CHAPTER XXI
The House in Bobbinsky Prospekt
"I'll risk it, Macquare," decided the Hon. Derek. "Theresponsibility's mine. If we are able to effect repairs and get awaybefore the Baltic is closed by the ice we'll be able to do a littlestrafing on our own account. In that case I don't suppose I'll berapped over the knuckles if we get home. If we don't, well--we shan'tbe alive, and official reprimand won't worry us then."
"I agree, sir," said the Lieutenant. "Obeying orders is all very wellin ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. In the present instance theAdmiralty hasn't taken into consideration our defects. Theinstructions were issued, I presume, on the assumption that we are inworking trim."
"Yes," concurred the Hon. Derek. "And, knocked about as we are, itwouldn't be fair on the men to attempt to run the gauntlet of theSound. They'd go like a shot, I'm absolutely convinced, but I'mhanged if I'll sacrifice them needlessly. So, all being well,Cronstadt is our next port of call."
Dawn was breaking when R19, piloted by the Russian destroyer_Zabiyaka_, came within sight of the supposedly-impregnable islandfortress. Everywhere the numerous fort-batteries were displaying theflag of the Republic, while to show that watch and ward were stillbeing kept a couple of shots were fired wide of the destroyer.
Presently an armed launch put out and a brisk exchange of words tookplace between the port officials and the Captain-Lieutenant of the_Zabiyaka_, which ended in the latter rather reluctantly ordering theBlue Cross Ensign to be struck and replaced by the emblem of RedRepublicanism.
This done, the destroyer was ordered to proceed to a certainanchorage, while R19, under the charge of a Russian pilot, enteredthe naval arsenal.
Here lay the bulk of the Russian Baltic Fleet, many of the shipsbearing evidences of German gun-fire. A large proportion of the crewshad gone to Petrograd to take part in a demonstration; others haddeserted in order to return to their homes and join in the generalpolicy of grab; while those who remained were promenading the streetsand quays, singing revolutionary songs and drinking deeply of vodka.
"See what liberty, equality, and fraternity do for a nation,Fordyce," remarked the Hon. Derek, indicating a group of roysterersgathered round a barrel on the quarter-deck of a large battleship.Utterly indifferent to the presence of their officers, the seamenwere already in advanced stages of intoxication. Any attempt toenforce discipline would doubtless result in ghastly butchery, foralready the crews of certain ships had risen and murdered theirofficers.
"A good object-lesson for British pacifists, sir," rejoined Fordyce."And these fellows don't seem particularly favourably-disposedtowards us."
"No, indeed," said the Lieutenant-Commander. "However, we must findout how the land lies. The main point is to get material; we can thenexecute the work ourselves, for it is a moral cert. that there isn'ta Russian workman available."
The Hon. Derek's surmise proved to be correct, for when an appeal forassistance was made to the newly-appointed commandant of the arsenalthe request was met with scant consideration. German gold and Hunpropaganda had done their work effectively, and already there was astrong anti-British feeling amongst the soldiers, sailors, andworkmen.
Enquiries resulted in the information that already the other Britishsubmarines had left, while the armoured-car detachments operating onthe Eastern Front were under orders for Archangel and home. UntilRussia found her feet and her reason the assistance of her allieswould be utterly wasted.
Undeterred, R19's crew set to work to make good defects. Since no drydock was available, the task of removing the bent hydroplane had tobe carried out by her own divers. Ashore, a small workshop had beenplaced at their disposal, and a limited quantity of material wasforthcoming. Provided no hitch occurred, the Hon. Derek hoped to havehis command ready for sea within a fortnight.
"Look here, Fordyce," he remarked one morning, "I want you to takethis dispatch to the Embassy. There's no immediate hurry, so if youcare to spend a few days in Petrograd you may. If you do, keep youreyes and ears open."
"Thank you, sir!" replied the Sub. "I may have the chance of callingon Vladimir Klostivitch."
