Cover art
HE WILDLY TORE AT EVERYTHING AND HURLED IT DOWN
ON HIS PURSUERS Page [86] Frontispiece
Mr. Midshipman Glover, R.N.
A Tale of the Royal Navy of To-day
BY
SURGEON REAR-ADMIRAL
T. T. JEANS, C.M.G., R.N.
Author of "John Graham, Sub-Lieutenant, R.N."
"A Naval Venture" &c.
Illustrated by Edward S. Hodgson
BLACKIE & SON LIMITED
LONDON AND GLASGOW
1908
By
Surgeon Rear-Admiral
T. T. Jeans
The Gun-runners.
John Graham, Sub-Lieutenant, R.N.
A Naval Venture.
Gunboat and Gun-runner.
Ford of H.M.S. "Vigilant".
On Foreign Service.
Mr. Midshipman Glover, R.N.
Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son, Ltd., Glasgow
Preface
In this story of the modern Royal Navy I have endeavoured, whilst narrating many adventures both ashore and afloat, to portray the habits of thought and speech of various types of officers and men of the Senior Service who live and serve under the White Ensign to-day.
To do this the more graphically I have made some of the leading characters take up, from each other, the threads of the story and continue the description of incidents from their own points of view; the remainder of the tale is written in the third person as by an outside narrator.
I hope that this method will be found to lend additional interest to the book.
I have had great assistance from several Gunnery, Torpedo, and Engineer Lieutenants, who have read the manuscripts as they were written, corrected many errors of detail, and made many useful suggestions.
The story may therefore claim to be technically correct.
T. T. JEANS,
SURGEON REAR-ADMIRAL, ROYAL NAVY
Contents
CHAP.
- [The Luck of Midshipman Glover]
- [Helston receives a Strange Letter]
- [The Fitting Out of a Squadron]
- [The Pirates are not Idle]
- [The Squadron leaves hurriedly]
- [The Voyage East]
- [The Pursuit of the Patagonian]
- [Mr. Ping Sang is Outwitted]
- [Captain Helston Wounded]
- [Destroyer "No. 1" Meets her Fate]
- [The Action off Sin Ling]
- [A Council of War]
- [The Avenging of Destroyer "No. 1"]
- [Night Operations]
- [Mr. Midshipman Glover Tells how he was Wounded]
- [Captain Helston's Indecision]
- [Spying Out the Pirates]
- [The Escape from the Island]
- [Cummins Captures One Gun Hill]
- [The Fight for One Gun Hill]
- [On One Gun Hill]
- [The Final Attack on the Hill]
- [The Attack on the Forts]
- [The Capture of the Island]
- [The Fruits of Victory]
- [Home Again]
Illustrations
[He wildly tore at everything and hurled it down on his pursuers] . . . Frontispiece
[I struck at him with my heavy malacca stick]
[The sinking of the Pirate Torpedo-Boat]
[The Commander and Jones overpower the Two Sentries]
[Map Illustrating the Operations Against the Pirates]
MAP ILLUSTRATING THE OPERATIONS AGAINST THE PIRATES
CHAPTER I
The Luck of Midshipman Glover
Ordered Abroad. Hurrah!
Midshipman Glover explains how Luck came to him
It all started absolutely unexpectedly whilst we were on leave and staying with Mellins in the country.
When I say "we", I mean Tommy Toddles and myself. His real name was Foote, but nobody ever called him anything but "Toddles", and I do believe that he would almost have forgotten what his real name actually was if it had not been engraved on the brass plate on the lid of his sea chest, and if he had not been obliged to have it marked very plainly on his washing.
We had passed out of the Britannia a fortnight before—passed out as full-blown midshipmen, too, which was all due to luck—and were both staying with Christie at his pater's place in Somerset.
It was Christie whom we called Mellins, because he was so tremendously fat; and though he did not mind us doing so in the least, it was rather awkward whilst we were staying in his house, for we could hardly help calling his pater "Colonel Mellins".
You see, he was even fatter than Mellins himself, and the very first night we were there—we were both just a little nervous—Toddles did call him Colonel Mellins when we wished him "Good-night", and he glared at us so fiercely, that we slunk up to our room and really thought we'd better run away.
We even opened the window and looked out, feeling very miserable, to see if it was possible to scramble down the ivy or the rusty old water-spout without waking everybody, when Mellins suddenly burst in with a pillow he had screwed up jolly hard, and nearly banged us out of the window. By the time we had driven him back to his room at the other end of the corridor, and flattened him out, we had forgotten all about it, and we crept back like mice, and went to sleep.
It was just at this time that the papers came out with those extraordinary yarns about the increase of piracy on the Chinese coast, and how some Chinese merchants had clubbed together to buy ships in England and fit out an expedition to clear the sea again.
You can imagine how interested we three were, especially as fifty years ago Toddles's father had taken part in a great number of scraps with the Cantonese pirates, and Toddles rattled off the most exciting yarns which his father had told him.
We saw in the papers that the Admiralty was about to lend naval officers to take command, but it never struck us that we might possibly get a look in, till one morning a letter came for me from Cousin Milly, whose father is an old admiral and lives at Fareham, and isn't particularly pleasant when I go to see him.
My aunt! weren't we excited! Why, she actually wrote that if I wanted to go she thought she could get me appointed to the squadron, as the captain who was going in charge was a great friend of hers.
You can imagine what I wrote, and how I buttered her up and called her a brick, and said she was a "perfect ripper". I ended up by saying that "Mr. Arthur Bouchier Christie, midshipman, and Mr. Thomas Algernon Foote, midshipman, chums of mine, would like to go too".
I was very careful to give their full names to prevent mistakes, and put "midshipman" after their names just to show that they had also passed out of the Britannia. near the top of the list, and so must be pretty good at chasing "X and Y", which, of course, is a great "leg up" in the navy.
Two mornings after this Milly sent me a postcard: "Hope to manage it for the three of you".
We were so excited after that, that we did nothing but wait about for the postman, and even went down to the village post-office and hung about there, almost expecting a telegram.
Well, you would hardly believe it! The very next morning our appointments were in the papers.
I have the list somewhere stowed away even now, and it began:
"The under-mentioned officers of the Royal Navy have been placed on half-pay and lent to the Imperial Chinese Government for special services".
Down at the bottom of the list was "Midshipmen", and we nearly tore Colonel Christie's paper in our excitement as we read, in very small print and among a lot of other names, Arthur B. Christie, Harold S. Glover (that was myself—hurrah!), and Thomas A. Foote.
Well, I can't tell you much of what happened after that, for we were simply mad with delight; but I do remember that when I rushed off home my father and mother rather threw a damper over it all.
And when my gear had been packed and driven down to the station, I felt rather a brute because everyone cried, and even my father was a little husky when I wished him good-bye. I think something must have got into my eye too, a fly, probably, but it wasn't there when the train ran into Portsmouth Harbour station, and Mellins and Toddles met me and dragged me to the end of the pier to get our first view of our new ship, which was lying at Spithead.
