CHAPTER VI
Under Hatches
"That's done it," ejaculated Burgoyne under his breath. "Why that assBranscombe hadn't put Miss Vivian with the deck-hands passes mycomprehension. She'll be separated from her father straight away."
He was furious but impotent. He pictured Hilda ordered below into thehot, steam-laden, dusty stokehold, imprisoned in an iron box, inwhich only hardened firemen could endure the discomforts, especiallyin latitudes approaching the tropics. He wondered whether ColonelVivian would break the bonds of restraint and jeopardize the lives ofall the passengers, or whether Hilda would give way under theparting, which might or might not be permanent.
The fact that Alwyn was now senior executive officer complicatedmatters. He was responsible for the safety of passengers and crew asfar as lay in his power, and he was under the impression thatBranscombe's ill-advised step reflected upon his own judgment anddiscretion. And Hilda Vivian's presence on board promised to lead toendless difficulties and additional dangers before the prisoners wererescued. As these thoughts passed rapidly through his mind Burgoynewatched Miss Vivian from a distance. She no doubt clearly understoodthe pirate lieutenant's order, even if the words were somewhatambiguous; but the girl gave no sign or look to indicate herthoughts. She had dropped quite naturally into the stand-at-ease poseof her companions, all of whom were ready, if needs be, to give theirlives to shield her from harm.
"After all," soliloquized Alwyn, "there'll be Angus and Withers tokeep an eye on her. And there's less chance of the old _Donibristle_being sunk than the pirate, if a British or Yankee cruiser shouldappear."
There was a decided uncertainty about that "if". British cruiserswere comparatively rare birds in that part of the North Pacific, andUncle Sam was content to keep his cruisers within easy distance ofthe American seaboard, except on rare occasions when events in thePhilippines or Hawaii required their presence. As for merchantvessels, they kept rigidly to the recognized routes. Sailing crafthad perforce to wander from the narrow path, otherwise there werewide stretches of the Pacific where the blue seas were hardly everdisturbed by a ship's cutwater.
The _Donibristle_, when overhauled by the _Malfilio_, was on therecognized Vancouver-Honolulu route. She had cut and was well to thesouth'ard of the steamer track between 'Frisco and Yokohama, andstill at some distance north-west of the converging track between'Frisco and Honolulu. During the pursuit she had been forced somemiles out of her course, so that any slight hope of being rescued bya chance war-ship was rendered still more remote.
Pablo Henriques signalled imperiously to Alwyn to put his orders intoexecution.
"Carry on, Mr. Withers," said Burgoyne, without a trace of emotion,although he felt like springing at the throat of the piratelieutenant. "Get the firemen--both watches--below."
The men broke ranks and disappeared from view. With them went Hilda,descending the almost vertical slippery steel ladder without thefaintest hesitation.
"You will lower boats," ordered Henriques.
"But," protested Burgoyne, pointing to the shattered and bullet-holedassortment of woodwork in the davits, "it is useless. They wouldn'tkeep us afloat a minute."
The pirate lieutenant shrugged his shoulders.
"That has noddin' to do with me," he remarked callously. "If dey nofloat you swim. It not far."
"That's one way of making us walk the plank, I suppose," thoughtAlwyn; then, without betraying his mistrust, ordered the boats to beswung out.
"We can make some of them seaworthy, lads," he added. "It's not far.Those boats that can keep afloat will have to make two trips. Thepassengers will go in No. 1 lifeboat. She's the safest I think."
As the seamen moved off to carry out the order, Colonel Vivian turnedto the erstwhile Third Officer.
"Is there no chance of my remaining on board?" he asked hurriedly."You see, my daughter--and my wife, lying dead below----"
"Miss Vivian will be safe enough, I think," replied Burgoyne. "Thatis provided her secret is kept. I quite understand your anxiety aboutMrs. Vivian. Why not ask to be allowed to remain?"
Colonel Vivian limped away to make the request. It was humiliatingfor a British army officer to have to ask a favour of a rascallyhalf-caste pirate, but the thought of having to abandon the body ofhis wife to be unceremoniously thrown overboard by this horde ofcoloured ruffians made him put aside his scruples.
