_Chapter II_
ON THE HIGH SEAS
The _Tacoma_ was expected to arrive at Yokohama early the next morning;the gong had already sounded, calling the passengers to the farewellmeal in the dining-saloon, which looked quite festive with its coloredflags and lanterns.
There was a deafening noise of voices in the handsome room, which wasbeginning to be overpoweringly hot in spite of the ever-revolvingelectric fans. As the sea was quite smooth, there was scarcely an emptyplace at the tables. A spirit of parting and farewell pervaded theconversation; the passengers were assembled for the last time, for onthe morrow the merry party, which chance had brought together for twoweeks, would be scattered to the four winds. Naturally the conversationturned upon the country whose celebrated wonders they were to behold onthe following day. The old globe-trotters and several merchants who hadsettled in East Asia were besieged with questions, occasionally verynaive ones, about Japan and the best way for foreigners to get alongthere. With calm superiority they paraded their knowledge, and eagerladies made note on the backs of their menus of all the hotels, temples,and mountains recommended to them. Some groups were making arrangementsfor joint excursions in the Island Kingdom of Tenno; others discussedquestions of finance and commerce, each one trying to impress hiscompanions by a display of superior knowledge.
Here and there politics formed the subject of conversation; one lady inparticular, the wife of a Baltimore merchant, sitting opposite thesecretary of a small European legation who was on his way to Pekin totake up his duties there, plied him with questions and did her levelbest to get at the secrets of international politics. The secretary, whohad no wonderful secrets to disclose, had recourse to the ordinarypolitical topics of the day, and entertained his fair listener with adiscussion of the problems that would arise in case of hostilitiesbetween America and Japan. "Of course," he declared, vaunting hisdiplomatic knowledge, "in case of war the Japanese would first surpriseManila and try to effect a landing, and in this they would very likelybe successful. It is true that Manila with her strong defenses is prettywell protected against a sudden raid, and the Japanese gunners wouldhave no easy task in an encounter with the American coast batteries.Even though Manila may not turn out to be a second Port Arthur, theAmericans should experience no difficulty in repelling all Japaneseattacks for at least six months; meanwhile America could sendreinforcements to Manila under the protection of her fleet, and thenthere would probably be a decisive battle somewhere in the Malayanarchipelago between the Japanese and American fleets, the results ofwhich----"
"I thought," interrupted a wealthy young lady from Chicago, "I thoughtwe had some ships in the Philippines." The diplomat waved his handdeprecatingly, and smiled knowingly at this interruption. He was masterof the situation and well qualified to cast the horoscope of thefuture--and so he was left in possession of the field.
The lady opposite him was, however, not yet satisfied; with the newwisdom just obtained she now besieged the German major sitting besideher, who was on his way to Kiao-chau via San Francisco. He had not beenpaying much attention to the conversation, but the subject broached tohim for discussion was such a familiar one, that he was at once postedwhen his neighbor asked him his opinion as to the outcome of such a war.
Nevertheless it was an awkward question, and the German, out ofconsideration for his environment on board the American steamer, did notallow himself to be drawn out of his usual reserve. He simply inquiredwhat basis they had for the supposition that, in case of war, Japanwould occupy herself exclusively with the Philippines.
The secretary of legation had gradually descended from the clouds ofdiplomatic self-conceit to the level of the ordinary mortal and,overhearing the major's question through the confusion of voices andclatter of plates, shook his head disapprovingly and asked the major:"Don't you think it's likely that Japan will try first of all to getpossession of the prize she has been longing for ever since the Peace ofParis?"
"I know as little as anyone else not in diplomatic circles what theplans and hopes of the Japanese Government are, but I do think there isnot the slightest prospect of an outbreak of hostilities in the nearfuture; there is, accordingly, not much sense in trying to imagine whatmight happen in case of a war," answered the German coolly.
"There are only two possibilities," said the English merchant fromShanghai, one of the chief stockholders of the line, who sat next to thecaptain. "According to my experience"--and here he paused in order todraw the attention of his listeners to this experience--"according to myexperience," he repeated, "there are only two possibilities. Japan isoverpeopled and is compelled to send her surplus population out of thecountry. The Manchuria experiment turned cut to be a failure, for theteeming Chinese population leaves no room now for more Japaneseemigrants and small tradesmen than there were before the war withRussia; besides, there was no capital at hand for large enterprises.Japan requires a strong foothold for her emigrants where"--and here hethrew an encouraging glance at the captain--"she can keep her peopletogether economically and politically, as in Hawaii. The emigration tothe States has for years been severely restricted by law."
