The boats from theO47had come alongside, and the Lieutenant swung himself aboard. In a few words Chard explained the situation and told him that, as soon as the prisoners had been put aboard the trawler, he would be placed in charge of theGelderlandwith a prize crew. This was carried out speedily, the Germans, as they really were, offering no resistance in view of the fact that the trawler's gun was kept trained on them all the time.
Half a dozen men from theO47were placed on board theGelderlandas a prize crew, and Chard, before leaving, advised Lawless to make straight for Plymouth. Then he returned to the trawler and the two vessels slowly drew apart and were lost to each other in the darkness.
"Keep her nose to the west," Lawless told the quartermaster, and then dived into the chart-room to lay out his course for Plymouth. This done, he stepped out on to the bridge again and peered into the darkness. The Eddystone Light was not visible yet, and he was about to return, when there came a shout from the look-out on the fo'c'sle head.
"Light on the port bow, sir!"
The Lieutenant leaned over the bridge-rail and stared into the night, but could see nothing. He was about to hail the look-out man, when he saw a faint yellow glimmer appear for a second, and vanish, but this time it was on the starboard side.
"Queer," he murmured.
He started towards the other end of the bridge, and accidentally knocked his foot against something. Stooping down, he found it was a signal-lamp, but different to the one he had been used to handling. Thoughtlessly, he picked it up and tried the shutter; a beam of yellow light flashed out and was gone. Then, as if in answer to it, the mysterious light to starboard flicked twice and disappeared again.
"Oh-h!" murmured Lawless.
It had come upon him that the light was a signal from a submarine, and that, in moving the shutter of the signal-lamp, he had unwittingly answered it. Here, indeed, was a chance of recovering his reputation, for there could be no doubt that the submarine was aUboat. If only it could be captured or sunk!
He crossed to the bridge telegraph and rang down "Stop!" to the engine-room. The machinery ceased throbbing, and theGelderland, losing way, began to roll in a nasty fashion. Then, out of the darkness, a voice hailed her in German. The Lieutenant shouted back some meaningless gibberish, trusting to the wind to make his voice indistinct. This done, he hurried on to the deck, flung a rope ladder over the taffrail, and whispered some instructions to the bos'n.
Leaning over the bulwarks, he saw the shadowy outline of a large submarine alongside, her deck awash, and with a man standing on the hatch-cover, clinging to an inadequate handrail. The man flung out a rope with a hook at the end, caught one of the rungs of the rope ladder, and drew it towards him. Clutching it, he allowed himself to swing off the hatch, and next moment was clambering over the bulwarks. Then, as he reached the deck, a couple of seamen sprang out of the shadows and bore him down before he could utter a cry.
"Well?" remarked the Lieutenant interrogatively, as the prisoner, with a sailor on each side of him, stood in the Captain's cabin.
The man from the submarine growled something beneath his breath. Evidently he had not yet recovered from his astonishment.
"Well?" repeated Lawless almost genially.
"This boat, is it not theGelderland?" asked the prisoner in passable English.
"It is."
"Then why——"
"Take him aft to the wheelhouse and lock him in," interrupted the Lieutenant. The prisoner made an abrupt movement, which was checked at sight of a revolver which one of the seamen was holding. Then he was marched off.
It was not till then that Lawless realised the difficulties of the situation. He had no gun mounted wherewith to sink the enemy submarine; obviously he could not board her so that——
"I'll ram her!" he ejaculated aloud.
He returned to the bridge and saw that the huge whale-like form of theUboat was still alongside. Grabbing the telegraph, he rang down "Full speed ahead!" and then, thrusting the quartermaster aside, took the wheel and swung the vessel round so that she was bows-on to the submarine. At the same moment the latter's hatch opened and a man stepped out, evidently to try and find out what kept the other so long. But before he could realise what was happening, theGelderlanddrove right into the low-lying hull; there was a terrific shock, and, as the steamer reeled under the force of the impact, a stifled cry from out of the blackness—and then silence.
Considerably elated, Lawless picked up the Eddystone light about an hour later. Then, having taken his bearings, he left Plymouth far away to starboard and headed down Channel, while, in obedience to his instructions, the quick-firer was taken out of the hold and mounted on deck and the damaged funnel repaired.
He had been the recipient of a brilliant inspiration.
"The young fool's been and got himself torpedoed, that's what he's done," said Skipper Chard in a tone of conviction.
He was seated with other patrol-boat skippers in the bar-parlour of a certain hostelry, and the conversation had turned on the mysterious disappearance of theGelderlandwith her prize crew. A full week had elapsed since her capture by theO47, yet she had not been reported at Plymouth or any of the other western seaports.
"Skipper Trevail do say he saw she west of Lizard," remarked an old Cornishman.
Chard shook his head impatiently. He absolutely refused to credit the strange stories which, during the last few days, had been rife in the west. Patrol skippers had solemnly assured him that they had seen theGelderlandoff the Cornish coast. One declared that, not knowing what she was, he had boarded her and seen her captain, a young man who could not speak a word of English; but, as her papers were in order, he had let her proceed without troubling to search her cargo. As day after day passed these stories were added to, or varied, until theGelderlandbegan to be regarded as a phantom ship, and was spoken of, not without awe, as theFlying Dutchman. The skipper of theO47alone maintained a sceptical attitude, and reiterated his belief that she had been either torpedoed or mined.
At last the Admiralty, awaking to the fact that a captured ship had disappeared, sent wireless instructions to the officers in command of the patrols to make a systematic search for the vessel. And so, from Start Point to the Lizard, cruiser, destroyer, and patrol-boat swept the seas.
On the afternoon of the very day that these instructions were sent out, Skipper Chard stood in the wheelhouse of theO47and swept the horizon with his glasses. Suddenly he uttered a cry, for just visible against the skyline was theGelderland.
"Whack her up all you can!" he yelled through the voice-pipe. "We've sighted her!"
The engineer did his best, and the deck-plates of theO47vibrated with the ponderous thumping of the machinery below. Chard leaned out of the wheelhouse with his binoculars glued to the missing prize, calling down maledictions upon himself and all his kin if he failed to lay her by the heels. But theGelderlandwas making off as fast as her engines would carry her, and there ensued a long and stern chase which lasted until theO47was near enough to send a shot crashing through theGelderland'schart-room. Then, and not till then, theGelderlandhove to.
