CHAPTER X
A Choice of Two Evils
Siegfried Strauss did his level best to carry out his employer'sinstructions to hoodwink the abducted Villiers. For the first twodays following Jack's return to consciousness the Englishman wastreated with every possible consideration. At least that was how itstruck Villiers.
Hourly his strength returned and with it his reasoning powers. He waswell supplied with food--of the average quality to be found ontramps--and was allowed to sit on deck.
Then one or two things began to strike him as being somewhatpeculiar. Strauss evinced a decided tendency to prevent Villiers fromstrolling for'ard. On the face of it there could be no satisfactoryreason why he should not do so; but Jack, always obliging, fell inwith the supposed Swedish skipper's wish.
Then he made another discovery. One of the men left a newspaperwedged in the falls of one of the davits. A gust of wind displaced itand carried it across the deck almost to Villier's feet.
Jack's first impulse was to return it to its owner. A Swedishnewspaper would be useless to anyone not possessing a knowledge ofthat language. But somewhat to his surprise he saw that it wasEnglish. His astonishment increased when he found that it was aSouthampton paper and dated the Saturday on which he had been foullystruck down.
Obviously, Villiers reflected, there was a flaw in Captain Strauss'carefully-pitched yarn. If the _Zug_ had proceeded down-Channelwithout putting in anywhere and without holding communication withany other craft, how could that paper have found its way on board?
"I'm up against something here," thought Villiers, and proceeded withhis investigations. He acted warily, for he was not sure of hisground.
In quite a casual way he refolded the paper and replaced it in thefalls; then he made his way for'ard, carrying his chair, until hereached the engine-room's fidley.
Here he sat down and listened through the open gratings. Before longhe overheard the engineer shout something to one of his assistants.The voice was plainly audible above the pulsations of the engines,and the words were unmistakably German; so was the reply.
"We're getting on," decided Villiers. "I wonder if this is the _Zug_.I have my doubts."
He glanced to and fro along the deck. On the fo'c'sle two men wereengaged in coiling down a rope. Their backs were turned towards him.Those were the only members of the crew within sight. The helmsmanwas invisible from the spot where Villiers had taken up his position,owing to the height of the bridge and to the fact that thewheel-house was set well back from the canvas screen running roundthe bridge stanchion-rails.
Having satisfied himself on this point, Villiers peered through theopen fidley into the engine-room. He saw what he expected, for rightin the centre of the for'ard engine-room bulkhead was a brass platesetting forth the information that the steamship _Geier_ had beenengined in 1904 by the firm of Hopper and Heinz of Stettin.
That ought to have been conclusive, but Villiers did not rest there.After a while he made his way right aft and leant over the stumpycounter. There were the words "_Zug_--Malmo" written plain for anyoneto read, but the letters were freshly painted, and there were signsthat a longer word had been somewhat carelessly obliterated.
"Feeling better, Mr. Villiers?" asked Strauss, who happened to comeon deck at that moment. "I wouldn't look down if I were you; it won'tdo your head any good."
Villiers, caught out, made no reply.
"Come and have tea in my cabin," continued the skipper of the _Zug_,as a preliminary to his ordered task of "pumping" his involuntaryguest.
Jack acquiesced.
"What land is that?" he inquired casually, indicating a rugged rangeof hills about four miles on the port beam.
"Portuguese coast," replied Strauss. "Thinking of swimming there?"
"About a hundred yards is my limit," said Jack. "So I don't thinkI'll take it on."
Both men descended the companion and entered the cabin, which openedaft out of the saloon, for in her earlier days the s.s. _Geier_ hadpassenger accommodation in addition to carrying cargo.
Siegfried Strauss waited until tea was served, and, ordering thesteward to clear out, prepared to subject his guest to a carefullymanipulated cross-examination.
But before he could get in his first question he was totally takenaback when Villiers looked him straight in the face and demandedbluntly.
"Isn't your name Kristian Borgen?"
It was wide of the mark, nevertheless Strauss knew now that Villiershad his suspicions.
"No, it is not," he replied. "I am ready to swear to that."
"What's in a name?" quoted Jack. "I suppose you are equally preparedto swear that you are not a German, and that this vessel isn't the_Geier_ under an assumed name?"
Strauss was on the point of blustering when he bethought himself thatit would be advisable to assume a conciliatory and non-committalattitude.
"You are quite under a misapprehension, my friend," he saidsmilingly. "I don't know why you have adopted this truculentattitude. I suppose you are still feeling the effect of your roughusage. To allay your unfounded suspicions I will show you the ship'spapers."
The skipper got up from the table and went to a locker above one ofthe settees. This he opened and removed a packet of papers. As he didso Jack caught a glimpse of a yellow-leather case boldly stamped withthe initials H. H.
It was the identical attach?-case that Sir Hugh Harborough lost fromthe car at Southampton. Even Villiers was taken aback by thediscovery, but, controlling himself, he decided to ignore the factsfor the present.