"And at the same time they are pouring into our country in droves by wayof the Mexican frontier," mumbled the American colonel, who was on hisway back to his post, from his seat beside the captain.
"That leaves only the islands of the Pacific, the Philippines, andperhaps Australia," continued the Shanghai merchant undisturbed. "In anysuch endeavors Japan would of course have to reckon with the States andwith England. The other possibility, that of providing employment andsupport for the ever-increasing population within the borders of theirown country, would be to organize large Japanese manufacturinginterests. Many efforts have already been made in this direction, but,owing to the enormous sums swallowed up by the army and navy, therequisite capital seems to be lacking."
"In my opinion," interposed the captain at this juncture, "there is athird possibility--namely, to render additional land available for thecultivation of crops. As you are all no doubt aware, not more than onethird of Japan is under cultivation; the second third, consisting ofstone deserts among the mountains, must of necessity be excluded, butthe remaining third, properly cultivated, would provide a livelihoodfor millions of Japanese peasants. But right here we encounter apeculiar Japanese trait; they are dead set on the growth of rice, andwhere, in the higher districts, no rice will grow, they refuse to engagein agriculture altogether and prefer to leave the land idle. If theywould grow wheat, corn, and grass in such sections, Japan would not onlybecome independent of other countries with respect to her importation ofprovisions, but, as I said before, it would also provide for thesettlement of millions of Japanese peasants; and, furthermore, we shouldthen get some decent bread to eat in Japan."
This conception of the Japanese problem seemed to open new vistas to thesecretary of legation. He listened attentively to the captain's wordsand threw inquiring glances toward the Shanghai merchant. The latter,however, was completely absorbed in the dissection of a fish, whosenumerous bones continually presented fresh anatomical riddles. In hisstead the thread of the conversation was taken up by Dr. Morris, ofBrighton, an unusually cadaverous-looking individual, who sometimesmaintained absolute silence for days at a time, and who was supposed topossess Japanese bronzes of untold value and to be on his way toHokkaido to complete his collection.
"You must not believe everything you see in the papers," he said. "Ifthe Japanese were only better farmers, nobody in Japan need go hungry;there is no question of her being overpeopled, and this mania foremigration is nothing but a disease, a fashion, of which the governmentat Tokio, to be sure, makes very good use for political purposes.Whoever speaks in all seriousness of Japan's being overpeopled is merelyquoting newspaper editorials, and is not acquainted with the conditionsof the country."
Dr. Morris had scarcely said as much as this during the whole of histwo weeks' stay on board the _Tacoma_. It is true that he had got toknow Japan very thoroughly during his
many years' sojourn in theinterior in search of old bronzes, and he knew what he was talkingabout. His views, however, were not in accord with those current at themoment, and consequently, although his words were listened toattentively, they did not produce much effect.
The conversation continued along the same lines, and the possibility ofa war again came up for discussion. The German officer was the only oneto whom they could put military questions, and it was no light task forhim to find satisfactory answers. He could only repeat again and againthat such a war would offer such endless possibilities of attack anddefense, that it was absolutely impossible to forecast the probablecourse of events. The Shanghai merchant conversed with the captain in alow tone of voice about the system of Japanese spies in America, andrelated a few anecdotes of his experiences in China in this connection.
"But one can distinguish between a Jap and a Chinaman at a glance,"interrupted the son of a New York multi-millionaire sitting oppositehim. "I could never understand why the Japanese spies are so overrated."
"If you can tell one from the other, you are more observant than theordinary mortal," remarked the Englishman dryly. "I can't for one, andif you'll look me up in Shanghai, I'll give myself the pleasure ofputting you to the test. I'll invite a party of Chinamen and ask you topick out from among them a Japanese naval officer who has been inShanghai for a year and a half on a secret, I had better say, aperfectly open mission."
"You'll lose your bet," said the captain to the New Yorker, "for I'velost a similar wager under the same circumstances."
"But the Japanese don't wear pigtails," said the New Yorker, somewhatabashed.
