CHAPTER XXIII.
OVER THE BAR.
Although the air seemed alive with the screech of the bullets theSomalis fired so high that not a man was hit. At the first volley Hytheordered the quartermaster to haul the cutter off, then bringing herbroadside on, he gave the word to open fire.
It spoke volumes for the discipline of the men under his command thatnot one of them gave way to the temptation to discharge his pistol. Thepressure of a few ounces on the trigger would be sufficient to send tenshots into the mob on shore, but in the dark there was the danger of themen in the boat accidentally hitting their comrades, but until thecutter swung round broadside on, the boat's crew resisted the almostoverwhelming desire to return the fire.
But Captain Restronguet had taken precautions to counteract thesurprise. Simultaneously the two starboard search-lights were switchedon and swung abeam till the powerful rays flashed full in the faces ofthe astonished Somalis. To the latter it savoured of magic. Blinded bythe glare, galled by the fusillade from the automatic pistols, andharassed by the fire from the deck of the "Aphrodite" they fled. Some,however, too terrified to move, flung themselves on the ground, whichwas already littered with the bodies of several of their comrades.
"Give way," ordered the sub.
Directly the boat touched shore all hands save two jumped out, andcarrying the rope, dashed for the gun, that now stood revealed as ifoutlined in silver in the rays of the search-light.
In a trice Mylor had secured the steel wire rope to the trail. A longand a short blast on Hythe's whistle was the signal that this part ofthe task had been satisfactorily performed.
The electric capstan on the submarine's deck began to revolve, and theheavy gun with a succession of jerks was hauled through the yieldingsand.
"Avast heaving!" shouted the sub, as the recovered weapon reached thewater's edge.
"Look out, sir!" shouted O'Shaunessey, and raising his pistol theIrishman shot through the head a Somali who, feigning death, had allowedHythe to approach within three yards of him ere, springing to his feet,he was about to hurl his spear at the sub's back
"Thanks, O'Shaunessey," exclaimed Hythe.
To the accompaniment of a desultory and erratic fire from a distance ofover a thousand yards the gun was dismounted and "parbuckled" into thecutter. The carriage and limber followed piecemeal, and without acasualty beyond a few bruised knuckles and jammed fingers the landingparty re-embarked.
It was tricky work transhipping the gun to the submarine, for the"Aphrodite," with nearly fifteen feet freeboard, was rolling heavily.The men were working in the dark since the searchlight could not beswung from off the shore without attracting the Somalis to closer range.Even as it was chance bullets were impingeing upon the submarine'splating, while one cut a clean hole through the side of the cutter,fortunately without hitting any of the men on her.
As soon as the gun was safely housed below steps were taken to spend therest of the night in quietness. The boats of the "Iticaba" were heavilyballasted and their bungs removed, so that they sunk to the bottom ofthe creek. Thus they were immune from danger from the enemy's riflebullets, while, when occasion arose, they could easily be raised andagain pressed into service.
Reluctantly the survivors of the "Iticaba" went below. The men weretemporarily quartered for'ard in one of the store compartments, theircomrades of the "Aphrodite" making them as comfortable as they could;while Captain Rees and his first mate were accommodated in Kenwyn'scabin, that officer having to share Devoran's quarters.
But when the "Aphrodite" settled easily upon the bed of the creek andnothing alarming occurred, the rescued men's misgivings were set atrest, and before long, worn out with fatigue, exposure, and excitementthey were sound asleep, regardless of the fact that thirty or forty feetabove them the seas were tumbling wildly into the exposed inlet.
Throughout the rest of the night the Somalis wasted their ammunition infiring at the position where they last saw the submarine lying, and withthe dawn the anchorage was bare. Their losses were made light of, for,according to their belief, they had rid the world of a shipload ofunbelievers. No doubt they were a little disappointed that there wereno trophies of their victory, but they contented themselves withremoving the wreckage and stores washed ashore from the ill-fated"Iticaba," which had completely broken up during the gale.
Early on the morning of the second day of the "Aphrodite's" detention inthe creek the men of the "Iticaba" were surprised to see nine men, cladin air-tubeless diving-suits, make their way through the compartmentwhich had been allotted to them.
Half an hour later the nine returned. In that half hour the remains ofpoor Gwennap had been buried in the sand at the bottom of the creek.Captain Restronguet would have preferred to have given his faithfulcomrade a sailor's grave in the open sea, but since it was impossible tosay how long it would be before the submarine could recross the bar, thecorpse had to be removed by a funeral party in diver's dress.