Now you will have to read how all these things came about, or you will never properly understand them.
CHAPTER II
Helston receives a Strange Letter
Helston's Bad Luck—Ping Sang tells of Pirates—Ping Sang makes an Offer—Helston Jubilant
In the year 1896 two naval officers were living a somewhat humdrum, monotonous existence in the quiet little Hampshire village of Fareham, which nestles under the fort-crowned Portsdown Hills, and is almost within earshot of the ceaseless clatter of riveting and hammering in the mighty dockyards of Portsmouth.
These two men had both served many years before in the small gun-boat Porcupine out in China, and their many escapades and adventures had frequently drawn down on their heads the wrath of the Admiral commanding that station. Wherever the Porcupine went, trouble of some sort or another was sure to follow. At one place an indignant Taotai[#] complained that all the guns—obsolete old muzzle-loaders—in his fort had been tumbled into the ditch one night; at another they only just escaped with their lives from an infuriated mob whilst actually carrying from the temple a highly grotesque, but still more highly revered, joss, at which desecration they had cajoled and bribed the local priests to wink.
[#] Taotai = military magistrate.
Comrades in every adventure, and mess-mates during these four exciting years, they had ultimately drifted together on half-pay, and, with their old marine servant Jenkins, a taciturn old man, to look after them, had settled down in this village.
Both men were below the age of forty, though a more accurate estimate would have been difficult, for the shorter of the two bore himself with the vigour and alertness of thirty, yet his face was old with the lines and furrows of care and sadness, whilst the tall, gaunt figure of the second was not held so erect, nor were his actions so vigorous, yet the youthful fire in his eyes gave to his sea-tanned face and his thin, tight-drawn lips and prominent jaw the appearance of a man who had not yet reached the zenith of his manhood.
The shorter man was named Fox, a doctor, who had left the service when he married, only to lose his wife a year later, and with her his whole joy of existence. Settling down in this village, near her grave, he had worked up a small practice, which occupied but little of his time, and lived a life from which his great grief seemed to have removed any trace of his former ambition.
Not so the taller man, Helston, a commander, who had been invalided and placed on half-pay, suffering from the effects of fevers picked up whilst cruising off the West Coast of Africa, in China, and in the Mediterranean. Though his body was weakened by disease, he was for ever buoyant at the prospects of being restored to health and full-pay, and dreamed eagerly of the time when once more he could go afloat and eventually command his own ship.
He, however, generally found a most unsympathetic audience in the Doctor, who listened, with ill-concealed boredom, to his rose-coloured plans, and cynically would say, "Who goes to sea for enjoyment would go to jail for a pastime. Take my advice and get a snug billet in the coast-guard, and don't bother the sea any more. It's not done you much good."
"It's all my bad luck, Doc, old chap," Helston would answer; "no fault of the sea. I played the idiot when I was a youngster, was always in disgrace up at the Admiralty, and now, with this rotten fever in me, they won't employ me again."
But he would always finish with, "Well, I've waited patiently enough for the last three years, and luck must turn soon".
On one such occasion, when the warmth and brightness of a May day had made Helston more than usually enthusiastic as to his chances of full-pay service, Dr. Fox, knocking the ashes out of his pipe, growled, "Next ship, indeed! You talk of nothing but ships and sea, sea and ships, when you ought to be buying a Bath chair to be wheeled about in."
"Never mind, old chap, I'm not as bad as that, and I'll bet you that they give me a ship in less than six months!"
"If they do, I will come with you," jeered the Doctor, as he stalked moodily to bed.
"That's a bargain," shouted Helston cheerfully after him.
Now one reason why Helston had settled down here with the Doctor, and the great source of his ambitious dreams, was a certain lady named Milly, who, with her father—his name is not necessary, for he was always spoken of as "the Admiral", or "Miss Milly's father"—lived close to the village. He had wooed her constantly for many years, and had known her since she was born, but the somewhat disdainful little lady had refused him many times, though not without giving him some slight hope of better success if ever he were promoted to the rank of captain. However, as Mistress Milly never personally enters this story, nothing more need be said of her than that she was one of the most bewitching little flirts who ever tyrannized over an old father, or played havoc with the heart of every man she met.
A few weeks after this incident, and whilst the two were at breakfast, the old village postman stumbled up the path leading to their house, and Jenkins, a sombre, morose man of few words, brought in a big official envelope.
"What did I say, old chap?" cried Helston excitedly, tearing it open. "Didn't I say my luck would change? Hullo! this isn't an ordinary appointment. Whatever is it?" A large number of papers fell on the table, and, the Doctor showing some signs of interest, the two men hurriedly examined them, Jenkins standing behind at attention in order to learn the news.
The first one was from the Admiralty, informing Helston that the enclosures had been received through the Chinese Embassy, and ordering him to report himself at Whitehall immediately. These enclosures were lists of ships supposed to be wrecked on the Chinese coast during the last few years, lists of Chinese men-of-war supposed to have been destroyed during the Chino-Japanese war, and papers showing the gradual rise in insurance rates for the Chinese coasting trade.
"Where's your appointment?" sneered the Doctor. "I'm off to see my patients."
"I've got it, Doc; look here! Do you remember that old mandarin we got out of a scrape at Cheefoo once? Well, here's a letter from him. Listen!" Saying which, Helston sat on the table and read it aloud, whilst the Doctor filled his pipe impatiently:—
"DEAR COMMANDER HELSTON,—Perhaps you remember saving my life at Cheefoo many years ago? Now perhaps I can do you a good turn.
"For the last three or four years there has been a very large number of steamers, ships, and junks employed on the coast trade which have left port under favourable circumstances and apparently in good condition, yet have never been heard of since. The number has rapidly become so great, that myself and several friends interested in the shipping trade have suspected that these disappearances were not due to natural causes. This year, for instance, three of our newest steamers have left Nagasaki full of valuable cargo, and, though none of them could have experienced bad weather, yet none have been heard of since. All three, strangely enough, carried a large quantity of military stores for Pekin, which had been transhipped from German steamers, and all three left within three weeks. The captains were Englishmen—very good men, too—and what adds to the peculiarity of their disappearance is, that the captain of the English mail-steamer which followed the last out of harbour, and should have passed her eight hours later if she had been on her proper course, never sighted her. We searched the coast ineffectually for any trace of wreckage, and it is only within the last two months that we have obtained a clue.
"One of our large junks from Formosa, being short of water, made for an island, previously reported as being only occasionally inhabited by Korean fishermen. A few men went ashore to fill the casks, found the fishing-nets deserted and no water, so followed a path leading inland and winding up a hill. When nearly at the top they came across four dead Chinamen hanging from trees, and although very frightened, they still pushed on until they came in sight of the natural harbour on the other side of the island. They swear solemnly that, lying at anchor, they saw twenty or thirty steamers and several men-of-war, and that on shore there were many storehouses (go-downs) and huts, and a very large number of natives. They were just going down for water when one of these men, who fortunately had formerly been one of the crew of the Tslai-ming, our crack steamer, recognized her lying there. He is a cute fellow, and at once jumped to the conclusion that these were pirates (you remember how terribly frightened they are of 'pilons'?), and ran back with his fellows to their boat.