"No," replied Henriques. "De order is all leave de ship. But I gifyou fife minutes to perform de burial of de lady."
And so, setting to work rapidly yet reverently, Burgoyne, the purser,and the steward assisted the bereaved colonel to commit the remainsto the deep. Under the watchful eyes of a couple of pirates, lestarticles or documents of value should be disposed of at the sametime, the corpse was swathed in a spare awning, lashed up, andweighted with a length of chain. The steward produced a Prayer Bookand handed it to the temporary skipper. Burgoyne, noting that a bareninety seconds remained, read a few portions of the burial service,then, with every man of the _Donibristle's_ crew within sightknocking off work and standing bareheaded, the mortal remains of Mrs.Vivian were committed to the deep.
"Perhaps," thought Alwyn, as he turned away, "perhaps it was as wellthat Miss Vivian did go below. There are limits even to the enduranceof human nature."
The voice of the pirate lieutenant bawling out orders in brokenEnglish attracted Burgoyne's attention. A signal had just beenreceived from the _Malfilio_ countermanding the previous order, andinstructing Henriques to send the prisoners below and get under way.So the boats were swung in again and secured.
By the time that this work was completed, and before the Britishdeck-hands and officers could be sent below, a faint buzzing thatmomentarily increased caused all hands to look skywards. Approachingthe _Malfilio_ at a high speed was a small seaplane. At firstBurgoyne and many of his comrades thought that it was a naval scout,and that deliverance was at hand; but the fact that no hostiledemonstration was made on the pirate cruiser quickly banished thishope.
The seaplane was winding in a wireless aerial as she circled roundthe _Malfilio_. Without the slightest doubt it was by this means thatthe _Malfilio_ had been placed in touch with her prey. The fuselagewas dumpy and the monoplane spare and small, and by the corrugationsof the wings Burgoyne rightly concluded that they were of metal. Shewas of an earlier type with a single motor of comparatively low power--but quite sufficient to enable her to be a valuable adjunct to thepirate cruiser.
The "winding-in" completed, the seaplane alighted on the surface and"taxi-ed" alongside the _Malfilio_. A derrick swung outwards from thecruiser, and a steel wire rope was deftly shackled to the eyebolt ofa "gravity band" round the fuselage. Even as the machine rose fromthe water, dangling at the end of a wire rope, her wings swung backand folded themselves against the body, and in this compact form theaerial scout vanished from sight behind the _Malfilio's_superstructure.
This much Burgoyne saw before he was compelled to follow theremaining officers and deck-hands, including the Cockney who had beentold to stand by the whistle lanyard, and who, during the operationof swinging in the boats, had seen his officer's signal for recall.
Once 'tween decks, the men were herded for'ard and locked up in theforepeak, an armed pirate being stationed on the hatchway. Theremnant of officers and the passengers were ordered aft, and securedin the steerage, where they found Captain Blair, Mostyn, and theother wounded. There were four cabins at their disposal, the wholeseparated from the rest of the ship by a transverse bulkhead in whichwas a single sliding door. Outside this a sentry was posted, while,as an additional precaution, that for some reason was not taken inthe case of the men, four villainous-looking Orientals, armed to theteeth, were stationed with the prisoners. The dead-lights werescrewed into the scuttles, and the captives warned that any attemptat tampering with them would be punishable with death; and, since theelectric light had failed, the steerage was dimly illuminated by halfa dozen oil-lamps.
The door had not been locked more than a c
ouple of minutes before theprisoners heard the thresh of the twin propellers. The S.S._Donibristle_ under her new masters was steaming ahead, under greatlyreduced speed, in the wake of the pirate cruiser _Malfilio_--butwhither?
The reaction of the excitement and peril of the last few hours nowset in, and a state of lethargy took possession of most of theprisoners. The hot, confined, ill-ventilated space, the reek ofiodoform pervading everything, and a sheer hunger and fatigue allcombined to suppress any desire for conversation. For some hours thesilence was broken only by the moans of the wounded and the clank ofthe freshwater pump, as the parched men quenched their burning thirstwith frequent and copious draughts, while constantly their Chineseguards, with their expressionless yellow faces and slanting eyes,paced to and fro, like sinister demons from another world.
