Motor Matt's Submarine; or, The Strange Cruise of the Grampus Read online

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  MOTOR STORIES

  THRILLING ADVENTURE

  MOTOR FICTION

  NO. 15 JUNE 5, 1909

  FIVE CENTS

  MOTOR MATT'S SUBMARINE

  _OR_ THE STRANGE CRUISE OF THE GRAMPUS

  _By THE AUTHOR OF "MOTOR MATT"_

  _MOTOR MATT GRABBED AT THE ROPE AS IT WAS THROWN TO HIM BY THE MAN IN THE SUBMARINE._]

  _STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK._

  MOTOR STORIES

  THRILLING ADVENTURE MOTOR FICTION

  _Issued Weekly. By subscription $2.50 per year. Entered according toAct of Congress in the year 1909, in the Office of the Librarian ofCongress, Washington, D. C., by_ STREET & SMITH, _79-89 Seventh Avenue,New York, N. Y._

  No. 15. NEW YORK, June 5, 1909. Price Five Cents.

  MOTOR MATT'S SUBMARINE;

  OR,

  THE STRANGE CRUISE OF THE _GRAMPUS_.

  By the author of "MOTOR MATT."

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I. A STARTLING REPORT. CHAPTER II. MIXED MESSAGES. CHAPTER III. HURRY-UP ORDERS. CHAPTER IV. ACCIDENT OR DESIGN? CHAPTER V. SIXTY SHOWS HIS HAND. CHAPTER VI. AN UNEXPECTED RESCUE. CHAPTER VII. A FRUITLESS SEARCH. CHAPTER VIII. THE OVERTURNED BOAT. CHAPTER IX. ADRIFT IN THE STORM. CHAPTER X. THE DERELICT. CHAPTER XI. THE SCHOONER. CHAPTER XII. A STUNNING SURPRISE. CHAPTER XIII. CLOSING IN. CHAPTER XIV. THE "GRAMPUS" GETS A CLUE. CHAPTER XV. AN ULTIMATUM. CHAPTER XVI. "OFF WITH THE OLD, AND ON WITH THE NEW." The Chicken-hearted Tenderfoot.

  CHARACTERS THAT APPEAR IN THIS STORY.

  =Motor Matt=, a lad who is at home with every variety of motor, and whose never-failing nerve serves to carry him through difficulties that would daunt any ordinary young fellow. Because of his daring as a racer with bicycle, motor-cycle and automobile he is known as "Mile-a-minute Matt." Motor-boats, air ships and submarines come naturally in his line, and consequently he lives in an atmosphere of adventure in following up his "hobby."

  =Dick Ferral=, a young sea dog from Canada, with all a sailor's superstitions, but in spite of all that a royal chum, ready to stand by the friend of his choice through thick and thin.

  =Carl Pretzel=, a cheerful and rollicking German boy, stout of frame as well as of heart, who is led by a fortunate accident to link his fortunes with those of Motor Matt.

  =Captain Nemo, Jr., otherwise Archibald Townsend=, a fast friend of the Motor Boys and skipper of the submarine, _Grampus_.

  =Cassidy=, mate of the _Grampus_.

  =Gaines, Clackett and Speake=, crew of the _Grampus_.

  =Captain Jim Sixty=, a seaman of long experience who resorts to filibustering in order to gain big prizes in the lottery of Fortune. Master of the wrecked brig, _Dolphin_.

  =Ysabel Sixty=, Captain Sixty's daughter, who plays an ignoble part, although against her better nature.

  CHAPTER I.

  A STARTLING REPORT.

  There is a speed limit for automobiles in the City of New Orleans, buta certain red touring car on this Wednesday morning gave little heedto the regulation. With two wheels in the air the car made a sharpturn into Prytania Street, slowed a little as it came within one ofcolliding with a two-wheeled milk wagon, swerved to one side and thenleaped onward.

  Besides the driver, the car contained only one man. This passenger satin front, leaning eagerly forward and urging the driver constantly to afaster gait.

  "That's the house," said the passenger finally, indicating a buildingwith his stubby forefinger.

  The car pulled up with a jerk and the passenger was out before themachine was fairly at a stop.

  "Wait for me," he called as he rushed across the sidewalk, yanked thegate bell and then darted through and up the steps to the porch.