"They brought this news to us.
"Four years ago, when this island was last visited, it was reported as uninhabited. Personally I did not doubt the men's tale. In fact, they are so frightened, and have spread their story so freely, that it is difficult to get a crew together for any port south of Amoy.
"I have made very careful enquiries to account for the presence of the men-of-war, and have discovered that many of the war-ships, and nearly all the torpedo-boats which were run ashore to escape capture during the late war, had disappeared.
"The local mandarins and officials of course know nothing, but from the natives living near I find that large ships came and stayed near the stranded ships for some weeks, and finally towed them away. There is no doubt that two, if not three, cruisers in bad plight have been sold to a couple of Europeans, and have disappeared, where, no one knows. A couple of the Yangtze corvettes have also mysteriously vanished.
"I memorialized the throne, but they would do nothing, and made fun of my report. The mandarins got hold of my informants, tortured them till they denied the truth of their story, and then of course laughed at me.
"Trade was practically at a stand-still, so we decided to send one of our best captains, an Englishman, to see if the men's story was correct. He landed at night from a junk, disguised as a native, and spent a day on the island, running great risks of detection, and being taken off next night. He reports that there are certainly three cruisers and seven torpedo-boats anchored there, and at least twenty coasting steamers, among them being the three that disappeared when laden with military stores. Great numbers of coolies were working at the narrow entrance to the harbour, and, as far as he could see, they were mounting guns behind earthworks. He thought he could distinguish some Europeans, but is not certain. He brought a rough plan of the harbour, marking the positions of ships, buildings, and guns.
"I decided to take him next day to some of the ministers whom I knew personally, thinking that they would pay more attention to the word of an Englishman. I must tell you that the three natives who first brought the news and were tortured to deny it, have disappeared, and as they were very honest, faithful men, I suspected some underhanded dealing, and, thinking to keep the Englishman safe made him sleep in my yamen that night. Next morning he had disappeared, and his body was found two days later in a low quarter of the town, stripped of all valuables including the plan, which he had in his pocket-book, although this itself was not taken. The gatekeeper saw him go out, and there is no doubt his habits were unsteady, but for all that his death is very suspicious.
"Naturally I had no proof good enough for the Government, but my friends and myself subscribed ten million dollars, and asked the Government for another five millions, to fit out an expedition and destroy these pirates, offering to hand over to them the men-of-war we intended buying, and also a percentage of our recaptures. They refused at first, but thinking money was to be made out of it, promised us four millions, the protection of the Imperial flag, and the use of their dockyards.
"We had thought of applying to some European power to take the matter up; but you know the great tension of affairs out here at the present, and the acute international jealousies; we therefore came to the conclusion that it would take years to bring this about through the ordinary diplomatic channels, and as every year's trade is worth from £10,000,000 to £20,000,000 for us, we cannot afford to wait.
"I, therefore, as President of the China Trading Defence Committee, am authorized to offer you the control of this money if you will accept the responsibility of organizing a small expedition with the greatest possible speed to rid us of this unbearable piracy which is destroying our trade.
"You will get this letter and the enclosed lists and tables from our Ambassador in London, who will give you every facility for granting Imperial commissions for your ships and officers, and every information he can.
"I know enough of your service to think that if you take command of this expedition you will advance your prospects, and the opportunity of doing this I have very great pleasure in giving you.
"Wire me your decision and plans; don't worry about money—haste is the great thing.—Your sincere friend,
"PING SANG.
"TIENTSIN, 17th March.
"P.S.—If you do not accept the command it will be offered to Lieutenant Albrecht of the Imperial German Navy.
"I hope the Doctor with the broad shoulders and terrible fists is well. Give him my 'chin chin', and bring him with you if you can."
Helston finished reading, and both men stared at each other in blank amazement, whilst Jenkins commenced stealthily to remove the breakfast things.
"Well, of all the hare-brained, foolish schemes I ever heard of!" gasped the Doctor.
"There's something in it, old chap. Ping Sang was one of the richest mandarins in China when we were out there many years ago. A splendid chap, as you remember, and practically an Englishman in his ideas—he went to Charterhouse when he was a boy—and besides, his Government has taken it up, and I have to report myself to the Admiralty; so they believe in it, evidently. Why, old man," continued Helston, "if this is all true I shall get promotion out of it, and that means—you know as well as I do—that means Milly." And he danced about the room as if he never had had fever in his rheumatic legs.
"Stop that tomfoolery, and go off to London and find out whether it's all a mare's nest or not," said the Doctor. "Jenkins, go and get the Commander's things ready at once."
"For China, sir?"
"No. For London, you fool!"
"Very good, sir," and off went Jenkins.
"Well, good-bye, Helston, I'm off round the practice. Don't make an ass of yourself, and let me know the result."
By the time the Doctor returned Helston had disappeared, and it was late that evening when a telegram brought news of him. The Doctor hurriedly opened it: "Job genuine—accepted command. Send all clothes—cannot return—too busy."
Three days later he received a long letter. In it Helston wrote that he had been backwards and forwards from the Admiralty, the Foreign Office, and the Chinese Embassy the whole of the last few days settling preliminary details. "The Bank of England has one and a half million to my credit, on the advice of the Ambassador and Ping Sang, so the money is safe enough, and I am trying to get hold of any ship which will be ready in the next three months. Our Admiralty did not at first wish me to take command, and wanted to give me some captains, just as advisers, but I knew what that meant. They would get all the kudos; I should get none. So I told them that if I did not take command, absolutely and entirely, I would throw it up, and, of course, that meant that the Germans would get a look in. That stuck in their gizzards, so they piped down, and I am to be my own boss and have any officers I want, and a large proportion of men, from the navy. They have given me an office and a couple of clerks, and already I'm terribly busy.
"From what I can gather, their idea seems to be that a couple of cruisers of the Apollo type and two or three destroyers will be sufficient for my purpose and well within my means; that if I find myself unable to destroy the pirates, whose existence they still doubt, I shall at least be able to blockade the island till the present tension of political affairs is somewhat relaxed, when they hope to be able to detach some ships from our fleet to help me, more especially if I prove conclusively the existence of these pirates. You may bet your boots," Helston concluded, "if I can get away from England and past Hong-Kong without interference, I sha'n't wait for other help. My luck is at the top now, and if only it will remain there for eighteen months or so, I shall be a made man. Will it? that is the question."
"Silly fool!" thought the Doctor; "he's always brooding on his ill-luck. If people would only look more on the bright side of things, we should hear less about this fatal ill-luck which they always fancy follows them."
When he returned from the round of his very limited practice and opened the London paper waiting for him, he swore angrily when he saw that two columns were devoted to the proposed expedition. "Silly fool! giving himself away to these interviewers. It may make him notorious, but the Admiralty won't like it; and if there are pirates, they will learn his schemes and plans almost as soon as he knows them himself."
