CHAPTER XVII
The Scuttling of the "Donibristle"
On the morning following the departure of the U.S.S. _Yosemite_ fromthe vicinity of the secret base the forced labour parties turned outto find the rain descending in torrents. It was the first rainy daysince the arrival of the _Donibristle's_ crew, and they viewed theclimatic conditions with marked disfavour.
There was no wind. Overhead from a mirky, dark-grey sky the heavydrops were falling vertically, thudding upon the corrugated ironsheets like the beating of a hundred kettle-drums and rebounding fromthe puddles already formed, until as far as the eye could see--adistance of less than fifty yards--everything appeared to be aconfused blurr of moisture.
"There'll be wind behind this lot," remarked Captain Blair. "Let'shope it'll blow over before Thursday."
It was his first day outside the compound. Partly owing to the desireto share the discomforts with his men and also to make himselfacquainted with the harbour, he had insisted upon taking charge ofthe working-party told off to proceed to the beach.
Ramon Porfirio was in a hurry to complete the operations hindered bythe appearance of the _Yosemite_, which were to result in theblocking-up of the southern approach channel by sinking the_Donibristle_ in about eight fathoms of water between the detachedridge and the southern arm of the cliff enclosing the harbour. It wasfor this purpose that buoys had been laid down in order to warp the_Donibristle_ to the position chosen for the act of scuttling.
Already the vessel's masts and derricks had been taken out of her,and the wreckage of the funnels and bridge removed. Almost everythingof a portable nature likely to be of use to the pirates had beenlanded, until with the exception of her engines and boilers verylittle remained but the hull and a few fittings considered of novalue for removal.
Ill-equipped for the wet weather the _Donibristle's_ company turnedout and awaited the arrival of Fernando, who invariably superintendedthe calling of the roll. About fifty feet away and just visiblethrough the rain were the _Kittiwake's_ crew, who for the last weekor more had been engaged in excavating dug-outs and trenches on thecliff through which the approach-tunnel had been driven. Farther awayand lost to view, the remnants of the _Alvarado's_ men were musteringfor their daily toil.
Presently the skipper of the _Kittiwake_, seeing Captain Blair withhis men, strolled over to him.
"Mornin', Blair," said Captain Davis. "Not a nice sort of morning foryou to be turning out. Feelin' fit?"
"Fairly," admitted Captain Blair. "Eh, what is it?"
For the _Kittiwake's_ Old Man had taken the _Donibristle's_ skipperby the arm, and was leading him away from the rest of the party.
"A word in your ear, Blair," replied Captain Davis, lowering hisvoice "You've got a young woman amongst your crowd, haven't you?"
"How on earth did you get to know that?" demanded the astoundedskipper.
"'Taint a question of my knowing," rejoined Captain Davis. "There areothers in the know also I'm just warning you, Blair; you can count onCaptain Davis and the _Kittiwakes_ to help you put up a fight if needbe, although the lot of us don't stand a dog's chance."
"Thanks for the warning, Davis," replied Captain Blair grimly. "I'llact upon it."
The arrival of the half-caste overseer terminated the conversation.Captain Blair, greatly perturbed, walked slowly back to his men.
An hour later the soaked and dispirited prisoners were launchingseveral of the boats, amongst them the lifeboat that Burgoyne haddefinitely in view for the projected flight from the island. It wasraining so heavily that by the time the boats ran alongside the_Donibristle_ the bottom-boards were floating, in spite of the factthat the plugs had been withdrawn and the water allowed to drain outbefore launching.
Wearing an almost new dark blue bridge-coat that looked suspiciouslylike the skipper's, Black Strogoff was sheltering under the boat-deckwhen the working-party arrived. With him were half a dozen piratesarmed with automatic pistols.
"You there!" shouted Black Strogoff on catching sight of CaptainBlair. "Come you here. Do you know what is to be done? Run out warpsahead and astern, buoy and slip the cables to move the ship roundthat point. You understand? Good; then do it, and tell me when thework is finished."