"H'm," he remarked, after he had examined the "Certificate ofRegistry" and other documents appertaining to the ownership andnationality of the s.s. _Zug_. "I'll swear those are forgeries. Butwe'll let that pass. How can you account for the fact that the name_Geier_ is in the engine-room. Beastly careless of you, you know."
Villiers had certainly scored.
Although the change in the ship's name had been publicly advertised,Strauss had tried to conceal the fact from his unwilling guest. Nowhe had to admit it.
"And you left Southampton early on Sunday morning last," continuedVilliers. "I know that, and you can deny it if you like--you didbefore, you remember--but that won't alter the fact. That's a Hunall over. You couldn't enter into a rivalry with Sir Hugh Harboroughon this treasure-hunting stunt without descending to low-down trickssuch as waylaying him and sand-bagging me. That's enough to land youin the dock, my festive."
Siegfried Strauss realized that the cat was out of the bag. Unmasked,he was no longer an amiable Swede but an unspeakable Hun.
With a sudden rush he bounded out of the cabin and up thecompanion-ladder. At the head he paused to reassure himself thatVilliers was not in pursuit.
"You've done for yourself, you swine!" he shouted. "Since you havemade yourself dangerous there is but one thing to be done--get rid ofyou."
Jack could hear him bawling for the hands to come aft. He was in atight corner, but he had no intention of quietly giving in to a swarmof Huns.
Strauss had threatened "to do him in". No doubt he, Villiers, hadasked for it when he tackled the fellow. Perhaps it would have beenbetter to have pretended to humour him, and then Strauss might haveset him ashore at Las Palmas. But it was too late now. There was noaverting the crisis.
For a brief instant Villiers considered the possibility of gainingthe bridge and holding it against all corners, but the futility ofthat plan at once became apparent. He was unarmed; the crew of the_Zug_ were not. Every man carried a sheath-knife, and possiblyseveral had firearms as well.
Acting upon an inspiration, although he hardly knew why, Villiersdragged the missing attach?-case from the locker and ran on deck.
Captain Strauss was still shouting to the crew. He hardly expectedJack would dare to come out of the cabin. When he saw him heattempted to close.
With a pleasurable feeling that he was getting his own back for thesand-bagging affair, Villiers saw the burly German measure his lengthon the deck as the result of a straight le
ft with the Englishman'sfist. For the present Siegfried Strauss ceased to count in theunequal contest.
Three or four of the crew ran on with a rush. Villiers didn't stop tomeet them. He was cool enough to realize, in the first sense ofelation, that there are limits to human powers. Running aft, hepaused only to unship a life-belt and hurl it overboard, then, withthe leather case still grasped in his right hand, he leapt over therail into the sea.
He hit the water with tremendous force, for the _Zug_ was steaming ata good twelve knots. That and his still weak condition almostdeprived him of breath. He swallowed a good half-pint of salt waterbefore he rose spluttering to the surface.
Even while he was still under the surface Villiers found himselfdebating upon the wisdom of his rash act.
"If I hadn't jumped into the ditch," he soliloquized, "those fellowswould have slung me in, and perhaps given me another tap on the headjust to make things doubly sure. I told friend Strauss that I wasgood for a hundred yards. So I am at racing-speed. It is now up to meto see if I can cover four or five miles, hampered by a leather bagand a life-buoy."
Why he hung on to the attach?-case he hardly knew. Whatever therewas within it was evidently now no secret to the directing spiritsbehind the s.s. _Zug_. Even if Harborough's charts and plans werestill inside the case, there was every reason to suppose that theyhad been duly inspected and the information they contained committedto memory. Sir Hugh knew the locality of the wreck, even without theaid of the stolen documents, so, now that the mischief was done,there could be little good served by regaining them.
The attach?-case was well made and the lid fitted closely;consequently it possessed a considerable amount of buoyancy. Oncoming to the surface Villiers found that he could support himself bythe case without much effort, and thus give himself time to takestock of his surroundings.
Fifty yards away floated the life-buoy. Having assured himself of hisposition, the swimmer devoted his attention to the _Zug_. Already shewas a good cable's length away, and holding on without apparentlyaltering course. Five or six of the crew were standing right aft, andVilliers fancied that he caught the dull glint of the barrel of arifle.
"They'll put about," he thought, "and either run me down or else puta bullet through my head if they spot me. I don't think they do,although I'm right in the glare of the sun. I'll keep clear of thatbuoy for a time, though."
Which was sound logic. The white-painted buoy, bobbing up and downover the crests of the waves, was a fairly-conspicuous object--as itwas intended to be. But Jack, bareheaded and almost motionless, ranvery little risk of being spotted by the crew of the rapidly-recedingvessel.
But, contrary to his expectations, the _Zug_ neither altered coursenor did her crew open fire. She held on, leaving Villiers to hisfate.
"Now for it," he muttered, and, turning on his back and stillgrasping the recovered attach?-case, he made toward the buoy.