CHAPTER III
The Fitting Out of a Squadron
Helston Tricks the Doctor—Valuable Information—The Doctor makes a Bargain—The Squadron Assembles
A month had passed by, during which time the Doctor saw by the papers that Helston had acquired a cruiser at Elswick, built on "spec", an armoured cruiser being built by Laird's, for a South American republic which had waived its claim to her, and three destroyers which were being completed at Yarrow's, Thorneycroft's, and Laird's works respectively. At the end of the month he ran up to London, in response to a telegram, and met Helston at Waterloo.
"I should hardly have known you," he said, grasping his hand; "you look twice the man you did six weeks ago. What fool's errand have you brought me here for?"
"Going to show you round my little fleet, old chap. How's Milly and her old father?"
"She's all right. Asked after her Don Quixote the last time I saw her; but confound you, I'm hungry, I don't want to see your ships. I've seen enough in my lifetime; you ought to have known that."
"Come along then, old chap, we'll have some grub and put you in a better temper," answered Helston, smiling, and took him to his hotel.
They visited Yarrow's yard that afternoon, and next day went up the river to Chiswick, where Thorneycroft's destroyer lay almost ready for launching, with her engines and boilers on board. "Funny state of affairs, Doc, old boy," began Helston, as he patted her smooth sides, "for me to be buying ships. Fancy imagining six weeks ago that I should ever be signing cheques to the value of three-quarters of a million and thinking nothing of it!"
"How much did this one cost you?" asked the Doctor grimly.
"Just over £40,000—a mere fleabite," laughed Helston; "and she's to do her trials next week—a guaranteed thirty knots. That would shake up your wretched liver, Doc, rushing along at more than thirty-five miles an hour! It's a funny thing, but they have had several bids for her during the last few days, so I wrote out a cheque on the spot and got her. The others were a little doubtful about cash."
"Some of these smaller republics always are," laughed the manager, who was standing near them.
"It was Patagonia, too, of all others," continued Helston. "She tried to get all my ships, and, strangely enough, has never been in the market before, and doesn't possess such a thing as a ship."
"I expect she wants to become as civilized as some of her neighbours, and get up a rebellion against the army," added the manager.
After dinner that night Helston showed the Doctor a list of officers he had chosen, among whom there were several they had known in the old days. The Admiralty had put them all on half-pay and lent them to the Chinese Government for eighteen months directly Helston had made out their temporary commissions for the squadron he was fitting out. The Chinese ambassador had been empowered to sign their commissions, and the ships were to fly the Yellow Dragon.
"I see you have no doctors yet," said the Doctor. "I suppose no one has been such a fool as to volunteer."
Helston opened a drawer in his desk.
"There you are, nearly five hundred of them, men in the navy, army, and from every corner of the world."
"I didn't know there were so many fools on earth," growled the Doctor. "To whom are you going to give the opportunity of being drowned or blown up?"
"Oh, I'm not going to select them. I leave that job to my principal medical officer."
"What idiot have you managed to get hold of to do that?"
"You, old chap," replied Helston, slapping him on the shoulder; "you were the very first to volunteer."
"I!" said the Doctor angrily. "Why, I'd as soon think of volunteering for a trip to the moon!"
"Can't help that, Doc; you told me that night at Fareham, when you were in such a bad temper, that you would come with me if I got a ship, and here's your commission made out—'all belong ploper, savez'. Come on, old fellow, don't leave me in the lurch; come and have another look at China. We will look in at our old places in Japan and fancy ourselves young again. I'll make you as comfortable as you possibly can be on board a ship."
"Well, you have played a trick on me," answered the Doctor, after he had stamped and fumed about the room, "and if you were not steeped in fever and ague, I would see you at Jericho first; but I'll see you safely through this foolery—more for Milly's sake, though, than for yours, you sly brute."
"I knew you'd come, Doc; you aren't doing yourself any good moping down at Fareham, and the practice can manage itself pretty well, can't it? You'll get fleet-surgeon's pay, and Jenkins will be able to look after us both."
So this being settled, the two men discussed plans far into the night.
On the way to Newcastle next morning, and as the train was leaving King's Cross, a man jumped hurriedly into their carriage, his bags were thrown after him, and the door slammed violently.
"I'm sort of intruding," he said, by way of introduction and apology. He was a young and very handsome man, typically American from the long hair brushed off his forehead to his long pointed boots, his Western accent very strong and nasal.
"Guess you two ain't lived all your lives on land. I've been six years in the United States navy, and can spot a navy man like a pointer."
"Yes, we are both in the navy," answered Helston, smiling.
"There you are; you Britishers always call your navy the navy. Why, our American ships—ship for ship—would give 'em all points and knock spots out of them. We ain't got so many just now, but we're just scurrying around, and we've got the iron and the brains, and Congress will find the dollars. I'm quit of the navy. The guv'nor curled up and left me a pile, so I just sent in my commission and been enjoying myself ever since—that's four years ago next fall. Going out to China in a few weeks—shake up the oil business. The old man was in oil—see! Ever been in China—Asiatic station we call it—and met the old Monocacy?"
"Twice," said Helston, much amused.
"Well, I was a cadet for two years in that old packet—Reginald S. Hopkins, my tally—and I guess we have mutual acquaintances out there."
"My name is Helston."
"Helston!" ejaculated the American. "Why, I know your face—couldn't guess where I'd seen it before seen your picture in every illustrated journal I've taken up for the last ten days—shake, sir, shake," and he grasped Helston's hand warmly. "Very pleased to make your acquaintance. I reckon you're just about the most talked-of man walking the face of this earth just now."
The conversation naturally turned on the approaching expedition, in which Hopkins was keenly interested. "I guess I can give you some middling-sized information about those ships the Chinese ran ashore. I was out with the Japs at Wei-hai-wei, just looking round—kind of correspondent for a Boston journal—and went on board some of them. I reckon the silly idiot who bought that lot of scrap iron wished he had left 'em there. There ain't a dockyard in the States that could make 'em keep pace with a funeral. Why, I went aboard one of the torpedo-boats—high and dry she was—I'm mighty inquisitive, I tell you—her boiler had burst and blown up her deck, when she went aground, I reckon. I've never seen such a mess as the engines were—two horrid staring corpses been there a week, too—ugh!"
"Very lucky that I met you," Helston said eagerly. "I've telegraphed to a dozen men who were up there, and none know anything beyond doubtful rumours."
"I guess most of the Europeans were just searching around about that particular time, and looting or getting quit of the place, if they'd been aiding the Pigtails," drawled the stranger.
"You didn't hear anything about the cruisers which went ashore, I suppose?" asked Helston.
"Didn't I! Didn't I! I knocked up against a little Scotchman—chief engineer aboard the Mao Yuen when her old skipper shoved her nose on shore and cut. He was just about in a hair-raising funk, for the mandarins wanted his head, and the Japs his body. I packed him off in a steamer, and he was mighty glad to take his head with him, you bet!"
