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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-03-03 05:50:03 -0800 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-03-03 05:50:03 -0800 |
| commit | e12f3a720a4e31d19272bf909bcd2705eed49407 (patch) | |
| tree | 2f7a151d4bfba90ebb52358e4165fbc3102b9efe /39387-h/39387-h.htm | |
| parent | d7b14bb3667000675145c9b1799283d04fa821fc (diff) | |
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| -rw-r--r-- | 39387-h/39387-h.htm | 7494 |
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+ float: left; + margin-right: 1em } + +.align-right { clear: right; + float: right; + margin-left: 1em } + +.align-center { margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto } + +div.shrinkwrap { display: table; } + +/* SECTIONS */ + +body { margin: 5% 10% 5% 10% } + +/* compact list items containing just one p */ +li p.pfirst { margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } + +.first { margin-top: 0 !important; + text-indent: 0 !important } +.last { margin-bottom: 0 !important } + +span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 1 } +img.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; max-width: 25% } +span.dropspan { font-variant: small-caps } + +.no-page-break { page-break-before: avoid !important } + +/* PAGINATION */ + +@media screen { + .coverpage, .frontispiece, .titlepage, .verso, .dedication, .plainpage + { margin: 10% 0; } + + div.clearpage, div.cleardoublepage + { margin: 10% 0; border: none; border-top: 1px solid gray; } + + .vfill { margin: 5% 10% } +} + +@media print { + div.clearpage { page-break-before: always; padding-top: 10% } + div.cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 10% } + + .vfill { margin-top: 20% } + h2.title { margin-top: 20% } +} + +</style> +<title>SUBMARINE U93</title> +<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" /> +<meta name="PG.Title" content="Submarine U93" /> +<meta name="PG.Producer" content="Al Haines" /> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/img-cover.jpg" /> +<meta name="DC.Creator" content="Charles Gilson" /> +<meta name="DC.Created" content="1916" /> +<meta name="PG.Id" content="39387" /> +<meta name="PG.Released" content="2012-03-05" /> +<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" /> +<meta name="DC.Title" content="Submarine U93" /> + +<link href="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rel="schema.DCTERMS" /> +<link href="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators" rel="schema.MARCREL" /> +<meta content="Submarine U93" name="DCTERMS.title" /> +<meta content="subu93.rst" name="DCTERMS.source" /> +<meta content="en" scheme="DCTERMS.RFC4646" name="DCTERMS.language" /> +<meta content="2012-04-06T02:09:52.758129+00:00" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.modified" /> +<meta content="Project Gutenberg" name="DCTERMS.publisher" /> +<meta content="Public Domain in the USA." name="DCTERMS.rights" /> +<link href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39387" rel="DCTERMS.isFormatOf" /> +<meta content="Charles Gilson" name="DCTERMS.creator" /> +<meta content="2012-03-05" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.created" /> +<meta content="width=device-width" name="viewport" /> +<meta content="EpubMaker 0.3.19b4 by Marcello Perathoner <webmaster@gutenberg.org>" name="generator" /> +<style type="text/css"> +.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.lineno { position: absolute; left: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } +.lineno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } +.toc-pageref { float: right } +pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 39387 ***</div> +<div class="document" id="submarine-u93"> +<h1 class="document-title level-1 pfirst title">SUBMARINE U93</h1> +<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 4em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Al Haines.</span></p> +<div class="noindent vspace" style="height: 1em"> +</div> +<p class="noindent pfirst"><span></span></p> +</div> +<!-- --> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 60%" id="figure-46"> +<img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-cover.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +Cover art</div> +<div class="legend"> +<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> +</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 63%" id="figure-47"> +<span id="the-mondavia-swung-in-upon-her-victim"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-front.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +THE "MONDAVIA" SWUNG IN UPON HER VICTIM--THE IRON BOWS SMASHED INTO THE U93. See page 249.</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost x-large"> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">SUBMARINE</div> +<div class="line">U93</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">A Tale of the Great War, of German Spies,</div> +<div class="line">and Submarines, of Naval Warfare, and</div> +<div class="line">all manner of Adventures.