CHAPTER XVIII UNWELCOME GUESTS
The following interesting dialogue, which was conducted in English, now took place between the captain of the Shatter and my mate.
'Where are you from?'
No answer.
'Hallo! Where are you from?'
Again no answer.
'Goddam! I asked you where are you from.'
Düsselmann at last took the trouble to answer, and shouted across in a loud voice, 'Good-morning.'
'Hell and damnation,' shouted the English captain. 'I don't want your civilities. I want to know where you come from.'
'Then, first of all, would you mind telling me who you are?' answered the mate calmly.
'I am the captain of this ship,' was the answer; 'are you the captain of the Aud?'
'No, I am the second officer.'
'Where is your captain?'
'Sh! He is asleep.'
'Well, wake him at once.'
'The devil I will! The old man would half kill me if I called him in the middle of the night,' answered Düsselmann.
'Very well, then, I'll do it,' the Englishman roared, and he went a shade redder in the face with anger.
'What, you want to get killed?' asked the voice from above.
'No, but I'm coming on board to knock the sleep out of your captain. You will see how the captain of a ship in the service of His Britannic Majesty does it.'
'I'd like to see you,' answered the mate, with a laugh; 'let's see you do it.'
One by one, nearly the whole of the crew of the Shatter had come on deck and were now interested spectators, while the captain, with much circumstance, manœuvred his ship to within a couple of yards of ours. The deck of his little steamer lay so far below me that I could no longer see the men standing on it. After a while I heard the English captain shout, 'How am I to get up the side?' The laconic answer came, 'I suppose the captain of a ship in the service of His Britannic Majesty will show us how it is done.' There now came a long pause while they were doubtlessly wondering on the Shatter how to scale the steep side of our ship without the aid of a ladder. Then I heard the Englishman call out—this time in a particularly polite tone—'Please let down a ladder.'
'Certainly, with the greatest pleasure,' the mate answered. 'But I must first call the crew, they are all still asleep.' Then he lumbered slowly down from the bridge and went forward cursing to rouse the men. As he went I heard a voice below me say, 'Goddam, this damned fellow is no fool,' a statement which I silently endorsed. The crew of the Shatter had apparently forgotten that they could support their demand with force of arms. It was quite a long time before the second mate returned from the forecastle along with a couple of the crew, who, to all appearances, had come straight from their bunks. Then a ladder was let down, and with much puffing and blowing the Englishman clambered up, followed by a couple of his men. As they posted themselves right in front of my window I had to quickly pull the blind across.
'Now then, where's your captain?' asked the Englishman; and I heard the mate answer 'Don't shout so loud, man. If you wake this skipper you will know about it. He is the most-feared captain in all Norway.'
'But it is most urgent that I speak to him. So come along with me.'
'All right,' answered Düsselmann, but you will have to go first!'
'No, you go in front,' answered the Englishman, who began to think there was something uncanny about the business.
'Oh, all right then.' That was all I heard, for I quickly bolted the door and made all ready for the reception while the pair were coming along the cabin passage. Knocking, first circumspectly, then harder and harder, they tried to rouse the captain of the Aud. Leaning my head back somewhat, I answered a couple of times with a half audible curse. Then there was silence for a while. All I could hear now was whispering voices; and then the knocking began again. This was more than I could stand. I pulled off my vest and tie, put my hair in suitable disarray, and went cursing loudly to the door. In accordance with our plan I spoke Low German, on the assumption that the Englishman would probably take it for Norwegian.
'Damnation! What's the meaning of this confounded drumming in the middle of the night?' I shouted in my deepest bass while I opened the door.
'Good-morning, sir! I am very sorry to have to trouble you so early in the morning.' With these words my English 'colleague' greeted me, while at the same time he carefully took a step backwards. In his left hand he held a rusty pistol which might well have dated from the time of Nelson. With his right he touched his grease-stained cap in curt salute. Behind him stood, besides my mate, six English seamen armed to the teeth and clothed in rather fantastic and dirty uniforms. I put on the sternest appearance I could possibly assume, and then addressed him in browbeating tone in English. 'If you wish to speak to me, be good enough to wait until I have dressed.' As I spoke, I slammed the door in his face. All this happened so quickly that the Englishman did not know where he was.
