"It was in my power to do so," replied Captain Restronguet calmly. "But I refuse to do so in the interests of humanity. It is part of my creed that human life is sacred, and should not be sacrificed unless absolutely necessary."
"But you vowed you would destroy the 'Vorwartz'?"
"Most certainly. What I wanted to do, and what I will, I hope, eventually be able to do, is to play with that wretched counterfeit of my submarine, and drive von Harburg into a state of panic. Then as soon as I can pursue the 'Vorwartz' into comparatively shallow water I will sink her--but if humanly possible, I will save her crew. Come on deck, Mr. Hythe. You will then be able to see how we tackle repairs of this description."
The sub followed his host on deck, where about half of the crew were engaged in rigging up a pair of sheer-legs over the stern. At the same time the water ballast was being ejected from the ballast tanks in the sternmost section of the vessel, while the bow compartment tanks correspondingly filled.
Lower and lower sank the for'ard portion of the "Aphrodite," while the after end rose out of the water till the blades of the polished propellers were exposed to view. From the head of the sheer-legs a double block was fixed, the tackle being brought to bear upon the damaged shafting.
"We're in luck, sir," shouted Kenwyn, who had lowered himself over the stern. "The metal is not fractured; it's a length of tarred rope wound round and round the boss of the propeller."
"Take axes and cut the rope through," ordered Captain Restronguet, addressing Carclew and Gwennap. "We'll soon clear that."
Hythe was not so sanguine. He had known rope to baffle the efforts of half a dozen men working for two hours in a similar case, for the strain is so great that the entanglement is compressed into a solid mass almost as hard as steel.
"Might I suggest a hack-saw?" he said. "That will do better, since there is less danger of harming the metal than with an axe. If you have no objection, sir, I will bear a hand."
"Certainly," replied Captain Restronguet.