"Did he tell you anything of the condition of his ship?" asked Helston, "for she is one of those which have disappeared."
"Didn't he!" roared the American, smacking his thigh. "Why, all the time he was under my wing he kept shouting out, 'Oh God! Oh God!—two hundred dead bodies on board, burning fore and aft—they'll kill me if I go on deck—the boilers won't stand the pressure, and my home's in Glasgy'. He was just on being properly crazed, and during the night woke me by shrieking, 'We're on the rocks, we're on the rocks—the steam-pipe's burst, and I can't get on deck—the steam, the steam', and I found him trying to climb up the wall."
"She must have damaged herself very badly if the shock smashed her main steam-pipe," said Helston; "and they tell me at the Embassy that the Yao Yuen, her sister ship, which was also reported refloated, was completely gutted. It seems to me that any amount of patching up won't make these two much of fighting ships."
"You've just hit it, Captain. Give me the old Monocacy—you remember the old tub—and I reckon I'd wash out the whole crowd."
He left the carriage at their first stopping-place.
"Lucky we met him, Doc," said Helston; "his information may be very valuable, and he seems a fine type of an American naval officer."
"They are all tarred with the same brush," growled the Doctor—"think their own country the only one in the world, and they themselves its brightest ornament. A conceited, bragging liar I should call him."
"Liver bad this morning," thought Helston.
They went down to Elswick that afternoon and inspected the cruiser which Armstrong's had almost completed. She was, in fact, preparing for her engine and gun trials. She had been built as a speculation, and Helston had eagerly snapped her up for a trifle of £290,000. "We should have made another £20,000 if you hadn't settled at once," said the manager ruefully, "for the Patagonian agent offered us £310,000 next morning."
They next travelled to Birkenhead and saw Laird's destroyer, which was nearly ready for sea, and the armoured cruiser which was to be Helston's flagship, and had been promised in two months.
They were inspecting the cabins aft.
"If I'm coming with you, you'll have to knock those two into one," said the Doctor. "I'm not going to be cramped up in the ordinary cabin at my time of life."
"All right, old chap," replied Helston, giving the necessary directions, "what will happen if you don't get your own way?"
"Invalid myself home," answered the Doctor, with a twinkle in his eye. "Did the Patagonians want this one?"
"Did their best," smiled Helston, "but ready money did the trick."
"It seems to me that someone is very anxious you should not buy your ships, Helston. Somewhat fishy, isn't it?" suggested the Doctor, on their way back to London.
Two days later the papers published lists of temporary commissions granted by the Chinese Government to officers in the Royal Navy lent to a squadron now fitting out in England.
To Helston the Admiralty had granted leave to assume the rank of captain whilst he was in command of his squadron.
The rest of the officers, commanders, lieutenants, doctors, engineers, paymasters, marines, and warrant officers were all detailed for various duties—fitting out the ships, buying and supervising stores and provisions, and recruiting the crews.
The Admiralty lent the entire crews for the three destroyers and skeleton crews for the two cruisers, consisting of petty officers, seamen gunners, engine-room artificers, armourers, and also a small detachment of marines, whilst, acting on the advice of the Foreign Office and the Chinese Embassy, both of which threw out hints of the possibility of treachery, the remainder of the crews were taken exclusively from Naval Reserve men of known good character.
During the following three weeks several suspicious incidents occurred which suggested that influences were at work to retard or damage the expedition.
Thorneycroft's destroyer broke down on two occasions. On the second trial the finding of a loose nut in the high-pressure cylinder whilst the engines were being preliminarily turned, averted a terrible catastrophe. It was highly probable that it had been placed there intentionally.
Laird's cruiser developed several small break-downs, attributed to improperly fastened locking nuts, whilst the main bearings of one of her screw shafts became almost red-hot, and it was found that sand had been mixed with the water that was pumped over it during the full speed trial. This alone delayed the departure of the expedition for a month, as the huge casting had to be removed. Laird's destroyer was also run down one night by a tug-boat whilst lying anchored off Birkenhead, and as it was a perfectly clear night, and she was not in the usual course of tugs, this was very suspicious. Fortunately the damage was not serious.
Most serious of all was the discovery of a man, dressed as a dockyard labourer, tampering with the magazine locks of Armstrong's cruiser, with many yards of fuse and a dynamite cartridge in his pocket, which naturally he could not account for.
However, three months after the receipt of Ping Sang's letter, Armstrong's cruiser, named by Helston the Strong Arm, the three destroyers "No. 1", "No. 2", and "No. 3", and a stout little merchant steamer, the Sylvia, to be used as store-ship, were lying at Spithead, gaily flying the Yellow Dragon at their ensign staffs, and only awaiting the completion of the repairs to Laird's ship, which Helston named the Laird.
Helston, the Doctor, and two or three officers were still remaining in London completing the work of fitting out the squadron.
CHAPTER IV
The Pirates are not Idle
A Disaster—"The Mysterious Three"—Suspicions Confirmed—Three Chinamen—Helston Desperate
One night after dinner, whilst they were playing billiards, the folding doors were flung open and Hopkins, whom Helston had not seen since he had first met him on his way to Newcastle, rushed in, nearly upsetting the waiter.
"Excuse me, Captain," he said, as he warmly gripped Helston's hand. "I'm always just busting with energy; only landed on the Island three hours gone; tracked you here, and now mighty glad to meet you again. Been bustling round Europe for the last two months; done the capitals and the crowned heads and other sights; and now come here to pack my traps and off again. Say, Captain, how's your picnic progressing; just booming, I reckon?"
"Oh, fairly well," answered Helston, pleased to see him and introducing him to the others. "There have been several strange mishaps lately, which look suspiciously as if somebody was already working against us, but I think we shall be off in a week or two."
"Well, I call that just prompt; couldn't do it slicker in the United States. Maybe those accidents are simple coincidences."
"They may be, but they are very worrying, all the same," replied Helston, opening a telegram a waiter had brought him. He scanned it carelessly, but his jaw dropped. It was from the captain of the Strong Arm: "Regret to report Government powder barge fouled ram 8.15 to-night; drifted astern and sank, blowing up as she went down. Ship making water and down by the head. Must dock for examination. Explosion caused minor damages after-part of ship and stove in starboard plates of 'No. 1' destroyer. Regret report three men 'No. 1' killed. Crew of barge took to dinghy and pulled ashore."
Helston read it aloud, to the consternation of the others. "That means our departure delayed indefinitely," he said bitterly. "I must be off to Portsmouth at once." He went up to his room to pack a bag. Presently there was a knock at the door and Hopkins came in.
"Excuse me bothering you just now, Captain, but I've gotten an idea that this explosion ain't all fair and square, and I just want to fix up a contract with you."
"Well, what is it?" asked Helston, amused at his earnestness.
"Well, I reckoned this affair was going to be a simple slap-up picnic, and if there's devilry about now there will be a jolly sight more before you've squared yards, and I'm just keen to be in it. I'm a bit of a sailor and picked up a bit of the lingo, so I should be worth my nose-bag. Will you take me on, sir, if you find this explosion was due to treachery?"
