Page:Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle.djvu/87

Rh "The old man had better get under way, just the same," remarked a sailor near Tom, as he looked up at the bridge where the captain was standing.

The "old man," or commander, evidently thought the same thing, for, after a glance at the oncoming leviathan, which was still headed directly for the vessel, he shoved the lever of the telegraph signal over to "full speed ahead."

Hardly had he done so than the whale sank from the sight.

"Oh, I'm so glad!" exclaimed the woman who had first spoken of the possibility of the whale hitting the ship, "I am afraid of those terrible creatures."

"They're as harmless as a cow, unless they get angry," said her husband.

Slowly the great ship began to move through the water. Tom and his friends were about to go back to their cabin, for they thought the excitement over, when, as the young inventor turned from the rail, he felt a vibration throughout the whole length of the steamer, as if it had hit on a sand-bar.

Instantly there was a jangling of bells in the engine room, and the Soudalar lost headway.

"What's the matter?" asked several persons.

They were answered a moment later, for the