There was quite a long pause before I heard him say to the mate, 'Are all your Norwegian captains such bounders?' And Düsselmann replied, 'All I can tell you is that this one is a regular Tartar.' Then he invited him to take a seat in the mess-room, which the Englishman very willingly did.
I now knew enough to be able to play my rôle in the comedy. The popping of a cork next door told me that Düsselmann had already started the good work. For nearly a quarter of an hour I pounded up and down the room, splashed in the wash-basin, and joyfully anticipated the scene that was now coming. Men of this description could be managed without bloodshed. There was no doubt about that. My sole anxiety was lest these fellows, while they were still sober, should go smelling round the holds. But my men had cleverly understood the situation and had invited the crew of the Shatter to have 'a little drink' in the forecastle, so that for the present there was nothing to fear from them.
I opened wide the whisky locker under my bunk, so that any one sitting on the sofa could easily see the bottles of whisky and brandy standing in serried ranks, and then shouted into the mess that I was ready for the interview. The man with the whisky nose appeared immediately and took the seat I offered him on the sofa. It was only now that I saw to my horror that my uniform jacket, sword-belt, and cutlass were hanging beside the washstand. I promptly threw the towel, which I still held in my hand, over them, and had the satisfaction of noting that the Englishman had spotted nothing. During the conversation which ensued I was at first very surly and curt. When the usual questions, 'Where was I from?' and 'Where was I bound for?' had been disposed of, the Englishman asked me what my object was in anchoring here. I told him my engines had broken down, and that I had been forced to make for Tralee. He then expressed a wish to have a look at the holds. I was not particularly keen on that, but as I dared not let him see that I at once expressed my willingness. So we went on deck and proceeded first of all, needless to say, to No. 2 hold. There I shouted to Düsselmann (who in the meantime had gone back to the bridge after giving me one of his sly winks), to send me a couple of hands to take the hatches off. They came at once; and I had now reached a rather unpleasant stage in the proceedings. The next few seconds must decide if the comedy was going to succeed or if I should have to render the Englishman harmless. Fortunately, no one could see us, for the Shatter had in the meantime made fast to our stern. The doughty warrior had forgotten his old pistol in my cabin, where my servant Bruhns had no doubt already found it. With nervous attention I followed every movement of the Englishman, ready at any moment to knock him down if necessary. As I was a much bigger man than he this would have been easy. I held my Browning pistol ready cocked in my pocket.
When the first hatch was removed I gave a sigh of relief, for I saw that my men had found time to cover up the holds in the lower deck also. So the most important thing was hidden. The few pit-props which we had left between decks the day before were now to prove our salvation. As soon as the Englishman's eye caught sight of the wood strewn all round the sides of the hold he asked what the explanation was. I told him about the terrible storm which we had experienced, and how the whole of our deck-cargo, as well as some of the cargo in the hold, had shifted. Any sailor in his senses would have noticed at once the absurdity of this explanation, for when a ship's cargo shifts the hold presents a much more disorderly appearance than was the case here. The man appeared to be as little of a sailor as he was of a soldier, for he nodded his head and found my explanation quite reasonable. Emboldened by his ignorance I asked him if I should open the lower hold also, 'Not that you will see very much,' I remarked by the way, 'everything is so higgledy-piggledy down there.' At the same time I placed a small ladder for him, and with a gesture invited him to go down. Was he afraid that the ladder would not carry his weight, or did he think the descent would be too unpleasant? Anyway, he waved the ladder aside and said curtly, 'All right.' Then, without another look at the inside of the hold, he related to me how he had weathered this awful storm here in Tralee Bay, what a terrible time he had had, and how, by his clever handling, he had preserved Shatter II. from destruction. So excited did he get over his account that he did not notice that I had shepherded him back to the door of the cabin.