"You'll be hanged for this, you ravin' lunatic!" shouted Chard as he boarded the recaptured prize; and then, as the Lieutenant, descending from the bridge, smiled in a sickly sort of fashion, he added: "You've been guilty of barratry, piracy, mutiny, and heaven knows what!"
Lawless was told to regard himself as a prisoner, and then the skipper, pursuing his investigations, was amazed to find some score of Germans in the hold, all of them belonging to the submarine service.
"Why—why, what the deuce does this mean?" he demanded.
"I had to sling some of the cargo overboard," answered the other apologetically, "or there wouldn't have been room for these chaps."
"But how the blazes did they get here?"
Then Lawless related his adventures since the stormy night when he was placed in charge of theGelderland. He had argued that, if one enemy submarine had been deceived by the supply vessel, others might also be lured to destruction in the same way, and his argument had proved correct.
"I suppose I've been guilty of disobedience," he concluded, "but I've bagged fourUboats, ramming one and sinking three with the gun we found in the hold. Most of the men in the submarines foundered with them, but we've managed to save about twenty. At first I wondered how they managed to identify theGelderlandin the dark, but I tumbled to it the first night. The masthead light, instead of being on the foremast, was hung on the aftermast, and this, I suppose, was a pre-arranged signal. At any rate, I didn't alter it, and the scheme seemed to work."
"If you're not shot, you'll be made a blessed admiral!" the skipper remarked.
The court-martial which followed absolved the Lieutenant from the formal charges with which he had been indicted, and a few days later he was informed that, theKnathaving arrived at Devonport, he was to return to her with rank of Lieutenant-Commander. And that evening Lawless, in the gladness of his heart, took from its case a battered banjo, and, lifting up his voice in song, declared in inharmonious accents that "Somewhere the sun is shining."
"I feel," said Lawless, addressing himself to Sub-lieutenant Trent as they stood together on the deck of theKnat, "as pleased as a pig with two tails."
He glanced around him appreciatively, lingering over each well-remembered object, from the quick-firer on the "bandstand" aft to the battered ventilating cowls each side of the for'a'd funnel.
"Even the old shipboard stink is fragrant in my nostrils," he went on, "and the awful profanity issuing from the galley yonder is like sweet music unto my ears."
"H'm," grunted Trent, "you don't seem to have been very happy in the air service."
The look of joyful appreciation faded from the Lieutenant's eyes.
"I've lost one thousand five hundred and five pounds since I left theKnat," he answered. "Or as good as lost it."
"Eh!" ejaculated the junior officer.
Whereupon Lawless confided to him the story of his uncle's unfortunate bet and the sad episode of the German spy who, after being rescued from the derelict steamer, had borrowed five pounds.
"When you've stopped braying, you jackass, I'll get below," snapped the Lieutenant, and, Trent having mastered his mirth, Lawless departed to his cabin.
TheKnatwas on her way to the Clyde, where, with two other destroyers, theArrowand theKite, she was to escort the recently launched battleshipMarsround to Portsmouth. It was evening when theKnatarrived in the Clyde and took up moorings near the leviathan battleship, the existence of which was supposed to be known only to the Admiralty and those who had been engaged in her construction. As she was not to leave till noon on the following day, Lawless decided to take the opportunity of a run ashore, and accordingly, having arrayed himself in mufti, stepped into the boat and waved farewell to his envious junior officer.
Now, on its way to the shore, the boat had to pass close by a very dirty coal-tramp, bearing on her stern the legend, "Black Diamond, Newcastle-on-Tyne." As they pulled near the stern in order to reach the quay, Lawless heard a certain order which made him prick up his ears and indulge in a few moments' very earnest thought. After a little reflection, however, he smiled at his suspicions, and dismissed the subject from his mind.
It was somewhat late when, after a visit to the only music-hall which the district boasted, the Lieutenant made his way down a side street to a certain little Continental restaurant which used to be patronised almost exclusively by foreigners.
His attention was attracted by two men attired in the uniform of Mercantile Marine officers who sat at a table opposite. They excited his curiosity, for, although they appeared to speak English perfectly, they were in uniform, and a British sea officer, like his naval confrère, hates above all things to be seen ashore in "regimentals."
So impressed was Lawless that when the two officers left the restaurant he followed at a respectful distance till they reached the quay alongside which theBlack Diamondwas lying. Here another thing struck him as being decidedly peculiar; for, instead of having an aged and rheumatic watchman aboard, as is the usual custom of British ships when in a home port, there was a man walking up and down in front of the gangway as if on sentry go. Then, more astonishing still, as the two officers went on board this man saluted them—an unheard-of ceremony on a British merchant vessel.
With a growing uneasiness concerning the real character of theBlack Diamond, Lawless hailed a picket-boat, and was taken aboard theKnat. Here he detailed his adventures and expounded his suspicions to Trent, who, however, was not inclined to treat them very seriously.
"If you feel nervous about them, why don't you report to the captain of theMars?" he asked.
"And probably be regarded as a lunatic for my pains!" retorted Lawless.
He remained in thought for some moments, then rose.
"P'r'aps you're right," he remarked drowsily. "Very likely they're only harmless Dagos after all. I'm going to turn in, so clear out!"
And a few moments later Lieutenant Lawless was sleeping.
On the following morning Lawless noticed that theBlack Diamondleft her berth and steamed down the river about an hour before theMarsand her escort were due to leave.
"Well, your nightmare's ship's gone now," remarked Trent. "One of the port officials told me she had cleared for Valencia with coals."
"Coals!" echoed Lawless. "Rum sort of place to ship coals for the Mediterranean! They could get it cheaper and quicker at Cardiff and Newport, besides saving about four days on the double trip."
Soon afterwards came the signal to get under way. TheMarswas to proceed at about ten knots, with theArrowandKiteastern on each side, and theKnatin front to act as scout and clear the way for her.
Slowly and majestically the marine monster—the latest triumph of death-dealing mechanism—swung down the river, her convoy of destroyers looking no larger than midges against her huge bulk. Evening was drawing in as they came abreast of the white light on Cambrae Island, and, although he had been keeping a careful look-out all the afternoon, Lawless had seen nothing of the mysteriousBlack Diamond.
