CHAPTER XI
HOKOSUKA'S SLEIGHT-OF-HAND
AFTER leaving the French liner _L'?galit?_ helpless in the distance,the _Independencia_ steamed in a south-easterly direction till out ofsight; then altering helm, she plugged away at an easy eighteen knotsin the direction of the West Indies. Here Juan Cervillo knew that fora time he would be fairly safe. There were no British warshipscapable of doing him much damage, and amid the cays of the Bahamasthere was little chance of meeting with Uncle Sam's battleships orcruisers. On the other hand, he could rely on being able to interceptsome of the traders in and out of Galveston and New Orleans while, ifthings became too hot for him, there would be a more than possiblechance of slipping off to the coast of Venezuela or Columbia, wherethe ship could be run ashore, and her rascally crew, with theirill-gotten booty, could disperse.
Many plans were suggested by Fielding and his companions whereby theymight regain their liberty, but none seemed at present feasible.Whenever their meals were brought into the cabin armed men stoodwithout; while, in order to prevent a repetition of their escapethrough the scuttle, a sentry was stationed on the poop; orders toexamine the bar across the scuttle every hour were also given to apetty officer, who was lowered over the side in order that he mighttest the condition of the metalwork.
"Couldn't we signal in Morse, sir?" asked Cardyke: "We can easily rigup a shutter from the scuttle. It might attract the notice of somepassing vessel, and we could give her warning to clear out?"
"A good idea," replied the sub. "But unfortunately, unless the othervessel approaches without steaming lights, the probability is thatshe will be discovered long before we can call her up. Besides,unless a ship is well abeam, or on our starboard quarter, all thesignalling possible from this cabin won't be seen."
"Still, it will be something to do," continued the mid. "Something topass the time."
"Carry on, then," replied Fielding. "But I honestly think it won'thelp us much--or anyone else."
During the afternoon the two British officers dozed for a couple ofhours. As Fielding remarked, it was advisable to sleep all you can,for you never know when you might have to do without it. Besides, itcured the terrible _ennui_--the tedious waiting for something to turnup to break the deadly monotony.
Cardyke woke to find Hokosuka sitting on the floor, and carefullynursing a large revolver. There was a very faint suspicion ofsatisfaction in the Jap's eyes, but his immobile face gave no sign ofelation or otherwise. The mid. could not help wondering how the mangained possession of such a powerful weapon, and his curiosity urgedhim to appeal to General Oki.
"The English say they love the sea," observed the Jap. "Britannia,she rule waves with eel-spear. That what you say. Me thinkninety-nine of all one hundred Englishmen know how to love the sea bycome to sit on seaside and throw stones in water. That Englishholiday; but put ninety-nine Englishmen in boat they no know how tosail."
"That's quite true," thought Cardyke; "but what on earth has that todo with the question how Hokosuka got hold of that revolver? They aretrying to bamboozle me for some reason. I'll mention the matter toFielding when he wakes up. In the meantime I'll keep a watch on Mr.Hokosuka."
Accordingly the mid. turned on his bunk, and was soon to allappearances sound asleep, but out of the corners of his almost closedeyelids he followed the movements of the mysterious Japanese.
Hokosuka had removed the cartridges from the weapon, and wascarefully examining its mechanism. Placing the corner of his coatunder the hammer in order to deaden the sound, he tried the triggerin a most methodical fashion, so as to get the correct "pull." Then,replacing the cartridges, he handed the weapon over to hiscompatriot.
Oki took the revolver in his hand, and to all appearances itvanished. Cardyke could swear that from the time the general'sfingers closed over the butt his arm never moved, but where could abulky object like that go to?
Neither of the Japs seemed to treat the occurrence otherwise than asan ordinary transaction; one might have been handing the other acigarette-case. The mid.'s curiosity was increasing rapidly.
Having rid himself of the weapon, Hokosuka rose from the floor,crossed the cabin, and took his stand just below the scuttle. Therehe waited as motionless as a statue.
Presently the light that poured through the opening became obscured.The man detailed to attend to the iron bar was being lowered to makehis hourly examination. As far as Cardyke could see the pirate wasseated in a bos'un's chair, which was let down till the man'sshoulders were level with the scuttle. Steadying himself with hisleft hand, the seaman tried the bar with his right; then, satisfiedthat it had not been tampered with, he called to his comrades to haulup.
Instantly, with a rapid, gliding, noiseless motion, Hokosuka's lefthand shot through the aperture. When his arm was withdrawn the Japhad another revolver in his grasp. He had dexterously removed theweapon from the seaman's holster, as he had done to the man who hadpreviously been doing the duty.