Hour after hour passed. Darkness succeeded daylight. At intervals theguards were changed, and at about nine o'clock a negro brought in asmall sack of ship's biscuits.
About midnight Miles attempted to start a conversation by grumblingto Tarrant about the bad methods of the Mercantile Marine, and theBritish Columbian and Chinese Line in particular, in allowing shipsto leave port in a defenceless condition. Tarrant promptly "shut himup", amidst a murmur of applause from the men in the vicinity, forthe drummer's anxiety for his own safety, and disregard of the plightof his companions, had not failed to be noticed.
"That's the way to deal with him, Mr. Tarrant," remarked Alwyn."We've quite enough to put up with without having to listen to theyapping and whining of a spiritless fellow like that."
"Yes, it's deucedly unfortunate," said Tarrant, "but so far wehaven't been badly treated."
"No," agreed Burgoyne, "we haven't. They've spared our lives,although that rather puzzles me. One would have thought that, beingpirates, they would emulate the Hun and do the '_spurlos versenkt_'stunt. Piracy is a hanging matter, and having gone thus far it's awonder they didn't go the whole hog. However, they haven't and Idon't think they will now."
"I always thought that there was no such thing as piracy nowadays,"remarked the purser, "at least only in a small way in the Chinaseas."
"Then you'll have to revise your ideas, Holmes," rejoined Burgoyne."It came as a shock to all of us. One of the aftermaths of the GreatWar, I suppose, and the very audacity of it brings temporary--let ushope--success. This game can't last long. Once the world gets wind ofit there'll be British, Yankee, and Jap light cruisers and destroyerson the _Malfilio's_ heels, and she'll be rounded up in double quicktime."
"I wonder where they are taking us," said Tarrant.
"That I can't say," replied Alwyn. "But, if it's any information toyou, I can inform you that we've been steaming roughly nor'west forthe last six hours."
"How do you know that?" inquired Branscombe in astonishment. "Here weare cooped up without a chance of seeing a single star, and yet----"
"I've a compass, laddie," replied Burgoyne. "A liquid pocket compass,and I mean to stick to it as long as I jolly well can. Naturally, inplaying a billiard handicap, a fellow...."
He continued discoursing upon the irrelevant subject of billiards formore than a minute, his companions expressing no surprise at thesudden change of topic. It was not until the Chinese sentry hadpassed and was out of earshot, that the former theme was resumed.
"That chap might understand English," observed Burgoyne. "Well, I canalso tell you this; if we hold on our course sufficiently long, we'llfetch up on one of the Aleutian Islands, or else on the coast ofKamtchatka."
"Give me something a little warmer," protested Tarrant. "There'snothing like getting used----"
A voice, hoarse, masterful, and at the same time, slightlyincoherent, interrupted the conclave. Captain Blair was recoveringconsciousness and making a considerable song about it.
"Mr. Angus," he shouted, "can't you whack her up a bit more? Threeknots if you burst. The cowardly skunks--women on board, and thevillains are shelling us. Mr. Angus, are you there?"
In a trice Burgoyne was by the Old Man's side, fearful lest he shoulddivulge the fact to the pirate that there had been more than onewoman on board.
"It's all right, sir," he said soothingly. "We've got the heels ofthem."
"Eh?" exclaimed the skipper. "Who's that?"
"Burgoyne, sir."
"And we've given 'em the slip, eh? Yes, the firing's stopped rightenough. Where am I?"
"In good hands," replied Alwyn. "You've been knocked about a bit, butHolmes and the steward have patched you up all right."
"Yes, I remember," rejoined Captain Blair. "I told you to carry on,and everything's O.K.?"
Reassured on that point, the Old Man gave a long sigh, closed hiseyes, and sank into a sound slumber.
Towards morning Burgoyne noticed, by consulting his compass, that the_Donibristle_ had altered her course and was steering due west.
"Kamtchatka's off," he announced, as Tarrant appeared munching abiscuit. "They've altered course four points to the west'ard."
"And that means?" asked the Consular Service man. "That we make Japanif we carry on as we are going," replied Alwyn.
"H'm; s' long as they land me within easy distance of my destinationI welcome the alteration," observed Tarrant. "But perhaps they'remaking for a coral island or something of that sort. Are there anyhereabouts?"
