CHAPTER X
A Treacherous Plot
A ragged volley of musketry followed the departing submarine. Onebullet mushroomed itself against the steel conning-tower; anotherzipped through one of the guard-rails. The rest either flew harmlesslyoverhead or ricochetted from the surface of the placid water.
Nevertheless the firing was a signal for the crew to hasten below.Kapitan Schwalbe and the Unter-leutnant disappeared with ignominiousspeed within the conning-tower. The men, bending low, bolted for thefore hatch. In twenty seconds the deck of U75 was deserted save forRoss and Vernon, who, padlocked to the stanchion, were unable to movesix inches in either direction. They were only partly screened by therise of the conning-tower. A sharp splinter from the bullet that hadsplayed against the steel wall cut cleanly through Vernon's coat sleeveand inflicted a slight gash in the lad's forearm, yet in the excitementhe hardly noticed it.
"I say, old man," exclaimed Ross, as a wave slapping against thesubmarine's bow threw a shower of spray over the two prisoners. "Whatwill happen if they submerge? It seems to me as if old Schwalbe hasforgotten us."
"He would have dived before this if he intended so doing," repliedHaye. "Ten to one he's going to pay us out for attempting to takeFrench, or rather German, leave. It's jolly cold and mightyuncomfortable, but we'll keep a stiff upper lip and show him what weare made of."
"With all due deference to you, old chap," rejoined Trefusis, his teethchattering as the keen wind played upon his saturated garments, "Iwould far rather be without this badge of German kultur." He indicatedthe chain that encircled his ankle. "I don't think that you can hold abrief for Kapitan Schwalbe. I am not so sure about it that he is notgoing to dive."
U75 dipped as he spoke, submerging her fore deck almost to the base ofthe conning-tower. Then, with a double cascade of water pouring fromher, she shook herself free, throwing her bows high above the surface.
A man, gripping the stanchion-rail as he made his way knee-deep inwater, came towards the two prisoners. It was Hans Koppe. He hadobtained the Kapitan's permission to release his charges from theiruncomfortable position.
"Hold on tightly as you go aft," he cautioned. "There is hot coffeewaiting for you below."
It was impracticable to descend by means of the fore hatch. That meansof communication had already been closed and battened down, owing tothe constant flow of water over the bows. Even the after hatch, inspite of the protection afforded by the conning-tower and the raisedcoaming, was admitting water into the interior of the submarine.
Cold, exhausted, and hungry, the lads were glad to be able to eat anddrink, discard their wringing-wet garments, and turn in. Withoutwaking they slept solidly for ten hours. It was one in the afternoonwhen they turned out. U75 was rounding Land's End. She was submerged,steering a compass course, but frequently showing her periscope toascertain her whereabouts. Already the Longships Lighthouse was broadon the port beam.
It was a tedious, discomforting run from Land's End to The Lizard. TheMounts Bay fishing fleets were out, a circumstance that compelled thesubmarine to keep below the surface. Kapitan Schwalbe knew that oncethe alert skippers of these boats sighted even the tip of theperiscope, the news of the presence of a hostile submarine would bequickly sent to the naval authorities at Devonport. The necessity forsecrecy also prevented him from making use of the wireless: not thatthe message would be deciphered, but because the origin of the messagecould be fixed with comparative certainty by any of the Britishwireless stations that "picked up" her call.
The approaches to Plymouth Sound, too, gave Kapitan Schwalbe a badtime. Far beyond the Eddystone, and from Looe Island to Bigbury Bay,armed trawlers and torpedo-boats patrolled incessantly, their movementsaided by sea-planes. It was almost a matter of impossibility for ahostile submarine to approach Plymouth Sound by daylight, since theaeroplanes were able to discern any sinister object moving under thecomparatively shallow and clear waters between Rame Head and StokePoint; while at night the precautions taken were of such an elaborateand efficient description as to seal the fate of any submarine rashenough to run her head into a noose.
Accordingly U75 gave the Eddystone a wide berth, shaping a course topass twenty miles to the south'ard of the far-famed lighthouse. Hereshe was in the thick of the Channel traffic, a stream of mercantileships passing up and down as unconcernedly as if such a thing as aGerman submarine did not exist.
Although there were plenty of opportunities, Kapitan Schwalbe made noattempt to molest the ships. For one thing, experience had taught himthat the British merchant skipper possessed a bull-dog tenacity, and acourage not to be daunted by the sight of a hostile periscope appearingfrom nowhere in the midst of a waste of water. For another, he was nowon the look-out for more important game--his chance to retrieve hisalready vanishing prestige.
However, one of the merchant vessels served him a good purpose,although unknown to her. Marking a large ocean tramp bound up-Channel,U75 dived deeply, so as to be free from any danger of being hit by herforefoot.
With the noise of the tramp's propeller to guide her, U75 followed,unsuspected, in her wake as she made for the Lizard Light.