"It's strange!" he mused. "I can't understand it."
An hour or two later, when darkness had set in, Lawless left Trent in charge and went below to snatch a little rest. He had hardly been in his bunk ten minutes, when a messenger knocked at the cabin door and informed him that he was wanted on the bridge.
"What's the trouble?" asked the Lieutenant, as he reached the bridge.
Trent withdrew his head from the hood-screen on the port side, and pointed to a couple of vertical red lights some distance ahead.
"Steamer broken down," he said; "thought it might be your bogey ship."
Lawless picked up the night glasses and gazed through them for some moments.
"It's theBlack Diamond, right enough," he said. "Queer she should have a mishap right in our course, though!"
Trent laughed scornfully.
"I don't suppose they're hanging about there for fun," he observed. "If they were really up to any games, they wouldn't show the warning lights."
"That's just it," replied Lawless. "They know it would at once excite suspicion if they didn't show them." And he again studied the vessel through his glasses.
"Trent," he exclaimed suddenly, "did you see anything?"
The junior officer, although he had been gazing in the same direction as Lawless, had seen nothing of a startling character.
"No," he replied. "What was it?"
"I'll swear I saw something slipped overboard," said Lawless; "but it's so dark I couldn't see what it was even with these glasses. Look here," he added, with unusual gravity, "there's some mischief going on. I'm certain of it."
"Then we'd better have the searchlight on her," replied Trent; and was about to give an order when the Lieutenant stopped him.
"No," he said decisively, "that would only serve to warn them if they are up to any artful dodges."
"They wouldn't have lowered a mine, if that's what you're thinking about, because they know we should alter our course as soon as we saw a disabled steamer ahead."
"No, it was nothing of that sort. It looked more like a sort of cage as far as I could make out."
"Perhaps they're fishing for crabs," suggested Trent with a laugh. For the life of him he could not understand what Lawless was worrying about, since even the best-regulated steamers are apt to break down.
"Look here," said Lawless suddenly, "I'm not going to run the risk of being made a fool of by signalling to theMars. I'm going to investigate this matter for myself." And, turning to a seaman, he told him to get one of the Berthon boats lowered alongside.
"But if you intend to pull out to her, we shall leave you behind," said Trent. "Besides, what can you do on your own?"
"I shall see," replied Lawless. "As to the rest, if you can't pick me up, I can pull back to theKite, which by that time will be nearly abreast of me. I know her skipper, and he won't give me away."
Trent merely shrugged his shoulders. If his commander had a bee in his bonnet it was not his place, as a junior officer, to argue; so he held his peace and thought the more. The Berthon having been launched, Lawless dropped in and started to pull towards the apparently disabled steamer with powerful, noiseless strokes, having taken the precaution of muffling the oars. The distance between theKnatand the steamer having been considerably lessened by this time, it was not long before the Lieutenant reached her. He had rowed in a direct line with her stern, that he might not be observed by any possible look-out aboard, and at length he rested on his oars and turned round to make observations.
"Phew!" he whistled softly.
Floating on the water alongside the steamer, and screened by her hull from the observation of those on the war vessels, was a large waterplane. As far as he could make out, it had accommodation for two men, but what attracted his attention most was a machine, in appearance not unlike a very small inverted howitzer, and evidently designed for aiming bombs. There was no one in the waterplane, and for a moment Lawless thought of rowing with all speed to theMarsand warning her captain; but a moment's reflection told him that it was more than likely that she would have passed him before he could get near, and, in any case, the warning might by that time be too late.
"I'll have to trust to luck, that's all," he muttered.
How he was going to prevent the airmen from carrying out their plans, the nature of which he had very little difficulty in guessing, Lawless had no very clear idea; but, after a moment's consideration, he shipped his paddles, and slipped noiselessly into the water. A few strokes brought him alongside the steamer, and then, keeping well under the shadow of her hull, he continued swimming until he was able to reach one of the wire stays on the floating machine. So far he had escaped notice.
He had no sooner secured a firm hold on the waterplane than a man, suspended by a rope from one of the steamer's derricks, swung outboard and gently lowered himself into the seat of the machine. Then another man followed, and, after an interchange of remarks in a language which Lawless had no difficulty in recognising, the two airmen took their seats, and the engines were set going. A second or two afterwards the waterplane began to glide off, and the Lieutenant found himself being dragged through the water.
The weight of his body, in addition to the resistance of the water, caused the thin steel wire to cut into his hands; and, in order to get a firmer and less painful grip, he threw his arms over the narrow end of the car. As he did so, the waterplane rose in the air, with the result that it dipped and swerved so violently owing to the sudden shifting of his weight that Lawless thought it was going to capsize. The pilot, however, righted it with wonderful skill, but at the same time his companion caught sight of the Lieutenant hanging on.
For a moment he stared in blank astonishment at the dark figure dangling beneath him, and then, evidently under the impression that it was one of his compatriots who had somehow contrived to get into this awkward position, he leant over and extended his hand. Lawless gripped it, and, with a tremendous effort, managed to lift himself up and throw his legs over the canoe-shaped body, so that he sat astride facing his unknown helper.
"Look here——" he began thoughtlessly, and then stopped. It occurred to him, too late, that his speech had betrayed his nationality, and therefore his motives.
The other seemed to grasp the situation in a flash, and, before he had time to consider what to do next, Lawless found himself looking straight into the barrel of a revolver. But the sight of the weapon had the same effect upon him as a douche of cold water has upon a swooning man. It restored his presence of mind, and his brain worked with lightning-like rapidity.
In the face of death no man could be calmer than the reckless Lieutenant. For a moment they stared at each other, the airman raised his pistol, and then, to his amazement, the Englishman laughed.
In all probability, it was this cynical laugh which saved his life, but defeated his immediate object. Lawless had realised that if the man fired at him it must inevitably attract the attention of those on board theMars—for revolver shots in mid-air would be hardly likely to pass unnoticed—and they would at once open fire with the anti-aircraft guns. But the same thought had evidently occurred to the other, for, instead of firing, he slipped the revolver back into his pocket.