There was no option but to obey. Calling Burgoyne and BranscombeCaptain Blair allotted them their respective posts, sending theformer away in a large pulling cutter to pass the bow warp to thenearmost buoy. He also took the opportunity of conferring hurriedlywith Alwyn on another matter.
In the absence of steam the work of warping out had to be carried outby hand. The cable was slipped, and, under the united efforts of thescore of men walking away with the bow warp, the _Donibristle_ movedslowly, almost reluctantly, through the rain-beaten waters of theharbour.
As the battered hulk passed within a cable's length of the piratecruiser, Ramon Porfirio stepped to the rail of the _Malfilio_ andshouted a curt order to the sheltering Strogoff. Apparently thecommand was to the effect that the work must be hurried up, for thepirate lieutenant, emerging from his retreat, gave a brief and surlyreply. Then, bawling to Captain Blair to tell the men to haul awayquicker, he retired to his temporary den.
"Meaning, I suppose," observed Captain Blair to Branscombe, "that the_Malfilio_ is about to sail and that Porfirio wants the job finishedbefore he weighs. How is that fractured steam-pipe getting on, by theby, Angus?"
"It's patched up," reported the Chief Engineer with a dry chuckle."She'll be raising steam I've nae doot, but she'll blaw yon patchclean out when they wark up tae onything like a pressure."
Captain Blair's surmise was a correct one. Porfirio, having picked upthe wireless messages exchanged between the British, American, andJapanese cruisers engaged in searching for the missing merchantvessels, was aware that they had given up hope of finding thesurvivors and were returning to their respective bases. He was abeliever in the old adage "Men and ships rot in port ", and was lothto keep the _Malfilio_ and her polyglot crew in harbour any longer.Inactivity not only meant no prizes; the pirates, lawless except forthe iron rule of their captain, were particularly apt to get out ofhand when their enthusiasm flagged by standing idle.
But before he set sail he wanted to see the _Donibristle_ sunk in theSouth Approach Channel. That entrance, he considered, was a weak spotin the natural defences of the secret base, and by sealing it againstthe passage of all but the smaller craft he would be able to devoteall his resources to the defence of the sole remaining approach. Notthat Ramon Porfirio had any desire to pit the guns of the islandagainst a squadron of warships. He hoped to be able to disappeardecently long before the secret was out, leaving Henriques andStrogoff to shift for themselves. Similarly Black Strogoff wasfostering a plan to get away from the island with the bulk of thebooty in specie, and, once clear, obtain his revenge on Porfirio bydenouncing him to the British Admiralty or the U.S. Navy Board.
At length the _Donibristle_ was warped out until her bows nearlytouched the sheer face of the cliff that formed the detached screento the anchorage. Hawsers were then led from her port quarter andstarboard bow, until she swung straight up and down the SouthernApproach Channel. A cable's length more and the ship arrived at thescene of her watery grave.
Captain Blair, looking much like a parent would when called upon tosacrifice a child--for the idea of scuttling his ship was hateful tohim in the extreme--shouted for the boats to be recalled. Thelife-boat, in which Burgoyne and half a dozen men had been working,ranged alongside under the _Donibristle's_ port quarter. Astern ofthe life-boat was a gig; while a couple of cutters and anothergig--the latter only manned by pirates--came alongside the starboardaccommodation ladder.
"We're in eight fathoms of water, Mr. Burgoyne," sang out the OldMan.
"Ay, ay, sir," replied the Third Officer.
Captain Blair turned and made his way to the spot where BlackStrogoff was standing.
"We are in position," he reported gruffly.
"And about time, too," was the ungracious response. "All rig
ht, tellyour men to push off."
The skipper of the _Donibristle_ then crossed to the starboard rail,and leaning over the side ordered the men to lay off at a distance ofabout half a dozen boats' lengths. Then, calling to everyone of hisparty on board to abandon ship, he waited until the deck was clear ofall but Black Strogoff and two or three of his followers, andlowering himself by a rope gained the gig on the port side.
