CHAPTER XVI
CARDYKE TO THE RESCUE
THE collision with the iceberg had, as Fielding anticipated,completely unnerved the Dago crew. Even Juan Cervillo realised thatthere were great difficulties and perils in his path that were asformidable as the retributive warships he had hitherto escaped. Asthe _Independencia_ steamed off on her aimless course the Spanishcaptain contrived to induce some of the engineers to go below andshut off steam, and, gradually losing way, the cruiser came to astandstill. Cervillo would wait till the fog lifted rather than riskanother collision. It might be for days, but there were enoughprovisions and water to last for nearly a month.
As soon as the vessel had slowed down an examination of the damagecaused by the collision was made. The principal injury was to thebows, where the massive steel plating had been fractured and buckledfor a distance of twenty feet from the stem. The whole of thefore-peak was flooded; but the inrush of water was prevented frommaking its way aft by the water-tight bulkheads. Even the foremost ofthese was strained to such an extent that the doors let in aconsiderable quantity of water. As the cruiser slipped off the bergthe torrent of ice-laden sea that broke over her decks literallyswept everything removable as far as the base of the after tripodmast, while of the boats taken from the _Steephill Castle_ only threeremained. The aftermost funnel, struck by a huge fragment of ice, hadbeen carried away, leaving a jagged ridge of steel projecting five orsix feet above the casings. This accounted for the loss of ten of thecrew; another thirty or forty had been swept away when the_Independencia_ had dipped beneath the waves, while several more wereseverely injured by the first concussion and the subsequent violentmotion of the stricken craft.
No wonder, then, that Juan Cervillo was almost at his wits' end. Herealised that he had made a mistake in seeking refuge in northernwaters. The irresistible craving to increase the amount of his booty,instead of retiring to a South American port with the proceeds of hissuccessful captures, had caused his present plight. In a partiallycrippled ship, incapable of making more than ten knots, and separatedfrom his ultimate port of refuge by thousands of miles of carefullypatrolled ocean, his position was hazardous in the extreme. Furthercaptures by the _Independencia_ were almost impossible, since theusual speed of tramp steamers considerably exceeded that of thedamaged cruiser.
In the midst of these calamities Cervillo's thoughts were not for thesafety of his rascally crew, but how he could effect his own escapewith the riches that the pirates had so unlawfully acquired. Thequestion of fellow-feeling for his comrades in distress troubled himnot one moment; they could shift for themselves as best they might,provided he was safely off the disabled ship with the booty. Howcould this be done? he asked himself. It was more than the task of asingle man; but did the crew know of his plans his life would not beworth a moment's purchase. Plan after plan flashed across his mind,only to be condemned as impracticable, till his cunning brain evolveda scheme that seemed capable of being put into execution.
"Da Silva," he exclaimed, addressing one of his officers, a Spaniardlike himself. "I want to speak to you in my cabin."
Side by side the two men walked aft till they reached the afterhatchway. It was closed, the bo'sun, in anticipation of bad weather,having given orders for this to be done. In obedience to a hail adozen seamen came running through the fog-laden atmosphere, andtackles were rove to the heavy steel plates covering the means ofcommunicating with the half-deck and the officers' cabins.
Slowly the metal slab rose till there was a space of nearly threefeet between the lid and the coaming. One of the seamen slippedthrough with the intention of clearing away a chain slung on theunderside. As he did so a report rang out. The man clapped his handsto his head and toppled across the framework of the hatchway.Simultaneously the other seamen, alarmed at the noise, hurriedly letgo the tackles, and the hatch-cover fell back with a resoundingclang.
"_Caramba!_ The prisoners are loose!" exclaimed Cervillo.
By a prematurely fired shot all chances of "rushing" the pirates werethrown away. One of the Frenchmen, with the mercurial excitability ofhis race, seeing the pirate enter the hatch, had foolishly dischargedone chamber of his revolver. Before the men under Hiram B. Rutter'scommand could rush up the companion ladder the falling of thearmoured slab had rendered their attempt absolutely impossible.
"Hang it, man!" exclaimed Fielding, who had hastened to the base ofthe after ladder on hearing the shot and the clang of the cover."We've made a hopeless mess of things this time."
Recriminations would have been a mere waste of time. Fielding blamedno one. He knew, however, that an attempt to storm the quarter-deckwhen the hatch was again removed would be useless, as the pirateswould by that time have taken elaborate precautions. As a matter offact Cervillo had ordered twenty armed men to come aft, while aquick-firing gun was temporarily mounted so that its muzzle gapedmenacingly over the aperture leading to the half-deck.