Just then Fielding awoke. Oki pointed to the revolver that hiscompatriot held.
"By Jove!" exclaimed the sub., in astonishment. "However did you gethold of that?"
"We have two," replied Oki, calmly. "One you have, other we willkeep. Now put out of way--hide. Lil boy"--and to Cardyke's disgust heheard himself referred to in that strain--"lil boy, him ask where youget. I no tell; you no must tell. If he no know, then he no cantell."
HALF A DOZEN SEAMEN HEADED BY THE RENEGADE ENGLISHMANBURST INTO THE ROOM. [_Page_ 131.]
"I see," agreed Fielding. "But these rascals will ransack the placewhen they miss these revolvers."
"Let look everywhere," replied General Oki; "revolver all gone."
And Fielding's astonishment was no less than his junior's when theweapon seemed to disappear from sight.
Barely a quarter of an hour later the cabin door was thrown open, andhalf-a-dozen seamen, headed by the renegade Englishman, burst intothe room.
"No hanky-panky tricks, sir!" exclaimed the bo'sun. "You've sneaked acouple of revolvers. We missed one, and didn't know where it hadgone; but the fellow who was lowered over the side made sure he hadhis when he went down, and when he came up it had gone. And I sawthat his holster was fastened when he started. So no beating aboutthe bush. Hand them pistols over, and save yourself a sight oftrouble. You can't get the weather side of me, sir."
"I have no revolvers," replied Fielding. "I wish I had. I'd make sureof your losing the number of your mess."
"None of your cheek!" replied the man, fiercely. "Get over there."
Hustling the five occupants of the cabin into one corner the bo'sundirected his men to search the room, and soon all the scantyfurniture was turned over and over again, but without result. Thisdone the British officers, the coxswain, and the other two Japs weresubjected to a search, their coats being removed for that purpose.
"Confound it, we're on the wrong tack!" grumbled the pirate bo'sun.And, ordering his men to clear out, he went to make his report toJuan Cervillo that a systematic search convinced him that no weaponswere to be found in the prisoners' cabin.
Hokosuka waited to make sure that none of the unwelcome visitors werereturning, then produced a couple of revolvers and a largesheath-knife.
"Not same 'volvers," explained General Oki. "These toll. Hokosukamake pirates pay for coming here."
"Not the same revolvers?" asked Fielding, in astonishment. "Where arethe first two you had?" For it seemed incredible that after thesystematic search not only were the looked-for articles not found,but two more pistols, to say nothing of the sheath-knife, were addedto the defensive armoury of the occupants of the cabin.
"Me show you," replied the general, and turning to his compatriot hespoke a few words in his native tongue. Simultaneously both Japspulled up the legs of their trousers, and revealed the weapons withtheir muzzles stuck between their feet and their shoes, the chambersfitting into the hollow just behind their ankles.
"I'm hanged if I saw you put
yours there!" exclaimed the sub.
Oki merely shrugged his shoulders. He did not think it necessary toexplain how the trick was done; but like most Japanese, he was anadept at sleight-of-hand.
"Where are we making for, I wonder?" asked Cardyke.
"If we go on at this rate and in the same direction a week will findus in West Indian waters, unless I'm very much mistaken," repliedFielding. "It's a mystery to me why this ship hasn't been headed offand captured long ago."
"Long ago!" echoed the mid. "Why, it's only a matter of a few days!"
"Yes, yes, I know; but one would naturally think that with modernscientific instruments at one's command it would be an utterimpossibility to play hide and seek in the North Atlantic."
"Were you navy officer man in 1907?" asked General Oki, who, althoughhis English was somewhat quaint, could follow ordinary conversationwith comparative ease.
"In that year I was completing my last term at Dartmouth," repliedFielding.
"Then you have no heard of manoeuvres that year--how one Englishfleet sailed in North Sea for over sixty hour, looking for anotherEnglish fleet, and no can find?"
"By Jove! I believe I heard something of the kind," replied the sub."But you seem to know a lot about our naval matters, sir?"
"My business," replied Oki, calmly.
The British and the Japanese officers were entering into an animateddiscussion on the possibilities of wireless in war when they wereinterrupted by the crash of a quick-firer, followed by the slowingdown of the cruiser's engines.
There was a rush to the scuttle, but the field of visible horizon waslimited, and nothing could be seen that could give the reason for thedischarge of the gun. The firing from the cruiser and theslowing-down showed that the _Independencia_ had overhauled anothercraft and was not the pursued craft.
"It's another liner being nabbed!" exclaimed Cardyke.