CHAPTER XXVII.
THE DEFEAT OF THE ENEMY.
"Ha! It is dark here!" cried the Spanish captain, as he paused on the threshold of the door.
"The light has lost its power," answered Canelli. "Perhaps it got turned off by accident."
"Try to find it."
"Aye, aye, captain."
The sailor came into the room and Captain Roquez followed.
The instant they entered Oscar kicked the door shut and caught the Spanish captain from behind.
Andy caught Canelli, and a fierce hand-to-hand struggle ensued.
Down went both pairs on the floor and rolled over and over.
They tried to rise, but this was impossible, for the Holland had begun to jerk around in a semi-circle, the new engineer having tried some experiment with the power.
The Spanish captain drew his dagger, but before he could use it, Oscar brought his sword into use and the Spaniard received a nasty cut in the side. At the same time Andy was trying to draw his own blade, but Canelli caught hold of it, and now it was a wrangle for the blade, hot and bitter.
"Do you surrender?" asked Oscar, as he placed the sword at the Spanish captain's throat.
"Yes! Do not kill me!" howled Roquez.
"Then lie where you are. A single move and I will put a bullet into you."
Oscar backed to the center of the apartment and turned on the electric light once more.
Captain Roquez lay helpless on the floor. He knew that if he moved, the young captain of the Holland would run him through with that ugly-looking blade.
Oscar turned to look at Andy. The sight that met his gaze thrilled him with horror.
Canelli had obtained possession of the sword, and was on the point of running it through the young lieutenant's body.
"Stop!" cried Oscar. "Stop, or I will fire!"
"STOP OR I WILL FIRE!"
"STOP OR I WILL FIRE!"
"STOP OR I WILL FIRE!"
"Never! He shall die!" shrieked the Spanish sailor.
And he made a fierce lunge at Andy, intending to lay open his very heart.
The blade had already cut through the young lieutenant's shirt and scratched his skin, when Oscar raised the electric rifle with the rapidity of lightning.
Zip! There was a faint, hissing sound, and Canelli fell over backward, mortally wounded.
"Ha! You have killed him——" began Captain Roquez, when Oscar clapped his hand over the Spaniard's mouth.
"Say another word, or make the least outcry, and I will serve you in the same way!"
"Gosh! but that was a close shave!" gasped Andy, as he staggered forward. "I was afraid I was a goner!"
"Hand me that leather strap and I will make this fellow a prisoner," said Oscar.
The strap was quickly adjusted, and then Oscar brought forth a large neckerchief, which he speedily transformed into a gag and inserted in Captain Roquez's mouth.
"What shall we do with him?" questioned Andy.
"We'll put him in the pantry for the present. The dead body we can stow away under my couch." For Canelli had breathed his last.
Back of the apartment was a pantry containing flour, potatoes and other ship's stores.
In this narrow space they placed Captain Roquez, perching the Spaniard on a flour barrel.
"Now keep quiet if you value your life!" said Oscar.
Then the door was closed and bolted on the rascal.
Oscar's next movement was to look out into the passageway.
"The coast is clear," he said to his lieutenant. "Come."
Andy followed, and they passed to the entrance to the ammunition room.
Here they found Walton and two other men, close prisoners, each with a pitch plaster over his mouth.
There was a Spanish guard here, but he was readily overpowered, and one of the pitch plasters was placed over his mouth and he was tied to a big torpedo.
"Where is George Dross?" asked Oscar.
Nobody knew.
"So far we are but four against seven," said Andy. "We want to be careful, or our cake will be dough."
"I hope Dross is safe," said Oscar. The old engineer was very dear to him.
He told the men to remain on guard, and each armed himself with a dagger, sword or pistol.
Then Oscar tiptoed his way to the engine room.
Peering in he saw Gabretti at the engine, studying a power register with much perplexity.
"I can make nodding of heem!" he muttered. "Do zat make ze boat go zis vay or zat vay, eh?"
He turned to George Dross, who still lay bound to the iron bench.
"Don't ask me any questions," growled the old engineer.
"You shall answer me!" stormed the Italian. "Answer—vot ees zat funny clock for?"
"It shows the time to pump the electricity in the go-bang-it-on-the-head," answered Dross.
"Ze electricity in ze go-bang-him—vot you call eet? Who ses eet?"
"It shows when you will be hung," grumbled George Dross.
"Ha! You make von fun of me, eh? You are a—a—I know not vot. How you like dat, eh?"
Raising his heavy boot, Gabretti kicked the old engineer violently in the side.
He was about to repeat the act when Oscar rushed at him from behind and pushed him headlong.
Then the young captain of the Holland jumped on the Italian rascal, knocking every particle of wind out of him.
"Let—mego!" panted Gabretti.
"Ha! It ees the captain!"
"You scoundrel, to blow up one of the old Hollands!" cried Oscar angrily. "You, a naturalized citizen of the United States. You deserve what you will surely get—a traitor's death."
Gabretti struggled wildly and tried to draw a knife from his bosom. But Oscar kicked the blade aside and hit the rascal a blow with his electric rifle, and then the traitor sank back, insensible.
"Heaven be praised!" murmured George Dross, when set free. "I was afraid we had reached the end of our string."
"I reckon that fellow has reached the end of his string—or he will when he hangs," answered Oscar. "Bind him with the ropes that bound you." And Dross quickly complied.
With the leaders of the expedition against the new Holland out of the way, and with five men to fight but six, Oscar rightfully felt that success was now but a short distance off.
George Dross was soon armed, and then Oscar and the old engineer moved silently toward the lookout.
Here two men were stationed, a Spaniard and an Italian. They were both gazing intently at what was before them in the ocean, and neither heard the approach of the Americans until it was too late for them to do anything.
Both were thrown down and in the struggle one was knocked senseless. Then the pair were bound, back to back, and pitched into one of the lower compartments of the Holland XI.
While this was going on two other men had appeared in front of Andy and those with the young lieutenant.
A fierce fight ensued, in which one of the foreigners was shot and the second cut in the head with a sword. One of the Americans was also wounded, but the wound was of small consequence.
Half an hour later the Holland XI. was once again in complete control of her regular crew.
Walton explained how he had been overcome, and Oscar read him a lecture on being more careful in the future.
"And I will be careful," said the ammunition-man. "After this the first man to try any game on me gets shot."
Oscar did not care to go after the Green Dragon while he had so many prisoners on board, and consequently he ran in at Santiago de Cuba, and placed Captain Roquez, Gabretti and the others in charge of the American garrison there.
"A big haul, Captain Pelham," said the commander of the garrison. "The capture of Gabretti means fifty thousand dollars in your pocket."
"A fair share of it shall go to my men," answered Oscar.
Soon the new Holland left Cuba, and then the search for the Green Dragon and pretty Martha Adams was renewed with more vigilance than ever.