CHAPTER XX
Under Russian Escort
Hard on the heels of the Russian officer, Naval Lieutenant Rodsky,the Sub made his way through the narrow hatchway. The suddentransition from the darkness of the interior of the hull to thebrightness of the open air left him blinking in the watery sunlight.
Already the two after guns, which in the haste had been left"unhoused", were being manned by the crews. Other guns' crews wererushing for'ard to serve the bow quick-firers, for by this time R19was floating on a perfectly even keel and showing an abnormal amountof freeboard. The Hon. Derek and Lieutenant Macquare were standing bythe Quartermaster on the navigation-platform, since, owing to thejamming of the conning-tower hatch, it was impossible to steer thevessel except by means of the hand-wheel on the exposed raisedplatform.
The destroyer was now less than a mile away. She had ported helm, andwas circling, with the evident intention of closing with thesubmarine. Up to the present she made no attempt to use her guns. Ifthe destruction of R19 was her object, she apparently meant to useher knife-like stem as the weapon of annihilation.
In strict silence the gun-layers trained the weapons, while thecaptains of the guns awaited orders to open fire.
The stillness was broken by Lieutenant Rodsky suddenly leaping in theair and waving his cap over his head, alighting heavily upon the toesof the astonished Fordyce.
"Good!" shouted the Russian in his own language, forgetting to makeuse of French in his excitement. "All is well. It is a Russiandestroyer, the _Zabiyaka_. I am certain on that point."
The Sub hastened to his commanding officer and translated theRussian's words.
"Let's hope Ivan won't make a mistake then," remarked the Hon. Derek.He glanced upwards at the White Ensign. In spite of the fact that itwas saturated with moisture, the bunting was streaming proudly on thebreeze.
Almost at the same time the destroyer's colours fluttered athwart hercourse. There was no mistaking the blue St. Andrew's Cross on a whitefield--the naval ensign of Russia. Notwithstanding changes ashore,where a Republican flag had superseded that of the Emperor of all theRussias, the fleet still retained the blue diagonal cross.
Even then the thought that the oncoming vessel might be displayingfalse colours flashed through the Hon. Derek's mind. Russian-builtshe might be, but there was no telling what changes had recentlytaken place. She might have been captured by the Huns during theoperations in the Gulf of Riga or in the subsequent battle of MoonSound, and, as a prize, used against her former masters and theirallies. So the order was given for the guns' crews to stand fast andawait further orders.
Slowing down, the _Zabiyaka_ drew within hailing distance. She wascleared for action, while a couple of jagged holes through herforemost funnel and a dismounted quick-firer flung across her deckwere evidences that she had participated in a recent "scrap".
Her officers still wore the uniform of the Imperial Russian Navy; hercrew, alert, blonde-featured men, were quick to obey the orders givenby their superiors. It was pleasing to find that in this destroyerthe blighting canker of red revolution had not done its ruinous work.
A lively exchange of greetings passed between Rodsky and theCaptain-Lieutenant of the Russian vessel, from which the Britishofficers gathered that the destroyer had engaged and brought down theHun sea-plane that had vainly endeavoured to strafe thepartly-crippled R19. They also learnt that the Russian battleshipsand cruisers had contrived to escape the trap in Moon Sound,sustaining comparatively trivial losses; while the German High SeasFleet, shaken by submarine attack, had not ventured in pursuit, buthad drawn off, making, it was supposed, for Kiel.
The _Zabiyaka's_ commanding officer, hearing of the plight of theBritish submarine, offered to escort her to within the limits of theport of Cronstadt, where, it was to be hoped, sufficient repairscould be effected to enable R19 to resume her aggressive r?le.
Examination showed that the submarine had sustained considerabledamage. In diving she had shaken off the enormous projectile that layacross her deck, but as the missile rolled over the side it had bentone of the diving-rudders hard over against the hull. At the sametime a considerable portion of the false keel had become detached,although what caused the automatic fastenings to release themselvesremained a mystery. It was the sudden release of both the keel anddeadweight of the projectile that had caused R19 to shoot up to thesurface. Combined with the fact that both periscopes were out ofaction, and that the submarine could only dive erratically under theinfluence of the remaining hydroplane, it was plain to all on boardthat the sooner she made Cronstadt the better.
During the following morning the Captain-Lieutenant of the _Zabiyaka_paid a visit to the Lieutenant-Commander of R19, and in the course ofthe conversation the British officers became better acquainted withthe chaotic state of affairs in and around Petrograd. A section ofthe Russian fleet had mutinied, murdering several of their officersand subjecting them to unnameable indignities. Rioting was takingplace in the capital, while the soaring increase in wages was metwith more than a corresponding rise in the prices of the necessariesof life. Countless revolutionary and Extremist "committees" werebeing formed, to increase still further the difficulties of theunhappy country. Already the deluded peasantry found that there werestupendous defects in the clap-trap theory of social democraticequality. It was doubtless an easy matter to seize and distribute thepossessions of the rich landowners; but it was quite another matterto manage with any degree of efficiency their newly-acquired land.Reports, too, of increasing cases of fraternization between theGerman and the Russian troops in the trenches showed that the wilyHun, a typical wolf in sheep's clothing, was content to play awaiting game so far as the Eastern Front was concerned, knowing thatthe anarchy-torn country could be left to itself until the masses ofGerman troops, released for sterner work elsewhere, could return tocomplete the destruction of the vast but already-tottering newrepublic.
The Russian officer had barely taken his departure when R19's yeomanof signals reported the receipt of a wireless message sent from theBritish Embassy at Petrograd. It was in cipher, but when decoded itsmeaning was bluntly emphatic:
"The state of affairs here renders it necessary for H.M. SubmarineR19 to return to her base. Co-operation on the part of the RussianGovernment can no longer be guaranteed. Admiralty orders to thiseffect have been communicated to all British forces engaged inoperations in the Baltic and on the Eastern Front."
The Hon. Derek read the decoded message and glanced enquiringly athis brother officer.
"By Jove," he exclaimed, "we're in a pretty fix! Now what would yousuggest, Macquare?"
The Lieutenant solemnly closed one eye.
"Since you ask me, sir," he replied, "I'd carry on to executerepairs. In our present condition we could no more get out of theBaltic than fly. Refitted we could have a fair chance of havinganother slap at the Huns."
"But in the face of these orders?" asked the Lieutenant-Commander.
"Take Nelson's example at Copenhagen as a precedent, sir," rejoinedthe Lieutenant.