  With savage impatience he jabbed at the push button beside the door andtramped fretfully until a colored servant answered his summons.

  "Is Cap'n Nemo, Jr., in?" he flung at the darky.

  "Dat's a new one on me, boss," was the puzzled answer. "Ah dunno nosich pusson. You-all must hab got de wrong----"

  "Townsend, then?" broke in the caller. "Is _he_ here?"

  "Yassuh, Mistah Townsend is in his room, sah, but dat odder man----"

  Without pausing further, the man pushed roughly past the darky, to thatperson's intense astonishment, and went up the hall stairs three stepsat a time. A moment later he had flung open a door unceremoniously.

  There were two men in the room, and they started up quickly as thenewcomer hurled himself in on them.

  "Clackett!" exclaimed one of the men who had been in the room, facingthe other with a good deal of surprise. "What's all this hurry for?"

  "Sixty has sailed, cap'n!" exclaimed Clackett, dropped into a chair.

  "Great guns!" gasped the third man. "Must have been kind o' sudden."

  "When did he sail, Clackett?"

  "Ten o'clock this morning, steamer _Santa Maria_, a fruiter bound forBritish Honduras."

  "He ain't goin' to British Honduras," burst from the third man, "anddon't you think it."

  "I don't think so either, Cassidy," replied the captain, "but he's thefellow we were to watch, and if he's gone we've got to put out afterhim."

  The captain looked at his watch.

  "Ten-twenty," he mused, slipping the watch back into his pocket. "Howdid you get here, Clackett?"

  "In one of them automobiles, cap'n. Street cars was too bloomin' slow."

  "You're positive there's no mistake?"

  "I know Jim Sixty as well as I know you, cap'n, an' I'll take my solemnAlfred it was him standin' on the _Santa Maria's_ deck when she steamedaway from the dock."

  "A mistake, you know," pursued the captain, "would put us on the wrongtrack and cause no end of trouble."

  "There ain't no mistake--take it from me."

  At this the captain became intensely alive. He whirled on Cassidy.

  "You ride with Clackett in the automobile to Carrolton, Cassidy," saidhe briskly, "take the ferry to Westwego and bring the _Grampus_ on therun to Stuyvesant Dock. Clackett and I will be there waiting for you."

  "Tough luck," growled Cassidy, "we didn't know something about thismove o' Sixty's, 'cause then we could have had the submarine handierby."

  "We'll not lose much time," returned the captain. "The _Grampus_ is allready for a long cruise? That's the main thing."

  "The boys was gettin' on the last of the stores over at Westwego,"replied Cassidy.

  The captain whirled on Clackett.

  "The ferry from Carrolton runs on the half hour," said he, "and if youhit up that buzz-wagon you ought to get Cassidy on the ten-thirty boat.After that, rush back into town. The Snug Harbor Hotel is not far fromStuyvesant Dock. Go there, ask for Motor Matt, and bring him and hisfriends to the dock, prepared to make the run down the river and intothe gulf with us. That will be all. Off with you, on the jump. I'lllook after your luggage and mine, Cassidy."

  If Cassidy was to catch the first boat from Carrolton landing there wasno time for talk. With a hearty, "Ay, ay," the two men whirled from theroom and rushed down the stairs. A moment later the captain, lookingfrom a front window, saw them leap into the automobile and vanish upthe street.

  So far as the captain was concerned, he had plenty of time to makehis preparations. It would be close to eleven o'clock before the_Grampus_ could possibly get clear of Westwego, and possibly it would
be eleven-fifteen before she would come alongside the Stuyvesant Dock.

  For some time the captain had been lying ill in the Prytania Streethouse, but he was now rapidly recovering, and his restless, activenature welcomed this call to action. He felt that it was the one toniche needed to bring him back to his usual form.

  Cassidy was mate of the _Grampus_. Ever since the captain had beenstricken down the mate had been with him as watcher and nurse.

  Not much time was required to get Cassidy's property into hisditty-bag, and not much more time for the captain to pack his ownsatchel. The colored servant had telephoned for a carriage, and thevehicle came just as the captain had finished packing.

  All that remained was to settle with Mrs. Thomas, the landlady, tothank her for her kindness, and to leave for downtown.