"Those Japanese do wear pigtails," said the Englishman with a grin.
"What's up?" said the captain, looking involuntarily towards theentrance to the dining-saloon. "What's up? We're only going at halfspeed."
The dull throbbing of the engine had indeed stopped, and any one whonoticed the vibration of the ship could tell that the propeller wasrevolving only slightly.
The captain got up quietly to go on deck, but as he was making his wayout between the long rows of chairs, he met one of the crew, whowhispered to him that the first mate begged him to come on the bridge.
"We're not moving," said some one near the center of the table. "Wecan't have arrived this soon."
"Perhaps we have met a disabled ship," said a young French girl; "thatwould be awfully interesting."
The captain remained away, while the dinner continued to be served.Suddenly all conversation was stopped by the dull howl of the steamwhistle, and when two more calls followed the first, an old globetrotter thought he had discovered the reason for the ship's slowingdown, and declared with certainty: "This is the third time on my way toJapan that we have run into a fog just before entering the harbor; thelast time it made us a day and a half late. I tell you it was no joke tosit in that gray mist with nothing to do but wait for the fog tolift----" and then he narrated a few anecdotes about that particularvoyage, which at once introduced the subject of fog at his table, asubject that was greedily pounced upon by all. London fog and other fogswere discussed, and no one noticed that the ship had come to a full stopand was gradually beginning to pitch heavily, a motion that soon hadthe effect of causing several of the ladies to abandon the conversationand play nervously with their coffee-spoons, as the nightmare ofseasickness forced itself every moment more disagreeably on theirmemories.
A few of the men got up and went on deck. A merchant from San Franciscocame down and told his wife that a strange ship not far from the_Tacoma_ had its searchlights turned on her. No reason for thisextraordinary proceeding could be given, as the officers seemed to knowas little about it as the passengers.
The fourth officer, whose place was at the head of one of the longtables, now appeared in the dining-saloon, and was at once besieged withquestions from all sides. In a loud voice he announced that the captainwished him to say that there was no cause for alarm. A strange ship hadits searchlights turned on the _Tacoma_, probably a man-of-war that hadsome communication to make. The captain begged the passengers not toallow themselves to be disturbed in their dinner. The next course wasserved immediately afterwards, the reason for the interruption was soonforgotten, and conversation continued as before.
"But we're not moving yet," said a young woman about ten minutes laterto her husband, with whom she was taking a honeymoon trip round theworld, "we're not moving yet."
The fourth officer gave an evasive answer in order to reassure hisneighbor, but, as a matter of fact, the ship had not yet got under wayagain. To complicate the situation, another member of the crew came inat this moment and whispered something to the officer, who at oncehurried on deck.
It was a positive relief to him to escape from the smell of food and theloud voices into the fresh air. It seemed like another world on deck.The stars twinkled in the silent sky, and the soft night air refreshedthe nerves that had been exhausted by the heat of the day. The fourthofficer mounted quickly to the bridge and reported to the captain.
The latter gave him the following brief order: "Mr. Warren, I shall askyou to see that the passengers are not unnecessarily alarmed; let theband play a few pieces, and see that the dinner proceeds quietly. Make ashort speech in my stead, tell the passengers what a pleasant time wehave all had on this voyage, and say a few words of farewell to them forme. We've been signaled by a Japanese warship," he continued, "and askedto stop and wait for a Japanese boat. I haven't the slightest idea whatthe fellows want, but we must obey orders; the matter will no doubt besettled in a few minutes as soon as the boat has arrived."
The officer disappeared, and the captain, standing by the port yardarmon the bridge, waited anxiously for the cutter which was approaching atfull speed. The gangway had already been lowered. The cutter, afterdescribing a sharp curve, came alongside, and two marines armed withrifles immediately jumped on the gangway.
"Halloo," said the captain, "a double guard! I wonder what that means?"
The Japanese officer got out of the cutter and came up the gangway,followed by four more soldiers, two of whom were posted at the upperentrance to the gangway. The other two followed the officer to thebridge. A seventh man got out of the boat and carried a square box onthe bridge, while finally two soldiers brought a long heavy object upthe gangway and set it down against the wall of the cabin in the stern.