"I'll see about it when I come back," replied Helston.
"Thank you, sir. Good-night;" and Hopkins disappeared.
"I don't care for that man," said the Doctor, as he saw Helston off to Portsmouth (they were talking of Hopkins). "He talks too much, and I hate foreigners. I hope you won't take him."
However, Hopkins himself was apparently confident that he would be taken, for next morning at breakfast he joined their table, quite unasked, and kept forcing his conversation on the Doctor. Now there was one thing the Doctor would never do, and that was, talk at breakfast; not even till he had had his after-breakfast pipe was it safe to address him, and he happened to be especially "livery" that morning. He was boiling over with wrath when the meal was over.
"Bad temper, I suppose it is," growled the Doctor, as, later, he jumped into a hansom and drove to the U.S. Legation; "a villainous liver that makes me dislike that fellow. At any rate, if he comes with us we had better know all about him."
At the Embassy he managed to get hold of several old navy lists, and found the name Reginald S. Hopkins given as a cadet on board the Monocacy in 1885, but no mention of it in later years.
He enquired whether the Naval Attaché was in the building, and, as luck would have it, he was, and could give the Doctor more information.
"A naval officer yourself, Doctor?" said the Attaché, looking at his card.
"Yes; belong to the 'pirate-catchers', as we are called, and this man Hopkins is very anxious to join us."
"Well, I see by my books that he retired, by permission, from the Monocacy in 1885."
"I found that out down below; but you know nothing more about him, I suppose?"
"Well, not officially, you know; but three or four years ago I was Flag Lieutenant of our Asiatic squadron, and we heard that he had been mixed up with the China-Japanese war, was in a Chinese ship at the battle of Yalu, and was afterwards said to have made a pile of money by buying the wrecked ships and selling them as old iron. He'd probably be a useful man for you to get hold of, I should think."
"I think he would," said the Doctor gravely. "I suppose you never met him?"
"No, never; but there were rumours that he led a wild kind of adventurous life among the Chinese with two partners, an Englishman and a German, prospecting for mines or running expeditions against rebellious provincial rebels. They used to be called the 'Mysterious Three' at the Tientsin Club, if I remember rightly, and were said to be hand in glove with many of the highest officials."
"It was a bad temper and a worse liver before," muttered the Doctor, as he drove away and directed the cab to a well-known detective agent, "but after hearing this—whether it's curiosity or suspicion, I'm going to find out more about that young man."
Next morning he received a letter from Helston at Portsmouth, which confirmed his fears that another and successful attempt had been made to damage the expedition. What was left of the powder barge had been examined by divers, who had reported that it certainly was not like the usual Government barges. The crew of three had disappeared, though they must have landed safely, as their dinghy had been hauled up the beach at Southsea, and this fact enhanced suspicions. Both "No. 1" and the Strong Arm had been docked by Admiralty permission at Portsmouth, and the repairs, which were being pushed forward night and day, would take at least six weeks in the case of "No. 1", though the cruiser was found to have suffered but minor damage.
"The bill will be tremendous," wrote Helston, rather despairingly, "not so much for the actual repairs, but it means keeping and feeding all the crews for six weeks more than I had calculated. At any rate they are, I am glad to say, all the keener after this affair to get to close quarters with the scoundrels, who have hit them below the belt. After the funeral of the three men of the destroyer who were killed, I went aboard each ship, fell the men in aft, and told them that any man who wished to back out of the job could give in his name to the master-at-arms. They broke out into cheers, and not a man has done so."
"Foul play after all, Hopkins," said the Doctor later, when he met the American.
"Well, I can't say I'm sorry about it," he answered frankly, "if it gives me a chance of a look in at the game."
Every day the detectives employed by the Doctor reported to him Hopkins's movements, but nothing suspicious whatever occurred for some days. He spent his time visiting business houses especially connected with the China trade, and in the evenings was either at the hotel or a theatre. Then, however, he was reported to have visited, the previous evening, after dark, a large "doss-house" near the Millwall docks, a place kept by a Chinaman for the use of the Chinese firemen and the deck hands employed in the ships trading to the East. He had stayed there nearly two hours, shoved several papers into his pocket as he came out, and was accompanied to the door by two Chinese, who appeared to treat him with the greatest respect.
It happened that he had hurried away from dinner that night on the pretence of going to a theatre.
"He's a liar, at any rate," thought the Doctor, but his suspicions turned into a different and more startling channel before the morning was over.
There were two little American boys staying in the hotel who had struck up a great friendship with Hopkins. Going down the main staircase he came upon these two—fighting as usual. "Clear out of this, you young rascals!" growled the Doctor, and the two boys ran away. Two steps lower down the Doctor noticed a brightly coloured stamp on the carpet, stooped down, and found it was one of a new issue of the Patagonian Republic. "Please, sir," said one of the boys coming back, "that's ours. Mr. Hopkins, the big man who sits at your table, gave it us this morning—tore it off a big envelope."
"I've never seen one before," said the Doctor, thinking of the strange coincidence.
"Mr. Hopkins has a big crackly paper with an enormous green sealing-wax seal just like it," chimed in the boy. "You ought to see it—it's lovely!"
"Phew! that's odd," he muttered. "What's Hopkins doing with Patagonian letters? And a 'big crackly paper with an enormous green seal' means an official document, so I should think. I hardly heard of the name till Helston told me they were trying to buy his ships. Phew! I wonder if he had anything to do with that? I'll find out."
But the Patagonian agency knew nothing of Hopkins. An Austrian by the name of Von Grootze had been engaged in the negotiations for ships, so the Doctor returned puzzled.
A few days later the detectives reported that Hopkins had again visited the "doss-house" in Millwall, and that next day a very large number of Chinese had shipped for Antwerp.
"Well, he seems to have something to do with these Chinese, receives communications from Patagonia, is a known adventurer, and, perhaps most convincing of all, I don't like him," thought the Doctor. "Helston is coming back to-morrow, and I'll have a long yarn with him about this business."
So next day he told Helston all the details that were arousing his suspicions, adding, "I don't suppose there is much in it, but I am a beastly suspicious fellow and don't like him."
"Well," answered Helston very gravely, "do you know what was found in that powder barge? A dead Chinaman!—unrecognizable except for his pigtail. We've managed to keep the fact very quiet, but this somehow seems to connect things, doesn't it?"
The best thing to be done, they both agreed, was to keep their eye on Hopkins, and to do that more easily Helston decided to make out his commission as secretary to himself. Later, when he gave it to Hopkins, no one could deny that his expressions of extreme pleasure were genuine. Two nights later, however, the Doctor, coming back to the hotel at midnight, went up to Helston's room with a very grave face.
"Pretty late to turn a fellow out," said Helston, switching on the light. "Hullo, man, you look pretty scared! What's in the wind now?"