Lawless braced himself for the coming struggle, and twisted his legs round some wire guys to secure a firmer grip of the machine and leave his arms free. Giving a quick glance below, he saw the lights of theMarsand her attendant destroyers standing out like tiny specks in a gulf of unfathomable blackness. The two red lights of theBlack Diamondwere no longer visible, and he concluded that, having launched the waterplane, she had proceeded on her way. To the left he could see a searchlight, which he assumed to be operated from theKnat, rapidly sweeping the horizon in great semi-circles.
The whole panorama passed before his eyes like a flash, and a moment later he had come to grips with his antagonist.
With arms enlocked and faces almost touching, the combatants swayed gently to and fro, as though testing each other's strength. Then, loosening their hold, and drawing a little apart for a second, they closed again, and this time they wound their arms about each other like bands of steel, till the terrible pressure made their veins stand up like whipcord, and their breath came in short, choking gasps. But neither could get sufficient advantage over his adversary to swing him off, and more than once it seemed as if both of them must tumble into the sea beneath.
Had the pilot been able to come to the assistance of his companion, Lawless would not have stood a dog's chance; but, fortunately for him, the man had all he could do to maintain control of the machine and prevent it from capsizing under the constantly shifting weight of the opponents as they swayed dangerously from side to side.
Suddenly, from a point seemingly immediately beneath them, came a faint bellowing sound, which Lawless at once recognised as theMars' syren.
Apparently his antagonist recognised it also, for, throwing caution to the winds, he flung his body forward, carrying the Lieutenant with him so that they both nearly went over the side with the sudden impetus.
Lawless was now underneath, his back resting on the narrow deck of the car, while the airman struggled to get a grip of his throat. Uppermost in the mind of each was the desire to kill. Hate gleamed from their bloodshot eyes, and they ground their teeth savagely. Having the advantage of position, the airman at last managed to get his fingers round the Lieutenant's throat, and the latter, in a desperate endeavour to free himself from the choking grip, relaxed his hold, and was swung over the side of the car. For a moment he remained head downwards, suspended only by the steel wires into which he had twisted his legs. Then he began to slip, and a second later disappeared from sight into the yawning abyss beneath.
Quick as thought the airman leaned back, and, reaching the lever which operated the bomb-throwing machine, pulled it; but, as he did so, the waterplane gave a terrific lurch, and the bomb, instead of dropping on theMars, which at that moment was directly underneath, fell into the water and exploded some distance astern of her. The cause of this failure was due to Lawless gripping in his fall one of the stays which held the rudder, and his weight, operating on the extreme end of the machine, had destroyed its balance, and therefore altered the course of the bomb.
Instantly the night was illuminated with the beams of searchlights, which, like huge phosphorescent feelers, swept the sky, until at last they were focussed on the waterplane. Then came a cracking sound from beneath, and shot after shot whizzed upwards from the anti-aircraft guns of theMars, striking the car, smashing and splintering the slender wooden spars which supported the planes, and occasionally snapping a steel guy.
By a miracle Lawless had managed to retain his hold of the wire, though it cut through his flesh, and he knew that he must drop before many seconds elapsed, even if he was not struck by one of the shots from below. He was on the point of letting go through sheer pain and exhaustion, when the machine suddenly tilted, turned right over, and then swooped downwards with a velocity that made his brain reel.
The terrible sensation of falling from a tremendous height terminated abruptly, and next moment the Lieutenant felt the water close above his head, and he was sinking down, down, fathoms deep, it seemed to him, into the sea. Then came a feeling of agonising suffocation, a terrible pressure on his chest, a sensation as though his lungs were about to burst, and he rose to the surface, to find himself near some floating remnants of the wrecked waterplane.
Catching hold of one of the floats, Lawless endeavoured to draw himself up, but fell back in the water as a numbing pain shot through his left arm. He rose to the surface again in a semi-dazed condition, and made another feeble attempt to get on the floats; but his strength was exhausted, and he was suffering agonies from the injured arm. At this moment there came the sound of men's voices and the click of oars as they swung in the rowlocks; strong arms lifted him out of the water, and then he lost consciousness.
When Lawless came to himself, he was lying in his bunk on board theKnat, and the absence of any movement told him that she must be at anchor in harbour. In a dreamy fashion he fell to wondering why he was lying there, with the sunlight streaming through the port-holes; he even made an effort to rise, but fell back as a pain shot from his left elbow to his shoulder.
That set him thinking, and gradually the events of the previous night—he supposed it was the previous night—came back to him. Recollections of the mysterious steamer, the fight in mid-air, his fall into the sea—all passed through his brain in a fragmentary, disjointed manner, like the confused memories of a dream. Then, as he was trying to sort them out, the cabin door opened, and Sub-Lieutenant Trent entered.
"Hallo! So you've come to at last!" he exclaimed. "How do you feel?"
"As if I'd had a beastly nightmare," answered Lawless. "Where are we?"
"In Portsmouth Harbour," replied Trent, as he seated himself on a locker beside the bunk and started to fill his pipe.
"I'm beginning to remember things a bit more clearly now," said the Lieutenant. "Tell me what happened after I left theKnat."
"There's not much to tell, so far as I'm concerned," answered Trent as he lit his pipe. "We kept our course, and just as we came abreast of your bogey ship she hauled down her signal lights and steamed away. Then——"
"Ah, that must have been immediately after the waterplane rose," interrupted Lawless. "I thought there wasn't much wrong with her machinery."
"Well, as I was saying, as soon as she steamed off I turned the searchlight on her, but could discover nothing of a suspicious nature," continued Trent. "Neither, for that matter, could I see anything of you, though we caught sight of the empty boat drifting. Nothing fresh happened till I heard a terrific explosion astern, and turned round just in time to see a ball of flame sink into the water near theMars. I couldn't imagine what it was for a moment; but theMarspeople got their searchlight going in less than a jiffy, and then we spotted an aeroplane directly overhead.
"That settled the mystery of the explosion, and theMarsbegan to pot at her with the vertical guns, though at first it was impossible to tell whether any hits were made. But after a few shots, all doubts were set at rest, for she came tumbling down like a winged partridge. As soon as she struck the water, boats were lowered, and they rowed to the floating wreckage, where they found you and also the body of a man who had evidently been killed by one of the shots. As the heavier parts of the machine had sunk, we could not tell what sort of weapons she carried, or the number of the crew.