</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">BY</div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">CAPTAIN CHARLES GILSON</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">Author of 'A Motor Scout in Flanders,' 'The Lost Empire,' 'The Sword</em></div> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">of Freedom,' 'The Pirate Aeroplane,' 'The Spy,' 'The Race Round the</em></div> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">World,' 'The Sword of Deliverance,' 'The Fire-Gods', 'The Lost Island,'</em></div> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">'The Lost Column,' etc.</em></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 64%" id="figure-48"> +<span id="the-very-first-projectile-burst-directly-over-the-bridge"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-title.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +THE VERY FIRST PROJECTILE BURST DIRECTLY OVER THE BRIDGE</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">LONDON</div> +<div class="line">"THE BOY'S OWN PAPER" OFFICE</div> +<div class="line">4 Bouverie Street</div> +<div class="line">1916</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block noindent outermost small"> +<div class="line"><em class="italics">UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME.</em></div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">THE BOY'S LIBRARY OF</div> +<div class="line">ADVENTURE AND HEROISM.</div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's. By Talbot Baines Reed.</div> +<div class="line">A Hero in Wolf-skin. By Tom Bevan.</div> +<div class="line">The Adventures of Val Daintry in the Greco-Turkish War. By V. L. Going.</div> +<div class="line">The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch. By Talbot Baines Reed.</div> +<div class="line">The Cock-house at Fellsgarth. By Talbot Baines Reed.</div> +<div class="line">Wild Life in Sunny Lands. By Gordon Stables, M.D., R.N.</div> +<div class="line">A Dog with a Bad Name. By Talbot Baines Reed.</div> +<div class="line">The Master of the Shell. By Talbot Baines Reed.</div> +<div class="line">From Scapegrace to Hero. By Ernest Protheroe.</div> +<div class="line">My Friend Smith. By Talbot Baines Reed.</div> +<div class="line">Comrades under Canvas. By Fredk. P. Gibbon.</div> +<div class="line">Parkhurst Boys. By Talbot Baines Reed.</div> +<div class="line">Reginald Cruden. By Talbot Baines Reed.</div> +<div class="line">Roger Ingleton, Minor. By Talbot Baines Reed.</div> +<div class="line">For Queen and Emperor. By Ernest Protheroe.</div> +<div class="line">The Cruise of the Golden Fleece. By Sardius Hancock.</div> +<div class="line">That Boy of Fraser's. By Ernest Protheroe.</div> +<div class="line">A Collegian in Khaki. By William Johnston.</div> +<div class="line">With Rifle and Kukri. By Frederick P. Gibbon.</div> +<div class="line">Meltonians All! By F. Cowley Whitehouse.</div> +<div class="line">Myddleton's Treasure. By Ernest Protheroe.</div> +<div class="line">The Baymouth Scouts. By Tom Bevan.</div> +<div class="line">The Last of the Paladins. By Charles Deslys.</div> +<div class="line">Rollinson and I. By W. E. Cule.</div> +<div class="line">Under the Edge of the Earth. By F. H. Bolton.</div> +<div class="line">Derrick Orme's Schooldays. By Edith C. Kenyon.</div> +<div class="line">Sir Ludar. By Talbot Baines Reed.</div> +<div class="line">Tom, Dick, and Harry. By Talbot Baines Reed</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center transition"> +<p class="pfirst">――――</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="id1"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title">CONTENTS</h2> +<div class="container contents"> +<ul class="compact simple toc-list"> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-i-the-admiral-s-sixpence" id="id2">CHAPTER I--The Admiral's Sixpence</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-ii-in-defiance-of-authority" id="id3">CHAPTER II--In Defiance of Authority</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-iii-the-world-plot" id="id4">CHAPTER III--The World Plot</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-iv-shadowed" id="id5">CHAPTER IV--Shadowed</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-v-dropping-the-pilot" id="id6">CHAPTER V--Dropping the Pilot</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-vi-captain-crouch" id="id7">CHAPTER VI--Captain Crouch</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-vii-in-the-hold" id="id8">CHAPTER VII--In the Hold</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-viii-a-false-witness" id="id9">CHAPTER VIII--A False Witness</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-ix-the-dresden" id="id10">CHAPTER IX--The "Dresden"</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-x-the-mysterious-message" id="id11">CHAPTER X--The Mysterious Message</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xi-the-middle-watch" id="id12">CHAPTER XI--The Middle Watch</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xii-the-u93" id="id13">CHAPTER XII--The U93</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xiii-to-the-boats" id="id14">CHAPTER XIII--To the Boats!