CHAPTER VII
HOLDING THE CONNING-TOWER
Juan Cervillo was completely taken aback at the result of the one shot. It had put him absolutely beyond the pale. Piracy without bloodshed was serious enough in all conscience, but to have gone to this extent meant that capture would, without doubt, end in ignominious death at the hands of the executioner. Not that he would allow himself to be captured if it could possibly be avoided. He had been so far successful. Could he but carry out his plans for the next few days there was a probability that the Independencia might be able to slip away from her pursuers, and land his crew with their ill-gotten booty in some unfrequented place, where they might make their way in individual parties to one of the lawless South American republics.
All need for keeping the hostages on deck was for the time being at an end. The Dutchmen were marched off down below, in a secure place of confinement on the orlop-deck, while Fielding and Cardyke found themselves in a cabin on the half-deck in company with General Oki, Mr. Hokosuka, and a Japanese scientist named Mukyima, The cabin was wretchedly furnished, having been the quarters of a former watch-keeper while the ship was awaiting sale. There was a cracked looking-glass, iron wash-basin and stand, a folding-table fixed to the bulkhead, and a few camp-chairs.
The three Japanese were already in the cabin when Fielding and the mid. were unceremoniously thrust in and the door locked behind them. The former rose and saluted the new arrivals courteously, but by no expression did they depart from the characteristic imperturbability of the Asiatic.
"Good evening, gentlemen!" exclaimed Fielding, thinking this manner of salutation was the best way to ascertain whether the Japanese hostages spoke English.
"Good evening," replied General Oki. "We are sorry we cannot exchange our honourable salutations in an atmosphere more auspicious."
"We're glad you speak English," said the sub. "We do not understand Japanese—I have never been in the Far East."
"I am the only one of three who can speak the tongue of our illustrious allies and instructors in naval science and warfare," continued the Japanese general. "Mr. Hokosuka here does, it is a veracity, speak few English words. Mr. Mukyima, to the sorrow of his ancestors, has taken no stride to overpower your tongue."
"We are all in a bit of a hole," remarked the sub., gravely. "Our destroyer, the Frome, boarded the Yosen Maru a few hours ago and learnt of your predicament. Unfortunately in attempting to capture this pirate vessel, and incidentally to effect your rescue, we fell into the hands of these rascals."
"My sympathies with your deplorable misfortune," remarked Oki.
"An' me, too," added Hokosuka.
"Thanks," replied Fielding, briefly; then after a pause he continued, "What are these rascals going to do with us, I wonder?"
"Pirate hold us to ransom for sum of one million yen," said the Japanese, as calmly as an Englishman would announce how much an ounce he paid for his tobacco. "I pay not—Hokosuka he pay not—Mukyima he pay not."
"I suppose this rascal Cervillo will try and squeeze a tidy sum out of our relations on our account," said the sub., turning to Cardyke. "He'll be very much mistaken concerning me, for I doubt whether my people could raise ten thousand, and even then I feel sure they wouldn't on principle."
"Same here," agreed the mid. "But the question is: Are we to stick here without making an effort to break ship?"
"What do you suggest?" asked Fielding, with a slight tinge of asperity. "Swim a few hundred miles to the nearest land?"
"No; but if we could manage to get out of this dog-hole we might seize a part of the ship and hold our own."
"Till starved out, eh? And for what purpose?"
"It seems to me that if we could reach the chart-room, or the conning-tower, we could properly play the dickens with the villains."
"H'm!" ejaculated Fielding, who was beginning to realise that action was preferable to a prolonged confinement in a wretchedly furnished cabin. "The conning-tower? But how? And if we did how could we hold it? We've no weapons."
"We might manage to squeeze through that scuttle," suggested Cardyke, warming up to his point.
Fielding gave a dubious glance at the Japanese. General Oki was getting on in years, Mukyima was a big fellow—one of the Samurai—and both might experience difficulty in effecting their escape.
"No fear; we can do," exclaimed Oki, "Hokosuka, he take pistols from men without knowing it." And turning to his companions the Japanese general explained that plans were being formed to make a stand against the piratical crew.
Fielding opened the scuttle. Although broad of shoulder he could, by holding one arm above his head, and the other against his side, pass the widest part of his massive form through the circular aperture. Mukyima then tried, and by a wonderful contraction of his muscular body, squeezed his shoulders through without any apparent difficulty.
"The scuttle is only four feet below the upper deck," said Fielding. "I'll go first; there's the boat-boom lashed just beneath us. We can stand on that, use the rise of the scupper as a foothold, and raise ourselves up over the side. If all is quiet we can creep cautiously for'ard. If not we must wait till we are all ready to make a rush, then run for the conning-tower as fast as we know how."
