CHAPTER XI.
CONCERNING CAPTAIN RESTRONGUET'S RIVAL.
It was broad daylight when Arnold Hythe awoke. He was surprised to findthe "Aphrodite" lifting to the heave of the open sea, and the sunlightpouring in through a small circular scuttle above his bunk. Hastilyspringing out of bed he looked out. As far as his limited visionextended he could see nothing but blue water--a sure sign that thesubmarine was far from land. Judging by the apparent motion of thewaves the "Aphrodite" was running at a bare ten knots--possibly less.And a few hours previously she had been lying motionless on the bed ofthe River Tamar.
Slung to the beams overhead was a metal bath, of a similar pattern tothose supplied for officers' use in the Royal Navy, while in thebulkhead were two taps marked "hot" and "cold." On a chair by his bunkwere his clothes, brushed and folded, while quite a large stock of newunder-garments were lying on a folding table.
Hythe always prided himself upon being a sound sleeper, yet able toarouse at the slightest sound, but for once at least his faith in hiscapabilities received a rude shock. Some one had certainly enteredwhilst he slept, and also the "Aphrodite" had made a lengthy tripwithout his being aware of it.
The astonished young officer quickly tubbed and dressed. Then itoccurred to him that he had not shaved. Lying on the dressing-table wasa safety razor, also brand-new. Evidently his host had left nothingundone to contribute to the comfort of his guest.
His toilet completed Hythe stepped out into the alley-way. At thefore-end, and hitherto unnoticed by him, was a hatchway. It was nowopen and a ladder had been shipped under it.
An appetizing odour came from the captain's cabin. It made the sub feelhungry; but curiosity conquered, and he made his way on deck, or onPlatform Number One as Captain Restronguet preferred to call it.
Hythe found himself on a flat deck nearly two hundred feet in length,and unbroken save for the low coamings of three hatchways and the foreand aft conning-towers. Metal stanchions and rails had been placed inposition round the sides to prevent anyone from slipping overboard. Asthe sub looked down on the deck he noticed that, like the sides, itreflected his own image and those of other persons and objects on deck,but there was no dazzling glare from the sun that was now high in theheavens.
Clustered for'ard between the bows and the foremost conning-tower werenearly every member of the crew: twenty-five stalwart men all dressed inplain but serviceable rig. Pacing up and down between the twoconning-towers were Mr. Devoran and some one whom Hythe had notpreviously seen--the Second Officer Kenwyn.
As they turned at the end of their promenade the two men caught sight ofthe sub.
"Good morning, Mr. Hythe," said the chief mate genially. "Quite a fineday after our sample of the English climate, eh? By the by, I don'tthink you know Kenwyn, our second officer? He only rejoined lastnight."
The three engaged in conversation of general interest for a few minutes,then Mr. Devoran asked Hythe if he had seen the captain that morning.
"Not yet," replied the sub. "I came straight on deck. It was asurprise to find myself at sea. Where are we?"
"Nearly twenty miles S.W. of Ushant," replied the chief mate. "We shallbe cruising about here for a few days, as we expect to fall in with acertain vessel. We have left English waters for a time, at all events,but you need not worry about that, for the captain informed me that hereceived a reply to his note at four this morning. You are officially'lent' to the 'Aphrodite' until further orders. But breakfast is ready,and Captain Restronguet will explain matters more fully."
The captain greeted Hythe with great affability, and both thoroughlyhungry did justice to a good breakfast. Very little was said, and whenthe meal was over Captain Restronguet left the sub to his own deviceswhile he made the customary rounds of the vessel under his command.
Accordingly Hythe went on deck once more. The "Aphrodite" was slowlyforging ahead at a bare five knots, her course being N.N.W 1/4 W. Thatmeant although not actually retracing her course she was heading at anacute angle to it. It was a sort of "wash-and-mend clothes day," afunction resembling the time-honoured custom of keeping Thursdayafternoon on board the ships of His Majesty's Navy.
The French coast was still invisible, but less than five miles off thesky line was broken by curiously cut tanned sails of the Concarneaufishing fleet. Away to the north-west a huge liner, looking withoutmasts and funnels more like an exaggerated Noah's Ark than anythingelse, was pelting through the water at a modest thirty-three knots.Perhaps had her officer of the watch chanced to direct his telescope inthe direction of the "Aphrodite" he would at once conclude that he hadsighted the sea serpent, for, owing to the invisible hue of her hullonly the seated figures of the men on deck would come within the fieldof vision.
The submarine was floating fairly high out of the water. More than halfof her ballast tanks had been "started," and consequently there wassufficient freeboard to allow the side scuttles to be opened. Withconsiderable buoyancy she rolled a good deal, but with a true-bornsailor's delight Hythe revelled in the motion.
At noon Captain Restronguet appeared on deck. Kenwyn had just "shot thesun" and was working out the vessel's position.
"It's about time she was here, Devoran," remarked the captain. "Thatis, if the report is authentic. Has the submarine detector given nowarning?"
"No, sir, I've stationed Polglaze by it, and he won't be caught napping.She couldn't have passed before we arrived, sir?"
