CHAPTER XXII.
BESET BY SOMALIS.
"Take cover!" ordered Captain Restronguet calmly. "Down below, everyman."
The order was promptly obeyed, for several of the leaden messengers wereflying perilously close, some impingeing upon the metal sides andconning-towers, that offered a huge target.
"It is as well we afford those rascals something to fire at," hecontinued, as he entered the fore conning-tower and closed the scuttleson the starboard side. "Otherwise they would be firing into the rear ofthe position on shore. Serve out the rifles, Mr. Devoran. We mustdrive them off before we can attempt to land."
So saying the captain ordered full speed astern. For quite five minutesthe twin screws ran at their greatest rate, causing the hull to vibrateand the sea to be discoloured with mud and sand churned up by the actionof the propellers. Then, with a rasping sound, the "Aphrodite" glidedoff the bank and gained the slightly deeper water.
"Easy ahead!" This time the submarine was headed slightly to the leftof the spot where she had just stranded. Another dull shock told all onboard that once more she was held up, this time by her keel.
All the while bullets were flattening themselves against the submarine'splating, but in spite of the danger Hythe thought of something which heimmediately put into action. Grasping the lead line he gained the upperplatform, ran forward and made a cast. The lead touched bottom attwenty feet.
A bullet cut a gash through the sleeve of his coat, another grazed hisshoe, but grimly the sub stuck to his task. Gathering in the line hemade his way amidships and made another cast. Here the sounding gave tenfeet. He had learnt enough.
"We're nearly over the bar, sir," he exclaimed, as he rejoined hiscompanions in the fore conning-tower. "If we gave her full speed aheadI think she would do it. We're in quite deep water as far aft as theafter conning-tower."
Without a word in reply Captain Restronguet telegraphed for full speedahead. With barely ten seconds' hesitation the "Aphrodite" slipped overthe bar and started off up the creek at a great speed till the motorswere reversed. Losing way she brought up abreast of the sorry defencesheld by the shipwrecked crew.
"Here we are, then," exclaimed Captain Restronguet. "But how are wegoing to get out again? However, that problem can wait. All ready, Mr.Devoran?"
Under the fore hatchway every available man was waiting, armed withautomatic rifles. The field gun was dismounted, in order to facilitateits transport ashore, tackles being in readiness to hoist it on deck.Up the hatchway the men swarmed, and taking advantage of every bit ofcover afforded by the base of the conning-tower and other projections ondeck, opened a rapid, well-aimed fire upon the Somalis.
So intent were the Englishmen on shore with the work they had in handthat hitherto they had not noticed the arrival of the "Aphrodite," butwith the rattle of musketry so close to where they stood they could notfail to notice that help was at hand.
With a ringing cheer the shipwrecked men redoubled their fire, forhitherto they had been compelled, except when it became necessary torepel a rush, to husband their cartridge supply.
Soon the volleys from the submarine's deck became too much for theliking of the Somalis. The accurate fire bowled dozens of them over likerabbits, and the rest promptly bolted for the shelter of the sand-dunes,whence they began to work round to join their forces with their brethrenon the other side of the creek, where the chances of sending a score ofunbelievers to perdition were considerably greater.
Turning the "Aphrodite's" bows towards the shore Captain Restronguetordered easy ahead till her forefoot grounded on the stiff clay soilthat formed the banks of the creek. Polglaze and Mylor immediatelyjumped overboard, the water reaching almost to their chins, and walkedashore, dragging the end of a three-inch rope. This they fastened to abolt passed through a hole in the forefoot of one of the strandedvessel's boats, and the "Aphrodite" going astern pulled the ponderouswooden craft down the beach into the water.
As soon as it was brought alongside the field gun was placed into it insections. The gun's crew, under Hythe's orders, followed, and the boatwas hauled ashore by Polglaze and Mylor, who had taken the precaution tobend a rope to the painter.
Although lacking the dash that characterizes the British bluejacket, themen of the "Aphrodite" ably supported their young commander; and Hythewas surprised at the resolute bearing of the submarine's crewimmediately under his orders.
The moment the boat's keel touched the ground the brave fellows heavedthe heavy portion of the gun over the side and upon the beach. Intwenty-five seconds the wheels were placed upon the axles and thelynch-pins thrust home. The gun, its muzzle protected against damage bya piece of stout canvas, was raised in an almost vertical position bymeans of ropes and levers, while the carriage was backed close to theheavy steel cylinder. Then, with a crash, the gun was allowed to dropinto its proper place, and within a minute the quick-firer was"assembled" and ready for action.
Up the soft, sloping sand dunes the men raised the gun, Hythe himselfstaggering under the weight of a wooden case filled with projectiles.Wheeling, the men brought the muzzle of the powerful weapon to bear uponthe foe, and the first of the belt of shells was placed within thebreech-block.