</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xiv-the-doomed-ship" id="id15">CHAPTER XIV--The Doomed Ship</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xv-the-penitence-of-captain-crouch" id="id16">CHAPTER XV--The Penitence of Captain Crouch</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xvi-at-the-goat-and-compasses" id="id17">CHAPTER XVI--At the "Goat and Compasses"</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xvii-number-758" id="id18">CHAPTER XVII--Number 758</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xviii-mr-russell" id="id19">CHAPTER XVIII--"Mr. Russell"</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xix-a-clue" id="id20">CHAPTER XIX--A Clue</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xx-commander-fells" id="id21">CHAPTER XX--Commander Fells</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxi-on-board-a-white-star-liner" id="id22">CHAPTER XXI--On Board a White Star Liner</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxii-by-the-dogger-bank" id="id23">CHAPTER XXII--By the Dogger Bank</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxiii-the-loss-of-the-kitty-mcquaire" id="id24">CHAPTER XXIII--The Loss of the "Kitty McQuaire"</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxiv-the-tables-turned" id="id25">CHAPTER XXIV--The Tables Turned</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxv-vae-victis" id="id26">CHAPTER XXV--Væ Victis</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxvi-the-titans" id="id27">CHAPTER XXVI--The Titans</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxvii-the-battle-of-the-dogger-bank" id="id28">CHAPTER XXVII--The Battle of the Dogger Bank</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxviii-the-wounded-lion" id="id29">CHAPTER XXVIII--The Wounded "Lion"</a></p> +</li> +<li class="level-2 toc-entry"><p class="first pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#chapter-xxix-conclusion" id="id30">CHAPTER XXIX--Conclusion</a></p> +</li> +</ul> +</div> +</div> +<div class="center transition"> +<p class="pfirst">――――</p> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line">ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR</div> +</div> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">By GEORGE SOPER</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-mondavia-swung-in-upon-her-victim">THE "MONDAVIA" SWUNG IN UPON HER VICTIM</a> . . . . . . . . . <em class="italics">Frontispiece</em></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-very-first-projectile-burst-directly-over-the-bridge">THE VERY FIRST PROJECTILE BURST DIRECTLY OVER THE BRIDGE</a> <em class="italics">Title-page</em></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-boy-sprang-aside-too-late-he-was-seized-roughly-by-the-throat">THE BOY SPRANG ASIDE TOO LATE. HE WAS SEIZED ROUGHLY BY THE THROAT</a></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-harlech-had-taken-a-marked-list-to-port-no-one-could-live-upon-the-deck">THE "HARLECH" HAD TAKEN A MARKED LIST TO PORT--NO ONE COULD LIVE UPON THE DECK</a></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#like-an-evil-eye-in-the-night-there-appeared-an-answering-light">LIKE AN EVIL EYE IN THE NIGHT THERE APPEARED AN ANSWERING LIGHT</a></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#you-re-heading-the-wrong-way-man-put-about-and-stand-clear-while-the-trouble-s-on">"YOU'RE HEADING THE WRONG WAY, MAN! PUT ABOUT AND STAND CLEAR WHILE THE TROUBLE'S ON"</a></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#crouch-seized-russell-by-his-long-flowing-beard-which-he-tore-bodily-from-the-old-man-s-wrinkled-face">CROUCH SEIZED RUSSELL BY HIS LONG, FLOWING BEARD, WHICH HE TORE BODILY FROM THE OLD MAN'S WRINKLED FACE</a></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"><a class="reference internal" href="#as-they-sank-out-of-the-red-glare-of-a-winter-s-sunset-there-appeared-the-threatening-form-of-the-u93">AS THEY SANK OUT OF THE RED GLARE OF A WINTER'S SUNSET THERE APPEARED THE THREATENING FORM OF THE U93</a></div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<div class="center large line-block noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">SUBMARINE U93</div> +<div class="line"> </div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst"><em class="italics">In the following story fact is blended with fiction. The account of +the Battle of the North Sea, in which the "Blücher" was sunk, is as +historically accurate as is possible with the details at present +available. On the other hand, it would be well for the reader to know +that the description of the pursuit of the "Dresden" in mid-Atlantic is +wholly fictitious. The incident is introduced "for my story's sake," +as Robert Louis Stevenson used to say, and also because it is +illustrative of the character of the "Sea Affair" in the earlier days +of the war.