Thank goodness! At any rate I had now got him away from that dangerous No. 1 hold, which, of course, was still wide open. In order to cut the business short I now asked him if he would like to see my papers. As he answered in the affirmative I pushed him into the cabin, and the next moment he was again seated on the sofa with me opposite him. Then I offered him a fat Havana and ordered the steward to bring two cups of coffee.
This, of course, was all by-play, for an Englishman like this would certainly not drink coffee first thing in the morning. So he turned away quite angrily when Bruhns put down a large cup of coffee under his nose. To my joy I noticed that the whisky cupboard had not escaped his attention. He stared and stared between my legs at the locker, so I remarked quite casually, 'Perhaps you would rather have a little whisky?'
That did it. With an energetic 'You're the man for me,' he slapped me on the shoulder, and with characteristic shamelessness started to go to the locker himself and to pick out the best 'White Horse.' I let him go ahead, and in the meantime fetched a big tumbler, so that his ration should not be too small. Then I held out the water-bottle and asked, 'How much?' But the Englishman waved it aside, declaring 'No water! You know we never see this stuff here.' What better could I have wished?
The conversation now became fairly lively, and when the Englishman asked to see the ship's papers I very willingly got out my whole collection of smoke-blackened documents. He pawed them over repeatedly, but I noticed at the first glance that he had no earthly idea of the meaning of the documents. He handed me a book to sign. I wrote myself down in several places as 'Niels Larsen, captain of the Norwegian steamer Aud, with pit-props and piece goods from Christiania, for Cardiff and Genoa.' At the mention of pit-props he remarked cheerfully that this cargo was badly wanted in England, and in confirmation of this statement he emptied his glass at a gulp. Without 'by your leave' he at once poured himself out another glass, and assured me again and again that the coffee which I drank was very bad for the nerves. Referring to the Norwegian newspapers lying in front of us, which were now three weeks old, I asked him if he could let me have a few English papers, as I was anxious to know the latest war news. He got up at once, went up on deck, and going over to the side shouted an order to the men on his ship to send over immediately all the papers lying in his cabin.
The conversation now turned on the events of the war, with the result that I found myself in the peculiar position of having to join with one of my deadly enemies in cursing my beloved Germany, which nearly broke my heart. I would have preferred to have knocked the fellow down for some of the ridiculous statements he made. But in view of what I hoped to obtain from him I had to swallow it all and chime in with him. In the meantime my second mate had joined us, accompanied by one of the English petty officers, who carried a huge parcel of the latest papers under his arm. I now went back into the cabin with the petty officer, offered him a whisky, and cast my eye rapidly over the papers. Chance decreed that a paragraph in the second paper I took up caught my eye. It stated that on Wednesday, i.e. two days before our arrival, by order of the English officer commanding the Tralee district, several Sinn Fein leaders had been arrested in Fenit on suspicion of being concerned in a conspiracy against the English Government. So this was the answer to the riddle! And the paper stated that an Irish pilot (whose name I have forgotten) had been arrested on a similar charge. There could be no doubt about it. It must have been our pilot, the man for whom we had been waiting so anxiously here. It was no easy task for me to conceal from the petty officer the difficulty I had in following his remarks on all sorts of unimportant subjects.
Fortunately, the other two now reappeared, and I was able to switch off. I handed the papers to Düsselmann, holding my thumb on the paragraph in question so that he noticed it at once. At the same moment the English captain clapped me on the back, and said in a reassuring tone, 'Capt'n, you need have no fear of U-boats. I'll keep a look-out for you.' As I did not at once grasp the meaning of these words he added in explanation, 'Your mate told me you were very much afraid of the U-boats and feared that you would never return from this voyage. Of course, I can understand this in the case of a man who is engaged to a girl in Christiania and is to be married in two months' time. But don't worry. So long as you are compelled to remain here for repairs I will lie at the entrance to the bay and take care that no U-boat gets in. And now, in return for that, give me another drink.' Suiting the action to the word, he poured out drinks for himself and the petty officer.
