"Strange," he muttered. "The craft looks deserted and there are no signs of the rascals making off by land. They couldn't very well travel by air, so the only solution is, unless they are still on board, that they have gone by water. How? By boat or walking in their diving dresses? By boat, I suppose, since if they decided to abandon the vessel they would naturally take part if not all of their precious booty with them."
At length so convinced did the sub become that the "Vorwartz" was in truth deserted that he felt sorely tempted to take possession of her. But his sense of discipline prevailed. He realized that temporarily he was under Captain Restronguet's orders and to Captain Restronguet alone ought the honour to be given to be the first to board.
He was on the point of ordering the men to retire when a violent rustling in the reeds attracted his attention. Either a human being or an animal was approaching. He motioned to his companions to be on the alert. Holding their rifles at the ready the two men waited.
Suddenly a man lurched forward from the edge of the reeds. He was literally in rags, fragments of blue clothing scarcely concealing his massive limbs. He was hatless, a strip of dirty white linen alone protecting his head from the pitiless rays of the sun. In the holster of his belt was a revolver, while his right hand grasped a magazine carbine.
"One of the villains; shall we nab him unawares, sir?" asked one of Hythe's men in a whisper.
The sub shook his head. The fellow was armed; he might not be alone, while the discharge of a fire-arm might give the alarm to a still unsuspecting foe. Better to watch and see what the fellow was up to.
The new-comer lurched as if spent; but without any attempt to conceal his movements he made straight for the "Vorwartz." At the edge of the bank he hesitated, walked to and fro as if looking for a shallow spot or a means of clambering up the side of the vessel. Finding none he hurled his carbine against the submarine's side, shivering the stock into fragments. Then uttering a demoniacal yell he broke into a ribald song in German.
The man was mad.
"Karl von Harburg?" whispered Hythe interrogatively.
The seaman nearest him shook his head. He knew the captain of the "Vorwartz" well by sight during his stay in Sumatra. This fellow was a stranger.