CHAPTER XV
RAMMING AN ICEBERG
Unseen, the Independencia crossed athwart the great Atlantic highway without incident. No liner, or even a tramp, fell into her clutches, and for forty-eight hours after witnessing from afar the encounter betwixt the British and French cruisers, she pursued her way without let or hindrance, with ne'er a vessel to chase or to be chased by.
At length she approached the southern limit of Arctic ice, where the cold current from off the west coast of Greenland, bringing down with it the mighty output of inexhaustible glaciers, meets the warmer waters of the Atlantic. Here it was that the pirate-cruiser ran into a belt of fog, so dense that from the fore-bridge the fo'c'sle appeared to terminate at the foremost turret, while the temperature was so low that the moisture-laden atmosphere froze and hung from all parts of the masts and deck like gigantic stalactites.
Speed was reduced to seven and a half knots, and for the time being the keenest look-out was kept by the unacclimatised seamen. But, as Fielding had surmised, the numbing cold made their energies dormant, and before many hours had passed the majority of the pirates were perfectly indifferent to the dangers that threatened them.
As far as the chart showed, the Independencia was in open water, and well out of the track of steamers plying between Canada and Great Britain, and as the hours slowly passed without anything untoward happening, Cervillo, anxious to get clear of the fog-bank, ordered speed to be increased to twelve knots. The sooner he drew clear of the blinding atmosphere of frozen mist the better it would be.
Not one of the look-outs noticed a large "growler," or mass of almost submerged ice, which the cruiser passed at a distance of less than fifty feet to starboard; not one of them heard the breaking of the vessel's "wash" upon the fringe of the ice-field. Blindly unconscious to their danger the pirates drove ahead with the primary object of getting out of the fog as soon as possible.
Suddenly one of the look-out men stationed right in the bows gave vent to a shriek of horror, rather than a shout of warning. Looming distortedly through the fog, its summit lost in the murk, was a huge iceberg, already on the point of capsizing. Vicious little waves, caused by the rocking of the mass of unstable ice, lapped the visible base of the floating mountain. A practised seaman would have known by the agitation of the hitherto calm water and by the sudden drop in the temperature that an iceberg was nigh, and would have taken precautions accordingly; but the warning passed unheeded, and the Independencia crashed bows on upon the rampart of ice.
The impact threw nearly everyone on board. For a few seconds all were quiet, stunned by the calamity; then pandemonium broke loose. Yelling, shouting, and crying, the pirates rushed for the boats, their officers leading the way. There was no one to give orders to the engine-room, and the propellers were still driving ahead, pushing the shattered bows of the cruiser deeper into the fissure caused by the impact in the side of the berg. Those of the engineers and stokers who had been not rendered insensible by the concussion deserted their post, rushed on deck, and, heedless of the sudden change from the heated engine-room and stokeholds to the freezing, fog-laden air, joined their comrades in their mad skelter for the boats.
Even in their frenzy the pirates were cowed by the angry waters that were visible to their limited range of vision. Between the sides of the cruiser and the gulf of ice into which she had thrown herself was a vast cauldron of surging foam mingled with masses of ice that had slipped from the dizzy heights above. No boat could live in such a sea; it would either be swamped or crushed betwixt the heavy lumps of ice that, rising and falling, outrivalled the dreaded Scylla and Charybdis a thousand-fold.
[Illustration: THE PIRATES RUSHED FOR THE BOATS.]
The shock of the collision threw Fielding and his companions violently against the fore-bulkhead of their cabin; but, beyond a few bruises, no one sustained any injury.
The sub. realised what was amiss as soon as any of them.
"They've run her full tilt into an iceberg," he exclaimed.
The gravity of the situation required immediate action, for the confused shouts on deck mingled with the crushing of the ice and the turmoil of the agitated waters naturally led the prisoners to conclude that the cruiser was doomed.
"We're like rats in a trap," exclaimed Fielding. "Now what's to be done?"
"Get out," replied Cardyke promptly, "We can blow off the lock."
Seizing his revolver the mid. made his way to the door, when Oki laid a detaining hand upon his shoulder.
"No sink yet," said he. "P'r'aps pirates abandon ship. Then we take her. Wait; we can so easy get out when we want."
"Yes, Cardyke, it's folly to go on deck with a terrified mob like that," agreed the sub. "The five of us couldn't do much. I'll tell you what I will do." And levelling his revolver, Fielding sent a shot through the stout partition separating the cabin from the one in which the hostages of L'Égalité were kept, taking good care to fire high enough not to harm the inmates. Amidst the deafening roar and confusion without, the sharp crack of the pistol passed unnoticed.
"Ahoy!" shouted Fielding through the hole. "We're prisoners on board this vessel like yourselves. We're English. I believe there is a citizen of the United States here?"
"Three, sonny," replied a man, with a typical Yankee twang. "I was lashed up beside you, I guess, when the skipper of this hooker threw dust into the eyes of the Yew Hess Hess Denver."
"Not alongside of me," replied the sub. "You were next to my brother officer, Mr. Cardyke. But that's neither here nor there. We're going to burst open the doors of the cabins. We've half-a-dozen firearms. How many men are there with you?"