  Twenty minutes after the departure of Cassidy and Clackett the captainwas speeding away in the direction of Canal Street. He halted at abank, at the corner of Camp and Common, and drew five thousand dollarsin gold. This money was given to him in a canvas bag, and, with thatand his luggage, he was hurried on to Stuyvesant Dock.

  As he had surmised would be the case, he was ahead of the _Grampus_.Gathering his goods about him, he sat down on a box near the edge ofthe dock and watched up stream for the first glimpse of the roundeddeck, the conning tower, and the mast with the red periscope ball ofthe submarine.

  Barely had he sighted her, cutting through the waves of the LowerMississippi, when a quick step behind him caused him to look around.

  Clackett, red-faced and perspiring, was hurrying toward him. There wasa troubled, ominous look on Clackett's face.

  "Where are Motor Matt and his two friends, Dick Ferral and CarlPretzel?" cried the captain. "I need them on this cruise, and theyunderstand the importance of their being here. Will they be alonglater, Clackett?"

  "They'll not be along later, cap'n," answered Clackett. "You can waitfor 'em as long as you please, an' the boys won't be showing up. Everyminute you lose, too, the _Santa Maria_ and Jim Sixty are gettin'farther and farther away from us."

  A frown of heavy disappointment wrinkled the captain's brows.

  "What's the matter?" he demanded. "Motor Matt's word is as good as hisbond, and he told me he'd stay in New Orleans a week and wait for me tosend word to him. Where is the boy?"

  "He sailed on the _Santa Maria_ this mornin'," was the startlingannouncement.

  The captain jumped to his feet.

  "Great Scott!" he exclaimed, staring at Clackett in blank amazement.

  "It's a fact, cap'n," asserted Clackett. "I got it straight from thehotel feller that seen Matt and his friends aboard the boat. There'sbeen queer doin's, somehow."

  "What do you mean by queer doings?" asked the captain sharply.

  "Well, cap'n, this is the way that hotel feller handed it out to me:Ysabel Sixty, the ole filibuster's gal, called at the Snug Harbor aboutnine-thirty, this mornin', and had a short talk with Motor Matt. Whenthe girl went away, Motor Matt settled his hotel bill, rounded up hisfriends and they all stampeded upstairs to git their baggage together.Then they flocked down and hustled for the _Santa Maria_. The hotelfeller went with 'em, helpin' tote their traps."

  The captain stared in bewilderment, his amazement growing as helistened.

  "There's underhand work of some kind here," he muttered. "Motor Mattwould never have gone off like that without telling me something aboutit."

  "He tried to git you over the telephone, but the line was busy and hedidn't have no time to wait."

  "You saw Sixty on the _Santa Maria_ as she drew away from the FruitCompany's dock?"

  "Ay, ay, sir, as plain as I see you, this blessed minute. The girl waswith him, too."

  "Did you see Motor Matt and his friends?"

  "I wasn't lookin' for them, particular. They might have been on thedeck, cap'n, but I wouldn't swear to it. I was so jolted up by seein'Sixty pull out when we wasn't expectin' it of him, yet a while, thatmebby I was excited."

  The captain, greatly perturbed, tramped back and forth across the dock.He was aroused from his unpleasant reflections by the voice of Cassidy.

  "All aboard, cap'n! I reckon we pulled this off in short order, hey?"

  The captain whirled around. Cassidy, standing in the top of the conningtower of the _Grampus_, was barely head and shoulders above the levelof the dock. One of the hands, on the forward part of the rounded deck,had passed a rope through a ring and was holding the submarine steady.

  "Pick up the luggage, Clackett," ordered the captain, himself takingcharge of the bag of gold, "and we'll get aboard."

  "What you goin' to do about Motor Matt?" queried Clackett as he pickedup the luggage.

  "He's aboard the _Santa Maria_, and I am convinced that, for somecause or other, he's there through some underhand work of Sixty's. Ourorders call on us to follow the _Santa Maria_ and keep watch of Sixty.By doing that, we shall also be trailing Motor Matt and his friends.Something is bound to happen that will give us a little light on this."

  Fifteen minutes later the _Grampus_ was hustling down the river, herscrew racing under the terrific impulse of the gasolene motor, and awhite line of foam surging across her low deck and breaking against thebase of the conning tower.