CHAPTER V
ABOARD THE RAIDER
Captain Stoneman now became the man of action that Jack and Frank knew he could be.
"Mr. Bronson!" he summoned the first officer, who approached hastily. "Mr. Bronson," continued the captain, "you point that gun aft toward the heavens and you fire it until I tell you to stop. Mr. Taylor, you do the same with the gun forward."
The captain glanced around. His third officer was busy. He called to
Jack.
"Mr. Templeton," he cried, "you go below and tell my wireless operator to pick up the cruiser Pioneer. You tell him I said not to stop trying, or I'll be down and attend to him myself."
Jack hurried away to obey the command.
Frank approached Captain Stoneman.
"Can I be of any assistance, sir?" he asked.
The captain glared at him angrily. "No," he shouted; then added: "Yes. You stand at the hatchway there and don't you let either of those women come on deck. If you do, I'll toss you overboard."
Frank went to his post.
So far there had been nothing to indicate that the approaching ship was other than a peaceful vessel. She had, so far as Captain Stoneman knew, made no effort to pick up the Algonquin with her wireless.
"I wonder," said Captain Stoneman to himself, "whether that pirate is going to blow me up without warning, or whether that wireless operator of mine has gone to bed? I'll go down and find out."
He ordered his first officer away from the gun aft to take the bridge and ran below to the wireless room.
"Any message from the ship ahead?" he demanded.
"No, sir," was the operator's reply.
"What's all that 'click-clicking' about?"
"I'm trying to pick up the Pioneer, sir."
"Humph! Can't you raise her?"
"No, sir."
Captain Stoneman returned on deck without further words. He relieved the first officer and ordered him back to the gun aft. At almost the same moment, the forward gun, pointed high, spoke.
"That'll raise the Pioneer if she's around here," said Captain Stoneman aloud.
The aft gun also spoke now, and then both boomed again.
An instant later a cloud of smoke burst from the approaching vessel, followed by a heavy boom. A solid shot passed over the Algonquin and splashed in the water beyond.
"Humph!" said Captain Stoneman again. "Signal to heave to, eh? Well,
I can't afford to disregard it."
He signaled the engine room and the Algonquin a few moments later came to a stop.
"Now, come on, you pirates," mumbled Captain Stoneman. "Come on aboard and tell me what you want."
A boat put off from the raider, for such the strange vessel proved to be. It came toward the Algonquin rapidly.
Captain Stoneman motioned to Frank.
"Better let the women come up now," he said quietly, "and Mr. Bronson, pipe all hands from below."
Before the small boat reached the Algonquin's side, all passengers and members of the crew were on deck. Frank pressed close to Jack.
"Got your gun?" he asked.
"In my boot," was the quiet reply; "and yours?"
"All right. How about your little decoration?"
Jack took a small object from his pocket and put it in the left-hand button hole of his coat. Frank followed his example.
"What is the meaning of this outrage?" demanded Mrs. Wheaton, as she watched the small boat approach.
"Meaning is that we are prisoners of the German raider," answered
Captain Stoneman, who overheard the remark.
"And why?" demanded the woman. "I heard guns fired above here.
Couldn't you hit anything?"
"We didn't try, madam," said the captain. "We fired those guns to notify the Pioneer we had encountered the raider."
"Well, why didn't you shoot at her?" demanded Mrs. Wheaton.
Captain Stoneman was about to make an angry retort, but restrained himself with a visible effort.
The raider's boat scraped alongside the Algonquin.
"Throw down a ladder here," said a voice in English, though with a heavy German accent.
Captain Stoneman growled ominously, but he ordered the command obeyed.
A moment later a German naval officer appeared on deck. He was closely
followed by half a dozen other figures. The officer approached Captain
Stoneman.
"You are the commander of this vessel?" he asked.
"I am," was the reply. "What of it?"
"You'd best keep a civil tongue in your head," said the German.
"What's your destination, and the nature of your cargo?"
"Buenos Ayres; oil," growled the captain, answering both questions briefly.
"Good!" said the German. "We are in need of oil." He turned to one of his men. "Below with you," he said. "Take three men and unloosen a hundred barrels of oil. I'll send a boat after them."
The man saluted and went below, followed by several of his companions.
The German officer turned again to Captain Stoneman.
"You and your men, and these two ladies," he indicated Mrs. Wheaton and her daughter, "will be prisoners aboard the Vaterland. Captain Koenig will make you as comfortable as possible."
"Thanks," said Captain Stoneman briefly. "I know enough about you
Germans and what to expect."
"Silence!" thundered the German, "or I shall have you placed in irons."
Captain Stoneman shrugged his shoulders, but he held his tongue.
Now, for the first time, the German officer appeared to notice that Jack and Frank were not members of the Algonquin crew. He motioned them to approach.
"You are passengers?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," said Jack.
The German took a quick step forward as he noticed the little emblem on Jack's coat. He glanced at Frank and saw one there, too. He tapped the one that Jack wore with his finger.
"Where did you get that?" he asked sharply.
"Where could I get it but in one place?" was Jack's reply.
"You are no German," said the officer.
"I was not born in Germany, it is true," said Jack, "but my ancestors were. I am what some people are pleased to call a German-American."
"Good!" exclaimed the German officer. "But what are you doing here?"
"That," said Jack, "is rather a long story and one that I am commanded to tell to Captain Koenig."
The German officer hesitated.
"You come together?" he asked at length, indicating Frank.
"Yes," said Jack.
"Well," said the German, "you will realize that I must be careful. I must see if you are armed."
He examined the lads' clothing carefully.
"You will follow me," he said a few moments later.
The crew of the Algonquin, meantime, was being transferred to the Vaterland. Jack and Frank found themselves in the last boatload to go.
Aboard the Vaterland, as the two lads followed their captor to the cabin of the German commander, Frank saw the disgust in the eyes of Elizabeth Wheaton as he passed her. It was plain that she, at least, took him for what he represented himself to be to the German officer.
"Oh, well," said the lad, as he walked along, "it cannot be helped."
Captain Koenig asked the lads several sharp questions which apparently satisfied him that they were what they claimed to be.
"But I cannot land you yet," he said.
"Any time within the month will do, Captain," said Jack. "We still have a little time. We do not need to reach New York until two days before the meeting. You can set us ashore some place in time enough for us to get there."
"I'll do better than that," said the captain. "I'll set you ashore on the coast of Florida three weeks from today."
"Good!" said Jack.
"Now," said the captain, "if you care to accompany me on deck, you shall see the last of the ship that carried you here."
The lads followed the captain on deck. The latter summoned his first officer.
"Fuses all set?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. The explosion should occur within one minute."
All turned their eyes to the abandoned Algonquin.
Suddenly there was a terrible explosion. A sheet of flame sprang from the doomed vessel. She seemed to leap high in the sky, then settled down in two pieces. A moment later she disappeared from sight.
"You shall pay for that, Captain Koenig!" said Jack to himself, between clenched teeth.