The Rover Boys Under Canvas; Or, The Mystery of the Wrecked Submarine. Stratemeyer EdwardЧитать онлайн книгу.
Garwood was the head of the school for girls, and likewise an authority in chemistry.
The road was filled with automobiles going and coming, and Randy had all he could do to send the machine along without getting into some sort of collision. The heavy smoke continued to roll across the lake, and soon they were in the midst of this. It had a curious pungent odor to it, which set them to sneezing and coughing.
“No fun in this, I must say,” declared Jack. The girls all had their handkerchiefs to their faces, and May Powell looked as if she was getting sick.
In a minute more they came within sight of Clearwater Hall, a large structure setting back in well-kept grounds. There were numerous bushes and flowers and quite a number of fair-sized trees.
Several automobiles had reached the school ahead of them so the scene was one of animation. Town people, as well as scholars from the Hixley High School, mingled with the cadets and the girls from Clearwater Hall.
“Go on in and find Mary,” said Jack to his sister. “Tell her we are here to help her in case anything happens.”
Martha rushed off, followed by Ruth, and the two soon located Fred’s sister. She was in a rear room of the school, along with a number of the other pupils and one of the assistant teachers.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’ve come!” declared Mary Rover. “What a dreadful thing this is getting to be!”
“I suppose it has made your head ache worse than ever,” said Martha sympathetically.
“No, strange to say, it’s just the other way around,” declared Fred’s sister, with a faint smile. “Those explosions seemed to have shocked the headache all away.”
Mary was glad to join the others, and the Rovers and their friends proceeded to one of the reception rooms of the school. In the meantime the explosions across the lake continued, but seemed to be gradually dying down.
“It looks to me as if the worst was over,” remarked Fred, after there had been comparative silence for fully a quarter of an hour.
“Say, I’m going down to the lake front to see what’s doing,” declared Randy, a little later. “Perhaps we can be of some assistance.”
“That’s the talk! We can’t do anything more here,” returned his twin.
“Let’s all go down!” cried Jack. “We ought to be able to do something for those poor workmen who have been hurt.” And then, turning to Ruth, he continued: “If there are any more big explosions and this place seems to be in danger, we’ll be back.”
“Oh, Jack! I don’t want you to run into any danger down at the lake shore,” said the girl, looking at him pleadingly with her big brown eyes.
“I guess we’ll be able to take care of ourselves,” he answered lightly. But it pleased him a great deal to have Ruth so full of consideration for him.
Leaving their automobiles in the school grounds, the Rovers and their chums left the place, crossed the highway, and followed the footpath leading down to the Clearwater Hall boathouse. Here they found only a few people congregated, the heavy-rolling clouds of smoke keeping a good many away.
“Not very pleasant here,” was Gif Garrison’s comment, after the smoke had made him cough. “I don’t think I’m going to stay.”
“Neither am I,” said Spouter. And presently he and quite a few others left, leaving the four Rovers to themselves.
“You know what I’ve got an idea of doing?” declared Jack. “Why not get out one of the Clearwater Hall boats and row over a little closer to that place? We may be able to be of some assistance to some of the workmen.”
The others were willing, and soon a large rowboat was brought out, with two pairs of oars, and the four Rovers manned it and sent it well out into the lake.
“We’ve got to keep our eyes open in this smoke,” declared Jack. “It’s worse than a fog.”
“You’re right there,” returned Randy. “If some of those poor chaps——”
Boom!
Another terrific explosion cut short what he was saying. The very water under the rowboat seemed to shake, and the air presently was filled with flying missiles dropping all around them. Then, as Andy stood up in an endeavor to get a better view of the situation, something came flying through the air, hit him on the shoulder, and hurled him overboard!
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CHAPTER IV
A RESCUE ON THE LAKE
“Andy’s overboard!”
“Grab him, somebody!”
“Wow! what is this anyway—a bombardment?”
Such were the cries coming from the three Rovers when they saw the luckless Andy lose his balance and go over into the lake with a splash.
“It’s fire coming down! We’ve got to get out of this!” cried Fred, a few seconds later.
The youngest of the Rovers was right. It was indeed a rain of fire that had suddenly descended upon them through the pall of yellowish-black smoke. It was falling into the boat and on their persons. Where it struck the lake it sent out a curious hissing sound.
“Come—let us get Andy aboard again and row out of this as quickly as possible!” gasped Jack.
Andy had disappeared from view, but only for a few seconds. He came up, thrashing around wildly, for he had been almost stunned by the thing which had struck him, a block of wood carried up from the ammunition plant by one of the explosions.
“Steady, Andy, steady! We’ll save you!” called out his twin, and as Fred and Jack sent the rowboat in the luckless one’s direction, Randy bent over and grabbed his brother by the hand. Then, taking care that the craft should not tip over, Fred and Randy pulled Andy aboard.
“Are you much hurt?” questioned Randy anxiously.
“I—I don’t know,” was the gasped-out reply. “I—I don’t think so, though. What did you slam me in the back for?” Andy demanded of Jack, who had been behind him.
“I didn’t hit you. It was a block of wood which came sailing over from the ammunition factory,” was the quick reply. “Come on—we’ve got to get out of here, or the first thing you know we’ll be on fire.”
“Better wet your clothing,” said Andy. “It may help a whole lot.”
This was good advice, and the others lost no time in filling their baseball caps with water, which they sprinkled over their shoulders and the other portions of their baseball outfits. They also wet down the bow and stern seats of the rowboat. Then they grabbed up their oars and commenced to row up the lake, trying to get out of the range of both the fire and the smoke.
“Here is what the fire consists of,” declared Fred presently, when he caught a whisp of it on his arm. “It’s nothing but oil-soaked waste. They must have had a whole lot of it at that plant, and one of the explosions sent it high into the air and scattered it in every direction.”
The boys continued on their way for a few minutes, and then ran into another cloud of smoke. This was of a peculiar bluish-green cast, and seemed so sulphurous they were nearly choked by it.
“Listen!” burst out Andy. “I think I heard somebody calling.”