I am afraid my face did not give the impression of much intelligence at this moment. Not that I had not understood his words, but I feared that Düsselmann by his well-intended remark had done me more harm than good. If the Englishman really should keep a look-out he might possibly succeed in sinking our submarine, which might still appear at any moment. The more I attempted by all sorts of objectives to dissuade him from his purpose, the more obstinately he clung to this plan. 'Out of gratitude,' as he said. Then he swallowed his glass of whisky in one gulp, while big tears rolled down his maudlin face. It now appeared to me imperative that I should have a few minutes' undisturbed conversation with Düsselmann; so I summoned the first mate and asked him to look after my guests. Making the excuse that I just wanted to have a look round and see that all was well, I left the cabin, which was now almost unbearable for tobacco smoke and the smell of whisky. Düsselmann followed me at once.
We debated what we should do with the fellows. It would have been a simple matter to overpower them and tie them up, for I now learned that the English, who were sitting in the forecastle with my crew, were dead drunk, and that the same was probably true of the men who remained on the Shatter. For Düsselmann had had the inspiration to present four bottles of whisky to the boat's crew. But the execution of this plan would not have helped us, for we had no manner of use for the steamer, and we could not sink her without exciting suspicion. Now, too, when we knew that arrests had already been made in Tralee and that the district was probably under martial law, it would be useless if we manned the Shatter ourselves and ran in to reconnoitre and try to get in touch with the Sinn Feiners. This would cost me at least four men, and I should probably never see them again. We were too much under the observation of the various signalling stations to dismount the Shatter's guns and take them over. And there was no other anchorage in the neighbourhood where we could do it. We therefore came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to make the fellows dead drunk and then let them go. We dared not stay here later than the next morning. If by that time nothing had happened I intended to try and break through into the Atlantic and start commerce-raiding. In any case I intended during the coming night to send a boat ashore, even at the risk of being discovered. By this time things were getting lively in my cabin. The huge quantity of whisky they had consumed was evoking various discords apparently intended to represent 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary.' And coming from the forecastle also singing, or rather most damnable bawling, could be heard. Well, let them enjoy themselves! We decided we would sound them thoroughly and then get rid of them as quickly as possible.
When I re-entered the cabin the worthy captain held out to me a photograph which he had taken from the wall, asking if that was my fiancée from Christiania. I laughed and said it was. It was a picture of my sister holding her youngest hopeful in her arms! However, I had the satisfaction of knowing that the Englishmen were quite convinced of our Norwegian nationality. They had now got to brandy I noticed. If they continued to mix their drinks in this fashion they would assuredly die of alcoholic poisoning. The captain, although speech had become a matter of some difficulty to him, was getting more and more loquacious. Between his hiccoughs he told us that he was on outpost duty here, but that he made himself quite comfortable all the same. Two hours before dark at the very latest he always proceeded to a quiet anchorage behind Kerry Head in order to be able to sleep in comfort. His crew, too, he added, were all in favour of a good night's sleep! The only privation they suffered was lack of whisky, this being strictly prohibited on British warships. That, he said, was the reason why he was so glad to seize this opportunity and to find so kind a host. I nodded benevolently, and asked him how long he had been stationed here. 'Not very long,' he replied. 'I was sent here a couple of weeks ago from Aberdeen, mainly in order to intercept a German steamer which is expected to arrive here at any moment.'
We of the Aud involuntarily glanced at each other—the business was getting more and more interesting every moment. When I had recovered from my first astonishment I asked a few questions. 'Yes, I suppose you think the Germans don't break through the blockade,' said the captain. 'Well, I assure you they do. Look at the Möwe, for instance. She got back all right.' And in order to wash out the impression which the return of the Möwe made on his English sailor's heart he hastily took a big drink, the whisky trickling down from the corners of his mouth. Then he went on again: 'Look here, I will tell you how it is. You Norwegians are good fellows; so there is no harm in my telling you, although it is really supposed to remain absolutely secret. Well, we, that is to say, the Naval Staff, have discovered that these damned swine, the Germans, want to join the Irish in bringing about a revolution. That is why they chose me in order to capture the auxiliary cruiser which is to come in here and bring arms for the Irish. Look at the harbour and the entire bay—the whole place is bristling with guns! What a fine reception the Germans will get from us. Of course the beggars are clever—but we English are a jolly sight cleverer.'