Oki expressed himself satisfied with the arrangements, and shortly after midnight Fielding was assisted through the narrow opening. Cardyke and Hokosuka gripped his ankles, and for a short space of time he hung head downwards till his hands came in contact with the boom.
"All right—let go," he whispered, as the Independencia listed to port, and as agile as a cat he landed on the rounded spar. Ere the vessel heeled in the other direction the sub. had secured a firm hold upon the rim of the scuttle, his feet planted upon the boom. Then cautiously he climbed till his head was just above the level of the deck.
It was almost pitch dark. A screened light was burning in the chart-room, and the glow of a dozen cigarettes showed that some of the crew whose watch on deck it was, were taking things as agreeably as they possibly could, shielding from the keen wind behind the starboard 'midship barbette.
"All clear," he said, in a low voice. "You are the youngest and most active, Cardyke. Hang on till the last, and I will give you a leg-up."
With an agility that was remarkable for his years the veteran Oki made his way through the exaggerated needle's-eye, and was soon lying flat on the edge of the deck. Mukyima and Hokosuka followed, and were soon snugly ensconced by the side of their compatriots. Fielding then lowered himself to assist the midshipman, but Cardyke had forestalled him, and was crouching upon the boom.
His intimate knowledge of the ship gave Fielding the place of honour in making their way for'ard. In Indian file, and as silently as they possibly could, the four daring spirits followed the sub., crawling on their hands and knees, expecting every minute to be challenged by a more vigilant member of the pirate crew.
Unseen and unheard they passed the danger zone in the vicinity of the barbette, and from thence to the foot of the monkey ladder the deck was clear. Fielding was within twenty feet of the ladder when a French seaman came lurching aft.
Without a moment's hesitation the sub. lay down upon the deck, curling himself up in a natural attitude as if asleep, and his companions with promptitude followed his example.
As the seaman stumbled past, his right foot came in violent contact with Cardyke's forehead. The mid., although the blow well-nigh stunned him, did not utter a sound, and the seaman continued his erratic course.
Before the fellow had passed the barbette an officer appeared from behind the foremost funnel casing. Seeing the five men apparently deep in slumber on the deck he mildly remonstrated. Receiving no reply he stooped, and touched Cardyke on the shoulder. As he did so he caught sight of the distinctive "piping" on the mid.'s sleeve, and as if he had picked up a live coal he jumped backwards, shouting for assistance.
"Bowl him over," shouted the mid., all necessity for silence being now out of the question. His strong hands grasped the Spaniard's ankles, Fielding's heavy fist caught the pirate on the point of his jaw, and with a gurgled exclamation the astonished man measured his length on the deck.
In a trice the sub. was running up the ladder to the spar deck, Oki and Mukyima at his heels, and Cardyke following in the rear. Two signalmen attempted to bar their path, but went down like ninepins, and, breathless but unharmed, the adventurers gained the conning-tower to find that Hokosuka was not with them.
"No fear; him come all right," said Oki, reassuringly.
The words were hardly out of his mouth ere Hokosuka rejoined them, and silently handed Fielding and the general a revolver apiece. A third he retained himself. How he gained possession of the weapons none of his companions knew, nor did the Japanese think fit to enlighten them on the matter. The main thing was that three of them were armed with loaded revolvers, each holding six cartridges. There was no spare ammunition, but Fielding remarked that they ought to be thankful for small mercies, and trust that there would be no need to have to expend all the cartridges.
Meanwhile a regular pandemonium had broken out on the pirate cruiser. Alarmed by the uproar, men poured from below, not knowing whether they were attacked by a retributive cruiser. In the darkness the confusion was increased tenfold, and Fielding profited by the chaotic state of things to put the steering hard to port, steadying the helm while the Independencia pointed in exactly the opposite direction to her previous course. The quartermasters at the steering-gear on the bridge had abandoned their posts at the first alarm, and consequently the sudden alteration of her course was not corrected As the cruiser was travelling at a high speed the change of helm gave an alarming list away from the centre of rotation, and, unaware of what had caused the "heel," the crew began to shout that the vessel was capsizing.
"If we had a boat's crew at our backs we could sweep the rascals down below in a brace of shakes," exclaimed the sub., as he proceeded to close the slits in the armoured walls. "As we haven't we must make the best of things. When they've calmed down a bit they'll try and rout us out. In the interval we must take steps to prepare our defences."
Hitherto the Independencia had been steaming without navigation lights, and all lamps 'tween decks were screened, but in order to reassure his cowardly crew, Cervillo, who had hastily left his cabin, ordered the lights to be switched on.