During the day the detector, which had hitherto given plenty ofindications of the "Vorwartz" gradually failed to record the movement ofthe submarine under Karl von Harburg's command. Either the vessel hadbeen driven ashore in a gale or else she had gone many miles to thesouth'ard, and beyond the field covered by the electrical rays of thedetector. In vain Captain Restronguet asked for information bywireless. No news came to hand; his quest had received a check, forcooped up within the creek he was unable to gain or even keep pace withhis sworn enemy.
It was not until the third day that the gale moderated sufficiently forthe "Aphrodite" to rise to the surface. Her appearance was the cause ofa wild stampede by the Somalis still engaged in enriching themselveswith the stranded cargo. To see a vessel that they confidently believedto have sunk suddenly rise from the deep was to them incomprehensible.They fled, never stopping till they had placed a good half day's journeybetween them and the sea. In future they regarded the vicinity of thatinlet as a district frequented by djinns, or evil spirits, and for sometime to come, at least, should the crews of any vessel have occasion toland upon that inhospitable shore, they would be spared thepossibilities of a fight against overwhelming numbers of fanaticalSomalis.
Two more precious days were wasted after the weather had moderatedsufficiently to allow the "Aphrodite" to rise. Captain Restronguetbegan to get anxious, for provisions were running short. A considerablequantity of "emergency rations" had been lost with the central sectionof the submarine, and now, with a refugee crew to feed, the vessel'sresources were severely strained.
Since there was little current in the inlet it was impossible torecharge the accumulators, and the reserve of electricity had to becarefully husbanded. Fortunately fairly fresh water for drinkingpurposes could be obtained on shore, and thus the necessity of using thecondensers was for the time being no longer urgent.
After the storm the tide fell short of its customary height, for thegale occurring at the time of spring tides, there had been an abnormalrise on the bar. Careful soundings revealed the unpleasant fact that atthe top of the tide there would be only a few inches under the keel ofthe submarine, while, with the ground swell still breaking, this marginwas quite insufficient to attempt the passage with any chance of safety.
Then news arrived by wireless that the "Vorwartz" had been operating inthe Mozambique Channel, a French liner bound for the ports on the westcoast of Madagascar being ruthlessly sunk. In this instance there wasno attempt by the modern buccaneer to plunder his prize. Withoutattempting to take possession of her he had sunk her in deep water,there being barely time for the passengers and crew to take to theboats.
Furthermore, it was announced that rewards totaling nearly a hundred andforty thousand pounds had been offered to whoever succeeded in capturingor destroying the "Vorwartz." Of this amount Lloyd's--already a heavysufferer by these depredations--had guaranteed thirty thousand, theremainder being provided by the Governments of Great Britain, France,Germany
and the United States of America.
Captain Restronguet fumed at the delay. It was not on account of thebounteous guerdon, but because he was unable to put a stop once and forall to his rival's insane acts, for without doubt Karl von Harburg wasnow nothing less than a dangerous maniac, who possessed sufficientcunning and authority to bend the will of his crew to suit his own aims.It seemed hard indeed that a vessel like the "Aphrodite," equipped withevery appliance that human ingenuity could contrive, should be penned inby a narrow strip of sand and shingle on which the surf rolledincessantly.
"I'll have a shot at it at next high water," announced CaptainRestronguet to his officers. "That will be at three o'clock! It is highwater full and change on this part of the coast at a quarter past four,and as there is a new moon the day after to-morrow each tide until thatday ought to be higher than the preceding one."
"Unless influenced by the wind, sir," added Hythe. "That is a greatconsideration."
"Undoubtedly," admitted the captain. "But the sooner we make ourpreparations the better. Pass the word for Captain Rees, and ask him towarn his men to bear a hand. Unless every one works with a will ourchances of success will be severely threatened."
The sunken boats of the "Iticaba" were raised, baled out, and laden withmovable stores from the submarine. Everything that could possibly betaken from the "Aphrodite" to lessen her already diminished draught washoisted out, till the boats were laden as deeply as they could be inview of the fact that they would also have to pass the dangerous bar.
"We had a matter of three hundred barrels of heavy oil in the old'Iticaba,' sir," announced Captain Rees. "It's just possible that thosemurdering rascals have not stove in the heads of every barrel that cameashore. They might be of service in keeping down the broken water."