The "Aphrodite's" landing party were only just in time. Already theSomalis, reinforced by those who had vainly attempted to stop theapproach of the submarine, were massing for a concentrated rush upon thehandful of men from the stranded merchant-vessel. Under a heavy fire ofMartini and other rifles--weapons discarded by various Governments andsold by unscrupulous tenders to the fierce and lawless Equatorialtribes--nearly two thousand spearmen were advancing stealthily, till, inspite of a steady fire maintained by the British seamen, the attackerswere within two hundred yards. Here they paused, then giving vent to aterrific roar of defiance, they broke into a headlong rush, brandishingtheir broad-bladed spears and leather shields in order to demoralize theunbelievers who had been rash enough to land on that inhospitable shore.
Hythe raised his hand. The gunner pressed home a small lever with histhumb. The belt of projectiles in the capacious maw of the automaticgun, grew shorter and shorter, while the steam from the water-jacketsoon outrivalled the haze from the smokeless powder.
It was no longer a fight: it was a massacre. The sub saw the Somalismown down as though with a scythe, till, unable in spite of theirfanatical bravery, to face the hail of death they fled, leaving theground thickly covered with dead and dying.
"Cease fire!" ordered Hythe; then, "Carry on. Search the bush away onthe right. There are hundreds of the enemy lurking there."
Round swept the muzzle of the gun; up went the sight to a thousandyards. "Pop, pop, pop," went the sharp detonation of the quick-firer,till half a dozen rounds had been fired. Then came an ominous silence.
"Carry on," repeated the sub in a loud voice. "I gave no orders to ceasefiring."
"Can't help it, sir," replied Polglaze, who was sitting across the trailand manipulating the firing-gear. "The blessed thing's jammed."
It was indeed fortunate that the mechanism had not gone wrong during theattack, but the danger was not yet over. It was imperative that theweapon should be rendered serviceable again before the rescued crewcould be taken off.
As soon as the Somalis withdrew beyond range the wearied men of thestranded vessel hastened to greet their new-comer, while the master, ashort, broad-shouldered, rubicund-visaged old salt, briefly explained toHythe the circumstances under which the vessel went ashore.
It came as no surprise to the sub to learn that the ship--thetwo-thousand ton Diesel engined tramp, "Iticaba"--had been chased by the"Vorwartz." Scorning to surrender, the sturdy skipper served out riflesand ordered his men to fire at the submarine as she rose to the surfaceto hail the "Iticaba" to heave-to. The bullets had no more effect thanpeas rattling on a corrugated iron roof, but Karl von Harburg lost notime in retiring to the security of the conning-tower.
The chase was a long one, and although the "Vorwartz," fired threetorpedoes only one hit the mark, exploding under the "Iticaba's"starboard quarter and destroying one of her twin propellers and bucklingthe rudder, while the steel plating of the hull was fracturedsufficiently to cause the vessel to be in a sinking condition.
Still the old skipper stood doggedly on the bridge, refusing tosurrender. His one hope was to run the ship ashore in shoal water wherethe submarine could not follow. Ordering every available pump to beworked to its utmost capacity the "old man" still found the leakgaining, and it was a question whether the "Iticaba" would or would notfounder in deep water.
Apparently the "Vorwartz" was unwilling to waste another torpedo on aship that was already doomed; and since her rascally crew could not hopeto gain any plunder from a foundering ship, the submarine sheered offand made way to the south'ard. Unmolested the "Iticaba" managed toreach the shore, and on striking was cast broadside on upon thebreakers.
Being unprovided with wireless, the stranded vessel could not call forassistance; nevertheless the skipper, trusting that the sound might beheard by passing ships, fired distress guns at the stipulated intervals.Loath to abandon his command he still held hopes that with the aid ofanother vessel and the rent of the hull temporarily patched up, the"Iticaba" might even yet be towed off and brought safely into port.
But the heavy ground-swell soon knocked this idea out of the skipper'shead. Serious leaks, apart from those caused by the torpedo, appeared,and in less than an hour from the time of stranding the forehold wasflooded. The first on-shore gale would complete the work ofdestruction, and as there were indications of the approach of badweather, the skipper reluctantly decided, on he representations of hischief officer, to give orders to abandon ship. Fortunately the"Iticaba," broadside on, afforded a breakwater for the boats under herlee, and after carefully provisioning and manning two whalers, a cutterand a gig, the crew pulled for the shore.
It was the skipper's intention to camp ashore till the forecasted stormhad blown itself out, and then to coast southwards to Mombassa orZanzibar; but the plan was foredoomed to failure.