"Evidently they mean to give Hawaii a wide berth," said Burgoyne."After that there are only a few small islands--the Ocean Islandsthey're called. I've never been there, because they lie to thenor'ard of our regular track and a good way south of the Yokohama-SanFrancisco route."
"Uninhabited?"
Burgoyne shook his head.
"I've told you all I know," he asserted. "It isn't much. But we'llfind out in due course, I expect."
Shortly afterwards the bulkhead door was unlocked, and Withers wasunceremoniously shown in.
"What's for brekker?" he asked. "I'm ravenous."
"Ship's biscuit and lukewarm water, old son," replied Branscombe."What are you doing here?"
"The blighters are letting us work watch and watch," said the SecondEngineer, voraciously biting off chunks of the tough biscuit. "I'vehad my stand-easy, and they sent me aft to get some grub before I'mon again. Angus will be here in another quarter of an hour."
"And the men?" asked Burgoyne "How are they standing it?"
"Fine, everything considered," replied Withers "Even though they arebeing fed on rice as if they were Chinks." He glanced at the Chineseguards. They were bunched together close to the bulkhead door,resuming an interrupted game of cards. "And Miss Vivian is justsplendid," he continued lowering his voice. "We rigged her up a sortof caboose under one of the intake ventilators. She told Angus thatshe'd slept well, but she couldn't tackle rice and cold water, so I'mgoing to fill my pockets with biscuits for her. No objections, Ihope?"
"Do the pirates worry you much?" asked Branscombe.
"Directly--no; indirectly--yes," was the reply. "They don't postguards in the engine-room, which is a blessing; but they arecontinually calling for more revolutions. Perhaps they imagine we'rea South American republic--how's that for a joke, Branscombe?"
"Feeble," was the reply, "but get on with it."
"There's nothing much to get on with," continued the Second Engineer."There was a talk of tinkering with the high-pressure slide-valvesand stopping the engines, only Angus said that, if the _Donibristle_did break down, the cruiser would doubtless remove the prize crew andsend her to the bottom--and us as well. So that didn't come off. But,I say, who's eating chocolate?"
"No one," replied Alwyn.
"You're wrong, old son," he replied presently, "or perhaps I ought tosay 'Mr. Burgoyne' now? Fact remains, I smell chocolate. The air'sstiff with it."
"Hanged if I can whiff it," exclaimed Alwyn. "Iodoform, yes, but notchocolate."
For answer the Second Engineer grasped Burgoyne's arm and led himacross the compartment. With a sense of smell almost as acute as thatof a dog, he led Alwyn to a dark corner formed by the angle of one ofth
e cabin bulkheads with the ship's side. There, seated on anupturned bucket, was Miles--and there was no doubt now as to the reekof chocolate. Filled with indignation at the gross selfishness of thedrummer, Burgoyne held out his hand.
"I'll trouble you to hand over what's left," he said curtly.
But Miles was not going to surrender his spoils without protest.
"Say, what for?" he asked. "If I took the precaution to lay in astock, that is my affair."
Burgoyne with difficulty restrained his temper.
"At once," he exclaimed sternly. Having been trained from his earlyyouth to manage men, he was not going to stand any nonsense from acoward.
The passenger gasped but complied. Burgoyne found himself possessedof a slab of chocolate weighing nearly a pound. The wretched fellow,taking advantage of the fact that during the chase the steward'spantry was unattended, had taken and concealed the toothsome stuff.
"Mr. Holmes!" sang out the Third Officer
The purser appeared.
"This is part of the ship's stores, is it not?" inquired Burgoyne.
Mr. Holmes replied in the affirmative, volunteering the additionalinformation that the chocolate was stamped with the company'sinitials--a fact that in his haste the pilferer had overlooked.
"Right-o, Mr. Holmes," continued Alwyn. "That leaves me with a clearconscience. Take charge of the stuff and issue it out in equal sharesto everyone aft. Keep back a share for Mr. Angus and the ThirdEngineer when they arrive."
But when Withers returned to the engine-room his pockets werebulging--not only with biscuits, but with small cubes of chocolate.Spontaneously, and almost without exception, every temporary occupantof the steerage had given up his share to Hilda Vivian.