CHAPTER XXIII
BATTLE OF NORTHWEST HARBOR
Convoyed by his fishing fleet, Mascola came steadily on. Cruising to theseaward of the cannery boats he circled, laid to and critically surveyedthe bobbing lights in the narrow channel which was flanked on both sidesby saw-toothed reefs. The fish were coming from the north and west.Doubtless the American fisherman already had them well "chummed up" withtheir live bait. He would force an entrance among the cannery boats ifthey did not give way and take their school. He had done it before. Itwas simple enough. Directing his boats to follow, he led them on.
Kenneth Gregory stood in the bow of the _Pelican_ with a megaphone anddirected the position of the boats which made up his first line ofdefense. His plan of keeping Mascola away from his fishing fleet wasnothing more or less than just straight football formation, with anaugmented line to withstand the opposing pressure. The _Pelican_ formedthe center of the wedge. To her right and left followed the heavyDiesel-motored vessels with the _Curlew_ and _Snipe_ guarding theextreme ends. Behind the first line came the reserve which closelycovered the fishing-boats cruising the center area. Every boat was atits proper station, awaiting the signal from the _Pelican_.
It came with Gregory's word to Howard: "All right, Tom. Let's go."
He stood at Howard's side as the fisherman whistled for sea-way andmoved his vessel forward with the fleet flanking him astern in Vformation. Mascola's boats gave no heed to the signal save to drawcloser together and slacken speed as they entered the narrow channel.
Again the cannery boats shrieked a warning and the wedge narrowed withthe waterway until only the bare width of a boat separated the beams ofthe defending vessels. Dead ahead, and only a few boat-lengths away,twinkled the lights of the alien fleet. Gregory grasped the rail of theengine-house and braced himself for the shock. The next instant theforemost of Mascola's boats struck the _Pelican_ a glancing blow on thebow.
The heavy fishing-boat quivered from stem to stern from the impact. Thenthe powerful Diesel engine came into play. The drunken skipper of the_Lura_ felt his craft being shunted to the side. Before he could gatherhis wits together, another American boat brushed his outside rail andcrowded him forcibly against the craft he had endeavored to ram. Caughtbetween the heavy hulls of the _Pelican_ and _Albatross_, the _Lura_grated, beam to beam, her timbers creaking and twisting from the strain,her propeller churning the water in a vain effort to break through thetong-like grip of the two boats which disputed her passage.
The drunken crew of the _Lura_ surged to the rail with wild cries ofrage. The air was filled with flying missiles. Came the sharp snap ofbreaking glass and the dull thud of heavy objects hurled from the aliencraft to the deck of the _Pelican_.
"Stay under cover," Gregory commanded the crew. "Stand by if they try toboard."
A flying bit of scrap-iron gashed his forehead and caused the blood totrickle over his eyes. He wiped it away with his hand and turned toobserve the progress of the other vessels.
The engagement was now general. Mascola's boats were trying to smashtheir way through. But the V was as yet unbroken. That, he could tell bythe solid formation of the boats in reserve. They had not found itnecessary to separate.
The night was enlivened with the shrill cries of the aliens. Gregorynoticed that there was congestion of lights on his left wing. Hereflected suddenly that that was where the _Curlew_ was stationed. AndDickie Lang was on the _Curlew_. Why had the girl persisted in herdetermination to take an active part in the conflict? Perhaps she mightbe already wounded. Hit by a piece of flying iron or a wine-bottle.
"How about it?" Howard's voice recalled him to his plan of battle.
Gregory looked hastily along his front line. "All right," he exclaimed."Go to it."
The _Pelican's_ whistle shrieked two shrill blasts in reply, the signalfor every man at the wheel to go full ahead and put his respective crafthard over.
Mascola cursed volubly at the increasing jumble of his boats. They hadalready lost their way and were only tending to raise a further barrierto his entrance to the fleet. If he rammed, he must ram his own boats aswell as those of the enemy. It flashed over his heated brain that theAmerican had chosen a difficult position for him to break through. Thenarrowness of the sea-way prevented him from engaging them in massformation. Then he became conscious of another fact as two sharpwhistles sounded above the uproar. His lead boats were being crowdedback against their fellows with a twisting movement which was carryingthem in the direction of the reef. The channel had been too narrow tobreak through the solid wall of Diesels. A puff of wind from thesoutheast helped Mascola to make up his mind. Directing a summarywithdrawal, he sped away toward the reef to pilot his boats again tosafety from the dangerous shore.
