Dave Darrin and the German Submarines Part 37

By the time that Darrin had hung up the instrument, Hunter, the s.h.i.+p's medical officer, had reached the doorway. He came in and bent over the figure on the berth.

"Not a chance," he said, briefly. "Drowned. But I do not believe, Darrin, that she suffered. There was a shock-"

"Shock?" Dave Darrin repeated. "Yes-a sh.e.l.l exploded in her boat."

"I do not believe she was wounded," went on Hunter. "It must have been the shock. She probably collapsed from the force of the explosion, and the water did the rest."

A messenger knocked at the doorway, then introduced two middle-aged women, who stepped inside promptly.

"You will do something, of course, Hunter?" Dave queried. "You will attempt resuscitation-you will try to revive her?"

"I'll try, of course," replied the medical man, dubiously. "Yes. I will work like a fiend, Darrin. Sometimes a spark of life lingers. But do not hope!"

"I shall be in the corridor outside," Dave answered quietly. "Call me when-"

Dry-eyed, but utterly haggard, Darrin stepped out into the pa.s.sageway.

He couldn't quite believe what had happened-didn't, in fact. It must be a dream, but soon there would be an awakening!

To his dazed mind the time did not seem long. Inside, he could hear low-voiced directions, and once he heard Hunter say:

"That much water off her lungs, anyway. My guess was right. She must have swallowed a good deal."

Then he heard Hunter using the telephone. Not long afterward a hospital man came hurrying from the sick-bay with two bags, and vanished into the cabin with them, coming out at once.

Another interval, and then Darrin was called into his cabin. In the meantime, with the help of his steward, he had changed his own clothes.

"Any hope?" he asked, in a low voice.

"There's a barest trace of pulse," the s.h.i.+p's surgeon replied, "but I do not believe it will last. I'm sorry. I'm doing everything that can possibly be done."

"I'm sure you are, Hunter," Dave replied.

Belle, whom the women had disrobed and rubbed, was now covered with blankets. One of the women, with a hand under the blankets, was applying a battery current.

Dave stepped forward, taking a long look at the white face and the closed eyes. Not even his hopes could conjure up the belief that a spark of life remained that could be fanned into renewed existence.

Still it was not real! Belle's spirit had not flown and left him.

Hunter, eyeing his commanding officer for an instant, read his mind; he understood and felt a great surge of sympathy for Darrin.

"Poor chap!" murmured the medico. "It will be all the harder when he really does come to himself!"

A glance downward at his uniform reminded Dave that he was still an officer, that hundreds of people had been close to death, that some undoubtedly had perished, and that he could not neglect his sworn duties.

Stepping to the telephone that connected with the bridge, he heard himself answered by the voice of his executive officer.

"Am I needed, Fernald?" he asked.

"No, sir. We're still taking the rescued on board, but there is nothing you could do that is not being done by the rest of us. Any good news with you, sir?"

"Not yet, but there will be," Dave answered. "Thank you."

Then he glanced back toward the berth, to see that Dr. Hunter had prepared some liquid medicine that he was now trying to force between Belle's lips. He stepped over beside the berth and watched.

"There! She'll soon speak to us," Dave declared, as he saw Belle's eyelids flutter almost imperceptibly, and heard the faintest kind of a sigh.

Hunter, who knew that Life and Death were fighting, with Death going strong, did not reply, but stood with eyes fixed on the patient's face.

He did not look for her to become conscious enough to speak.

Two or three minutes dragged miserably by. The surgeon dreaded to p.r.o.nounce the words which he felt must soon be said. One of the women was still applying the battery current, the other chafing Belle's left wrist and arm. Hunter placed his stethoscope to her chest and listened, his face wholly grave.

There was another faint flutter of the lids, another faint sigh.

"You'll soon speak to me, won't you, Belle?" Dave urged, quietly, but in that silent cabin his every word was distinct.

"Shall I apply the battery to another part of the body, Doctor?" asked one of the women after a few minutes.

"One part will do as well as another," Hunter answered, in a very low voice. The woman understood, but she said no word, gave no sign, but went on with her task.

"Come, Belle," spoke Dave, now with an effort at cheeriness of tone, "we're losing a lot of time, little girl."

This time there was a somewhat more p.r.o.nounced fluttering of the lids.

Then came a sigh that sounded like a catching of the breath.

"Say!" murmured Hunter, in the awe of a new discovery. "That's the thing to do, Darrin! Go on talking to her. I believe that she knows, that your voice reaches her subconsciously. Talk, man, talk! But easily."

So Darrin, with a hand resting with a feather's weight on Belle's pallid forehead, went on speaking. It made little difference what he said, but every word was cheery, tender.

At last there came a longer flutter, a quicker, deeper sigh. Belle fought with her eyelids, then parted them, gazing vacantly until she saw Darrin's bronzed face.

"All right now, Belle, aren't you?" he called to her. "An all-right little girl again?"

"Dave-my-lad!"

The whisper came so low that only Darrin heard it. But Hunter lost nothing of the scene. His hand was on Belle's pulse.

"Go on talking to her," he whispered. "That's the right medicine."

So Dave continued, as cheerily as before. Belle Darrin could not follow all that he said. There was a trace of bewilderment in her eyes. The lids still fluttered, although she now breathed regularly even if low.

"That's all, sir. Now step outside until you're called," Hunter ordered, with the air of a man who has learned something new and who means to claim all the credit.

Without a word of protest Dave turned, pushed aside the curtain and stepped outside into the pa.s.sage.

"How is she?" whispered a familiar voice.

"Dan!"

"I came over as soon as I got word. The pa.s.sengers have been rescued in great shape. But how is Belle?"