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.