Joe Strong, the Boy Fish Part 29

Then he made his deep dive.

CHAPTER XXIII

BROUGHT TO LIFE

Down through the limpid depths of the great reservoir of water went Joe Strong. He was swimming toward the bottom as fast as he could go, for he wanted to get there quickly and begin the work of rescue, and he knew every second counted.

He had his eyes open, of course, and he was glad the sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly overhead, so he could have light to work by. In forty feet of water not much sunlight penetrates, even on a bright day, but Joe had been told that the diver had a small electric light with him, and this, perhaps, would still be glowing. The current was turned on, that Joe knew, but the lamp might have been broken in the accident that had happened.

Down, down, down went the young diver--a veritable "boy fish" now if ever there was such a thing. Joe had a glimpse of the air hose, like some long, thin water snake, beside him. It went down into the depths, as did the life-line and the thicker hoisting rope.

"And where they end--there's the diver," reasoned Joe. He used the air hose as a guide and swam as near to it as he could. In a few seconds he found himself nearing the bottom of the reservoir. It was of natural formation, for the dam had been built across a narrow valley, and when the water came in, it covered from view the site of a small forest, much of which had been cleared away, leaving only stumps and rocks.

Suddenly, before Joe's eyes, loomed a strange shape. It was almost like that of some deep-sea monster, with great, round, staring, gla.s.sy eyes, and as Joe turned a somersault and landed on his feet he stood beside the imprisoned diver. The latter was aware of something unusual going on, and turned to stare at Joe through the gla.s.s of his helmet. Joe could not see the man's face in that light, but he knew it must show deadly fear.

In a trice Joe decided what he must do. It was not easy to stay beneath the water, for his natural buoyancy had a tendency to force him up, and his first act, after landing and feeling himself shooting back toward the surface, was to reach out and grasp the heavy rope that he knew was fastened about the diver's waist. There could be no harm to the diver in this, Joe reasoned, since the men up above were putting a much greater strain on the hempen cable. And by holding thus to the rope Joe prevented himself from going up.

Though the diver must have been greatly astonished to see a young man in a pair of old trousers and a ragged s.h.i.+rt suddenly appear beside him in the reservoir, Tom Rand could show nothing of what he felt. Talking was out of the question.

Suddenly the water about Joe and the diver was illuminated, and Joe looked to see the electric, waterproof light glowing. The diver had turned the switch to give his rescuer every chance to work.

And in that light Joe saw what the trouble was. One of the diver's leaden-weighted feet was caught in the valve of the pipe in such a way that he was held a prisoner. No wonder the men up above had not been able to pull loose Tom Rand. To do so they would have had to pull apart his diving suit, or at least pull off one leg of it, and this would have meant drowning the diver.

Joe, holding to the heavy rope, was a few feet off the bottom of the reservoir now. To work effectively he must stand directly on the bottom, and he must be held down in some way. When a diver makes a descent he is pulled down by shoes which are heavily weighted with lead. Otherwise the buoyancy of the diving dress, filled as it is with air, would send him to the surface. And in Joe's case his human body, with his lungs inflated with air, would have come up after his dive had he not held himself down. But he must seek a new means of hold, if he was to work to release the unfortunate man.

Joe looked down at the water-covered ground, now illuminated by the electric light. He saw just what he needed. Near the outlet pipe, in the valve of which the diver's foot was caught, was an old stump. There was a root exposed--a root with a sort of loop--and under this Joe thrust one foot. It was almost like the stirrup of a saddle, only instead of holding Joe's foot up, the root held it down.

"Now I can have both my hands free," thought Joe, as he fixed his foot firmly in the loop of the root.

Joe looked through the gla.s.s-windowed copper helmet. He could see the man's face now, and on it was a look of horror, mingled with new and sudden hope.

The boy fish pointed to the valve in the outlet pipe, and made a motion as though prying on a crowbar. He wanted to indicate that he needed some sort of lever to work with.

Tom Rand understood at once, and slightly nodded his big head. Then he stooped down and, after feeling about in the mud near his uncaught foot, he picked up a short bar of iron.

Joe nodded to show that was what he wanted, and he moved as close as he dared to where the lead-weighted foot was caught. Joe had to be careful in two respects. He did not dare go too near the pipe, for a stream of water was rus.h.i.+ng through it and there was considerable suction, though not as much as there would be when the valve was fully opened. And Joe's feet, not being encased in big rubber boots, were small enough to be drawn into the same hole where Rand's was caught.