Gregory directed the pivot movement of the cannery wedge until the lastof the alien fleet had fled from the channel. In the first preliminaryengagement, the enemy had been beaten back. At what cost he must findout at once. As he turned about to signal the _Richard_, a voice whichhe recognized as Hawkins', came to him from the darkness astern.
"Bronson's knocked out."
Leaving Howard to supervise the return of the advance line to theiroriginal positions, Gregory instructed the sailors to launch a dory overthe rail of the _Pelican_ and was rowed away in the direction of the_Richard_.
Hawkins had but little to tell. The _Richard_ had been plying aboutaccording to orders, to report any break in the wedge. As she skirtedthe right end close to the _Snipe_, some one had thrown a bottle fromthe nearest enemy craft. It had struck Bronson in the head. The_Richard_ had drifted backward. Hawkins had thrown out an anchor. Thatwas all. Gregory examined Bronson while Hawkins was speaking. The manwas not badly injured. But his loss would be a serious one. Without thespeed-boat, Gregory would be greatly handicapped. He set his jaw grimlyin the darkness. He could not afford to tie up the _Richard_. He wouldrun her himself. Directing Hawkins to pull the anchor, he slid intoBronson's seat and focused the rays of his flash-light on thespeed-boat's starting mechanism.
"Are you going to try to run her?" Hawkins inquired as he tugged at thehook.
"I am going to run her. Bronson showed me how. It's taking some chanceof course. But not so much as tying her up. We've got to have the_Richard_, Bill. That's all there is to it."
Gregory started the motor and, proceeding at quarter-speed, set off totake Bronson to the _Curlew_. By so doing, he realized, he couldaccomplish a dual purpose, find out about the safety of Dickie Lang andleave the boatman in her care. That, he reflected, would give her asafer though more inactive role.
The girl greeted him from the rail of the _Curlew_. Not a man had beenscratched aboard her vessel. Her craft had held the pivot and twistedtwo of the alien boats until they bumped the reef. A man had beenreported injured on the _Falcon_.
Placing Bronson in the dory, Gregory directed the skiff to be pulledaboard the _Curlew_. Then he climbed over the rail with Hawkins.
"Bronson was hurt by a flying bottle," he explained. "Will you lookafter him? I've got to round up the boys and see what's doing."
"You're hurt yourself," Dickie observed as the rays of the cabin lampfell upon Gregory's face.
"Just a scratch," he said quickly. "If you'll look out for Bronson I'llbe off."
Dickie Lang whirled about. "Look out for this man, Jack. See you later,Jones. I'm going with Mr. Gregory."
Reluctantly Gregory consented to allow the girl to accompany him in the_Richard_. An instant later they were on their way to round up thefleet.
Injuries were few among the crews of the defending vessels. Bruises andcuts summed up the physical damage done by Mascola's men. One of theboats was leaking, but Sorenson was holding the water easily with thepumps. The _Falcon's_ shaft was sprung but the propeller was stillturning. To a man, the various captains reported that their men hadobeyed instructions to the letter. No acts of violence had as yet beencommitted by any of the American crews. The ex-sailors, though chafingat their inaction, had assumed the defens
ive throughout.
The next thing was to arrange to oppose Mascola's next move.
"Whatever he does, he's got to do mighty quick," observed Dickie as the_Richard_ nosed her way among the albacore fishermen. "It's roughing upin the last five minutes and the glass is falling all the time."
"There's only one thing he can do, as near as I can figure," Gregoryanswered. "And that's to come down the harbor channel and hit us fromthe stern. If he does that," he added quickly, "we'll have to be carefulnot to block the sea-way leading into the harbor. My idea is to movefarther up. Then if the blow does come, we can go out with the wind andsea through the north channel."
"That's our best bet, unless it's a nor'wester," she agreed. "We've gotto keep a way out clear or Mascola will crowd us on the rocks."
The captains of the fishing-boats reported their craft to be better thanhalf laden when the _Richard_ arrived alongside. The fish were stillrunning strong. In another hour, without interference, they might beloaded. At Gregory's direction the albacore fishermen began cruisingtoward the north channel.
The next thing to do was to marshal the fleet to withstand Mascola'sattack from the rear. Owing to the extreme wideness of the waterway,the Italian's boats would now have a better chance. The V must bebroadened by the boats hitherto held in reserve. They must be brought upat once. The rising wind and the roughening sea, added to Gregory'sinexperience in handling the speed-boat, rendered the mobilization ofthe cannery fleet not only slow, but extremely hazardous as well.
Before his left end defense was complete, Mascola was bearing down uponhis center.