CHAPTER XI
HOKOSUKA'S SLEIGHT-OF-HAND
After leaving the French liner L'Égalité helpless in the distance, the Independencia steamed in a south-easterly direction till out of sight; then altering helm, she plugged away at an easy eighteen knots in the direction of the West Indies. Here Juan Cervillo knew that for a time he would be fairly safe. There were no British warships capable of doing him much damage, and amid the cays of the Bahamas there was little chance of meeting with Uncle Sam's battleships or cruisers. On the other hand, he could rely on being able to intercept some of the traders in and out of Galveston and New Orleans while, if things became too hot for him, there would be a more than possible chance of slipping off to the coast of Venezuela or Columbia, where the ship could be run ashore, and her rascally crew, with their ill-gotten booty, could disperse.
Many plans were suggested by Fielding and his companions whereby they might regain their liberty, but none seemed at present feasible. Whenever their meals were brought into the cabin armed men stood without; while, in order to prevent a repetition of their escape through the scuttle, a sentry was stationed on the poop; orders to examine the bar across the scuttle every hour were also given to a petty officer, who was lowered over the side in order that he might test the condition of the metalwork.
"Couldn't we signal in Morse, sir?" asked Cardyke: "We can easily rig up a shutter from the scuttle. It might attract the notice of some passing vessel, and we could give her warning to clear out?"
"A good idea," replied the sub. "But unfortunately, unless the other vessel approaches without steaming lights, the probability is that she will be discovered long before we can call her up. Besides, unless a ship is well abeam, or on our starboard quarter, all the signalling possible from this cabin won't be seen."
"Still, it will be something to do," continued the mid. "Something to pass the time."
"Carry on, then," replied Fielding. "But I honestly think it won't help us much—or anyone else."
During the afternoon the two British officers dozed for a couple of hours. As Fielding remarked, it was advisable to sleep all you can, for you never know when you might have to do without it. Besides, it cured the terrible ennui—the tedious waiting for something to turn up to break the deadly monotony.
Cardyke woke to find Hokosuka sitting on the floor, and carefully nursing a large revolver. There was a very faint suspicion of satisfaction in the Jap's eyes, but his immobile face gave no sign of elation or otherwise. The mid. could not help wondering how the man gained possession of such a powerful weapon, and his curiosity urged him to appeal to General Oki.
"The English say they love the sea," observed the Jap. "Britannia, she rule waves with eel-spear. That what you say. Me think ninety-nine of all one hundred Englishmen know how to love the sea by come to sit on seaside and throw stones in water. That English holiday; but put ninety-nine Englishmen in boat they no know how to sail."
"That's quite true," thought Cardyke; "but what on earth has that to do with the question how Hokosuka got hold of that revolver? They are trying to bamboozle me for some reason. I'll mention the matter to Fielding when he wakes up. In the meantime I'll keep a watch on Mr. Hokosuka."
Accordingly the mid. turned on his bunk, and was soon to all appearances sound asleep, but out of the corners of his almost closed eyelids he followed the movements of the mysterious Japanese.
Hokosuka had removed the cartridges from the weapon, and was carefully examining its mechanism. Placing the corner of his coat under the hammer in order to deaden the sound, he tried the trigger in a most methodical fashion, so as to get the correct "pull." Then, replacing the cartridges, he handed the weapon over to his compatriot.
Oki took the revolver in his hand, and to all appearances it vanished. Cardyke could swear that from the time the general's fingers closed over the butt his arm never moved, but where could a bulky object like that go to?
Neither of the Japs seemed to treat the occurrence otherwise than as an ordinary transaction; one might have been handing the other a cigarette-case. The mid.'s curiosity was increasing rapidly.
Having rid himself of the weapon, Hokosuka rose from the floor, crossed the cabin, and took his stand just below the scuttle. There he waited as motionless as a statue.
Presently the light that poured through the opening became obscured. The man detailed to attend to the iron bar was being lowered to make his hourly examination. As far as Cardyke could see the pirate was seated in a bos'un's chair, which was let down till the man's shoulders were level with the scuttle. Steadying himself with his left hand, the seaman tried the bar with his right; then, satisfied that it had not been tampered with, he called to his comrades to haul up.
Instantly, with a rapid, gliding, noiseless motion, Hokosuka's left hand shot through the aperture. When his arm was withdrawn the Jap had another revolver in his grasp. He had dexterously removed the weapon from the seaman's holster, as he had done to the man who had previously been doing the duty.