</em></p> +<div class="left line-block medium outermost"> +<div class="line">CHARLES GILSON.</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-i-the-admiral-s-sixpence"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id2">CHAPTER I--The Admiral's Sixpence</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The following incident is well known to those who are acquainted with +Naval history, and is mentioned here for the sole benefit of those who +are not.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the time of the Crimean war, and the bombardment of Sebastopol, an +officer of the name of Burke commanded H.M.S. "Swiftsure," a ship which +at one time approached to within point-blank range of the Russian shore +batteries, which it silenced with a series of terrific broadsides. +This feat, however, was not accomplished without considerable loss. +Several men were struck down on the battery decks in the very act of +serving the guns; and the life of the captain--who bellowed his orders +from the bridge in a voice that was audible throughout the length and +breadth of the ship, despite the roar and thunder of the cannon and the +groans of wounded men--was saved as by a miracle.</p> +<p class="pnext">A round of grape-shot raked the ship from fore to aft as she swung into +position; and one of the little leaden pellets struck Burke immediately +above the heart. Now, it so happened that he carried, suspended around +his neck by a little silver chain, a "lucky" sixpence which he had got +from his grandfather, Michael Burke, of the Inner Temple, and which +bore the head of His Majesty, King George III.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the time, Captain Burke was hardly conscious of a wound, +which--according to the Fleet Surgeon--came under the official heading +of a "severe contusion" not serious in nature. He remained upon the +bridge in command of his ship, which he brought safely out of action, +to the great credit of himself and the eternal glory of the British +Navy.</p> +<p class="pnext">But his lucky sixpence, which he found that night before he flung +himself down upon his bunk, was ever after something of a curiosity--a +thing to be talked about and passed from hand to hand in a London club. +It was dented so deeply that it was shaped almost like a spoon, and as +for the features of His Majesty, the third George, they were so +obliterated that he might have been Queen Elizabeth or, for the matter +of that, Julius Cæsar or the Cham of Tartary. In short, in plain +words, it was a narrow squeak; and ever afterwards, both in the Navy +and out of it, this officer, who rose to the rank of admiral and lived +to the ripe old age of eighty-six, was known as "Swiftsure Burke." +That he and his kind have lived and moved amongst us since the days of +Drake and Hawkins is, after all, the best security we have against the +invasion of these island shores.</p> +<p class="pnext">There is a certain irony in the way things happen. No man can say for +sure what destiny awaits those whom he loves and cherishes after he +himself is gone. There was once--as a fact that can be proved--a man +who sang for pennies in the street, whose ancestor, with the rank of +colonel in the Army, headed his regiment as it charged at Blenheim. In +the year 1914--which is not so long ago--Jimmy Burke, grandson of this +same captain of the "Swiftsure," by a series of unmerited misfortunes, +found himself, at the age of seventeen, an orphan and alone, in one of +the greatest cities in the world. How that came about can be told in a +few words. It was certainly through no fault of his own.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Swiftsure Burke" had a son, whose name was John, who had neither his +father's luck nor iron constitution. John Burke married a fair girl +who had been thought the fairest in Dublin--that is to say, in the +world. They had one son, a boy--the Jimmy Burke with whom these pages +are concerned.</p> +<p class="pnext">For three short years John Burke was happy--more happy, perhaps, than a +man has a right to be. And then his wife died quite suddenly, and his +frail health broke like a reed.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was overcome by grief, and for a time his friends even feared for +his state of mind. At last, acting on a famous doctor's advice, he +realized all the property he possessed, packed up his worldly goods, +and accompanied by his little five-year son, betook himself to the +great United States, which was about the last place in the world where +he had any right to be.