The Japanese officer ordered the two marines to take up their stand atthe foot of the steps leading to the bridge, and with a wave of his handordered the third to station himself with his square box at the portrailing. At the same time he gave him an order in Japanese, and therattling noise which followed made it clear that the apparatus was alantern which was signaling across to the man-of-war.
"This is carrying the joke a little too far. What does it all mean?"cried the captain of the _Tacoma_, starting to pull the man with thelantern back from the railing. But the Japanese officer laid his handfirmly on his right arm and said in a decisive tone: "Captain, in thename of the Japanese Government I declare the American steamer _Tacoma_a lawful prize and her whole crew prisoners of war."
The captain shook off the grasp of the Japanese, and stepping back apace shouted: "You must be crazy; we have nothing to do with theJapanese naval maneuvers, and I shall have to ask you not to carry yourmaneuver game too far. If you must have naval maneuvers, please practiceon your own merchant vessels and leave neutral ships alone."
The Japanese saluted and said: "I am very sorry, captain, to have tocorrect your impression that this is part of our maneuvers. Japan is atwar with the United States of America, and every merchantman flying theAmerican flag is from now on a lawful prize."
The captain, a strapping fellow, seized the little Japanese, and pushedhim toward the railing, evidently with the intention of throwing theimpertinent fellow overboard. But in the same instant he noticed twoJapanese rifles pointed at him, whereupon he let his arms drop with anoath and stared at the two Japanese marines in utter astonishment. Thelantern signal cont
inued to rattle behind him, and suddenly the paleblue searchlight from the man-of-war was thrown on the bridge of the_Tacoma_, lighting up the strange scene as if by moonlight. At the sametime the shot from a gun boomed across the quiet surface of the water.Things really seemed to be getting serious.
From below, through the open skylights of the dining-saloon came thecheers of the passengers for the captain at the close of the fourthofficer's speech, and the band at once struck up the "Star SpangledBanner." Everybody seemed to be cheerful and happy in the dining-saloon,and one and all seemed to have forgotten that the _Tacoma_ was notmoving.
And while from below the inspiring strains of the "Star Spangled Banner"passed out into the night, twenty Japanese marines came alongside in asecond cutter and, climbing up the gangway, occupied all the entrancesleading from below to the deck--a double guard with loaded guns beingstationed at each door.
"I must ask you," said the Japanese officer to the captain, "to continueto direct the ship's course under my supervision. You will take the_Tacoma_, according to your original plans, into the harbor of Yokohama;there the passengers will leave the ship, without any explanations beingoffered, and you and the crew will be prisoners of the JapaneseGovernment. The prize-court will decide what is to be done with yourcargo. The baggage of the passengers, the captain, and the crew will, ofcourse, remain in their possession. There are now twenty of our marineson board the _Tacoma_, but in case you should imagine that they would beunable to command the situation in the event of any resistance beingoffered by you or your crew, I consider it advisable to inform you thatfor the last ten minutes there has been a powerful bomb in the stern ofthe _Tacoma_, guarded by two men, who have orders to turn on the currentand blow up your ship at the first signs of serious resistance. It isentirely to the advantage of the passengers in your care to bow to theinevitable and avoid all insubordination--_a la guerre comme a laguerre_."
The Japanese saluted and continued: "You will remain in command on thebridge for the next four hours, when you will be relieved by the firstmate. Meanwhile the latter can acquaint the passengers with the alteredcircumstances." And, waving his hand toward the first mate, who hadlistened in silent rage, he added: "Please, sir!"
The officer addressed looked inquiringly across to the captain, whohesitated a moment and then said in suppressed emotion: "Hardy, go downand tell the passengers that the _Tacoma_, through an unheard-of,treacherous surprise, has fallen into the hands of a Japanese cruiser,but that the passengers, on whose account we are obliged to submit tothis treatment, need not be startled, for they and all their possessionswill be landed safely at Yokohama to-morrow morning."
Hardy's soles seemed positively to stick to the steps as he went down,and he was almost overcome by the warm air at the entrance to thedining-saloon, where the noise of boisterous laughter and livelyconversation greeted him.
"Halloo, when are we going on?" he was asked from all sides.
Mr. Hardy shook his head silently and went to the captain's place.
"We must drink your health," called several, holding their glassestowards him. "Where's the captain?"
Hardy was silent, but remained standing and the words seemed to chokehim.
