CHAPTER XVII
TOUCH AND GO
SNATCHING up a revolver Fielding left the cabin and made his wayalong the half-deck till he reached the foremost ladder. Here werestanding nearly a dozen men ready to repel the threatened attack. TheAmerican had spoken truly. Already there was a strain upon thetackles, and the metal covering was just rising from the coamings.The pirates were evidently trying to uncover the hatchway withoutalarming their foes.
Jumping on the ladder Fielding waited till there was sufficient roomto thrust the muzzle of his revolver under the rising metal plate. Hefired, but whether the shot found a billet or otherwise he knew not,for the men hauling at the tackles instantly let go, and theponderous mass of metal fell with a clang. Simultaneously all theelectric light in the after part of the ship went out; the pirateshad cut the wiring. Lamps and candles were hastily procured, and asthere were plenty in the store-room there was no cause for economy inthis respect; while with the ice that Hokosuka had gathered almost atthe cost of his life there was sufficient water to last nearly afortnight.
Finding the partially liberated captives were on the alert thepirates desisted from making attempts upon the hatchway that night,and in consequence Fielding was able to divide his command into twowatches, one of which could turn in while the other stood by readyfor any emergency.
The pirate captain undoubtedly meant to attempt all artifices torecapture the prisoners solely on account of the bulk of the bootythat was stored on the orlop-deck. Were it not for that importantfactor Cervillo would not hesitate to seize the first vessel he cameacross, transfer the remainder of the booty and crew to her, andscuttle the _Independencia_, without thought of mercy towards the menwho had baulked him. But his greatest desire was to recover, bystratagem or force, the precious metal stored in the after part ofthe cruiser. Just before dark the voice of the pirate was heardspeaking to them.
"Se?or Englishman," he began. "We are in difficulty. The ship is indanger of sinking."
"Is she?" asked the sub. with well-affected surprise. He knewperfectly well that had the _Independencia_ really been on the pointof foundering the pirates would be in a panic.
"To save your lives, se?or, is the wish of me, Juan Cervillo. So ifyou come up we put you away in boats."
"I've no doubt you'd be most pleased to put us away," repliedFielding. "Where are your boats? Have you enough for the crew? And doyou think boats would stand much chance of being picked up in theseseas?"
"Me find a ship."
"Then we'll wait till you do, especially if the ship is a Britishcruiser."
"You refuse?"
"Absolutely."
"Den I pour petrol into cabins, and set fire. You dogs will burn todeath."
"Very considerate of you to provide us with heat in this coldatmosphere," replied Fielding, coolly. "Now, listen, Se?or Cervillo:you will not dare to use so much as a litre of petrol. I'll tell youwhy. We know that most of the gold you precious scoundrels havecollared lies on the orlop-deck."
Fielding paused to let his words sink in. Cervillo gasped with fury.He had vainly consoled himself that the treasure had escaped thenotice of the men whom he hoped to use to further his ends.
"And so," continued the young British officer, "we've made up ourminds that if you attempt any of your dirty, underhand tricks we willopen the cover of the submerged torpedo-tubes and sink the ship. Thenwhere will you be? And what good will the stolen treasure do you?"
"Se?or, I swear to you----"
"Don't waste your breath, you scoundrel!"
"Se?or, hear me. Give up the gold, and you will be on shore placed,with not one hair of your head----"
"Scalped, eh? Now look here, you rascal: At the first sign oftreachery down goes the _Independencia_ to the bottom of the sea."
Juan Cervillo, baulked, and powerless to gain his end, made his wayfor'ard to his temporary quarters, that, contrasting unfavourablywith his cabin, served to increase his discomfiture. During the restof that short night the pirate captain racked his brains to devisesome scheme to save himself and secure the treasure. He realised thatFielding and his associates held the whiphand. He knew enough ofEnglishmen in general to feel sure that the sub. would keep his word,and scuttle the ship should things go badly with them.
Day dawned, but still the fog held. The _Independencia_ was stillfloating idly on the ocean. All her boilers were allowed to cool downsave two. The reserve of oil fuel was running short, and only by thestrictest economy could another four hundred miles be got out of theship.
Like a caged tiger Juan Cervillo paced his limited quarters. TheEnglishman was the source of all the difficulty, he assured himselfagain and again. But for that obstacle that stood in his path, thevillain would make good his escape, and leave his companions ininfamy to their fate.
Yes, the first step was to regain possession of the bullion in theafter store-room. Then he could form his plans to get the stuffsafely ashore at the expense of his companions.
Presently Cervillo opened the door and looked out. The upper deck wasalmost deserted. Few of the crew could stand the numbing effects ofthe Arctic weather. Pacing up and down on the lee side of thequarter-deck was a muffled figure that Cervillo recognised as hisminion Da Silva. The pirate captain beckoned, and his lieutenanthastened towards him. Both men entered the cabin that Cervillo hadbeen obliged to occupy, and the door was shut and bolted.
"I've been striving to find a means of recapturing those insolentdogs," began Cervillo, jerking his thumb in the direction of theafter end of the ship. "_Caramba!_ It must be done! But how? Can yousuggest anything, Da Silva? You were ever a man of resource.
"We managed it before with chloroform," began the lieutenant.
"That will not do. They are too astute to be caught twice that way.No, Da Silva. They warned me that if I used my usual methods theywould scuttle the ship--and, think, the gold goes with it!"
"Will they dare do it--don't they value their lives?"
"I cannot take the risks. I would not give that much for the wholelot of them"--and Cervillo snapped his fingers contemptuously--"butthey have the wealth that is ours by right of conquest. They aredesperate men. If they should sink the ship what chance have we inour shattered boats in this fearful sea of fog and ice?"
"I would suggest that we bring forty or fifty men aft, and hold themready to open fire; warn our men first, so that no more panic maytake place--they were quite out of hand yesterday--then raise analarm that the ship is sinking, and every man is to save himself.Those Englishmen and their companions will bolt from below likestartled rabbits, and we can mow them down as soon as they are allclear of the hatchway."
"But if we fail?" asked Cervillo, dubiously. "If only one mansurvives and runs below again he would open the valves before wecould stop him."
"Then why not drop a charge of dynamite through the ventilator? Thedamage would be great, but not enough to sink the ship, and you wouldhave the whole crowd of them removed without any trouble at all. Wesettled thrice that number in the Plazza of Barcelona."
"No," replied the Spanish captain. "That also will not do. Could I besure of wiping out this nest of hornets with one blow I would nothesitate. But without doubt they would not be all close together.Some would be down in the after-hold. I should be greatly surprisedif that English officer has not given every man instructions as towhat is to be done should anything happen to him. It's the gold thatkeeps our hands behind our backs; but for that----"
"Then why not offer them a share of the gold, and a passage in thefirst ship we fall across? There are whalers to be met with in theseseas, I believe. The rest would be simple. Once you had them off theship there is no reason why you should abide by your promise--deadmen tell no tales." And Da Silva grinned sardonically.
Cervillo shook his head.
"These men seem different to others I have met," he remarked. "Theystoutly refuse to discuss terms. No, Da Silva, that will not do. Yourplan of raising a false alarm seems to be the most likely. As soon asthis accursed f
og lifts we'll try it. It is worth the risk."
"The fog is lifting now," said the lieutenant, opening the scuttleand looking out.
Da Silva spoke truly. The belt of fog was dispersing, and already thesea was visible for a distance of nearly four hundred yards--agreyish, sluggishly heaving expanse dotted here and there with massesof floating ice of various shapes and sizes.
"Then we'll make our preparations, Da Silva. Please warn the crewthat a false alarm is to be raised, and order them to muster aft withrifles and revolvers."
While the lieutenant was carrying out his chief's instructions JuanCervillo made his way to the fore-bridge. It was now sufficientlyclear to see a considerable distance. The _Independencia_ wasfloating idly in an almost circular basin of mountainous masses ofice, some of the jagged peaks rising four hundred feet or more in theair. Had she been steaming she would have rammed the floatingice-barrier again. The only way of escape was to turn and runsouthward, between the horns of the almost encircling field of ice.To Cervillo's heated imagination it seemed as if the surroundingbergs were already converging to imprison the partially crippledcruiser.
Apart from the peril the grandeur of the scene was almost beyonddescription. The sun, that even at midday was low in the heavens, wasstill hidden behind the pinnacles of the berg, its feeble raysgilding the minaret-like projections, and causing them to scintillategorgeous shafts of light. At frequent intervals masses of ice,slipping from the gradually melting mountain, would descend with arumble resembling thunder, crash into the sea amid a cauldron offoam, or splash into fragments against a lower projection on the faceof these stupendous precipices. A vessel coming within reach of theseTitanic missiles would be instantly pulverised.
Cervillo realised the danger. All thought of carrying out his plansfor the capture of Fielding and his companions must, for the timebeing, be set aside. The escape of the cruiser from the ice prisonthat threatened her must be the first consideration.
With great difficulty the engineers and stokers performed theirtasks, and at a leisurely five knots the _Independencia_ headed forthe open sea. Every now and again one of her propellers would driveits blades into a mass of ice, the jar sending a quiver through theship, till Cervillo, fearing that the two outside propellers might beirreparably damaged, ordered steam to be shut off from the cylindersactuating them, keeping the two inside "screws," which were partiallyprotected by a twin rudder, revolving at a comparatively low ratebarely sufficient to give the vessel steerage way.
Nearer and nearer the _Independencia_ approached the gap in thealmost encircling walls of ice--a channel less than a quarter of amile in width, and flanked by lofty, overhanging precipices. Itseemed from a distance that the gap was even less than it actuallywas, so high were the glacial cliffs on either hand.
Suddenly the cruiser struck; not violently, but sufficient to makethe fact known to all on board. Her forward part, drawing 7 ft. ofwater more than her normal draught owing to the flooding of her forecompartments, had struck a ridge of submerged ice.
This time there was hardly any panic amongst the polyglot crew. Themen were almost too apathetic to care for anything short of sudden,real danger. The engines were reversed, and almost without an effortthe _Independencia_ glided stern foremost off the reef. Soundingswere taken, revealing a depth of only eight fathoms. Then the truthbecame apparent.
The _Independencia_ was barely floating in a vast depression in theice-field. The Bergs were really part of one extensive sheet of ice,twenty, thirty, or perhaps even more miles in length, and less than adozen feet under her keel was a bed of ice possibly a thousand feetthick between her and the floor of the ocean.
It was indeed a strange freak of fortune that had guided the cruiserbetwixt those icy portals in the fog. Now came the question: Had thebed of the glacial lagoon risen and decreased the depth, and did abarrier of shallow water lie between her and the open sea?
Three times the cruiser essayed to pass the shoal, each time bumpingslightly. The fourth time, by keeping 300 yds. to starboard of thepoint where the vessel had touched the first time, Cervillo contrivedto clear the danger, only to be confronted by another; for so closewas the _Independencia_ to the berg that one tremendous mass of icefell within a hundred yards of her starboard side.
It was touch and go. On the one hand the risk of grounding badly onthe shoal of ice, on the other the danger of being smashed by thesudden fall of the overhanging face of the glistening mass ofcongealed water. But Cervillo kept his head, and standing by thequartermaster compelled him to steer as close to the cliffs aspossible, and after a quarter of an hour's suspense the_Independencia_ gained the open sea.
The ship was in a bad state, for she was leaking badly, the inrushbeing barely kept under control by the powerful centrifugal pumps.She was down by the head; her fuel was running short, and theprovisions, except those stored aft, were sufficient only for anotherten days. No wonder, then, that the pirate captain was anxious torecover the booty, and save himself as best he might.
AFTER A QUARTER OF AN HOUR'S SUSPENSE THE"INDEPENDENCIA" GAINED THE OPEN SEA. [_Page_ 210.]
Not until the cruiser had left the ice-field a good twenty milesastern did Juan Cervillo proceed to put into operation the plan thatDa Silva had suggested. The men detailed to form the firing-partywere ordered on the quarter-deck, but to the captain's surprise allthe seamen and many of the engine-room staff came tumbling aft, allarmed to the teeth.
"What is the meaning of this, men?" shouted Cervillo, as he faced themob of olive and black-featured seamen.
The question was almost unnecessary. He realised that it was a caseof mutiny.