The scuttling was quickly accomplished. In order to prevent thevessel from being raised at any future date the Kingston Valves werenot employed to flood the ship, but in each of the holds and in theengine-room explosive charges had been placed in position ready to beelectrically fired from the deck.
"You know what to do, Perez?" inquired Black Strogoff, addressing anolive-featured ruffian whose costume consisted of a pair of canvastrousers, a poncho made of pampas grass, and a cork lifebelt.
The man nodded. He had no great liking for the task, and waswondering what would happen to him if the charge was sufficientlypowerful to blow up the decks as well as shattering the keel plates.
"You will feel only a slight shock," declared Strogoff reassuringly,but Perez noted that the lieutenant showed no inclination to remain.In point of fact Strogoff hurried down the accommodation ladder,jumped into the gig, and ordered the men to row twice the distance ofthe other boats from the ship before he signed to Perez to depressthe firing-key.
Simultaneously with a muffled report the charges burst. Withoutwaiting for the good ship _Donibristle_ to sink under him theoperator took a flying leap over the side, hit the water with atremendous splash, and struck out frantically, swimming as fast asthe huge cork lifebelt permitted.
The _Donibristle_, her keel-plates rent asunder, sank rapidly, with aslight list to port. Amidst a smother of foam caused by the escapingof the confined air, she settled on the bed of the channel, withabout five or six feet of her upperworks showing on the starboard,and less than one foot clear on the port side.
Above the hiss of escaping air and the turmoil of the agitated watercame the voices of a dozen men shouting at once:
"The life-boat's taken under."
The gig containing Black Strogoff appeared on the scene, just as fiveor six men forming the life-boat's crew were scrambling over thegunwales of the boats nearest them.
"What game of fools is this?" demanded the lieutenant angrily.
"Life-boat's sunk. Pinned down by the foot of one of the davits,"announced one of the men.
"Sunk like a stone, with her sides crushed like an egg-shell," addedanother.
"Just about as much as we could do to get clear," declared a third."She was gone in a brace of shakes. An' where's Mr. Burgoyne?"
"Anyone seen Mr. Burgoyne?" inquired Captain Blair loudly.
"I seed 'im in the boat, sir," declared the bowman of the lostlife-boat.
"So did I, sir," volunteered another seaman. "He was a-holdin' on theyoke-lines, and was goin' to tell us to----"
"He was a blamed idiot," declared Strogoff. "What did he mean byhanging on alongside when the ship was sinking?"
"She went that sudden-like," explained the bowman.
"Didn't give us no chance no-how."
"Anyone else missing?" demanded Captain Blair.
There was a pause, then half a dozen voices replied in unison:
"Yes, sir, Minalto, the quartermaster of the port watch."
"No sign of them?"
Several of the men peered into the now transparent water, for thesand disturbed by the sinking vessel had now settled. Twenty feetbelow the surface, pinned down by something engaging the starboardgunwale, the life-boat could be seen with fair distinctness. She waslying on her beam ends with her bows slightly lower than her stern.
"Can't see 'em, sir," replied one of the men. "P'raps they're trappedbetween the boat and the side of the ship."
"You might have given us more warning," said Captain Blair addressingthe taciturn lieutenant. "If you had I should not have lost apromising officer and a smart seaman."
"Imbeciles, both of them," snapped Black Strogoff. "They havethemselves only to blame. It is none of my affair."
"Now I come to think on it," resumed the irresponsible bowman. "Ithink I saw Mr. Burgoyne mixed up wi' some gear as we dipped.An'----"
Captain Blair held up his hand to enjoin silence. Having succeeded inbluffing Black Strogoff he considered it high time for the mendaciousrecital to terminate. He was too good an actor to risk wrecking thepiece by an excess of "gagging".