"After that, I went aboard theMarsand reported to the skipper what you had told me about your suspicions concerning theBlack Diamond. He was precious ratty at not having been told before, and I got orders to chase the steamer and search her. We overhauled her in less than half an hour. She's now safely anchored near the Hard, and her crew are prisoners."
"It's pretty clear that the waterplane was carried aboard the steamer in sections," said Lawless after a pause. "No doubt they were put together after she left the quay. The whole thing was wonderfully engineered, I must say."
"But what about you?" asked Trent. "I imagine you must have had a rather exciting time."
"Exciting!" ejaculated the Lieutenant grimly, and then proceeded to relate all that had happened to him after he left theKnat.
"Well," said Trent at the conclusion, "you scored that time, anyway."
"I s'pose so," answered the other, with a sigh. "But if it had only been a Zep and I'd brought it down, there'd have been a cool thou.' waiting for me."
A thin grey mist lay upon the waters, giving the impression of a silvery veil of gauze stretched from sea to sky. The evening was calm, with not a breath of wind stirring, and the sea was ruffled by long, undulating furrows that pursued their way across the surface like great ripples, with never a "cat's paw" nor a speck of foam to break the monotony of their green-grey hue.
Looking strangely impalpable and ghostlike by reason of the mist, the destroyerKnatslipped swiftly through the water, heaving gently to the ground-swell. Upon the bridge Lieutenant-Commander Lawless stood smoking a pipe, and near him Sub-Lieutenant Trent reclined against the searchlight, likewise absorbing tobacco smoke and ozone. No other vessel was in sight and the only sound to be heard was the soft whirr of the turbines.
"This is what I call balmy and peaceful," remarked Lawless, taking the pipe from his mouth and knocking it against the handrail. "One could almost sing 'A Life on the Ocean Wave.'"
"Huh!" grunted Trent; "then it would be balmy without being peaceful."
As Lawless made no reply, he looked up to see the Lieutenant staring hard through the mist at a vague, shapeless something which might have been a ship, or a cliff, viewed through the murky atmosphere.
"Something ahead of us on the starboard bow," he said.
Both officers riveted their gaze upon the nebulous object which, as the destroyer overhauled it, assumed the shape and appearance of a large steamer, while their ears caught the steady throb of engines.
"I'll give her a hail," said Lawless, picking up the megaphone.
But before he had time to raise it to his mouth the fog was split by a yellow streak of fire and a shell came whizzing over theKnat'sbows.
"By the Lord, an enemy ship!" ejaculated the Lieutenant, and passed the word to open fire with the machine guns. The quick-firer just below the bridge led off, but before the other guns had a chance to follow suit a heavy bank of fog rolled up and obliterated the steamer as completely as though a curtain had been lowered. Although invisible, the vessel's engines could still be heard and, guided by the sound, theKnatwas kept on her trail, Lawless waiting only for the fog to lift in order to open fire again. While he was still expecting this to happen there came the notes of a bugle and at the sound the Lieutenant nearly tumbled down the bridge ladder in astonishment. For it was the dinner call as given on British ships:
"Officers' wives eat puddings and pies,But soldiers' wives eat skilly."
"Officers' wives eat puddings and pies,But soldiers' wives eat skilly."
"What the dickens does it mean?" he murmured, and then, raising his voice, hailed the mysterious steamer.
"Ahoy there, ahoy! Where away?" came the answer.
"On your port quarter."
"What ship is that?"
"British destroyer,Knat."
The fog lifted again, and this time Lawless could see the decks thronged with anxious passengers and the captain leaning over the port bridge-rail.
"What ship are you?" he shouted.
"TheCotswold, for Hull. Just sighted an enemy submarine and opened fire on her," came the answer.
"A submarine! How long ago?"
"About ten minutes. She was using her machine-gun."
"Why don't you provide your look-outs with spectacles?" answered Lawless wrathfully. "It was me you sighted, not a submarine!"
"I saw her periscope," answered the skipper of theCotswold.
"Saw your grandmother! You opened fire on me and I replied."
"Then it was your business to hail me. Pity you haven't something better to do than take pot shots at passenger boats," answered the merchant skipper with some heat.
The latter was obviously in the wrong, but, as a matter of fact, during his voyage across the Atlantic he had been chased by two enemy submarines and only by skilful seamanship and unceasing vigilance had succeeded in eluding them and saving his ship. He was, therefore, a trifle "nervy" and apt to suspect every indistinguishable floating object he met of being a submarine. Possibly, seen dimly through the fog, theKnatlooked something like a submarine awash and the captain of theCotswoldhad been justified in opening fire on her. Lawless, however, was ignorant of this, and the skipper's last taunt made him almost dance with rage. Fortunately, perhaps, another fog bank rolled up at this moment and the two vessels were again hidden from each other.
For some moments Lawless growled to himself things which, had the captain of theCotswoldheard them, might have produced a resumption of hostilities. Suddenly he gave vent to an exclamation:
"I've got it!"
"Got what?" inquired Trent.
"An idea."
"Extraordinary phenomenon; I'll have to make a note of it in the log. 'Seven p.m. Commanding Officer seized——'"
"Don't try and be funny, it's too pathetic. What I'm going to do is to give that skipper the biggest shaking up he's ever had. If I don't get even with him you can call me Von Tirpitz and I'll turn the other cheek."
"It sounds exciting."
"You'll see," answered Lawless, and, leaving Trent in charge of the bridge, he disappeared down the companion ladder.
A few minutes later a sound of hammering reached the Sub-Lieutenant's ears, and this went on, at intervals, for nearly a quarter of an hour. Presently Lawless emerged upon the after-deck, followed by two seamen carrying a barrel with what looked like a piece of stove-pipe protruding from it.
"There," said Lawless, mounting the bridge again. "Isn't it a daisy?"
"What is it—a patent incubator?" inquired Trent.
"Pah! You've no imagination. That, my son, is anidea."
"H'm! I always thought your ideas were pretty heavy, but——"
"Shut up or I'll report you for insubordination."
"Sorry, but I don't quite follow the drift of this ponderous idea of yours."
