CHAPTER XXVIII
Rescued
"There's someone coming, sir!" whispered Chalmers, raising hisrevolver. "Stand by, sir!"
Both men waited in eager silence as the sound of bolts beingwithdrawn was borne to their ears.
A voice hailed in Russian. Fordyce lowered his pistol.
"It's all right, Chalmers," he said quietly, as Captain-LieutenantOrloff entered the cellar.
"We have made a clean sweep of this little nest, Monsieur Fordyce!"declared the Russian. "Klostivitch will not trouble you or anyoneelse in the future, as far as this world is concerned. The other manyou mentioned is a prisoner. We also found a third--Platoff by name.Do you know anything of him?"
No, Fordyce did not. He would have been considerably surprised if hehad known that Platoff was in Mindiggle's house at Otherport on thatmomentous day when the Sub strove to placate the irate victim ofFlirt's attack.
"It does not matter overmuch," continued Orloff. "The fellow askedfor trouble--and received it. He had to be knocked over the head,otherwise he would have strangled one of my men. Sovensky struck alittle too hard, and----"
The big Russian shrugged his shoulders. Fordyce understood.
"You are hungry?" asked Orloff. "Fortunately Comrade Klostivitch waswell provided against possible famine. One of my men will get youboth a meal, for it is a long, cold journey to Cronstadt. Meanwhile,if you will excuse me, I will make a search for incriminatingdocuments."
Fordyce and the petty officer made their way to the room in whichMindiggle had been arrested. The spy was no longer there, having beenremoved to another part of the house for safe custody. The Sub wasglad of that. Much as he had cause to detest the villain, he was notat all anxious to crow over his discomfiture.
Presently Orloff hurried into the room with a bundle of papers in hishands.
"Will you kindly read these, Monsieur Fordyce?" he asked. "They arein English, and, as you know, I am ignorant of the language of ourbrave allies. Glance through them hurriedly, please, for time is aconsideration."
The Sub took the documents. The first was seemingly of no importance,but the second gave a formula for the manufacture of nitro-talcite, arecipe for which the leading scientists of Great Britain had soughtin vain.
Other papers gave details of the extremist movement in London andelsewhere, including the names of several Russian residents withinthe limits of the British Isles.
"Take charge of these documents," continued Orloff. "They will besafer on a British submarine than in my possession, or even if theywere left at your embassy. Now, are you ready, Monsieur? It is timeto evacuate our position."
Through the still-silent streets the rescuing-party made their way,two of the seamen labouring under the weight of what appeared to be awell-filled sack carried between two poles. At the quay the tolerantsentry was rewarded according to previous agreement, and, shouting atipsy farewell, he permitted his "comrades of the navy" to embarkwith their burden of "fresh beef".
It was now beginning to snow heavily. The bizarre towers of the KazanCathedral and the battlements of the fortress of Peter and Paul wereinvisible in the drifting flakes. Even the opposite bank of the Nevawas fast being blotted into a state of unrecognizability.
"Do you think that we can manage it, my children?" asked Orloof, asthe men took to their oars.
"Certainly, Excellency," was the chorused reply that evidenced nodoubt as to the ability of the hardy Russian seamen to find their wayacross the bleak expanse of water.
Steering the boat on a compass course, Orloff devoted his wholeattention to his task. The men relapsed into silence, pulling withsteady strokes. Fordyce, glad of the comfort of a boat-cloak, was tooelated at his release and the prospect of finding himself once moreon board R19 to feel the biting cold. Occasionally the sack-enclosedbundle lying in the stern-sheet grating writhed and kicked, butlittle attention was paid to the unhappy captive.
Suddenly the falling snow was tinted a vivid orange hue, while thesky in the direction of the city was rent with lurid light. Then camean ear-splitting roar, while the ice-encumbered waters rose and fellunder the influence of a powerful displacement of air. Green seaspoured over both gunwales of the boat, and only the resourcefulnessof the helmsman kept the frail craft from foundering.
"We are indeed fortunate," exclaimed Orloff, when the angry tumult ofwater had subsided and the men set to work to bale out the cutter."All is not well with Petrograd, I fear."
The seamen hazarded various opinions as to the locality of theexplosion, but it was not until the following day that they heard thefacts of the case.
When Orloff pursued the luckless Klostivitch it must be rememberedthat he left the attic window open. In the room was stored a smallquantity of the powerful nitro-talcite, the temperature of the housebeing kept up by means of the central heating-stove. Upon the housebeing abandoned the neglected fires soon dwindled, while thetemperature of the attic fell so steadily that within half an hour ofthe time of leaving the house the nitro-talcite automaticallyexploded. Most of the buildings in the Bobbinsky Prospekt were blownto atoms and considerable damage done to the adjoining property; but,as "it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good", the Extremistleaders came to the conclusion that their energetic assistant,Vladimir Klostivitch, had perished by means of the explosive he hadmeant to employ against others.
For two more hours the cutter's crew pulled steadily. At intervalsthe braying of fog-horns and the shrill blast of sirens told themthat other water-borne traffic was under way; yet, without sightingany other craft, they held steadily on, following the edge of the icein the still-free Morskoi Canal.
Presently Captain-Lieutenant Orloff jerked the port-hand yoke-line.His keen eyes had discerned the outlines of the lighthouse on theeastern extremity of the island fortress.
It was now an easy matter for the cutter to pick her way past theline of anchored destroyers. Hailed she was repeatedly; but there wasno cause for alarm, since boats of the flotilla were constantlypassing.
Almost before Fordyce was aware of the fact the cutter was rubbingsides with R19, while leaning over the guard-rail of the submarinewere the Hon. Derek and Mr. Macquare.
"No, I will not stay, Monsieur le Capitan," replied Orloff in replyto Stockdale's invitation. "Later on, perhaps--who knows? Meanwhile,pray accept this gift. It is not the same as I intended to hand you,nevertheless it may be acceptable."
And he indicated the enshrouded figure of the spy, Mindiggle.
"Come aboard, sir," reported Fordyce as he made his way up the side.
"Quite about time, Mr. Fordyce," replied the Hon. Derek, grasping hissubordinate's hand. "Another hour and we should have left you behind.Confound it, what's that?"
"That" was Flirt. The delighted animal, hearing her master's voice,had escaped from below, and, nearly capsizing the astonishedLieutenant-Commander, had literally bounded into the Sub's arms.