"I've just come from that doss-house of which I told you. I pretended to the boss that I wanted a Chinese cook to take out with me. He was an ugly old Cantonese, and took me into his little room—pugh! how the place did reek of garlic and stale clothes—and went off to try and find one. Whilst I was waiting I heard a shrill argument going on in the next room—there was only a wooden partition between—and presently I heard a voice, which I would swear anywhere was Hopkins's, ordering silence."
"He told us he was off to the theatre," interposed Helston, now thoroughly awake.
"You can imagine I was on the qui vive then, and did my best to hear what was going on. Two Chinamen were evidently trying to extort money from him, but they were talking so shrilly and so fast—you know how they talk when they are excited—that I could not make out much of it till another voice chimed in, and I distinctly heard: 'He smokee too muchee opium, massa. Me go shakee him—no can move—vely big man—no can wait—go topside plenty quick—jump in boat—all plenty chop, chop—then makee blow up. Ah Tung belong dead man—you pay blother fifty dollars can do—all belong ploper.' You know their pidgin-English?"
"Can you swear it was Hopkins's voice?" asked Helston. "That must have been the brother of the man killed in the powder barge."
"I would swear to that beastly nasal twang anywhere."
It was early next morning when the two separated, and then they had decided not to let Hopkins suspect that they knew his treachery, and still to allow him to reckon on joining the expedition.
"In fact," said Helston, "to have him on board will be our best safeguard, and we must see that he does not give us the slip."
The detective reported that Hopkins had been to the "doss-house" the night before, adding, with a smile, "which you probably know already, sir, for you were there too".
As the Doctor and Helston were leaving the hotel—Helston going to his office and the Doctor for a walk—Hopkins joined them. "Any work for your secretary, Captain?" he asked good-humouredly. "I guess I'm just aching for a bit of quill-driving. I'm just about the cut of a secretary, am I not?" and he opened out his broad shoulders and smacked his chest vigorously.
"Not till we get afloat, thanks," said Helston.
"All right; I'll just come along with you to the corner, and then I'll be off. Have to make a few dollars—you Britishers aren't half smart—before I go sailoring again."
As they came to the end of the street they saw a small crowd curiously gazing at three Chinamen looking in at an A.B.C. shop.
"I'll pull those three fellows' legs," said the American, and, as they forced their way through the little crowd, he whistled the first line of "Chin, Chin, Chinaman".
The crowd recognized the tune at once, and there were shouts of "Chin, Chin, Chinaman!"
The Chinese turned round with fury in their eyes, whilst the crowd jeered at them.
The Yankee, laughing loudly, wished his friends good-bye. "Guess a Chinaman won't learn manners in London, anyhow."
"Well, he's not a gentleman, at any rate," said Helston, when he had gone. "Funny those three being there; you don't often see them so far from the docks."
"My blessed aunt!" said the Doctor excitedly, "it was a put-up job. I see it clearly. Hopkins wanted them to be able to recognize us again. Didn't you notice that they looked at us and no one else; and, now I think of it, he put his arm through yours just at the time—that was to point you out more particularly."
"Stuff and nonsense, Doc! You must not jump to conclusions like that. It was all done too naturally; I can't believe it."
"You always were an idiot," growled the Doctor. "I'd bet you anything I'm right."
However, every day after this, Helston met these Chinese—not always the same, he felt sure—and they always gave him a cold, impassive stare from under their slit-like lids as they passed him going to or coming from the office. Did he go round a back, unfrequented way, they were waiting for him outside his office when he left it. Did he walk on the other side of the road, they crossed over to gaze at him. There was no doubt left in Helston's or in the Doctor's mind that these men were in Hopkins's pay, and were being made familiar with Helston's appearance, in order to be able to kidnap or kill him when Hopkins gave the signal. Naturally it was exceedingly difficult to remain on friendly terms with this man, whose presence seemed to make their flesh creep, but outwardly there was no change in their relationship, or, if there was, Hopkins did not seem to notice it.
A month later and the incessant strain of being constantly watched wherever he went, and the endless worries and delays attending the expedition, began to have their effect on Helston, who was visibly losing the vigour his new appointment had first given him.
"Let us get out of this, old chap," he almost gasped one day when, coming back to the hotel, they had been met by three more villainous Chinese standing almost inside the door.
"Pour me out something to drink, Doc, to take the taste of the ugly brutes out of my mouth. If I don't get away soon my luck will desert me again, and they will murder me somehow or other. I can't stand them much longer."
Helston paced up and down in a very agitated manner, and it was very evident that the strain of the last few weeks was wearing him to a shadow.
"Look here, old chap," he said, coming to a halt, and turning abruptly to Dr. Fox, "it's my idea that if Hopkins intends mischief he will wait till the last few days before either disappearing himself or setting those sneaking Chinese dogs on to me. If we can only get him aboard and start several days before he expects the expedition to sail, his treacherous schemes may fail.
"Now, my idea is this. The Laird runs her after-repair trials to-morrow, and I will telegraph to her Captain and order him to report defects requiring twelve days to repair, and make arrangements as if our departure would be delayed till then, and give the information to the Press.
"The scheme is this, Doc," he continued excitedly. "'No. 1' destroyer runs her trials on Saturday next after coming out of dock. My idea is for us to go down to Portsmouth, take Hopkins with us—as if only for the trial, you understand—and, when we are out at Spithead, signal to the remainder of the squadron to prepare for sea, and to send a telegram to the Laird at Birkenhead ordering her to meet me at a certain rendezvous."
"That fellow Hopkins is a greater fool than I take him for if he is deceived by that," growled Dr. Fox.
"Perhaps you are right, but I will try; and I will wire to Cummins of the Laird at once."
"You had better use the cipher code," Dr. Fox suggested.
The twenty-four hours which followed the despatch of this telegram seemed like the same number of days.
Helston could not sleep. Twice during the night he came to Dr. Fox's room, with wild suggestions for warding off the blow he now felt certain was impending, and haggard and irresolute he paced to and fro in the smoking-room after breakfast next morning.
At one moment he would decide to rush off to Birkenhead himself; at another, that he would pack up and go aboard the Strong Arm at Spithead and await results there. Finally, he did not stir from the hotel till the evening, when the reply to his telegram arrived. "Full-speed trial successful; sundry small defects; condenser-tubes require fourteen days to repair."
It was Hopkins who brought in the telegram.
"Confound him!" cried Helston, with well simulated wrath. "We shall never get to sea at this rate."
Orders were made out that the squadron would sail from Spithead in fifteen days' time, and the date of sailing was communicated to the Press.
It was only Helston and Dr. Fox who knew that it would actually sail a week earlier.
"Thank God," exclaimed Helston, "there are only a few more days of these hateful Chinese!"
CHAPTER V
The Squadron leaves hurriedly
A Break-down Averted—The "Sylvia" and the Destroyers
The Narrative is continued by Lieutenant Hugo John
Pattison, R.N.
