudden departure of the other ships mystified those on shore and they wondered what it all meant.
But when the new Holland showed herself near one of the forts, those inside understood and a yell arose, which soon became a ringing cheer.
As soon as he could Oscar went ashore and was received by the commander of the fort, who shook him warmly by the hand.
"You have done nobly, sir!" said the commander. "You have saved both us and the city."
"I would advise you to make prisoners of all the Russians found floating in the bay," answered Oscar. "It may save you from another attack at a later day."
"A good idea," responded the commander, and at once gave the necessary orders.
As a result two hundred and nine Russians were captured, including an Admiral, for the Ivan II. had been the flagship of the fleet.
It was announced that the Admiral would be held at Cape Nome until the end of the war, and this saved the place from another bombardment, for the Russians were afraid the naval officer might otherwise be put to death.
After leaving Cape Nome the Holland put after the rest of the fleet, but they could not be found.
This broke up the movement on Alaska for the time being, and then the bow of the submarine terror was turned southward once more.
All this time the Chinese Captain, Hang Chang, had remained on board a close prisoner.
He frequently begged for the freedom of the ship, but Oscar was afraid to trust him.
"At least give me a sight of the outside world," he begged one day.
Oscar agreed to do this, as they were then in mid-ocean, and releasing the prisoner, led him up through the trap-door to the tiny deck of the Holland.
The movement was almost a fatal one. The confinement had preyed on Hang Chang's mind and turning suddenly while on deck, he caught Oscar by the throat.
"We go—we die together!" he hissed, grating his teeth and rolling his wicked eyes. "Farewell to the world!"
The next moment he had leaped into the ocean, dragging Oscar with him!