"That's because yours is a stodgy, matter-of-fact, unromantic mind. But listen and I'll expound in words suitable to your infantine understanding. In the first place, I must tell you that one end of that barrel is weighted in such a manner that, when submerged in a suitable fluid, such as sea-water, it will float just below the surface. Secondly," continued Lawless, in the manner of one giving a lecture, "I would call your attention to a cylindrical object which, viewed at close range, somewhat resembles a drain-pipe. Nevertheless, my child, it is not a drain-pipe, but an invention of mine own constructed by the worthy artificer, yclept Bates. Lastly, a thin line of about six fathoms length, to the end of which is suspended a goodly lump of lead, is attached to the side of the said barrel."
Lawless stopped and waited for the applause.
"A very pretty conjuring trick," remarked Trent, as one humouring an amiable lunatic. "And what do you do now? Make it disappear up your sleeve or change it into a live rabbit?"
"Oh, you blithering ass!" exclaimed the Lieutenant impatiently. "Can't you see? This is the means I've devised for revenging myself on that wretched skipper."
"You're going to fill it with dynamite and explode it under his stern?"
"No, my child, I'm not. Instead, I'm going to fix that line to the stanchions against his rudder-post so that the steamer will tow this barrel, which, being weighted, will be submerged and show only the pipe in a vertical position above the surface. Furthermore, the worthy Bates having fashioned the top thereof in the likeness of a periscope, the victim will think he's being chased by an enemy submarine and have divers fits and spasms in consequence. Do you grasp the ideanow?"
"It's pretty feeble, but I think I follow you," answered Trent. "Only you seem to have forgotten one thing, which is that as soon as the fog lifts and the skipper spots your barrel he'll pot it with his quick-firer. Then we shall read a hair-raising account of how the captain of theCotswoldsank aUboat which had been following her all night."
"Not a bit of it, my son. They won't be able to hit that barrel in a month of Sundays, especially if we get a choppy sea by the morning."
Trent shrugged his shoulders, but made no further comment.
"And now," went on Lawless cheerfully, "it's time the plot thickened, so we'll proceed to drop the bean in the soup. Stand by the telegraph, for if we run our nose against the other fellow's counter the joke'll be on us."
He leant over the bridge-rail and peered through the fog for the steamer, but, though he could hear the latter's engines, the vessel herself was invisible. The manœuvre he proposed carrying out was, to put it mildly, risky, and no one but the feckless Lieutenant would have contemplated such a thing, much less have attempted to put it into execution. But no fear of possible consequences ruffled his serenity as, little by little, theKnatcautiously overhauled theCotswold, the noise of whose machinery completely drowned the hum of the destroyer's turbines.
Some ten minutes elapsed, and then Lawless was able to make out the vessel's stern towering, dim and shadowy, above him. Then, taking the wheel from the hands of the quartermaster, he brought theKnat'sbows right under the steamer's counter.
"Let her go," he said in a hoarse whisper.
The bos'n, who was balancing himself on the companion-ladder, sprang to the deck and, picking up the line attached to the barrel, ran with it on to the fo'c'sle head. Leaning as far over as he could he pitched the lump of lead, to which the other end of the line was fastened, against theCotswold'sstern-post in such a manner that it would fall over one of the iron supports extending from beneath the counter to the rudder-post. There was, of course, the danger of its being caught in the propellers, but he had to risk that. As it happened, the cast was successful, whereupon the bos'n called softly to a sailor, who at once flung the barrel into the sea, together with the slack line.
"All clear, sir," the bos'n reported to Lawless.
The latter rang down "half-speed astern," theKnatbacked away into the fog, and the steamer was blotted out.
"There," murmured the Lieutenant, with a sigh of satisfaction, "when the skipper spots that in his wake he'll have about fifty fits right away. Now we'd better try and get back on our beat."
TheKnatwas supposed to be searching a certain prescribed area for an enemy mine-sower which had been active for several days past in this particular portion of the North Sea. Lawless, so far, had not had any luck; a fact which made him all the keener to meet with the enemy ship before she succeeded in getting safely back to port.
"I'm going below for a spell," he said to Trent. "Call me if anything happens."
About a couple of hours later, the Lieutenant was awakened by a bridge-messenger, who told him the fog was lifting and that a vessel had just been sighted.
"Looks to be the packet we picked up a little while back, sir," he said.
Lawless proceeded to the bridge and, catching sight of the steamer dimly visible ahead, chuckled softly.
"The fun'll start before long," he remarked to Trent. "Oh, to see the old man's face when the officer of the watch reports a submarine astern!"
"I've calculated that your precious joke's taken us about four miles out of our course," answered the junior officer gloomily.
"You'll meet with an early death, like all good young people, if you're not careful," retorted Lawless. "Virtue has its disadvantages remember."
A mild breeze had sprung up and was dissipating the fog rapidly while churning the water into cat's paws. Presently Trent, who had been watching the steamer through the night glasses, thrust them into the Lieutenant's hands.
"Take a squint at that packet," he said in a tone of suppressed excitement.
Lawless did so, and remained staring at the vessel ahead for such a long time that Trent became impatient.
"Well, what do you make of her?" he asked.
"She's not theCotswold."
"No; and why is she steaming without lights?"
"We'll soon see," answered Lawless, and rang down full speed ahead.
In a few minutes the destroyer was broadside on to the strange vessel and Lawless shouted a demand to know what ship she was. A pause ensued, and then, by way of an answer, a tongue of flame leapt from the stranger's port side and a shell crashed into theKnat'sfunnel, just abaft the bridge. In a second the destroyer had swung round so as to present only her bows to the enemy and her machine-guns were hammering away as fast as they could be loaded. The duel lasted nearly ten minutes, theKnattrying to manœuvre into such a position that she could torpedo her adversary, the latter doing her utmost to frustrate this design. And all this time the two vessels were pounding away at each other with their machine-guns, circling around like two wrestlers before they come to grips. The enemy had the advantage in guns, which were far heavier than those carried by the destroyer, but the latter made up for this in speed and, being so small, proved an extraordinarily difficult target to hit.
