“It was on the isle of Nankum, Near the land of Timbuctoo That poor old Sam fell overboard one night. There was a great commotion In the middle of the ocean Sure he gave the sharks and whales A terrible fright.”
“Good!” cried Bob. “Give us the second verse.”
“Oh, well, the third then. I’m not particular,” and Bob began to investigate one of the food lockers.
“Here! Keep out of there until dinner time,” called Jerry.
“It’s dinner time now. Long past noon,” remarked Bob.
“Wait until we make that point of land then, and--”
What Jerry was going to say he never finished, for at that instant the _Dartaway_ hit something with a force that threw Ned, who was standing up, off his feet and into the bottom of the craft.
“Is the boat sinking? If it is let me put a life preserver on my specimen boxes!” begged the professor.
Jerry had instantly shut off the power and was peering over the bow.
“Don’t seem to be any rock,” he murmured. “We have deep water here.”
Then, to the surprise of all on board, the _Dartaway_ began to move through the water at a fast rate.
“Did you turn on the power?” cried Jerry to Ned, who was nearest the engine.
The professor looked over the side of the boat. Then, pointing to something in the water just ahead, he said:
The boys looked to where the scientist pointed. Some large shape could be seen just under the surface of the water, which was being churned into foam by the action of the creature’s flippers.
“How did that get hold of us?” asked Bob. “Has it got us in its mouth?”
“The anchor got loose and dangled over the side,” explained Jerry as he made a hasty examination. “One of the flukes must have caught under the turtle’s shell after we rammed it. Now the creature is carrying us out to sea!”
“Cut the rope!” cried Ned. “He’ll swamp us!”
“No! No!” shouted Jerry. “We can’t afford to lose our anchor. We’ll need it later on.”
“But how are we going to get rid of the turtle?” asked Bob. “He’ll swamp us if he gets us away out in the rough water.”
The situation was indeed a grave one. The turtle, doubtless imagining it had the best of some enemy, was increasing its speed. With the anchor caught under a forward flipper, where it offered no impediment to swimming, the big creature was towing the _Dartaway_ as easily as it might a piece of driftwood.