"Yes, Mr. Rutter," continued the sub. "We must sit tight. They can'tvery well turn us out, neither can we turn them out, so we must makeourselves comfortable as best we can. Luckily our quarters are not socramped as hitherto, and our circle of acquaintances has widenedconsiderably."
"That's about right, I guess," agreed the American. "We've only tokeep our eyes skinned and allow no low-down pirate to get down here,and I reckon we'll come out on top."
Accordingly ten men were stationed at each ladder, ready to pour in adestructive fire should the crew of the cruiser attempt to descendfrom the quarter-deck. This done, the rest of the involuntary guestswere sent to explore the steerage and orlop-decks.
In the captain's and officers' cabins the electric light was still inworking order, although in the quarters previously occupied by thehostages lamps and candles were the only means of artificialillumination allowed. There was enough good fare to allow all the newmasters of the after part of the ship to partake of a sumptuous meal,which, after the meagre fare they had been compelled to subsist upon,was appreciated with great gusto.
"I wonder how Cervillo will get on without the use of his cabin?"asked Cardyke.
"He can jolly well go on short commons, as we had to do," growledFielding. "Finished, Cardyke? Good! Now cut below, take Hardy withyou, and make an examination of the bread-room, and the compartmentsin the flats. Be sure to find out whether there is any fresh water.Either the wardroom pump is out of order or the supply is gettinglow."
Accompanied by the faithful coxswain the mid. descended the severalflights of iron ladders till he reached the flats. An examination ofthe fresh-water tank showed that there was barely enough to last overanother day. The bread and spirit rooms were comparatively wellstocked.
"We'll do the rascals out of their grog, sir, if we don't do anythingmore," observed Hardy, pointing to the open spirit-room.
"They've plenty for'ard, I don't doubt," replied Cardyke. "Thosefellows don't follow service routine. They've most likely a pannikinof rum at their fingers' ends or a few puncheons of wine readybroached. But what's in this place, I wonder?"
The mid. pointed to a store-room adjoining the after submergedtorpedo compartment, which, unlike the spirit-room, was securelypadlocked.
"Can't say, sir," replied Hardy. "Used to be the store for warheadsof torpedoes; but they can't very well have got hold of any o' they."
"We'll jolly soon find out," asserted Cardyke. "It's something ofimportance, for there's been a sentry stationed here; look at thecigarette-ends. He must have bolted up on deck at the time of thecollision."
"Then he won't return to his post just yet awhile," rejoined Hardy."D'ye want me to prise the door open, sir? I suppose there ain'tdynamite or stuff of that sort stowed away here?" And the coxswaindrew his revolver.
"Better be careful," said the mid., warningly. "Don't blow the lockoff. See if you can lay hold of a crowbar."
Hardy departed on his quest, and presently returned with a hack-saw.
"This'll do a mighty lot better'n a crowbar, sir," said he. "Wouldyou mind steadying the
padlock while I set to work?"
Five minutes sufficed to saw through the heavy brass framework, andCardyke threw open the door. Within the room were piles ofiron-clamped boxes, reaching almost to the ceiling. One or two hadbeen wrenched open, but it took the united efforts of the midshipmanand the burly coxswain to set one of the chests upon the floor. Itwas full of gold ingots.
"Lawks!" ejaculated Hardy, at a loss to say anything else, for thesight of untold wealth almost capsized his equilibrium.
"We've done the pirates very nicely," said Cardyke. "They'll be wildwith fury to think that we've recaptured the booty."
"Strikes me this is mighty queer. We can't hand the stuff back to itsrightful owners, sir; and the bloomin' pirates can't make use of itnow they've got it on board."
"There's one consolation--it's one in the eye for the rascals," addedthe mid. "I'll go and report matters to Mr. Fielding."
"Yes, it's some satisfaction to know we've scored," observed the sub.when Cardyke made his report. "Sooner than let the rascals lay theirhands on the stuff I'd have the whole lot pitched overboard. Butthat's a serious business, the shortage of water. I don't know whatwe can do."
"I have it," announced Cardyke. "There's plenty of ice floatingabout; we can get a lot of it on board, and melt it down."
"Don't quite see how," objected Fielding.
"The ship's not moving through the water. We can lower a bucket fromone of the ports in the captain's cabin. I don't think it willattract attention."
"Much more good this," interrupted General Oki, who had overheard theconversation. "Let man down by rope; pick up ice, and put in sack.Sack full above top in no time."