At last Lawless saw his chance to launch a torpedo and gave the word. The glistening, fish-like weapon leapt from its tube and, at the same moment, the enemy vessel started to swing round in order to avoid the fast approaching engine of death. But the manœuvre had been carried out too late; the torpedo struck her just underneath the stern and there was a terrific explosion. The steamer heeled over on her starboard side, her bows lifted above the water, and then, with a roar of escaping steam, she dived stern foremost beneath the surface, and so to the bottom, fifty fathoms deep or more.
TheKnat'sboats had been launched immediately after the mine-sower was struck, and they at once proceeded to the spot where she had disappeared. But so swift had been the steamer's fate that not more than half a dozen survivors were picked up and, after pulling around for a while, the boats returned to theKnat.
Early in the afternoon of the following day theKnatput into Hull, and Lawless, having handed over his prisoners and written an official report of the engagement, went ashore with Trent.
"By the way," said the latter, as they made their way towards a certain hostelry much favoured by naval and merchant service officers, "did you notice theCotswoldmoored just off the landing stage?"
"No, I was below making out my report."
His face expanded into a broad grin.
"Then the chances are ten to one that we meet her skipper before the day's out. And if I don't pull his blessed leg you can strafe me for a Hun."
As it happened they did meet this particular skipper, and in the very hostelry to which they were bound. He was in the smoking-room and, of course, did not recognise Lawless when he and Trent entered because, on the occasion of their exchanging courtesies, it had been too dark and foggy for either of them to identify the other. The Lieutenant, however, knew him at once by his voice, which was of a peculiarly hoarse quality.
"It's a fact," he was saying to a small group of interested auditors, "that infernalUboat was no farther from my stern than I am from that piano yonder. Well, I started steering a zig-zag course, at the same time opening fire on the submarine with my machine-gun. One of the first shots knocked her periscope to smithereens and then——"
He was interrupted by a burst of laughter, and, turning round, the narrator of this thrilling episode beheld a couple of officers almost doubled up with mirth.
"Oh, tell us some more, skipper!" cried Lawless, as soon as he could speak.
"I beg your pardon, sir," said the other, his face scarlet with indignation.
"Then we'll say no more about it," answered the Lieutenant. "But surely you remember me? We met in the fog last night."
"What! Are you the blackguard who fired on me?"
"Well, you started shooting first, remember. But about that submarine yarn of yours, it's such a good one that I really haven't the heart to spoil it; so, if you'll stand drinks round, mum's the word as far as I'm concerned."
"Will you be good enough to tell me what the devil you're driving at?" inquired the skipper, glaring fiercely at Lawless.
"Then you won't accept my offer?"
"Sir, I'll see you in Hades first."
"Very well then, here goes," and Lawless proceeded to recount the trick he had played on the skipper with the aid of a barrel and a tin cylinder. He was interrupted several times by bursts of uproarious mirth from the audience, but the victim himself neither smiled nor uttered a word until the Lieutenant had finished his story.
Then he spoke.
"So you claim that I haven't sunk an enemy submarine at all?" he asked, turning to Lawless.
"I'll wager a month's salary to a pinch of snuff that you never even saw one from the time we parted till you reached port."
"I accept the wager," answered the skipper, to everybody's surprise. "You see," he went on, addressing the company generally, "one reason why I collared thatUboat so easily was that something fouled her propeller and she could neither get away nor attack me. This morning, when we put in here, the bos'n found a length of rope with a piece of lead attached, fastened to the vessel's stern. How the deuce it got there we couldn't make out, but now, thanks to this gentleman, we know. What's more, it must have been that rope and the old barrel at the end of it which fouled the German's propeller and did him in. As for proof"—he turned to an elderly gentleman seated in a corner—"there is Captain Barter, who took charge of the prisoners when they were landed, and he can tell you whether my story's true or not."
All eyes were turned inquiringly upon the unobtrusive gentleman with the four gold rings round his sleeves.
"Yes," he said quietly, "it's perfectly true. The three German officers of the submarine are now on their way to Donnington Hall and the men are in the temporary prison hulk moored up the river."
Before he returned to theKnatLawless gloomily wrote a "chit" wherein he assigned to the skipper of theCotswoldhis entire salary for the ensuing month.
One bright and cheerful summer morning Lawless sat in his favourite attitude on the bridge-rail of theKnatcontemplating the distant coast-line with a far-away expression in his eyes. Despite the official regulations concerning the uniform to be worn by naval officers when on duty, his present attire left much to be desired. It consisted chiefly of blue serge trousers, a battered shooting cap, and a pink-striped pyjama jacket.
"I wonder," murmured the Lieutenant dreamily, "whether I could get short leave of absence. I'm just spoiling for a spell ashore and a mild bust-up."
Sub-Lieutenant Trent, who was standing near, volunteered no comment.
"I haven't been feeling very well lately," continued Lawless, "and I think I need a change."
"Rot!" ejaculated Trent rudely. "I never saw a man look in better health in my life. You're as fit as a fiddle."
Lawless slowly shook his head.
"I've been suffering from internal pains," he said gloomily. "Very likely you haven't noticed, but it's a fact all the same."
"Internal humbug," grumbled the unsympathetic junior. "And if you have," he added, "what can you expect after eating tinned lobster, Welsh rarebit, and cold pork for supper?"
"That," replied Lawless decisively, "wouldn't upset an infant. No, I shall put in an application for sick leave."
That same afternoon Lawless sat down in his little cabin and prepared to concoct a letter setting forth his ailments and the imperative necessity for a holiday in consequence. It took about two hours and a tremendous expenditure of ink and paper to write, and when finished was calculated to impress the reader with the belief that the unfortunate officer was suffering from every fatal malady known to medical science. He had just concluded this literary effort and was re-reading it carefully in order to dot the i's, cross the t's, and make needed repairs to the spelling, when the door opened and Trent's head appeared in the aperture.
"Hullo!" he exclaimed, "still at it?"
"Do you spell 'conscious' with at?" asked Lawless, ignoring the ironic inquiry.
"No, you ass, of course not."
"I'm afraid it's a bit smudgy," observed the author as he folded up the letter, "but I've explained that it was written in a choppy sea."
"When they look at the spelling I expect they'll think it was written in a hurricane," said the junior officer grimly.
Lawless took no notice of the jibe.