Standing on the bridge the pirate captain swore, implored, and threatened as fast as he could shout. The conviction that the cruiser was in danger was too firmly rooted in the minds of the seamen to be removed by a torrent of almost incomprehensible words. Men began to make a rush for the boats that had been transferred from the pseudo Steephill Castle, two of which hung in the davits on either quarter. The first boat was stove in against the ship's side, the second, crowded with men, was so heavy that directly the falls were manned the laden craft took charge. The ropes slipped from the grasp of the men who held them, and the boat with its living freight fell into the sea.
This disaster quieted the panic-stricken crew to a certain extent, and the officers, with the assistance of a few pistol-shots, succeeded in driving the mob for'ard. Then it was that the discovery was made that the Independencia was as far out of her course as she could possibly be.
By dint of threats and a few lusty strokes with the flat of his sword Cervillo compelled the quartermasters to return to their posts, only to discover that as fast as they put the helm up some mysterious agency promptly put it hard down.
Presently the excited officer who had been capsized by Fielding in the rush for the conning-tower was able to make a coherent explanation of what had occurred. Cervillo, fuming with rage, sent a couple of men down to the cabins where the prisoners had been confined. The Dutchmen were safely under lock and key, but the British officers and the three Japanese had escaped.
While the search was in progress a Greek sailor took it into his head to have a look in the conning-tower. The result was somewhat surprising as far as he was concerned; for directly his features appeared in the narrow entrance Hokosuka's lithe fingers clutched him by the throat. Unable to utter a sound the Greek was choked into insensibility, relieved of his knife and pistol, and gently dropped between an empty signal-locker and the stanchion rails. The respite thus gained was small, but the five occupants of the armoured box made good use of it. The electric circuits communicating with the different parts of the ship—most of which had been restored to a fairly efficient state—were ruthlessly crippled, only the engine-room telegraph and the steam steering-gear left intact. These Fielding resolved to destroy at the last moment.
The daring five were not left long undisturbed. Two petty officers, one of whom carried a hand-lantern, discovered the insensible Greek seaman.
Uttering a shout that brought others running to the spot, the two men advanced cautiously towards the conning-tower. The one with the lantern found himself flying backwards from the effect of a well-delivered blow from Cardyke's fist. The second, whipping out a revolver, fired twice in quick succession, the bullets flattening themselves against the massive steel plates just above the mid.'s head.
"That's done it," muttered Fielding. Then aloud he exclaimed, "Don't fire a shot till I give the word. Keep close."
A hail of bullets rattled against the outside of the conning-tower, followed by an intermittent patter as the leaden hail beat against the formidable walls.
Receiving no reply, and not knowing that the defenders possessed firearms, three or four men made a deliberate rush towards the gap that gave access to the "brain of the ship." The foremost man Fielding brought down with a bullet through his thigh. The others fell in a heap over their comrade's prostrate body, lying still in deadly fear till they mustered sufficient courage to crawl back to their friends. Again the firing broke out, but without effect.
After a while one of the attackers placed his cap on the end of the capstan bar, and, bearing it well in front of him, crept softly up to the entrance, another man, armed with a keen knife lashed, to the end of a pole, standing ready with his crude yet formidable weapon to slash at any of the occupants who might be enticed to make a cut at the decoy.
In the semi-gloom, for outside a few lanterns had been brought up and placed in position where they might be of service to the attackers, the defenders caught sight of a white object carefully advancing inside the entrance of the conning-tower. It was the seaman's cap.
Unguardedly Cardyke was on the point of dealing the intruder a heavy blow with a brass bar, which he had detached from some mechanism, when Oki, with characteristic shrewdness, noticed that the forward motion of the object was jerky and undecided. The Japanese general's hand clutched the midshipman's wrist, warning him to be on his guard. Closer and closer came the decoy, till almost the whole of the cap was in view.
Suddenly falling flat upon the floor Oki extended his right arm and fired. The shot, aimed slightly upwards, caught the decoy-bearer just below the knee, and brought him to the deck, while his companion, letting his weapon clatter from his nerveless grasp, ran shrieking from the spot.
Realising that they had a hard nut to crack the pirates hesitated to close, but an intermittent fire was kept up, with the idea of preventing any of the defenders from leaving their well-nigh impregnable fortress.
This state of affairs continued till dawn. Then there was a lull in the firing, and Juan Cervillo's voice was heard demanding instant surrender, otherwise a dynamite fuse would be thrown into the conning-tower and blow its defenders to atoms.
[Illustration: THE SHOT CAUGHT THE DECOY BEARER JUST BELOW THE KNEE.]