"Might," remarked Captain Restronguet dubiously. "What do you say, Mr.Hythe?"
"I've had no experience under circumstances like the present, sir,"replied the sub. "The Board of Trade officials state that in a surf, orwaves breaking over a bar, the effect of the oil is uncertain."
"We'll try it, anyhow," said Captain Restronguet. "Tell Mr. Kenwyn totake a party ashore--see that they are well armed and keep a sharplook-out--and bring back any barrels of oil that may have come ashore."
In less than an hour Kenwyn's party returned, pushing five large barrelsover the sand. These were placed in the cutter, which was immediatelysent seawards, for it was now nearly the time of high water. As theboat gained the fringe of breakers one wave washed over her bows. Fromthe deck of the "Aphrodite" it could be seen that they were balingfuriously. It was a question whether this cutter would escape beingswamped; but after a strenuous struggle the boat succeeded in drawingclear of the surf.
Anchoring, Kenwyn prepared to liberate the oil. Simultaneously the'Aphrodite' weighed her anchors, and with the other boats of the'Iticaba' in tow awaited the critical moment to attempt the riskypassage.
"They're staving in the barrel, sir," announced Devoran. "There's oneoverboard."
"It makes a difference to the water already," observed CaptainRestronguet. "But we'll wait till they heave the contents of anothercouple of barrels overboard, and then we'll see what we can do. ByJove, what's that?"
A sudden flash, vivid even in the strong sunlight, was followed by adense cloud of smoke that completely hid the cutter from sight. Owingto the lack of wind the vapour hung about like a pall, but presently theheads of several men could be seen as they swam for all they were worthtowards the shore.
There was a rush for the boats that still remained alongside the"Aphrodite," and heedless of the risk they ran in pulling the ladencraft towards the bar the crews bent to their oars.
In a comparatively short space of time the swimmers were all picked up,several of them being slightly burned, while in some instances theirhair and beards had been singed off.
"What has happened, Mr. Kenwyn?" demanded Captain Restronguet, as theunlucky boat's crew boarded the submarine.
"One of the barrels contained sodium carbide, sir, and we didn't know ittill the head was knocked off. There was a lot of water in the bottomof the boat----"
"And what caused it to take fire; some one was smoking, eh?"
"Yes, sir," replied the second officer.
"Was it one of my men?"
"No, sir."
"Very well, I'll say no more. Had the culprit been one of the'Aphrodite's' crew there would be trouble; but I do not want to exerciseany jurisdiction over the men of the 'Iticaba.' At the same time, Mr.Kenwyn, it was your duty to keep order in the boat, and with aninflammable cargo of oil on board, you ought to have maintained thestrictest vigilance."
Kenwyn did not reply. The captain's strictures were necessary, but thesecond officer was not a man to make lame excuses, even though one ofthe seamen from the "Iticaba" had quietly lit his pipe while Kenwyn'sback was turned.
The carbide had by now burnt itself out, but patches of burning oil werestill drifting shorewards. Nevertheless the object of the expeditionwas in the main successful, for the seas no longer broke heavily, butcontinued in a sullen roll right into the deeper water within the creek.
Ordering half speed ahead, Captain Restronguet stood by thequartermaster and gave directions as to the course. Gathering way thesubmarine started on her bid for freedom, the remaining boat of the"Iticaba" being towed astern. No one remained in the boats, while atthe stern of the "Aphrodite" a man stood ready with a sharp axe to severthe towing hawser should any of the lumbering craft become swamped.
Nearer and nearer to the danger zone the "Aphrodite" headed. Suddenlythere was a dull thud. She was aground aft. The boats in tow camesurging alongside, only to be swept backwards with a tremendous jerk onthe hawser as a roller came swinging by.
That wave did it. Lifting the "Aphrodite's" heel clear of the sand itenabled the submarine under the action of her powerful engines to glideinto deep water, followed by the half water-logged flotilla of boats.
As soon as a safe distance had been placed between her and theinhospitable shore the submarine eased down; the "Iticaba's" boats werebrought alongside and the work of bringing the "Aphrodite's" spare gearon board again was pushed forward with feverish energy.
All the boats save the largest whaler were cast adrift, as if kept intow they would have made a great difference in the submarine's speed,and anxious to fall in with the piratical "Vorwartz," CaptainRestronguet ordered a course to be shaped for Zanzibar at the utmostcapacity of the "Aphrodite's" motors.