"Be quiet! Listen! Mr. Hardy is going to speak----"
"It's high time we heard something from the captain," called out a stoutGerman brewer from Milwaukee over the heads of the others. "Threecheers for Mr. Hardy!" came from one corner of the room. "Three cheersfor Mr. Hardy!" shouted the passengers on the other side, and all joinedin the chorus: "For he is a jolly good fellow." "Do let Mr. Hardyspeak," said the Secretary of Legation, turning to the passengersreprovingly.
"Silence!" came from the other side. The hum of voices ceased graduallyand silence ensued.
"First give Mr. Hardy something to drink!" said some one, while anotherpassenger laughed out loud.
Hardy wiped the perspiration from his brow with the captain's napkin,which the latter had left on his plate.
"Shocking!" said an English lady quite distinctly; "seamen haven't anymanners."
Hardy had not yet found words, but finally began in a low, stammeringvoice: "The captain wishes me to tell you that the _Tacoma_ has justbeen captured by a Japanese cruiser. The United States of America aresaid to be at war with Japan. There is a Japanese guard on board, whichhas occupied all the companionways. The captain requests the passengersto submit quietly to the inevitable. You will all be landed safely atYokohama early to-morrow and--" Hardy tried to continue, but the wordswould not come and he sank back exhausted into his chair.
"Three cheers for the captain!" came the ringing shout from one of theend tables, to be repeated in different parts of the room. The Germanbrewer shook with laughter and exclaimed: "That's a splendid joke of thecaptain's; he ought to have a medal for it."
"Stop your nonsense," said some one to the brewer.
"No, but really, that's a famous joke," persisted the latter. "I'venever enjoyed myself so much on a trip before."
"Be quiet, man; it's a serious matter."
"Ha! ha! You've been taken in, too, have you?" was the answer,accompanied by a roar of laughter.
An American jumped up, crying: "I'm going to get my revolver; I guess wecan handle those chaps," and several others joined in with "Yes, yes,we'll get our revolvers and chuck the yellow monkeys overboard!"
At this point the German major jumped up from his seat and called out tothe excited company in a sharp tone of command: "Really, gentlemen, theaffair is serious; it's not a joke, as some of you gentlemen seem tothink; you may take my word for it that it is no laughing matter."
Hardy still sat silent in his chair. The Englishman from Shanghaioverwhelmed him with questions and even the Secretary of Legationemerged from his diplomatic reserve.
The six men who had gone to get their revolvers now returned to thedining-saloon with their spirits considerably damped, and one of themcalled out: "It's not a joke at all; the Japanese are stationed up therewith loaded rifles."
Some of the ladies screamed hysterically and asked complete strangers totake them to their cabins. All of the passengers had jumped up fromtheir chairs, and a number were busily engaged looking after thoseladies who had shown sufficient discretion to withdraw at once from thegeneral excitement by the simple expedient of fainting. In the meantimeHardy had regained control of himself and of the situation, and standingbehind his chair as though he were on the captain's bridge declaredsimply and decisively: "On the captain's behalf I must beg thepassengers not to attempt any resistance. Your life and safety areguaranteed by the word of the captain and the bearing of our crew, whohave also been forced to submit to the inevitable. I beg you all toremain here and to await the further orders of the captain. There is nodanger so long as no resistance is offered; we are in the hands of theJapanese navy, and must accustom ourselves to the alteredcircumstances."
It was long after midnight before all grew quiet on board the _Tacoma_;the passengers were busy packing their trunks, and it was quite latebefore the cabin lights were extinguished on both sides of the ship,which continued her voyage quietly and majestically in the direction ofYokohama. The deck, generally a scene of cheerful life and gaiety untila late hour, was empty, and only the subdued steps of the Japanesemarines echoed through the still night.
Twice more the searchlights were thrown on the _Tacoma_, but aclattering answer from the signal lantern at once conveyed theinformation that all was in order, whereupon the glaring ball of lightdisappeared silently, and there was nothing on the whole expanse of darkwater to indicate that invisible eyes were on the lookout for every shipwhose keel was ploughing the deep.
The _Tacoma_ arrived at Yokohama the next morning, the passengers weresent ashore, and the steamer herself was added as an auxiliary cruiserto the Japanese fleet.