The action over, Captain Cain brought the rest of the hands on deck.
"My lads!" he exclaimed, "if we were out for glory, we've got it. It wasn't of our seeking. It's riches, not glory, we're after. Now, lads, although there's no one of our opponents left to tell the tale, we'll have to get a move on. One more good capture and we pay off. With luck we'll finish repairs by nightfall. To-morrow I hope our aims will be realised. There's a Belgian vessel due to leave St. Vincent at dawn to-morrow. She's ours for the asking. I propose to capture her and bring her in here until we can unload everything of value. All then that remains to be done is to hide the booty, make our way home and come out again as quite above-board West Coast traders. That's all I have to say, lads. No hanging on to the slack, but plenty of beef into your work for the next few hours and everything will be plain sailing. Pipe down!"
CHAPTER XIX
RECALLED
THE decoy-ship Canvey lay at anchor off St. Vincent, whither she had gone to replenish her oil-fuel tanks. Both officers and men were growing tired of the seemingly interminable stunt of steaming to and fro between the Cape Verde Islands and Teneriffe, vainly inviting Captain Cain to "tread on the tail of my coat." They wanted to cut into Wad-el-Abuam and settle the matter once and for all. It was galling to have to keep in the offing, while the Spanish destroyer Villamil was at liberty to enter the estuary and destroy the pirates' lair.
Day after day passed without untoward incident. Although the Spanish Government had expressed its intention of keeping the British Admiralty well informed as to the progress of operations, no message was received by the Canvey from London, or in fact from anywhere that had any bearing upon the all-important subject of the destruction of the pirate submarine.
And for a very good reason. No wireless message from the Villamil was received by the Spanish naval authorities after a brief report that the destroyer was about to enter the Wad-el-Abuam to attack the Alerte. From that time the movements of the destroyer were shrouded in mystery.
Presently it occurred to the Spanish Admiralty that all was not well with the Villamil. There was something decidedly ominous about the prolonged silence. The weather had been unusually quiet, so her disappearance could not be attributed to a sudden tempest. It seemed incredible that a unit of Spain's navy had been vanquished by a contemptible pirate ship. But at last that supposition had to be regarded as a fact.
About that time serious riots broke out in Barcelona. Every available Spanish destroyer was dispatched to that port to assist in quelling the disorder. Unable to police her territorial waters of the Rio del Oro, the Spanish Government, putting its pride in its pocket, made a request to the British Admiralty that the destruction of the pirate submarine should be undertaken by the British Navy.