</p> +<p class="pnext">New York City, with all its flare and rush and hurry, was no place for +this poor, broken English gentleman. Unsettled and unnerved, he took +to speculation, and fell into the hands of a certain firm of financial +brokers, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to wit, famous even in New York +for their sharp practices and hardness of heart. They had no more +mercy on John Burke than on any other of their clients, and when the +poor fellow was well-nigh destitute, he fell into a rapid consumption. +Then, knowing that his days were numbered, he called his son to his +bedside, and gave Jimmy a dying father's advice.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the first place, he asked the boy's pardon for the wrong that he had +done him. He told Jimmy to try to live honourably and well, and never +to forget three things: his duty to God, the example of the mother whom +the boy could only just remember, and the fact that he was an English +gentleman--the grandson of "Swiftsure Burke."</p> +<p class="pnext">And after that, John Burke died. The life flickered out of him like a +candle in the wind, whilst Jimmy was left kneeling at the bedside, his +young frame numbed by a great feeling of weakness that pervaded every +limb, and his face all streamed with tears.</p> +<p class="pnext">The doctor lifted the boy to his feet, and just then something fell +from the bed to the floor, which the doctor picked up and gave to +Jimmy. It was a little coin--all, indeed, that the boy possessed in +the world, all Jimmy Burke's inheritance. It was the "lucky" sixpence +of Admiral "Swiftsure Burke."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ii-in-defiance-of-authority"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id3">CHAPTER II--In Defiance of Authority</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">At the time of his father's death, Jimmy Burke was seventeen years of +age. He was a strong lad and tall for his age, fair of complexion, +with a direct look in the eyes and a resolute cast of chin that he had +got from "Swiftsure Burke."</p> +<p class="pnext">He had had a hard life, even at that age; and a hard life will either +mould a boy or break his heart--more often the latter, unless he be +made of the right stuff. But Jimmy came of a fighting race. He soon +learnt to hold his own, being in more ways than one far better fitted +to succeed in the world than his less robust, unhappy father.</p> +<p class="pnext">Left alone in a great city like New York, where there are as many +rogues as street-cars, and more "toughs" than police, he looked about +him for some suitable employment, resolved in spite of everything to +earn an honest living. Knowing that good fortune comes only to those +that seek it, he presented himself at the offices of Rosencrantz and +Guildenstern--the very firm, though he never knew it, that had brought +about the ruin of his father--and boldly asked to be taken on as a +clerk.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rosencrantz questioned the boy as to his capacities, sounding him in +much the same way as a farmer might prod a fat sheep on a market day, +and very soon arrived at the conclusion that Jimmy Burke was the very +lad he wanted. He engaged him on the spot, as a kind of combined clerk +and office boy, and--what suited Rosencrantz most of all--at a +starvation salary, which at the time, however, seemed more than enough +to Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">And thereupon the boy entered upon a phase of his existence in which +there was little sunshine and much that would have made him miserable +and downcast had he been made of weaker stuff.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rosencrantz was a bald, clean-shaven man, with a hooked nose, a sallow +face, and a domineering manner. It was his habit to browbeat his +employees; but it was no more possible to crush the spirit, or blot out +the personality of the grandson of "Swiftsure Burke" than it would be +to curb the cub of a tiger. The boy remained the same: +straightforward, frank and honest. He continued to do his work to the +best of his ability, taking his employer's hard words for what they +were worth, accepting them as part and parcel of his life, a sort of +grim necessity.</p> +<p class="pnext">As for Guildenstern, he seldom appeared at the office; and when he did +so, it was quite evident that he had little or no say in the business. +He was a small man, very short-sighted, whose gold-rimmed pince-nez +would never stay on his nose. He was always perfectly ready to agree +to whatever Rosencrantz said, and if he ever made a suggestion of his +own--which was seldom enough--he did so with many apologies, as if he +was well aware that he had no right to open his mouth.