My name is Pattison, and I'm lieutenant in command of destroyer "No. 1", belonging to Captain Helston's squadron; and trouble enough I had to get her, and shouldn't have done so after all, but for a jolly little girl living at Fareham, who knew the Skipper when he was on half-pay.
"No. 1", of course, you remember, was damaged by the explosion out at Spithead, and had spent weeks in Portsmouth repairing. At last everything was ship-shape again, and on 16th October we were lying alongside the basin waiting for the Skipper, who was coming out on our trials, with steam blowing off in clouds and Elridge, our Engineer, getting very impatient. Presently down came Captain Helston, looking pretty well fagged out, and with him surly old Dr. Fox, and his Yankee secretary. Directly they got aboard, I cast off and threaded my way down the harbour and out to Spithead. As we were passing the end of Southsea pier the Captain borrowed my telescope, and saying, "There they are again", handed it to me.
"Those three Chinese, sir?" I asked him.
"Yes; they followed me down from town, and have been shadowing me for the last four weeks. You can imagine I am thankful to get afloat once more."
On our way to the measured mile we had to pass close to the rest of the squadron anchored at Spithead, and we stopped engines alongside the Strong Arm, whilst a boat came across for orders.
When we started again the Skipper seemed much relieved, and I quickly knew why, for he came for'ard to the bridge and told me to make for a rendezvous 250 miles s.w. of the Needles, and that there we should be joined by the rest of the fleet. "Thank God, Pattison, I'm at sea once more!"
"Not going back, sir?" I asked, naturally very surprised.
"No, Pattison, no. I'm sorry to inconvenience everybody, but it was absolutely necessary. Haven't you wished your people good-bye yet?"
"No," I answered, getting rather red in the face, for I was thinking that I had never even thanked the little girl who had got me my appointment.
"Nor have I, nor have I," half sighed the Skipper to himself.
The Doctor was apparently in the secret, but Hopkins, the Yankee, seemed terribly cut up, as he had made arrangements for a week's leave on very urgent private affairs, and in fact was only waiting for "No. 1" to get back to Portsmouth to start. How strange it is that Americans never seem to have any idea of discipline? He took it almost as a personal insult that he had not been informed previously, and for a second I thought he would fly at the Captain, he looked so angry. However, he calmed down quickly enough.
The orders that the Captain had sent aboard the Strong Arm were to direct Captain Hunter to proceed to the given rendezvous at easy speed, weighing as soon as possible after sending a boat ashore to telegraph to the Captain of the Laird.
They were exceedingly prompt in obeying this last order, for before five minutes elapsed, we saw their picket-boat tearing along in the direction of Portsmouth.
Hopkins is a careless fellow, and nearly brought us to grief. He had been down below poking about in the engine-room, and, just before we began to settle down to our trial, Elridge came up to the bridge to report to the Captain. As he was going away again he jokingly said to Hopkins: "It's lucky I went round after you. You know those lubricator feeds you couldn't understand? I found that you'd left every oil-cock turned off, and our starboard crank bearings would have been red-hot in a few minutes. You are a careless beggar."
"I'm so mighty inquisitive," apologized Hopkins, and asked Elridge to let him come down below again.
"Certainly not; I want you up here," said Captain Helston, in so angry a manner that everyone was quite astonished.
The news that we were not going back soon spread amongst my men, and Captain Helston ordered me to fall them in, just abaft the bridge, and made them a little speech—just the right thing—no big words and high-sounding phrases. He told them he was very sorry they wouldn't have the opportunity of wishing their friends good-bye, said he relied on them to do their duty, and held out the probability of prize-money. He has a fine, tall, commanding figure, and his speech went down with the men very well.
Nothing important happened. We never pressed the engines to full speed, and after a short time dropped to fifteen knots, which we kept up all through the afternoon, steering out of the usual course of ships running up or down channel till we reached the rendezvous and stopped engines.
Next morning "No. 2" and "No. 3" joined us. Late that afternoon the Strong Arm and the Sylvia, armed store-ship, joined company, and, ten hours later, we were all exceedingly pleased to sight the Laird. Captain Helston, his secretary, and Dr. Fox went aboard her as soon as possible, and the squadron, now united for the first time, steamed for Gibraltar.
I rather fancy we were all somewhat disappointed at sneaking away in the dark, as it were, and had rather expected, and looked forward to, a hearty send-off. There wasn't much time for regrets, however, for we had all our time taken up keeping station with the next ships ahead and astern, and plenty to think about.
Our little squadron made a brave show. First came the Laird. She was a cruiser of 6500 tons, with a narrow 4-inch belt all round her water-line. On her fo'c'stle she carried an 8-inch Q.F., another on the poop, and on each broadside were six 6-inch Q.F.—three on each side of the main deck in casemates, and three above on the upper deck behind shields.
Besides these she had eight 12-pounders and six 3-pounders, three in her fore-top and three in the maintop of her military masts. Four Maxims were mounted on the two bridges, and she also carried two 12-pounder field-guns. She had Belleville boilers, and had done 22-1/2 knots on her trial. She did not carry much coal, however, everything being sacrificed to armour, guns, and speed, so that her total coal stowage was only 900 tons.
After her came the Strong Arm: 3600 tons, eight 6-inch Q.F., ten 6-pounder Q.F., three 1-pounders; speed, 20 knots.
She had a search-light platform, with a fighting-top under it, on each mast, and these gave her a somewhat clumsy appearance; but she was a fine heavily armed little cruiser, and excellent in a sea-way.
The third in the line was the Sylvia, a trim, looking, strongly built merchant steamer, with a raking funnel and two pole masts.
She had four 12-pounders mounted on her sides and in addition carried two more field-guns and a couple of Maxim guns on field-carriages, which two guns were destined to play a very important part.
Besides 2000 tons of coal, she carried great supplies of provisions, ammunition, and stores of all kinds. On board also were the torpedoes and torpedo-tubes of the destroyers, for these had been taken out to lighten them during the long voyage to Hong-Kong. "No. 1", "No. 2", and "No. 3", in this order, brought up the rear of the line. Each of us carried one 12-pounder on our bridges, and five 6-pounders in addition. As it happened, though otherwise almost indistinguishable, my boat, "No. 1", had four funnels; "No. 2", two large ones, far apart; whilst "No. 3" had three. The identity of each could therefore be seen at a glance. "No. 2" had actually made the highest speed on her trial, 29.6 knots, "No. 3" had just touched 29.5, and my boat 28.9; but probably in a long race there would not be much to choose between them. We could practically keep up between 25 and 27 knots indefinitely, and be able occasionally to get another two knots for a short burst.
As to the men who formed the crews, there were on board:
*Laird* ................... 463
*Strong Arm* .............. 312
*Sylvia* .................. 40
Three destroyers .......... 177
——
Total ................. 992
The Laird carried 80 Marine Light Infantry and 100 naval petty officers and men; all the rest of the crew were picked from the Naval Reserve.
The Strong Arm had 40 Royal Marine Artillery and 60 Royal Navy men.
All the crews of the destroyers were men of the Royal Navy, previously trained in these delicate, fragile little craft.