"I made due allowances, giving her ten knots above her estimated speed.But we must exercise patience. Ah! Mr. Hythe, no doubt you arewondering why we are dodging about here instead of playing harmlesslittle tricks upon His Britannic Majesty's ships and navalestablishments? Well, I think I ought to give you some explanation, soif you will kindly step below we can talk without interruption."
"By the by," continued Captain Restronguet, as the two men made theirway to the cabin, "you asked me how the 'Aphrodite' is manoeuvred tobring her to the surface and vice versa. We have three distinctmethods. The first is by means of horizontal rudders, there being apair at both bow and stern; the second is by means of expelling waterballast, which is all very well so long as the ejecting pumps workproperly. Hitherto we have had no trouble in this direction, but it iswell to be prepared. Consequently we employ a third method--one for usein emergencies only. I make no secret of the fact that I borrowed theidea from the French. I prefer to be original, but at the same time inthe interests of my crew I do not hesitate to adopt well-establisheddevices. To each of the three sections of this vessel is fixed adetachable iron keel. The bolts are secured on the keelson by a singleyet effective looking device. One thrust of a lever and a section ofthis keel is dropped. Should a compartment be half full of water thereis sufficient buoyancy gained by the release of this dead-weight to liftthe vessel to the surface."
"Isn't there a chance of the 'Aphrodite' buckling her plates in a heavysea with that dead-weight split into three separate sections?" askedHythe.
"As far as the 'Aphrodite' is concerned there are no heavy seas,"replied his host. "At the first suspicion of bad weather we dive toeight fathoms, or more if necessary. Since, even in mid-Atlantic thewaves rarely exceed forty feet in height, and the depth maintained bythe submarine is regulated by the vertical height of water over her,there is nothing to be feared as far as the 'hogging' and 'sagging'stresses are concerned."
At Captain Restronguet's invitation the sub threw himself into an easychair. He was eager to hear everything about this mysterious man andhis marvellous vessel, and the fact that the Admiralty had given aformal consent for him to remain on board as an official observerrelieved him of all anxiety.
"You may have noticed," said Captain Restronguet, "that I hinted that Ihad had a quarrel with the Admiralty. First let me tell you my realname is not Restronguet. What it is is outside the question."
"The name is French, I believe?"
"No, Cornish. Had you been well acqu
ainted with the district aroundFalmouth you would have recognized the names of Restronguet, Kenwyn,Devoran and the rest of my crew as those of places in what I considerthe foremost county in England. Of course that is a matter of opinion,but that opinion is shared by every Cornishman.
"Some years back my father owned several copper mines, or wheals as wecall them, in the neighbourhood of Redruth, and as, in time, I wouldhave control of them, had articled me to an electrical engineer in orderthat I might get an insight into that branch before I took over themining supervision. Hardly was my apprenticeship complete when thewheals failed and my father was a ruined man. He died shortlyafterwards and I was thrown utterly on my own resources, and although Iwas very sore about it at the time I have since realized that misfortuneis often the purifying fire of a man's strength of mind.
"Just about that time the South African War broke out. I volunteeredfor the front, and was accepted. There I saw enough of war--althoughsupposed to be conducted under the most humane principles--to make mehate it. You may look astonished, Mr. Hythe, but I mean what I say. Warmight be a necessary evil, but all the same it must be avoided ifpossible. You do not know how thankful I am that the present crisisbetween Great Britain and Germany is over. It may sound paradoxical,but with this powerful instrument of destruction under my control I hopeto be a deterrent to any Power that attempts to dispute the supremacy ofthe sea with the country that is mine by birth.
"But to proceed. On my return to England I was down on my luck, and asa final resource I joined the electrical department of DevonportDockyard as a fitter. It was not long before I saw that there waslittle chance of bettering myself. I had ability and energy, but noinfluence. Profiting by the experience gained in my apprenticeship Idevised an improved method of electrical welding. It saved hundreds,possibly thousands of pounds, and I was rewarded with a paltry bonus offorty shillings.
"Needless to say I was very sick about it. Then an opportunity came.The copper boom revived the Cornish mining industry. The 'wheals' thatmy father had left me became prosperous, and I was able to throw up myemployment with an unsympathetic State Employer. Arguing that a wave offailure might once more return over the mining industry I sold thoseunder my control to a Company; took all my best workmen and one or twoof my special friends--Devoran and Kenwyn amongst them--and bought aconcession in the Island of Sumatra.
"Sumatra is a Dutch colony, as you doubtless know. The Dutch officialslack the energy of their fellow-countrymen at home and the consequenceis that the whole of the Dutch East Indies stagnates. For years pastthe Germans have had an eye on those islands, but my belief is thatJapan will be the future master of them. Possibly that accounts fornumbers of Germans who settle in Sumatra and Java.
"Personally I rather like the German, when free from the excessiveofficialdom that pervades in the German Empire. They are goodcolonists, hard-working and law-abiding, in every foreign possessionsave their own, for in the latter the blighting effect of thebe-uniformed official is fatal to individual success. We got on verywell with our neighbours on the adjoining concessions, with oneexception. That exception was a German named Karl von Harburg."
