CHAPTER V
OVERHAULED
"I believe we're on a fool's errand," remarked Fielding to the midshipman.
They were on the bridge; Drake had turned in. It was now two bells of the middle watch (1 a.m.), and the Frome was still heading westward as fast as her motors could impart power to the three undamaged propellers. Beyond the rhythmical purr of the engines, the "swish" of the water as the destroyer's knife-like bow cleft the waves, and the mournful slatting of the signal halliards against the mast, hardly a sound was audible.
"Why, sir?" asked Cardyke, lowering his night-glasses, and stepping behind the shelter of the "storm-dodgers."
"Why—because I think we are. We ought to have overhauled our quarry hours ago—certainly before sunset. With lights out, they might easily alter course, and let us run by them like a blind man past a notice to trespassers. What's more, we're right out of the beaten track. All up-Channel traffic will be heading for St. Catherine's light, and we're well to the south'ard of the Start by now.
"It's a cool bit of work, snapping up a ship almost in sight of Portsmouth, and in the English Channel, too," remarked Cardyke.
"Yes, and it's the audacity of it all that gives the beggars a chance of success. But what can be the object of a tramp lumbering along with a disabled cruiser in tow? She'll be spotted at sunrise, mark my words; but I'm afraid the Frome won't have a look in. Well?"
The monosyllable was addressed to a seaman who had scaled the bridge-ladder.
"Message, sir; wireless," replied the man, laconically.
"H'm!" grumbled Fielding, taking the slip of paper. "The admiral wants to know our position, I suppose. That will mean a recall, and a wigging for not carrying out orders. I wish we'd crippled the wireless for a few hours. Take this, Cardyke, and see what it's all about."
The midshipman took the paper, and entered the little chart-room. The next instant he was by the sub.'s side.
"She's at it again," he exclaimed. "Here's an urgent call for assistance from ss. Yosen Maru, lat. 50-2-14 N., long. 3-45-9 W., steaming NNE.1/4E. Requires urgent assistance. Pursued and fired upon by large unknown vessel. How's that?"
"Forty miles off, and a general call will bring a dozen vessels to her assistance," replied Fielding, gloomily. "Cut below and inform Drake."
Cardyke bounded down the steep ladder, and made his way to the wardroom. The lieutenant was awake in a moment.
"We've been tricked," he exclaimed. "But we'll be in time yet. Pass the word for Mr. Black."
Drake was soon on the bridge, and the Frome's course was altered towards the position given by the Yosen Maru. As soon as Black, the gunner, came on deck, orders were given to clear for action.
The wireless operator repeatedly called up the vessel in distress, which was known to be a Japanese liner bound for London. But beyond the first call for aid no message came from the threatened vessel. The ominous silence told its own tale.
With the spray flying in cascades right over the fore-bridge, for the wind was now dead ahead, the Frome thrashed her way through the darkness. An hour and a half passed, then—
"Rocket, throwing blue and red stars, sir," announced one of the men stationed on the bridge.
"Whither away?"
"Dead ahead, sir. There's another."
"That's the Yosen Maru, sure enough," exclaimed Drake. "We'll be in time, after all."
The grey dawn was paling in the eastern sky as the Frome eased down within a cable's length of the huge Japanese liner, and a couple of the destroyer's boats were promptly lowered and manned, Fielding being in charge of one, and Cardyke of the other.
It was soon evident that the Yosen Maru was helpless and drifting broadside on to the fairly stiff breeze. Her rudder had been shot away, and a gaping hole under her counter, a few feet above the waterline, showed that a shot had been fired with disastrous result. Her accommodation ladder had been lowered, and no attempt had been made to haul it up again, so towards this means of entry the destroyer's boats gave way.
Fielding was the first to board, and at the head of the ladder was met by a group of calm, imperturbable Oriental officers.
