PART TWENTY: A Bad Dream and a Living Nightmare
Due to the misspent life he had led, Mumbles did not usually have particularly pleasant dreams when he slept, and the current one he was having seemed to be even worse than usual. It began with him being back in the ocean, clinging to the ruptured life raft, only this time there were no rescuers in sight. All alone, he sank down to his dismal, watery end ... except that it wasn't quite the end after all. Mumbles found himself caught in a sort of maelstrom that sucked him down, down, down into a dark hole at the bottom of the sea. Within that hole, the water drained away and he felt like he was falling through air in the darkness, plummeting ever downward towards a strange and terrible light that was rising up to meet him.
And Mumbles knew with a sickening certainty just where he was headed when he realized that the light was a blazing sea of fire, and he heard the wails of the damned and understood that he was about to join them. Right where he was going to land, a smirking devil had placed a bubbling, lava-filled cauldron with his name on it. "Welcome," leered the Evil One. "We've been expecting you..."
Unable to stop or slow his descent, Mumbles plunged into the searing cauldron while the Devil roared with laughter and hit him twice over the head with a pitchfork when he tried to climb out. At the second blow, Mumbles abruptly woke from his nightmare, sitting bolt upright in his cabin bunk, his hair standing on end, gasping and sweating and telling himself: Justa dream, itwuzjus tadream!
And yet, part of the dream still seemed to be going on, for he could even now hear demoniacal laughter right there in the cabin, plus the sound of somebody choking and gurgling as though they were drowning, or ... or being strangled! Mumbles recoiled in horror at the sight of Stooge Viller, blue-faced and tongue lolling, going down with a maniacally-grinning Mole on top of him. The latter had both hands wrapped around his crime partner's neck, squeezing like he was trying to snap it, eyes blazing and whirling more wildly than those of B-B Eyes ever had. In a flash, Mumbles seized the first thing he could reach – which happened to be the pewter jug of ice-water – and with all his strength he swung it over his head and crowned the Mole with it.
The wide, open end of the jug came down with such force that it completely covered the Mole's ugly head, drenched him with freezing water and dropped several ice cubes down his shirt collar. The results were immediate: the Mole let go of Stooge and began to writhe around on the cabin floor, frantically trying to remove the metal jug from his head. Mumbles kicked him out of the way before kneeling to check on Stooge, who was gasping mightily even though he seemed to have fainted. His regular color was slowly beginning to return, and Mumbles rubbed an ice cube on his friend's forehead to help bring him round.
Luckily for Stooge, he had a rather thick neck, and this had prevented the Mole from doing any serious harm other than cutting off his oxygen supply and some of the circulation to his head while he had been throttling him. The return of both, plus the cold melted water dripping down his face soon revived him, and the first thing he saw was Mumbles bending over him with a look of concern in his eyes. "Thanks, pal," Stooge managed to pant. "I thought ... I thought I was done for ... Where's the Mole?"
Mumbles jerked a thumb at the struggling, jug-headed figure by the cabin door. "Helb, helb, I cad breaf!" came a muffled cry from inside the pitcher.
"Well, well, look who's complaining that he can't breathe!" Stooge said with acid sarcasm as he stood up and drew his revolver. Mumbles likewise found his own handgun and trained it on the thrashing Mole, waiting for a signal from Stooge to open fire. However, his crime buddy shook his head. "Not yet – that's too quick. Let him suffocate a bit first..."
As mentioned before, the Mole's hands really were very strong, and it was this strength that enabled him to finally free his head from the metal jug, which yielded with a loud pop like an oversized champagne cork. He had likewise gone blue in the face, either from the lack of air, the coldness of the ice water or both. "Brrrr!" he shuddered, shaking his head like a wet animal and spraying droplets all over. He still had the jug in his upraised hands. And when he saw that both Mumbles and Stooge were pointing their guns at him, he dropped the jug but kept his arms up in the air. "W-what's goin' on? Stooge? Mumbles? How – how did I get here...?"
"Don't play dumber than usual!" Stooge hissed through clenched teeth. "You know darn well you just tried to murder me. Before we plug you, Mole, tell me one thing – how much did they bribe you to do it?"
The Mole was shivering, and it wasn't just from having been doused with ice-water. "No ... no! I didn't! I never! I don't even know what you're talking about!" He now bore very little resemblance to the cackling, psychopathic fiend he had been only a few minutes ago. His little eyes were wide with terror and his voice rose to near-hysteria as he begged, "Please, don't kill me! I don't remember doin' nothin'!"
Stooge frowned; he had expected the Mole to make excuses and blame somebody else, like the Brow, for making him do it. This flat-out denial of his actions was puzzling – it reminded him of how Mumbles could not seem to remember why he had attempted to blow up the Dutch Master. "Is there some sort of outbreak of temporary insanity makin' the rounds on this ship?" he wondered out loud, with a sidelong glance at Mumbles. To the Mole, he asked, "What's the last thing you do remember?"
"I ... wait ... I think ... I was with Sketch Paree, in our cabin. He was mutterin' somethin' about an egg on the back of his head, and then he looked at me kinda funny-like, and acted as if he had somethin' in his eye. So I took a look in his eye to see what was botherin' him, but I couldn't see anythin' ... I couldn't see anythin' at all ... and ... and the next thing I know, I'm in here with a jug of freezin' cold water stuck on my head, and you guys wantin' to shoot me!" He sounded on the brink of tears as he spoke this last bit.
There's more violence to come in the next chapter...