The diver was standing with most of his weight on his left foot. It was the right one that was caught, and this was thrust forward and outward, at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the upright one. And it was being caught in this peculiar position that had prevented the diver from aiding himself.

He could not lean forward far enough to bring effective pressure on the iron lever that had been lowered to him, or he might have pried his own foot loose, or have opened the valve wide enough to enable him to withdraw it.

"And he's been standing in that painful position for hours," thought Joe, "trying to help himself and not being able to. No wonder he wanted more air. He must be pretty nearly exhausted with the water pressure and the horror of it all."

Joe himself was suffering from the weight of water and from the labor of holding his breath. This labor was increased at the depth in which he was. It was deeper than he had ever gone down before--five times as deep as his gla.s.s tank in the circus.

Joe took the iron bar in both hands and worked himself as near to the outlet pipe as he dared go.

One end of the bar was pointed, and Joe inserted this between the lead sole of the diver's boot and pried cautiously. He was working as fast as he could, and he realized that more than a minute of his precious four--or, at best, four and a half--had pa.s.sed. And he had only begun.

Could he stand it? Could he hold his breath long enough to make the rescue?

"I will do it! I will!" Joe told himself down there under the water.

Several times he put all the weight he could bring to bear on the iron bar, and Joe was well muscled. But the foot was still held fast. Joe was afraid of using too much force for fear of making a hole in the boot, or of causing the diving suit to leak. But the foot would not stir.

Joe wished he had a longer bar, so he could get more leverage, but there was no time to signal for one. Nor could Tom Rand help him by pressing on the end. The diver could not lean forward far enough.

"I've got to do it all by myself," thought Joe grimly.

Again and again he pried with all the force he dared use. Something tapped him on the shoulder. He looked around to see the diver beckoning to him. Joe leaned back and saw, by the motions made by Rand's fingers, that the diver was trying to tell him to pry on the valve itself.

Joe turned back to his work again. His heart was beating like a hammer now. Every muscle ached with the strain and his head felt as if it would burst. Joe knew he must have pa.s.sed the four-minute period. How much longer could he stay under?

Not long, he feared. He had about reached his limit in this depth of water. He felt that he simply must let out a breath and draw in----

No! He couldn't do that. To breathe in now would mean slow suffocation.

He must hold out.

He put the pointed end of the iron lever in a crack in the valve. He pressed with all his available strength. Nothing gave. Again Joe shoved down. His head seemed to swim, and it was black before his eyes. Still the imprisoned foot was caught.

Once more Joe pressed, and then, to his joy, he felt something give way. So suddenly did it happen that the bar fell from his hand. Then came a great rush of water. Joe had opened the valve so wide that the water was flowing out in a great volume.

He felt himself being sucked forward. Desperately he forced himself back. His foot, held under the root, seemed as if it would be torn from his leg.

Then he felt great arms about him. He knew them to be those of the diver. In the light of the electric lamp Joe saw the man pull his leg loose, and then, while consciousness almost left Joe, he felt himself being carried toward the surface.

The diver had been able to free himself when Joe opened the valve. In an instant he had signaled to be pulled up, and as he shot toward the surface, seeing Joe's great danger he had clasped him in his arms.

Together the rescuer and rescued were pulled up, and an instant later Joe, who felt that he simply could not hold his breath another fraction of a second, found himself in the air and gulped in great mouthfuls of it. Oh, what a relief it was! For a moment, in the great need of it, he forgot what he had done.

But others did not forget it, and no sooner was it seen that the diver, alive, was out of the underwater trap, and that Joe, in his arms, had also come up, than a great cheer was shouted forth.

Eager hands lifted Joe and the diver to the top of the dam, and while some supported Joe, who was quite weak, others began to loosen the diver's helmet, for, until this was done, it was necessary to pump air to him.

Then a doctor, who had been in readiness to give aid in case the rescue was made in time, came up to minister to both of those who seemed to have come back from the edge of a watery grave.

CHAPTER XXIV

NEW HOPE

Joe's first realization, after he had regained his nearly spent breath and accepted a blanket which he wrapped around him, was that Helen was standing near him, holding his hand.

"Oh, Joe!" she murmured. "I am so glad--so glad--and proud of you!"