"We have been boarded by pirates, sir," announced one of the Japanese, in excellent English. "A large cruiser intercepted us and ordered us to heave-to. We asked the reason, and in reply a shot was fired across our bows, and another shattered our rudder. Under the circumstances we could do nothing more than ease down. We were boarded by a boat's crew, and the villain in charge demanded to see our papers, pointing revolvers at the passengers and crew to keep them intimidated. Our purser was compelled to hand over the whole of the bullion in the strong-room, to the value of three hundred thousand yen, some of our stores and provisions were stolen, and ten of our first-class passengers, including General Oki, who is on a mission to the British Court, and Mr. Hokosuka, the eminent financier of Nagasaki, were taken out of the ship. Finally having done considerable damage in our engine-room by means of a charge of dynamite, the rascals returned to their ship, and steamed off."
"Was the pirate ship alone?" asked Fielding. "And did she clear off under her own steam?"
"Certainly," replied the Japanese officer. "She headed S.S.W., going about twenty knots, as far as I could judge."
"I told you we'd been fooled," exclaimed the sub. to Cardyke. "The Impregnable was not towed away—she managed to raise steam, and apparently did very well. I'd like to have a few moments with the skipper of the Steephill Castle. The lying rogue is more than likely in league with these up-to-date pirates."
"Well, gentlemen," continued Fielding, turning to the officers of the Yosen Maru, "we had better be off, and try to overhaul the pirate vessel. We can do very little by way of assistance to your ship, I fear."
"Quite true," replied the spokesman. "The weather is moderate, and we have plenty of sea-room. Before they put our wireless out of gear we heard that the British cruiser Dionysius was coming to our aid, as well as the Red Star liner Scandinavia."
"Then you'll be well looked after," said the sub. And saluting the Japanese officers, he descended the accommodation ladder.
"Those rascals are not wanting in cool cheek,—holding the passengers as hostages, I suppose," commented Drake, when Fielding had made his report. "Well, I suppose we must call up Portsmouth, and inform the admiral of what has occurred. But there's nothing to prevent us overhauling the Impregnable. At all events I'll have a shot at it."
This was Drake's chief fault: he was overanxious to make an individual score. The glory of capturing the Impregnable was to be the Frome's, if possible. The idea of co-operation with the other British destroyers was distasteful to him. "Alone I did it" was to be his motto, the "I" including the officers and crew of the little craft under his command.
As fast as her three undamaged propellers could drive her the Frome tore in the direction the pirate cruiser was supposed to have taken. Eagerly glasses were brought to bear upon the horizon, in the hope of discerning a cloud of smoke—the oil-laden vapour from the Impregnable's liquid fuel.
At eight bells Fielding and Cardyke turned in for a well-earned rest but their sleep was soon to be rudely disturbed. Just before noon the slumbering officers were aroused by a messenger with the news that the Impregnable had been sighted.
"No mistake this time, I hope, sir?" asked the sub., as he swung himself up the bridge-ladder three steps at a time.
"That's the old Impregnable," asserted the lieutenant-commander, confidently. "The question is how the dickens are we to do the trick? We can't very well use the quick-firers, or we may bowl over some of the Japanese hostages. For the same reason we dare not let loose a torpedo."
"We can hail her, sir, and demand her surrender. If she refuses we must hang on, call up the other destroyers to our assistance, and take forcible possession of her."
"Do you think they'll open fire, sir?" asked Cardyke, eagerly.
"Hardly likely, you young fire-eater," replied Drake, with a grim smile. "They won't risk going so far. They know we have wireless; but if they thought they could do the trick without witnesses they wouldn't hesitate to try and sink us."
"They didn't sink the Yosen Maru."
"No; that strengthens my opinion that they won't go to extreme measures. There was none of the cut-throat, walk-the-plank style of the eighteenth-century pirate about them. No, I don't anticipate much difficulty but we'll be prepared."
An hour later the Frome was only a mile astern from her chase. The Impregnable's speed was visibly diminishing.