A keen-eyed Somali, hearing the report of the distress signals, hadridden his fleet camel to the landward side of the sand dunes frontingthe shore. He could see that a ship was ashore, and that there was amost excellent opportunity for his fellow-tribesmen to enjoy thecongenial task of massacring a handful of unbelievers and pillagingtheir goods. He returned at full speed to the encampment, and sooneighty swarthy Somalis were ready for the shore.
With seamen's true contempt for danger the crew of the "Iticaba" hadneglected to make any preparations for defence against hostiletribesmen. They knew that they were cast ashore upon a district overwhich the Italians exercised something less then a nominal sway, andthat the Somalis were noted for their excesses upon any strangers whohad the misfortune to fall into their hands. Yet they sufferedthemselves to be surprised by eighty savages while they were stragglinginland to find brushwood to light a fire.
The crew paid dearly for their rashness. Four men fell under the keenbroad-bladed spears of the Somalis. The rest contrived to form up andopen fire; and finding that their self-imposed task had already cost thelives of twenty of the Faithful, the Somalis beat a retreat in order tosummon the neighbouring tribes to aid them.
From north, west and south the fanatical warriors assembled, till, withnumbers sufficient to overwhelm the handful of Englishmen, they advancedto the second attack.
Profiting by experience the crew of the "Iticaba" had meanwhileconstructed rough-and-ready defences. They realized that they werefairly trapped, for to attempt to put to sea in open boats with theprobability of encountering a gale would be sheer madness. On the otherhand it was possible that they might hold out against the attackers,until either the weather became fair or means of rescue were affordedthem.
"Well, the sooner we get you out of this mess the better," said Hythe,when the master of the "Iticaba" had concluded his narrative.
"Strikes me you are no better off than we are," remarked the oldskipper. "There's too much sea running on the bar for you to get out.What water d'ye draw?"
The sub told him.
"Suppose you are one of those new-fangled craft--all top-sides and nodraught in a manner o' speaking," remarked the "old man" bluntly.
"Well, hardly," replied Hythe smiling. "You see yonder vessel is thesubmarine 'Aphrodite,' of which you may have heard."
The master of the "Iticaba" looked at the sub for a few seconds, thenshrugging his shoulders he replied,
"Look here, sir, I'm grateful for your assistance, but Cap'n Nick Reesisn't a man to be bamboozled. I know for a fact that that cursed'Vorwartz' destroyed the 'Aphrodite' some days ago. I heard the newsfrom official sources while I was lying at Aden."
"News from official sources is apt to be misleading, Captain Rees. Itis in this case. That vessel is the submarine 'Aphrodite' and there isCaptain Restronguet standing abaft the after conning-tower. There is nodoubt but that he may be able and willing to afford accommodation foryou and your crew. The quarters will be somewhat cramped, I fear. Butas soon as we can get out of the creek it will not take us very long totow your boats to Mombassa or Zanzibar as you suggested. How are yougetting on, Polglaze?"
"A fair brute of a job, sir," replied the man, as, streaming withperspiration, he struggled with the refractory mechanism of the gun.
"It's lucky for us they have not persisted in the attack," observedHythe. "All the same, there's no time to be lost. Mylor and Gwennap,will you take the boat and row off to the 'Aphrodite.' Inform CaptainRestronguet of the state of affairs, and how the position will bedifficult to hold in the event of a night attack. Ask him if there isany objection to bringing off the survivors of the 'Iticaba'?"
While the two men were on their errand, and Polglaze, with two or threeassistants, was endeavouring to get the automatic gun into workingorder, the rest of the landing-party assisted the crew of the "Iticaba"to launch the ship's boats. Within an hour they were afloat and mooreda few feet from the bank of the creek, stern ropes and kedges havingbeen laid out so as to haul them off into deep water should it benecessary to embark in a hurry.
Presently the quartermaster and Gwennap returned with the order thatCaptain Restronguet wished the landing party and the rescued men toembark at once, as the wind was rising and there was a heavy swelltumbling in over the bar.
The crew of the "Iticaba" received the communication with mixedfeelings. They were glad to leave this inhospitable shore, but at thesame time they had grave misgivings as to whether they ought to trustthemselves on board a submarine. The majority of the men, althoughmembers of the Royal Naval Reserve, were blue water seamen, to whom astorm at sea had no perils providing they were at a safe distance from alee shore. They were sufficiently conservative in their ideas to regardwith obvious distrust the interior of a submarine as a haven of refuge.
"Are you going to dive, sir?" asked Captain Rees. "If so, I'd ratherstick it ashore and chance my luck; and most of my men would too, I'mthinking."
"Please yourself, then," replied the sub brusquely. "I wouldn't give arope's-end for your chances if you remain here. Now, then, Polglaze,hurry up. Limber up, there, we'll finish the repairs on board."
"Nearly finished, sir," answered Polglaze remonstratively.
"Can't help it. There'll be too much of a swell on the beach in aminute. Fall in, men."