"By Jove, yes!" exclaimed the Lieutenant-Commander. "I'd forgottenall about that consignment of 'diamonds'. It's a dangerous business,I fancy. It was not at all unusual for a man to disappear in Russiaduring the Imperial regime. Under the republic the opportunities forremoving a person would be far greater. What do you propose to do?"
"Carry out the original suggestion, sir," replied Fordyce. "HandKlostivitch a dummy packet, and then try to bluff him into givingdetails of the Russian Anarchist Society in London. The chief thingis, I take it, to find out where this nitro-talcite is secretlymanufactured. Obviously it is somewhere in England, or there wouldn'tbe such a fuss made to smuggle the stuff into Russia."
"Quite right," agreed the Hon. Derek. "For my part I wouldn't troubleif they blew themselves to bits. It would be one solution of thedifficulty. Of far more importance is the discovery of the place ofmanufacture, since the explosive would be of considerable use againstfriend Fritz. But, look here, I don't like the idea of your tacklingthe business single-handed. If I weren't compelled to remain here, asskipper of this craft, I'd go with you like a shot. How aboutMacquare?"
"He'd jump at it, sir; only a similar objection holds. As anexecutive officer he cannot well be spared. Might I take Chalmers?"
"By all means, providing he is willing," agreed theLieutenant-Commander. "You'd have to introduce him, I take it, as aBritish sympathizer and delegate. All right; speak to him, and makeyour own arrangements."
The petty officer accepted the invitation with alacrity, even beforeFordyce explained what was required of him.
"It's quite all jonnick, sir," he declared when the Sub outlined hisplan. "If needs be I'd trot along rigged up as a chimpanzee or aHottentot. And if there's a chance of a scrap, I'm on it."
"I don't think there will be, Chalmers," replied the Sub. "Tact anddiscretion are what is required."
So it was arranged that Fordyce should go as the mouthpiece of thesupposed delegate. On the supposition that Klostivitch knew nothingof the English language, there would then be very little chance ofthe redoubtable petty officer "giving himself away".
The two adventurers journeyed to Petrograd in a Russian steamer thatran regularly between Cronstadt and the capital. With them wentNaval-Lieutenant Rodsky, who, his present task completed, was on hisway to report at the Flying School.
The Russian was openly despondent at the state of affairs in hiscountry. Like thousands, perhaps millions, of his countrymen, hedeeply regretted the revolution, and longed for the return of theLittle Father from his exile in far-off Tobolsk. While admitting thatthere were grave defects in the administration of his country underthe rule of the Tsar, he realized that then Russia was a nation. Nowit was but a heterogeneous collection of undeveloped races, looselyheld by a corrupt, quarrelsome, and incapable body ofself-constituted rulers, and fast slipping into the gulf of utterruin.
Having delivered his dispatch, Fordyce was able to obtain quartersfor himself and Chalmers at the home of a British resident. In asense it was fortunate that the hitherto elaborate police system ofespionage had been swept away, and consequently the two men had nodifficulty in obtaining civilian clothes. Fordyce would have liked tohave brought his faithful dog, but in this matter he had beenoverruled by his sense of caution. A visitor from England would notgo to the trouble and expense of bringing a dog with him. So Flirtwas left on board under the care of the ship's company in general,and Able Seaman Cassidy in particular.
No. 19 Bobbinsky Prospekt was a three-storied stone house in theVassili Ostroff quarter of the capital. Adjoining it on the left wasa slightly lower building. On the right a frozen stream separated itfrom a shop, the shuttered windows of which were riddled withbullet-holes. Electric trams were running along the Prospekt, eachcar carrying a machine-gun and a crew of Red Republican guards. Ateither end of the roadway were evidences of recent street fighting,for the hastily-
constructed barricades were still partly inexistence.
"Now for it, Chalmers!" exclaimed Fordyce, as he knocked boldly withthe rusty iron knocker.