"They've a cool cheek, by Jove!" ejaculated Fielding. "They've actually painted another name on her."
"Yes," agreed Drake, who, like his subordinate, was making good use of his binoculars. "It's Independencia. That's Spanish, I believe."
"They're hoisting their colours," continued the sub. "A Brazilian ensign. Won't do, my hearties. You can't bluff us."
"She's slowed down, sir," exclaimed Cardyke. "Her propellers are going astern."
"What ship is that?" shouted Drake through a megaphone, as the Frome slowed down at cable's length on the Independencia's starboard quarter.
"Brazilian cruiser Independencia, from Cherbourg for Bahia Blanca," was the reply.
"A bit out of your course, old man," muttered Drake. "Stand by, we are sending a boat."
"For why? We want no communication."
"Then you'll have to want. If you give us any trouble we'll blow you out of the water," and the lieutenant pointed significantly towards the foremost torpedo-tube, around which its crew were standing ready to launch home the deadly weapon.
It was mere bluff on Drake's part. He dared not, as he had said, let loose a torpedo, and the weapon was only a practice one, its war-head being stowed away below. But to Drake's satisfaction the captain of the pirate-cruiser agreed to receive the boat.
"That's good!" ejaculated Drake. "Now, Fielding, off you go. Round up their gold-braided gentry and lock them up in the chart-room. Take possession of the bridge, and make them follow in our wake. They are only milk and water pirates, after all."
"Am I to take away the whaler, sir?" asked Cardyke.
"Very good. But when Mr. Fielding has taken the necessary steps to secure control over the prize, you will return—you understand? Good—now look alive, or we'll have someone else's finger in the pie." And Drake gave a hasty, comprehensive glance astern, heaving a sigh of relief that the horizon was unobscured. Here was the Frome's chance, he meant to make good use of it.
The mid. was wearing his dirk—the practically useless emblem of authority—and in addition he buckled on a holster containing a Service revolver. Both boats' crews, armed with rifles and bayonets—for the old British cutlass that worked such doughty deeds in days gone by is now a thing of the past—tumbled into the little craft as they lay alongside.
"Give way!" ordered Fielding, and the order was repeated by Cardyke in the whaler.
With less than a dozen yards separating the two boats the boarders pulled lustily towards the gigantic cruiser as she lay rising and falling slightly to the Channel rollers.
There was no accommodation ladder, that article having been unshipped before the vessel was put up for sale, so Fielding's boat ran alongside the starboard quarter, where a number of "chocks" afforded a rough and ready sort of ladder. The bow-man laid hold of a torpedo-boom bracket with his boathook, and the sub. prepared to ascend, Cardyke's craft lying just astern.
On the Independencia's deck no one was visible save a quartermaster who was leaning over the stanchion-rails. Having no man-ropes to assist him, Fielding's task was an awkward, not to say dangerous, one. He was half-way up the thirty-odd feet of freeboard, with a couple of bluejackets at his heels, when a noose rope was adroitly thrown over his shoulders, and jerked tight. Simultaneously a lariat descended into the whaler, caught Cardyke round the waist, and before any of his men could prevent it, the mid. was jerked up into the air.
With a crash two pieces of iron were dropped into the boats, staving out their garboards.
The pirate cruiser's propellers began to churn the water, and the Independencia gathered way. The bow-man of each boat endeavoured to secure a hold, but the drag of the water-logged craft was too great.
[Illustration: A NOOSE WAS ADROITLY THROWN OVER HIS SHOULDERS AND JERKED TIGHT.]
The predicament was an ignominious one. The boats' crews were swimming around their swamped boats, their officers were prisoners in the hands of the men they had hoped to capture, and the Frome, ere she could give chase, had to pick up the immersed bluejackets.
Meanwhile, the Independencia, steaming at twenty knots, was rapidly leaving the destroyer astern, while Drake could only shake his fist in impotent rage.