Just then Fielding awoke. Oki pointed to the revolver that his compatriot held.
"By Jove!" exclaimed the sub., in astonishment. "However did you get hold of that?"
"We have two," replied Oki, calmly. "One you have, other we will keep. Now put out of way—hide. Lil boy"—and to Cardyke's disgust he heard himself referred to in that strain—"lil boy, him ask where you get. I no tell; you no must tell. If he no know, then he no can tell."
[Illustration: HALF A DOZEN SEAMEN HEADED BY THE RENEGADE ENGLISHMAN BURST INTO THE ROOM.]
"I see," agreed Fielding. "But these rascals will ransack the place when they miss these revolvers."
"Let look everywhere," replied General Oki; "revolver all gone."
And Fielding's astonishment was no less than his junior's when the weapon seemed to disappear from sight.
Barely a quarter of an hour later the cabin door was thrown open, and half-a-dozen seamen, headed by the renegade Englishman, burst into the room.
"No hanky-panky tricks, sir!" exclaimed the bo'sun. "You've sneaked a couple of revolvers. We missed one, and didn't know where it had gone; but the fellow who was lowered over the side made sure he had his when he went down, and when he came up it had gone. And I saw that his holster was fastened when he started. So no beating about the bush. Hand them pistols over, and save yourself a sight of trouble. You can't get the weather side of me, sir."
"I have no revolvers," replied Fielding. "I wish I had. I'd make sure of your losing the number of your mess."
"None of your cheek!" replied the man, fiercely. "Get over there."
Hustling the five occupants of the cabin into one corner the bo'sun directed his men to search the room, and soon all the scanty furniture was turned over and over again, but without result. This done the British officers, the coxswain, and the other two Japs were subjected to a search, their coats being removed for that purpose.
"Confound it, we're on the wrong tack!" grumbled the pirate bo'sun. And, ordering his men to clear out, he went to make his report to Juan Cervillo that a systematic search convinced him that no weapons were to be found in the prisoners' cabin.
Hokosuka waited to make sure that none of the unwelcome visitors were returning, then produced a couple of revolvers and a large sheath-knife.
"Not same 'volvers," explained General Oki. "These toll. Hokosuka make pirates pay for coming here."
"Not the same revolvers?" asked Fielding, in astonishment. "Where are the first two you had?" For it seemed incredible that after the systematic search not only were the looked-for articles not found, but two more pistols, to say nothing of the sheath-knife, were added to the defensive armoury of the occupants of the cabin.
"Me show you," replied the general, and turning to his compatriot he spoke a few words in his native tongue. Simultaneously both Japs pulled up the legs of their trousers, and revealed the weapons with their muzzles stuck between their feet and their shoes, the chambers fitting into the hollow just behind their ankles.
"I'm hanged if I saw you put yours there!" exclaimed the sub.
Oki merely shrugged his shoulders. He did not think it necessary to explain how the trick was done; but like most Japanese, he was an adept at sleight-of-hand.
"Where are we making for, I wonder?" asked Cardyke.
"If we go on at this rate and in the same direction a week will find us in West Indian waters, unless I'm very much mistaken," replied Fielding. "It's a mystery to me why this ship hasn't been headed off and captured long ago."
"Long ago!" echoed the mid. "Why, it's only a matter of a few days!"
"Yes, yes, I know; but one would naturally think that with modern scientific instruments at one's command it would be an utter impossibility to play hide and seek in the North Atlantic."
"Were you navy officer man in 1907?" asked General Oki, who, although his English was somewhat quaint, could follow ordinary conversation with comparative ease.
"In that year I was completing my last term at Dartmouth," replied Fielding.
"Then you have no heard of manoeuvres that year—how one English fleet sailed in North Sea for over sixty hour, looking for another English fleet, and no can find?"
"By Jove! I believe I heard something of the kind," replied the sub. "But you seem to know a lot about our naval matters, sir?"
"My business," replied Oki, calmly.
The British and the Japanese officers were entering into an animated discussion on the possibilities of wireless in war when they were interrupted by the crash of a quick-firer, followed by the slowing down of the cruiser's engines.
There was a rush to the scuttle, but the field of visible horizon was limited, and nothing could be seen that could give the reason for the discharge of the gun. The firing from the cruiser and the slowing-down showed that the Independencia had overhauled another craft and was not the pursued craft.
"It's another liner being nabbed!" exclaimed Cardyke.