Captain Restronguet paused as if he feared that the growing excitabilitywould overmaster him. He was evidently labouring under a strongrecollection of bygone insults. Hythe had the sense to keep silence, herealized that the listener is the one who hears most.
"But before I say anything more about Karl von Harburg," continued theCaptain, "I must mention another incident. The concession I hadacquired paid beyond all expectations, for not only were copper and tinfound in abundance but also gold. We were all rich men. Some of myworkmen went back to Redruth; others, having no home ties, and likingthe free open life, stayed on. Since I was naturally fond of electricalengineering and the allied sciences, I spent a great deal of my timeexperimenting. One day, almost by accident, I discovered an alloy--aslight as aluminium, absolutely showing no traces of corrosion whenexposed to the action of salt water, as proof against acids as puregold, and possessing the strength and resilience of steel. It was alsoas non-porous as a metal can possibly be. Under pressure that wouldcause water to 'weep' through a steel vessel, a cylinder made of thismetal showed no sign of moisture. I realized that I had made adiscovery that would prove of inestimable value in the construction ofair-ships, and as at that time the Admiralty were 'tied up in knots'over the utter failure of the naval airship 'Mayfly,' I sent a sheet ofthe metal to a trusted agent in London with instructions to submit it toMy Lords.
"Believe me from that day to this, beyond a curt acknowledgment and abald statement that the subject was under consideration, I have heardnothing further of the matter. I was angry--disgusted because thepowers that be had bluntly shut their eyes to an actual discovery thatwould give Great Britain the command of the air.
"Since airmanship did not appeal to me I resolved to make use of mydiscovery in another direction. By further experiments I found that mymetal 'Restronium,' I have been ambitious enough to call it, could bemade capable of absorbing bright light, yet at close distance would actas a reflector. The result was that I devised a submarine, steel-clad,and cased with restronium. It was constructed by native workmen underthe supervision of my comrades and myself.
"The craft was a success. It prompted me to attempt another on a moreambitious scale, but ere it was completed Karl von Harburg appeared onthe scene.
"This fellow is as crafty as a rogue can possibly be. By his Germanco-colonists he was cordially hated. He had ability but was lazy. Hisfactory did not do so well as the others; instead of working harder hesulked. In the Fatherland he had once held a high diplomatic position.He it was who a few years back tried to force a quarrel upon Holland inorder that a pretext might be found for Germany to acquire a longercoast-line on the shores of the North Sea. He failed, and since failureis not tolerated in Teutonic diplomatic circles, he was disgraced. Hecame to Sumatra, ostensibly with the idea of working a concession, butin reality looking for an opportunity of recovering his lost prestige bysmoothing the way for a German annexation of the Dutch East Indies.Again he failed--how and why I need not now mention; but rightly orwrongly he formed the idea that I had a say in the matter.
"He had his revenge. He stole the secret of my new alloy. He obtainedpossession of the plans of my latest submarine, the 'Aphrodite,' and sethimself to build a vessel that would be more powerful than mine. But hehad not mastered one important idea--the secret of the defensive andoffensive powers of my vessel.
"It was a case of war to the knife. His idea was to take hissubmarine--the 'Vorwartz' he named her--into British waters anddeliberately do as much destruction to British ships of war andmerchantmen as he possibly could; this with the idea of giving theFatherland an advantage in the coming naval war that has been so longanticipated and which has not yet, thank God, caused untold misery anddisaster to two nations who could be rivals yet friends.
"That is where I stepped in. I sent word and told the fellow plainlythat the 'Aphrodite' was also bound for British waters, and that I wouldtake the first opportunity of smashing up the 'Vorwartz' should onehostile act be committed against British property. That frightened him,for at heart he is a coward. Accordingly Karl von Harburg, knowing thatthe 'Aphrodite' had left for the Atlantic, concocted a truly diabolicalplot. He deliberately navigated his 'Vorwartz' to German waters andcommitted outrages against his own country."
"Whatever for?" asked the Sub. "It is inconceivable."
"To a Briton, yes!" assented Captain Restronguet. "But Karl von Harburghad no compunction. He had a spite against his Government, he had agrudge against me; and whatever the issue he had nothing to lose bybeing the means of a terrible conflict between Great Britain andGermany. Thus he impersonated me, and by committing these outrages uponthe German fleet and harbours he very nearly provoked the war he wishedto engineer.
"It was time for me to dissociate myself with the authorship of theseacts of piracy. Although I have regi
stered a solemn oath never to handmy 'Aphrodite' over to the British Government (yet there are times whenI feel tempted to perjure myself) I am still an Englishman. Should theEmpire require my aid I for my part will do my best. And thus, havingsucceeded in demonstrating that I could not possibly be responsible forthe work of destruction at Wilhelmshaven, Kiel, and elsewhere, I mean tolay in wait for the 'Vorwartz' and destroy her as ruthlessly as I woulda venomous reptile. For this purpose, Mr. Hythe, is the 'Aphrodite' nowcruising off Cape Ushant, for according to fairly reliable informationthe 'Vorwartz,' with Karl von Harburg on board, has passed through thestraits of Dover bound west."