"Nine," replied the American. "And a durned sight more in the next one."
"We ought to be able to make a show on deck. Those fellows are off their heads already. It won't take much to get the upper hand of them."
"Bully for you," replied the other. "Guess we'll do our whack."
"Stand by, then," said Fielding, warningly.
Before he could cross the limited space of the cabin there was a deafening crash, like the simultaneous discharge of a battleship's 14 in. guns. The Independencia rolled till Fielding and his companions found themselves lying wedged in between the angle formed by the sloping floor and the longitudinal bulkhead. There they lay, pinned down by the scanty furniture that had been thrown bodily across the room. Cardyke's fingers closed involuntarily upon the revolver he was holding, and the heavy weapon went off, sending a bullet against the steel deck beam, while the blast singed Hokosuka's hair. All the while the vessel remained in this position there was a sickening grinding noise, caused by the huge fabric sliding over the ice. Then came another tremendous crash. The cruiser, hurled thirty feet above the water by the capsizing berg, had toppled over the ledge. Down she plunged, like a toy boat dropped from a height into a pool of water. Then, dipping obliquely, she plunged beneath the agitated sea till the waves reached the base of her after-funnel.
"Great heavens—she's going!" gasped Cardyke.
For some minutes it seemed as if the vessel were making her last plunge. On all sides arose shouts and cries of terror, as the imprisoned men, struggling in the semi-gloom, sought to regain their footing. Then, like a sorely stricken whale the Independencia's submerged upper works rose above the surface, water and fragments of ice pouring over her decks. There she lay, wallowing heavily in the trough of a furious sea. Her still revolving propellers made her gather way, but her course carried her clear of the berg she had previously rammed, and, unguided, she tore once more through the fog.
Her escape from total destruction was indeed providential. When she rammed the mountainous mass of ice the berg was on the point of toppling over. The engines driving ahead kept her from slipping backwards off the long, shelving ledge that projected three hundred yards from the base of the visible part of the berg. The impact hastened the toppling process until the submerged ledge touched the cruiser's keel. The retention was only temporary; the vessel, till her water-line was several feet above the sea, acted as a gigantic lever, till the shelf of ice, already weakened by the fracture, broke off, causing the Independencia to slide, and then plunge back into the sea. Released of the retarding mass, the main portion of the berg toppled over, fortunately away from the ship, otherwise the huge vessel would have been literally buried beneath a mountain of steel-like ice.
Directly the Independencia regained an even keel Fielding and his companions struggled to their feet.
"She's afloat," gasped the sub. "Come along, there's no time to lose. We'll rush the rascals while they're off their heads."
Crash!—went the young officer's revolver. The lock was shattered, and the door flew open. Fielding and his companions gained the passage betwixt the cabin on the half-deck. The place was deserted. Even the sentries on the prisoners' quarters had left their posts.
"Stand clear of the door!" shouted Fielding to the occupants of the next cabin. And, having given them time to carry out his request, the sub. sent a shot through the lock.
While Cardyke was serving out the spare revolvers and ammunition to the released hostages of L'Égalité, Fielding liberated the occupants of the adjoining cabin—the remainder of the prisoners taken from the French liner and the Yosen Maru. A fourth cabin was found to contain the officers of the Dutch tugs that had been scuttled when the Impregnable was seized. Abaft of that, and separating it from the captain's quarters, was another cabin, which, though containing no prisoners, was found to be used as a small-arms store. In five minutes the little band of adventurers were armed and ready for the desperate venture.
'Tween decks the fog was so thick, that from one end of the passage the armoured bulkhead of the foremost end was invisible. Fielding knew that the only means of communicating with the quarter-deck was by the foremost and steerage ladders. The transverse bulkhead, one of several extending from the upper deck to the double bottoms, was unprovided with doors, so that, for instance, it was impossible to go from the bow to the stern of the ship 'tween decks without having to ascend to the upper deck. During her commission as a unit of the British Navy the cruiser had been provided with lifts to save the inconvenience of having to pass up and down so many ladders; but these lifts were out of order, and had not been repaired by her unlawful owners.
Marshalling his forces into some semblance of order, Fielding led them to the foot of the foremost ladder. The hatchway was closed and securely battened down. Twenty men would have been powerless to burst open the massive steel covering. The after ladder was similarly secured. The surprise attack was a failure.
"Now what's to be done?" asked the midshipman.
Fielding did not reply. He was busy racking his brains over the new conditions of the problem he had to tackle.
"Sit tight, sonny," replied the American. "I've been in a few tough sets-to in my time; but take the word of Hiram B. Rutter—that's me—that you can't beat sitting tight."
"That's it," assented Fielding. "We must sit tight. Luckily we're in comfortable quarters; the captain's cabin, as well as those of the other officers, are at our disposal, and I think we have access to the after bread-room, so we won't exactly starve. But they're calming down, I fancy. They'll be a bit surprised when they find we are in possession of the after part of the ship. Look here, Mr. Rutter, would you mind taking these men with you, and keeping your eyes on the after ladder? I'll watch this one pretty carefully. Directly they open the hatches wide fire a volley and rush on deck. Be sharp; they're coming!"