Captain Rees glanced in the direction of the "Aphrodite," which wasmoored by a pair of stout chain cables, since her patent anchoringdevice was useless when afloat. He gave another look, this time at theslender mounds of sand that had been hastily heaped over the victims ofthe Somalis.
"Come along, men!" he exclaimed.
Quickly the landing-party and the crew of the "Iticaba" embarked.Polglaze, still lingering longingly over his array of spanners and otherarmourers' tools, accompanied the gun to the beach.
Just as the gun's crew were abo
ut to unmount the heavy weapon from itscarriage a blood-curdling roar of mingled yells and shouts burst from adense body of Somalis, who, observing the embarkation in progress, hadcrept up the remote side of the dunes, and barely a hundred yards fromthe shore.
Three of the seamen who had not yet embarked dropped on one knee, andusing their rifles, strove to check the furious rush. Others in theboats joined in the firing, while from the deck of the "Aphrodite" everyman left on board hastened to aid their comrades with well-aimedvolleys.
Coolly Polglaze attempted to adjust the small pieces of mechanismnecessary to make the automatic gun serviceable, while Gwennap stoodready to thrust the end of the ammunition belt into the breech-blockfeeder.
The next instant Polglaze dropped limply across the trail with abroad-bladed spear thrown at less than ten yards' distance sticking intohis body. Gwennap, using the butt-end of his rifle, stood over hiscomrade till, desperately fighting, he fell. The gun was surrounded bya swarm of blood-thirsty foes.
Seeing this the men who still remained ashore made a wild scramble forthe boats, and the fire in consequence slackened. Revolver in hand,Hythe called to them to make an effort to recover the gun. The call waspromptly obeyed, and a dozen men, comprising several of the "Iticaba's"crew, in addition to those of the "Aphrodite" jumped ashore, pouring ina hot fire as fast as they could handle the bolts of their magazinerifles.
Unable to withstand so concentrated a fire the horde of Somalis meltedaway. The gun stood alone with a score or more of corpses to beartestimony to the efficacy of the rifle-fire.
But there was no time to be lost. Already a swarm of the enemy, four orfive times as numerous as the crowd that had just been driven off, wereracing like furies to renew the conflict.
As soon as Hythe gained the place where the quick-firer stood herealized that it was impossible to remove it. Even in the shortinterval during which it had remained in the enemy's possession theSomalis had taken good care to sever and remove the drag ropes.
Calling to his men to carry off the bodies of Polglaze and Gwennap, thesub removed the breech mechanism, and staggering under the heavy weight,he followed his men to the boats, where, under a heavy but ill-aimedrifle fire from the Somalis, they pushed off towards the "Aphrodite."
Under the lee of the submarine the men boarded their haven of refuge.One glance sufficed to show that poor Gwennap was no more. The Somalis,not content with slaying outright, had hacked his body in a mostatrocious manner. Polglaze still showed signs of life, for protected byhis comrade's body, he had escaped the demoniacal fury of the savages.Nevertheless the spear-thrust through his left shoulder looked verydangerous.
What had to be done must be done quickly, for night was approaching, andthe Somalis were evidently making preparations to remove the gun whichhad been left in their hands. As long as daylight lasted the rifle firefrom the deck of the submarine would effectually check any attempt inthis direction, while an additional deterrent was provided in the formof a powerful rocket. This could only be fired at an angle of less thanfive degrees from the perpendicular, and in consequence could do nophysical hurt to the Somalis. Nevertheless the moral fear it inspiredserved to make the natives clear off to a respectful distance, wherethey waited for nightfall.
It was obvious that the attempt to recapture the quick-firer must bemade early for other reasons. The wind was now blowing strong from theeast'ard, and with the rising sea landing would be a very difficultmatter; while, floating light, the submarine stood a good chance ofbeing blown from her anchorage.
As soon as night had fallen twenty men led by Hythe fell in on the upperplatform. Rifles were discarded as encumbrances, but each of the partycarried an automatic pistol in his belt, the weapon holding tencartridges, while separate clips, each containing a similar number, wereplaced in their ammunition belts.
Into the stern-sheets of the "Iticaba's" cutter was stowed a coil ofthree inch rope--the "coil" measuring the orthodox one hundred andthirteen fathoms. One end of the rope was made fast to the"Aphrodite's" for'ard capstan, while to the other end was spliced alength of flexible steel wire rope.
With muffled oars the boat's crew gave way, Mylor the quartermasterpaying out the rope as the boat stole shorewards. There was little needfor silence, for the thunder of the surf on the reef drowned every othersound.
All went well till the cutter grounded on the shore, then from adistance of nearly two hundred yards along the bank the darkness waspierced by the flash of the Somalis rifles, while a swift rushing soundindicated that swarms of fierce foes were charging down upon the boat.