"Take those men below," ordered the Spanish captain. "It is well I had them on board. They will be more useful still to us very shortly."
CHAPTER XIV
THE FORTUNE OF WAR
Seventy-two hours after the receipt of the misleading intelligence from the hapless Duke of Negropont the scout Cerberus again put to sea. This time there was no doubt that the news concerning the Independencia was genuine. The United States cruiser Denver had seen, and had stood in pursuit of the pirate. According to the American captain's report the pirate was heading north, apparently with the intention of preying upon the liners running between New York and Montreal, and Liverpool and Southampton.
Once more Lieutenant Douglas Drake's hopes rose high. He felt confident that to him would fall the honour of effecting the pirate's capture. He knew full well that more than a score of cruisers, to say nothing of ocean-going destroyers, were keenly on the alert; but in spite of this knowledge the presentiment was uppermost in his mind that the aero-hydroplanes of the Cerberus, under his command, would score the honour of the day.
The lieutenant spent most of his watch on deck in attending to his four pets. There was no time to test their capabilities in the air, for the scout could not slacken speed to allow the boat to be hoisted out. True they could be sent up from the deck, a specially constructed line of rails being laid down to admit of them so doing. They could, if necessity arose, return to their parent by alighting on the poop; but there was always the risk of damage to their hulls—a catastrophe that would be eliminated if the aero-hydroplanes came to rest upon the sea. Thus, although Drake had had experience in craft of a very similar type, he was totally unacquainted with their peculiarities; but in spite of this handicap he had no fears as to his ability to make a successful flight, and, what was more, a successful attack upon the daring pirate.
His plan of operation was somewhat upset by the intelligence received of the despicable ruse whereby Juan Cervillo had been able to keep his vessel immune from shell fire. If the same precaution were adopted on all occasions it seemed pretty obvious that the aero-hydroplane could not drop explosives upon the cruiser's deck without doing harm to friend as well as foe.
At one time he thought of dropping bombs containing charges of noxious gases upon the Independencia's decks, but realising that the speed of the ship creating a current of air would speedily disperse the vapours, he decided such a scheme was impracticable. At another the chances of dropping a charge of dynamite down one of the huge funnels of the cruiser, and thus putting the boilers out of action, suggested themselves. Then a capital idea suddenly struck him. The more he thought of it, the more he felt confident of success. On unfolding his plan to Captain Dexter of the Cerberus his superior expressed his satisfaction, and promised to let Drake have a free hand in the enterprise.
At 2 a.m. on the morning of the fourth day out the look-out reported that there was heavy firing away to the north-west. Instantly the crew were called to general quarters, all lights were screened, and a course shaped towards that quarter of the horizon that was illuminated by flashes resembling distant lightning. All on board the scout were bewailing the fate that had snatched the laurels from their grasp, for no other reason could be assigned to the firing beyond the fact that the Independencia was being engaged by some other man-of-war. In vain the Cerberus sent out calls with her wireless on the off-chance of picking up information as to who the lucky vessel might be; only a chaotic series of electrical waves came to the wireless room. On and on at full speed the little British vessel tore. With luck she might come in at the death, and be able to fire a shot or two in real earnest, when suddenly the glare of the distant flashes died away.