Arriving safely at the rendezvous, Kapitan Schwalbe waited until it wasdark, and then cautiously brought the submarine awash. Punctually atten o'clock a feeble violet light blinked through the night. It wasU77's call to her consort.
"What's the game, I wonder?" asked Vernon, as a hail in German wasborne faintly to their ears.
The chums had turned in. There was nothing else for them to do, sincethey had been ordered to leave the quarters allotted to the crew. Asthere was no furniture of any description in the alley-way that hadbeen made their sleeping compartment, they had climbed into theirbunks. Here they could maintain an almost uninterrupted conversation.
"Hist!" exclaimed Ross warningly. He had been lying with his earalmost touching one of the many voice-tubes that led from theconning-tower to various parts of the submarine. Quite by accident, hediscovered that the pipes formed an excellent conductor of sound in amanner that had not been intended.
"What are you doing?" asked Haye curiously.
"Jam your ear against the centre one of these three pipes," said hischum.
Vernon did so. It required very little movement on his part, since thebunks were rather narrow. The same voice-tube that Ross was "tapping"ran vertically past Haye's bunk, which was immediately underneath theone Trefusis had appropriated from the time when he had been laid uponit under the influence of the injection.
This particular pipe formed a means of vocal communication between theconning-tower and Kapitan Schwalbe's cabin. For some reason thewhistle had been removed from the cabin end, and consequently soundsfrom the Kapitan's quarters were conveyed with tolerable clearness.
There were two men engaged in conversation. One was Kapitan Schwalbe;the other, who spoke in a lower key, and so rapidly that Ross had greatdifficulty in mentally translating his words, was theLieutenant-Commander of U77. He had been put aboard U75 only a fewminutes previously.
"My dear von Hoffner," Kapitan Schwalbe was saying. "Your plan is allvery well as far as you are concerned; but where do we come in?Understand that while we are on the surface our risks are increasedten-fold. Suppose, for instance, the battleship does not notice, oraffects not to notice, the white flag?"
"She will, right enough," assured the Lieutenant-Commander of U77."These English are such fools that in their anxiety to observe therules of warfare" (here von Hoffner laughed sardonically) "they playinto our hands. More than a twelvemonth of war has not taught themthat the hitherto recognized observances of war are no longer binding.This is not a petty squabble between two nations. It is a struggle forexistence; consequently it is where our frightfulness scores."
"It hasn't up to the present, according to my experience," objectedKapitan Schwalbe gloomily. "These Englishmen simply won't befrightened. But to return once more to the point: what steps do youpropose to take to m
inimize my risk?"
"There must be risk, of course," remarked von Hoffner. "According tolatest reports, it seems pretty certain that we cannot hope tointercept the _Tremendous_ during the hours of darkness. Consequentlywe have to make use of a ruse. Directly I spot her I dive, keeping asmuch as possible close to her track, say three hundred metres off."
"Yes, you dive," commented Schwalbe caustically. "That is quitefeasible. But what of U75?"
"She will keep on the surface almost exactly in the indicated path ofthe battleship. You will strike your ensign and hoist a large whiteflag in its place. It will mean scrapping your best tablecloth, meinherr. With the wind in its present quarter the flag will blow athwartthe battleship's course, so there is no risk of it not being seen. Youand your crew will, of course, form up aft. That will give more colourto the deception."
"Perhaps it will work," said Kapitan Schwalbe.
"Perhaps? Of course it will," declared von Hoffher sanguinely. "Thenthe rest is child's play. Directly the _Tremendous_ slows down--it'sthe speed of these battleships that has caused us to miss hitherto--Iwill let loose two torpedoes. There will be no bungling, I assure you.I'll take good care to hit her close to the magazine, and there will beno opportunity for her to use her quick-firers.
"By the by, I've two English boys on board," said the Kapitan of U75.In a few words he related the circumstances in which they were madeprisoners. "I suppose they ought to line up on deck with the hands?"
"Certainly," replied von Hoffher, with one of his cold-bloodedsniggers. "It will heighten the illusion. It will do them good to seewhat one of our unterseebooten can do. But it is highly important thatthere be no survivors from the torpedoed battleship. The ruse is agrand one, and can be employed over and over again, provided that thesecret does not leak out. After all, I don't think I would bring theseEnglish youths on deck."
"They are safe enough," protested Schwalbe. "If we return toWilhelmshaven, they will be locked up in safe custody until the end ofthe war. If we do not, then I fancy there will be no survivors fromU75 as well as from the English battleship _Tremendous_."
The two treacherous officers conversed in a similar strain for severalminutes longer. Then came the sound of glasses being clinked as anaccompaniment to a boastful toast. Talking boisterously, the twoofficers left the cabin, and presently the lads heard the sound of oarsas von Hoffner was rowed back to his command.