CHAPTER XXIII
"PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION"
The Admiral's secretary at Auldhaig stood at the Commander-in-Chief's elbow. It was close on lunch-time, and the Admiral had still a bulky though fast diminishing pile of documents either to sign or initial before he could complete his morning's work. But, being mortal, even the Commander-in-Chief was hungry, and consequently short-tempered.
"What is it, Elphinhaye?" he demanded tartly. "Can't you deal with it yourself?"
"'Fraid not, sir," replied the secretary, still proffering the newly-arrived telegram.
"What is it?" asked the Admiral again. "Who's it from?"
"Entwistle? Never heard of him."
The secretary coughed deprecatingly. He was slightly surprised and pained to think that his worthy chief had not heard of the famous Secret Service agent.
"Oh, yes; now I do," corrected the Commander-in-Chief. "He was barging about down in Cornwall over that von Gobendorff case, when I was Senior Officer at Trecurnow. Well, what is it now?... By Jove!"
The telegram had been dispatched from York. It read as follows:—
"To S.N.O., Auldhaig. For your information and necessary action:—Discover Captain Fennelburt, R.A.F., to be Leutnant Karl von Preussen (vide dossier 445). He has dispatched the following cablegram to Admiralty, Berlin: 'Q-boat disguised as U 251 left Leith on 9th for Hoorn Reefs."
"Someone's let the cat out of the bag," declared the Commander-in-Chief. "It's an absolute mystery to me how intelligence does leak out. Now, what's to be done, Elphinhaye? What Q-boat does the message refer to?"
"Q 171, sir," replied the secretary, never at a loss to supply the requisite information. "She was the old Tollerdale, and was adapted at Leith in January last."
"Who's her commanding officer?"
Elphinhaye had to consult a current Navy List.
"Morpeth, sir. George Morpeth, an R.N.R. officer with the D.S.C."
"By Gad! Morpeth! I knew him at Trecurnow," exclaimed the Admiral. "Smart fellow, but a bit of a rough diamond. I've no doubt that he can take care of himself, but all the same——"
"We could wireless him, sir."
"And warn every Fritz on this side of Germany," declared the Commander-in-Chief. "No, no, Elphinhaye. We must think of a better plan—one that, with luck, will entail a clean sweep of every Fritz who dares to poke his nose outside his kennel."
Twenty minutes later the joyful signal was received by the Nth Light Cruiser Squadron and the Z Destroyer Flotilla:—
"Raise steam for thirty knots and prepare for immediate action on clearing harbour."