The men waited for some sign from Tom. But seconds passed, then a minute without their hearing from him.
“Why doesn’t he come out?” Bud muttered to himself.
Suddenly Mr. Swift sprang into action. “Bud,” he called, “something has gone wrong! Bring that hydraulic jackscrew over here. We’ll have to force the hatch open!”
With the men taking turns, the hatch was sprung. They pulled on the door in unison and finally it gave way. Bud leaped down the ladder. Inching his way forward he found Tom sprawled face down. Lifting the limp form across his back, he crawled amidships to the open hatch.
Mr. Swift and Hank reached down and relieved Bud of his burden. Gently they laid Tom on the submarine’s deck and applied artificial respiration. When he did not respond, Mr. Swift said grimly:
“We’d better get him under an oxygen tent.”
Tom was quickly carried to the first-aid station and placed under a tent.
Within five minutes he began to regain consciousness.
A PIRATE RAID 41
Through the window of the oxygen tent, the anxious watchers could see Tom’s chest rise and sink in an even, reassuring motion.
Twenty minutes later the lifesaving apparatus was opened. Tom’s eyes flickered and he turned his head. Then, with an unexpectedly quick movement, he sat up, blinked, and looked around at the men.
“What happened? Who pulled the black shade down? Where the dickens am I?” he asked.
Mr. Swift’s face broke into a smile of relief. “What a scare you gave us!” he said.
“You sure were out cold, inventor boy,” Bud added.
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