"A man would stand a good chance of being frozen to death in fiveminutes," objected the sub. "Besides, it would mean a bullet throughhis head if the pirates discovered what he was up to."
"Me speak to Mr. Hokosuka," said the general; and turning to hiscompatriot he explained the state of affairs.
"Hokosuka he go to-night," announced Oki. "Heap plenty of fresh watertomorrow."
The rest of the day passed without interruption. The fog showed nosigns of lifting, while at intervals came the thunderous crashes asthe icebergs in the vicinity of the cruiser toppled over or splitasunder. As Cardyke had said, there was plenty of fresh water in asolid form close at hand. Some of the fragments of ice were so largethat the noise they made as they scraped the ship's sides could bedistinctly heard.
Shortly after dark, for the sun did not set till half-past ten,Hokosuka was ready for his enterprise. The Jap had stripped off hisclothing and had smeared himself from head to foot with a mixture ofmineral oil and animal fat. This done, he reclothed himself in someold yet thick garments, so that he would be better able to withstandthe numbing effects of the water. Three large canvas sacks wereprepared ready to be lowered out of the port to the water's edge.These Hokosuka proposed to fill with lumps of ice before he washauled back to his comrades.
Noiselessly the deadlight covering the port was unscrewed; Hokosukafastened a rope round his waist, and was preparing to clamber throughthe port when he was struck in the face by a man's toes thatmysteriously appeared from without. Before he could recover from hisastonishment the owner of the toes slid feet foremost through theport, and to the surprise of all who recognised him, the wily Mukyimagravely saluted his compatriots and the two Englishmen.
The man had contrived to understand the position of affairs, and,taking advantage of his marvellous agility, dropped over the side,and crawling aft by means of the torpedo-net shelves, gained the openport. Luckily for him it was open, for all the other ports andscuttles were secured by deadlights. But what surprised Fielding andCardyke more than the feat the Jap had successfully performed was thematter-of-fact way in which the Japanese took the reunion. Hokosukawas astonished--not at seeing his friend once more, but by the suddenblow in the face. Beyond that there were no visible expressions ofwelcome or delight upon the visages of the unfathomable Asiatics.
Without further delay Hokosuka departed on his perilous errand. Infive minutes the first sack was hauled up. Another eight minutespassed before the second consignment arrived; then there was anominous delay.
"The man is frozen to death," exclaimed Fielding. "Haul away as fastas you can."
The sub., Cardyke, Rutter, and four or five more tugged at therope--it broke.
Thrusting his head out of the port Fielding tried to peer through thedarkness. No call for aid came from the surface of thenight-enshrouded sea. He placed his hand upon the rope holding thethird. It was heavy--far too heavy for a bag filled with ice only.
"He's hanging on to this rope," announced the sub. in a low tone."It's not stout enough to haul him up."
A hand touched his shoulder. He withdrew from the port-hole, and,turning, saw Cardyke, clad in a pilot-coat and with a rope made fastround his waist.
"I'll see what I can do," said the mid., quietly. "I'll take anotherlength of rope with me. There's no time to waste."
The next instant he had vanished. Scraping down the rusty-streakedgrey side of the ship, guiding his descent by means of the ropeattached to the weighted sack, Cardyke proceeded on his errand ofrescue. For full thirty feet he was lowered before he touched themouth of the ice-filled bag. By giving two tugs upon thesupplementary line the mid. signalled to his friends to stoplowering, and, fumbling with his hands, he strove to find the haplessJap. But still success did not reward his efforts. He realised thatthe piercing cold was beginning to make itself known in a mostunpleasant fashion. His hands were already numbed, the keenness ofthe air stung his face like repeated blows of a whip.
Three tugs--lower still. The mid.'s feet were in the water. Again hegroped. His fingers touched Hokosuka's grease-covered face. The mangave no sign of life. Perhaps he was already dead with exposure.Labouringly Cardyke passed the end of the second rope under the Jap'sshoulders, and with a painful effort succeeded in tying a runningknot. This done he tugged frantically at the rope. It was a lasteffort--the cold had completely paralysed his muscles.
Limply Cardyke was hauled up, and as willing hands assisted himthrough the port, he had barely strength to utter "Haul away on theother line" ere he fainted.
Half a minute later Hokosuka, bound to the third sack with thesevered portion of the rope by which he had been lowered, was draggedinto the cabin. Mukyima bent over him, and placed his hand on theunconscious man's heart. It still beat feebly.
While the Japanese were attending to their courageous comrade Rutterapproached.
"Can you come this way?" he asked, addressing Fielding. "I guessthey're trying to break in. The hatch-cover is all a-shake."