"That's done," he murmured with a sigh of relief. "If there's such a thing as humanity in the world, I shall get my leave."
For the first few days after the despatch of the epistle Lawless alternated between hope and despondency, but when a week passed and he received no reply, he made up his mind that the authorities had declined to consider his application. However, ten days later, when he was breakfasting with Trent, there arrived an official letter with the Admiralty stamp upon it.
"It's come!" cried the Lieutenant after he had hurriedly glanced through the contents. "I knew it would."
Trent's reply was such as no respectable printer would set up in type. He had been in the act of raising a cup of coffee to his lips when Lawless gave vent to his exultant shout, and it had so startled the Sub-Lieutenant that he let fall the cup and received the boiling contents down the front of his clothes.
"Why don't you look cheerful?" demanded Lawless. "What's a little coffee at a time like this?"
"Go to the devil!" retorted the other, vainly endeavouring to sop up the coffee from his waistcoat with a silk handkerchief. "It's your holiday, not mine. And, any way, you've got it under false pretences."
"Sub-Lieutenant Trent, are you aware of the fact that you're speaking disrespectfully to your superior officer?" asked Lawless in a gently chiding tone.
"Holy Jerusalem!" suddenly yelled Trent, springing to his feet. He had just discovered from an abrupt rise in temperature about his person that the coffee had soaked through his shirt.
"I've a good mind to report you for insubordination and—and cheek," observed the Lieutenant, taking no pains to conceal his enjoyment of the other's misfortune.
"And I'll sue you for a new suit of duds, Lawless, you dismal idiot. It's all through you that I'm soaked to the skin with this confounded coffee."
A week later Lieutenant-Commander Lawless, bound for CorkviaPlymouth, was reclining at his ease in the comfortable little smoking-room of theLake Killarney, one of the miniature liners which carry passengers to and from Ireland. Lawless had decided to spend his holiday on the west coast of the Emerald Isle, and had provided himself with golf clubs, fishing rods, and other implements of innocent sport wherewith to while away his leisure. The only thing which troubled him was his customary want of cash, and when he thought of the thousand pounds waiting to be earned, he heaved a sigh of deep regret. If only he could have brought down another Zeppelin....
Now, Lawless, as those who have followed his turbulent career are aware, was one of those hapless individuals who seem to be marked out as the sport of destiny. On this particular occasion the mischievous planet under which the Lieutenant had first seen the light must have twinkled with more than its usual malignity, for, within twelve hours of setting forth on his pleasure trip, he was a prisoner in the hands of the Germans.
It came about in this manner. TheLake Killarneyhad barely left the Seven Stones Light on her port quarter when, not more than fifty yards away on her starboard bow, there arose the conning tower of a large German submarine. Before the captain of the steamer was aware of this unwelcome visitor the latter had sent a couple of shots across his bows as a peremptory signal to stop. TheLake Killarney, being a slow boat and unarmed withal, there was nothing for it but to obey, and accordingly she was hove-to.
The shots had awakened Lawless, at the time peacefully asleep in his bunk, and scrambling into his trousers he rushed upon deck to see what all the noise was about. Other passengers, in even lighter attire, also hastened on deck, where the crew, in obedience to orders, were lowering the lifeboats. Lawless at once proceeded to help the women and children into them, and then, with the captain, got into the last one to leave the ship. As the boat pulled away from theLake Killarneythe German commander ordered her to come alongside the submarine; an order which, in view of the machine-gun on her for'a'd platform, it would have been unwise to ignore. Then the German officer proceeded to put the Captain through a pretty severe cross-examination concerning the whereabouts of various portions of the British Fleet and other matters which he desired to know. The Captain, however, was able to profess ignorance in nearly every case, and where he could not, lied like a Trojan.
"We've been trying to get at your wonderful fleet for the last eighteen months," said the German, "but it's managed to elude us so far. Still, we'll drag it out of its hiding place before long, and thenGuten Tagto the British Navy."
"What's the good of unloading that piffling swank," exclaimed Lawless, unable to contain himself any longer. "We taught you a lesson at Heligoland, and when we do meet your High Canal Fleet there'll be another island in the North Sea—made of German scrap-iron."
"Himmel!I'll put a bullet through you, insolent English pig!" cried the German, at the same time producing an automatic pistol. "Who is this man?" he added, turning to the Captain.
"Lieut.-Commander Lawless, I believe," answered the latter unthinkingly.
"Ah, I have heard of you, Herr Lieutenant," said the German. "As a British Naval officer I shall take you prisoner. Be good enough to step aboard."
"You've done for me, skipper," said Lawless bitterly as he mounted the submarine's platform.
The Captain of theLake Killarneyrealised his mistake only too well, but the mischief was done now.
"Cast off," said the Commander, "I am going to sink your vessel."
Half-a-dozen shots beneath the water-line sufficed to sink the steamer, and then the commander, with Lawless and the men on the gun platform, went below, the conning-tower hatch was closed and the boat dived beneath the surface.
Two days later Lawless was taken ashore at a certain German port under an armed escort. He was domiciled temporarily in the local prison, and on the following morning an escort took him to another part of the building and ushered him into a sort of office where various uniformed individuals were gathered. There a careful record was made of his name, professional rank, place of birth, and many other private details of his life and habits. Then he was photographed.
This done, a sergeant stepped forward and, gripping the prisoner by the shoulders, began, with the assistance of a private, to feel in his trouser pockets. At this the Lieutenant's patience vanished and, before the sergeant had time to guess what was coming, he had been pitched head first into a large wastepaper basket and the private had taken a header into the coal scuttle. But before Lawless could perform any further athletic feats, he was seized by three soldiers and forced against the wall.
Then the search recommenced, and various articles, including a note from a tailor threatening legal proceedings unless he received a "remittance forthwith," were brought to light.
"Ach, what is this?" asked an officer looking at a crumpled piece of paper which the sergeant had handed to him with an air of triumph.
He carefully smoothed it out, and then, exhibiting it to the prisoner, repeated the question.
Lawless glanced at it, and then, despite the gravity of his position, burst into a hearty laugh, whereat the officer, the sergeant and the privates all scowled at him reprovingly. On one side of the paper were scrawled the following incriminating words: