The Stolen Cruiser

  CHAPTER VIII

  THE PERIL OF THE VOICE-TUBE

  FIELDING glanced significantly at his comrades. He was a young man,brave and resolute, and full of life; but the prospect of beingmangled in a steel tomb was enough to quail the stoutest heart.Cardyke was deadly pale. He, too, was willing to face ordinarydangers, but the threatened mode of extermination was too horrible tocontemplate. Hokosuka and Mukyima, who were ignorant of the nature ofthe threat, turned and asked General Oki to explain the pirateleader's words. The Japanese officer did so, but whether the threeAsiatics felt uneasy or otherwise their stolid features betrayed nosign of their emotions.

  Quite five minutes passed. The occupants of the conning-tower did notreply to Cervillo's demand, and the pirate captain began to showsigns of impatience.

  "Again I say--you vill surrender?"

  "No," replied the sub., resolutely. His confidence was beginning toreturn. Perhaps after all the Spaniard might be only bluffing.Cervillo, although he would not scruple to use the most deadlymeasures at his command to carry out his ends, quite realised thathis hostages were worth more to him alive than dead. He meant to makethem his tools to achieve his purpose.

  Finding threats were of no avail, he altered his tone and adopted aconciliatory attitude, but to all his advances the men at bay turneda deaf ear--they ignored him absolutely.

  Presently Fielding and Cardyke were somewhat astonished to hear anEnglish voice exclaim, "Don't shoot, sir. I've got to say a few wordswith you."

  In reply Fielding opened one of the lids to the observation-holes inthe conning-tower, and saw a broad-shouldered, black-browed man witha close torpedo beard that characterises the British tar who neglectsto shave. The fellow looked sheepish and thoroughly ashamed of hisposition.

  "Who are you?" demanded the sub.

  "I was a petty officer in the navy, sir."

  "Then you ought to be downright ashamed of yourself."

  "I ain't here to talk about myself," replied the man, sullenly. "Thecap'n wants me to explain, in a manner o' speakin', 'ow the landlies. We're out to make a bit, an' up to now we ain't done so badly.'Respect life' is our motto, an' you are doin' your level best tocapsize us. So come out an' lay down your arms. You'll be treateddecently so long as things go all shipshape. An' when the cruise isover, and we're paid off, you'll be set ashore safe an' sound."

  "You realise that your presence in the conning-tower somewhat upsetsyour arrangements?"

  "Not exactly," replied the man, with a cunning leer. "But, you see,it isn't 'conducive to efficiency,' as our 'first luff' aboard theold _Belleisle_ told me 'cause I wore the second 'L' on mycap-ribbon over my left eye, instead of over my nose. But that ain't'ere or there; so make the best of a bad job and don't give notrouble."

  "I'll give you trouble, my man, if ever I get you on board a King'sship," replied the sub., with asperity. "Tell that scoundrel of apirate that if he wants the conning-tower he'll have to turn usout--and he'll have a fine old job."

  With that Fielding reclosed the shutter and a tense silence fell uponboth parties, broken only by the hiss of the foam as thebattle-cruiser pounded against a head sea.

  Cervillo was furious. He knew that every moment was precious. By theaid of wireless not only were vengeful cruisers hastening in histrack, but the transatlantic liners, from whom he hoped to take aheavy toll, would be warned, and take precautions accordingly.

  A quarter of an hour elapsed, then Juan Cervillo's voice was heard.

  "Se?or Englishman!" he exclaimed.

  Fielding did not trouble to reply.

  "For your own sake, se?or, put your eye this way."

  Out of sheer curiosity the sub. raised the metal flap and looked out,then a muttered ejaculation brought Cardyke to one of the slits inthe wall of the conning-tower.

  Guarded by two armed seamen was Tom Hardy the coxswain. He wassecurely bound hand and foot, but so weak did he seem from theeffects of the blow he had received that this precaution seemedunnecessary. Cervillo, stepping a few paces in front of the crowd ofpirates, pointed to his prisoner in a manner that was diabolical inthe extreme.

  "Now, Englishmen, you vill come out an' surrendah, or we put your manober de side--say, walk ze plank. Yes, se?or, I mean as I say. JuanCervillo has spoken. One minute I give to decide, or----" And thevillain pointed meaningly over the side.

  "Think he'll do it?" asked Cardyke, anxiously. "Couldn't we preventhim?"

  "There is only one way, as far as I can see. To submit is out of thequestion. We can stay here till they starve us out, but by that timeI hope a cruiser will overhaul this floating nest of rascals."

  "What is the plan?" asked the mid.

  Fielding hurriedly unfolded his scheme, and Oki explained it to hiscompanions. The Japanese nodded significantly. There was no time tolose, for the minute was nearly up, and Fielding was practicallycertain that Cervillo would keep his word. The life of a lower-deckman was not worth considering as far as he was concerned.

  Revolver in hand, General Oki and Mukyima took their places at theslits nearest the entrance to the conning-tower. The sub. uttered thesharp subdued word "Now!" The next instant Fielding, Cardyke, andHokosuka darted from their place of shelter.

  Before Cervillo could recover from his astonishment he was floored bya well-directed blow from the athletic sub., who, stooping, graspedthe half-stunned pirate by the shoulders. Simultaneously the mid.caught hold of Cervillo's legs. Nor was the Japanese idle. With abound he reached the spot where Tom Hardy was standing between thetwo armed men. One fell by a sharp blow in the throat; the other,thrown completely over Hokosuka's shoulders, landed in the midst of acrowd of his comrades, scattering them right and left.

  BEFORE CERVILLO COULD RECOVER FROM HIS ASTONISHMENT HEWAS FLOORED BY THE ATHLETIC SUB. [_Page_ 98.]

  Taken aback, the pirates were either too dumbfounded to use theirpistols or else were afraid of hitting their leader. One or twoattempted a rush, but half-a-dozen shots from the conning-towerchecked all attempts at rescue.

  Within fifteen seconds from the time the sub. uttered the word "Now!"the three daring men were safe within the conning-tower once more,with Tom Hardy and the pirate captain to add to the number of thesteel citadel.

  "Now we can have a little understanding with Se?or Juan Cervillo,"exclaimed Fielding as he proceeded to secure the rascally Spaniardwith the bonds that had been removed from the coxswain's limbs. "Idon't fancy he'll be quite so keen about chucking lumps of dynamiteinto the conning-tower."

  Without, the pandemonium was redoubled. The British officers andtheir Japanese comrades paid scant attention to the noise. They hadscored heavily up to the present, and they realised the fact.

  "I begin to feel fairly peckish," remarked Cardyke, at length.

  "So we all do, I fancy, except perhaps this rascal. We've given himtwelve hours' start in the fasting competition, but I bet he'll bemighty hungry before we're done with him," said the sub., grimly."How about you, Hardy; did they feed you at all?"

  "At first, sir," replied the coxswain. "Then because I wouldn't joinup with them they tried to starve me into submission. If it hadn'tbeen for this crack across my figurehead I'd have taken on the wholemess with my fists and wiped the deck with the lot of them."

  "I believe you would, Hardy," remarked Cardyke, admiringly, for thecoxswain held the belt in the Inter-Port Boxing Competition. "Are youvery hungry?"

  "Only once afore like it in my life, as far as I can remember. Thatwas when I was in Haslar Hospital. Low diet the 'poultice-slappers'called it. Couldn't have been much lower. An' the bloke in the nextcot to me was being fed with chicken, an' 'ad port wine to drink."

  "We'll have to be chewing our belts soon," remarked the sub. "But Idon't know abort you fellows--I feel mighty tired."

  It was now about two bells--9 a.m. Beyond a party of men who had beenleft to watch the conning-tower, the rest of the pirates had takenthemselves off to their various duties or recreation
s--mostly thelatter. The _Independencia_ was still heading S.S.W. according to thecompass in the conning-tower. It was not one of the standardcompasses belonging to the ship--these had been removed prior tosale--but had been brought on board from the pseudo _SteephillCastle_. Since the cruiser had not been swung to adjust compasses itwas obvious that the course might be points out, since the deviationwas unknown.

  "We'll set watches, and the rest of us can have a snooze," continuedFielding. "We'll toss for it. I believe the rascals left a few coinsin my pocket, although they bagged my purse and my gold watch. Heregoes."

  The coin spun in the air. The mid., Oki, and Hokosuka found thattheirs was the first "watch below," while Fielding and Mukyima had tokeep the first two hours' watch. Owing to his condition Tom Hardy wasnot called upon for this duty.

  Utterly worn out, Cardyke and the two Japanese threw themselves onthe hard floor, and were soon sound asleep. The sub. and the general,too fatigued even to talk, stood with their backs against the steelwall, and their faces towards the entrance to the circular metalcompartment.

  The day was hot, and in spite of the ship's speed through the water,the air within the conning-tower was exceedingly sultry. Once ortwice Fielding found himself nodding, only to be aroused by thevigilant Oki.

  An hour went by. Even the Japanese watcher was becoming drowsy.Fielding's head fell forward. This time Oki did not rouse hiscompanion; and even when the sub. slid inertly to the ground theJapanese had not the energy to realise that anything was amiss. Hesaw, as in a vision, the Englishman drop--then utter oblivion.

  A quarter of an hour later a squad of men entered the conning-towerwithout opposition. Six of the occupants were secured, and, likelogs, were unceremoniously bundled into the open air, whilst Cervillowas carried upon the forebridge, where he soon recovered from hisstupor. The dauntless six, able to hold their own in fair fight, hadfallen victims to the insidious methods of their assailants. Forfumes of chloroform had been forced through one of the voice-tubesthat led into the conning-tower, and it had rendered the bravedefenders absolutely helpless.