I could no longer contain myself. I burst out laughing, and the first and second mate joined in. This capped all that we had experienced so far! Fortunately, the Englishman thought we were laughing at the stupidity of the Germans, for he repeated again and again, 'Yes, they are terribly stupid, in spite of all their cunning!' I now knew all I wanted to know. I rushed to the locker, and telling this splendid, clever Englishman that I wished him the very best of luck on his quest, I got out another half-dozen bottles of whisky and a box of cigars, which I presented to him and his brave crew as a token of my respect. He himself was incapable of carrying the bottles, so we stuffed them in his pockets and those of his petty officer, telling the gentlemen that we must now get to work and must beg them to leave the ship. And they, with a loving look at their presents, declared their readiness to go. As he was getting up the captain beckoned to me, and, with his hand to my ear, hiccoughed, 'If by any chance you catch sight of the German cruiser out there be careful that she does not sink you. Inform a signalling station at once, or one of our many cruisers which are waiting in the offing for her. You will be well rewarded by the Government. I tell you that as a—friend!' I laughed, and promised to do so, and then pushed the two of them out. I stood upon no ceremony in dismissing the horribly drunken pair. The rest I left to my crew, and in about ten minutes Düsselmann was able to report to me that all the English, dead drunk, had left the ship, and that Shatter II. was steering a zigzag course for the mouth of the bay. Later we found out that he kept his word and kept watch for us against submarines at a distance of five miles. Poor unsuspecting fool!
The first thing I did then was to sit down in the cabin in order to regain my breath, cool down, and collect my thoughts. We had entertained our guests for two solid hours! If I had been told that in six weeks the world would come to an end I might have believed it. But if any man had told me that in my own cabin the captain of an English outpost boat would warn me against myself I should have thought him mad. What we had just gone through was so incredibly funny that I might have thought it a dream if the statement of the Shatter captain had not reminded us of the seriousness of our position. And very serious it was.
All hope of landing or of communicating with the Sinn Feiners had now disappeared. There was treachery about! Danger on all sides, whichever way I looked! We had chanced into a wasp's nest and could count ourselves lucky if we got out again in the next twenty-four hours. I summoned the whole crew to the upper deck and outlined my scheme. In order at any rate to save my valuable cargo I proposed to leave the bay immediately after dark and try if I could get out thirty miles into the Atlantic before the moon rose. Trusting in the luck that had till now accompanied us I was quite confident we should succeed in escaping. Once we were out on the high seas the future could take care of itself. I had before my mind the possibility of selling our cargo in Spain, which was only a day and a half's sail distant, or perhaps in Mexico, if we could get there. To leave the bay at this moment would have been a blunder, for it could not be supposed that all the English were such silly fools as our friends of the Shatter. The signalling stations round us had witnessed the visit from the Shatter in the morning, but they would most certainly have been suspicious if we were now suddenly to up anchor and away, for they were not going to believe that we had run in in order to enjoy the scenery of Tralee Bay by night. Also they would undoubtedly have noticed that we had not yet been really inside the harbour. If they should ask the Shatter why we were remaining here the explanation would be that we had trouble with the engines, which would cause much less suspicion than suddenly clearing out and saying good-bye to Tralee. We were all agreed on this, and I therefore decided to remain if possible until nightfall. If some stout Sinn Feiner should turn up before that time he would certainly make every effort to give us a sign if nothing more.
As a precautionary measure I had the munitions covered up with ropes and other rubbish and then had the hatches closed. You never can tell! Then the chief engineer, Rost, and his men got to work and thoroughly overhauled the engines in preparation for a run 'all out.' While this was being done the forenoon passed without any other event of interest.