</p> +<p class="pnext">Both these men were "hyphenated-Americans" of German descent. Neither, +however, had ever been to the Fatherland, nor was Rosencrantz able to +speak a single word of what should have been his native language. He +had been born in Chicago, and on that account it was his custom to +refer to himself as a "freeborn citizen of the great United States."</p> +<p class="pnext">Whatever else he was, he was first a rascal, and secondly a man of +business. The sole object of his life was the making of money, in +regard to which he was handicapped by no qualms of conscience. Such +ambitions are bound to be debasing; and Herr Rosencrantz was quite +incapable of any finer feelings. He took not the least personal +interest in the orphan boy whom fate had thrown upon his hands. He +experienced no feelings of remorse for having brought John Burke to the +brink of ruin and the door of death. Jimmy was just a bright lad who +could be put to a good use, who was certainly worth four times the +salary he received.</p> +<p class="pnext">In course of time, the boy so disliked and mistrusted his employer that +he had serious thoughts of looking for work elsewhere. One thing, and +one thing only, prevented him from doing so. His sole friend in these +days was a girl, a little older than himself, whose name was Peggy Wade.</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy was an orphan, too. Her parents had died when she was quite a +child, since when she had been brought up by an aunt who lived at +Hoboken--a true woman, who could give, without thought of recompense, +and without reluctance, that love and tender care to which the young +should be entitled. She was a mother, in all but name, to Peggy Wade; +and Peggy, in a girl's way, was a mother to Jimmy Burke.</p> +<p class="pnext">She was employed by Rosencrantz as a shorthand-typist; and thus it was +that she and Jimmy, constituting the whole office staff, were thrown +much in each other's way, and before long they had become inseparable +friends. Often, when they were obliged to work long after business +hours, smuggling into the office various unwholesome edibles, such as +pork-pies, sardines and cakes, they would make cocoa on the stove and +revel in what they termed a "picnic."</p> +<p class="pnext">They would spend their Saturdays together in Central Park, or else go +even so far afield as Coney Island, provided one or the other had +sufficient money to spend upon the roundabouts and swings. And in the +evenings they would return to Hoboken, where Peggy's aunt, with the +sweet smile of a loving woman, to whom the happiness of others is a +great reward, would listen in patient satisfaction to the whole tale of +their adventures. That was how things were during the winter and the +early spring of the year 1914--which is a date that will stand forth in +scarlet lettering in the History of the World.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was during the month of April that Rosencrantz began to receive +visits from a certain distinguished-looking gentleman, whom Peggy +recognized at once by his portrait which had appeared more than once in +the New York papers. He was a certain Baron von Essling, a military +attaché of the German Embassy in Washington, though never by any chance +did he think fit to give his name. He always asked for Rosencrantz, +and was admitted without delay, when the two men would remain closeted +together sometimes even for hours.</p> +<p class="pnext">In more ways than one, there was an atmosphere of secrecy about these +interviews, which even Jimmy could not fail to observe. In the first +place, the Baron's visits invariably took place after dark, when most +of the business houses were closed. Rosencrantz, too, never failed to +lock his office door after the Baron had entered. He also became more +fussy than ever, and more impatient and nervous. He had just +discovered that Peggy and Jimmy were in the habit of entering his room +after he had left it, for the purpose of converting his office stove +into a kitchen range.</p> +<p class="pnext">This he strictly forbade. He admitted that it was necessary for both +of them to have access into the inner office, but cooking he would +certainly not permit. There can be small doubt that in his own boyhood +(if he had ever had one) the joys of a "picnic" had been quite unknown.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was also about this time that he purchased a peculiar leather +box--which he called his "attaché-case"--of which he himself possessed +the only key, and in which he kept certain documents which no one but +himself, and apparently the Baron von Essling, was ever permitted to +see.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, one of the man's peculiarities was that he liked to see his office +tidy, whereas he himself was one of the most slovenly people in the +world. And as Jimmy was not particularly methodical in such matters, +the result was that Peggy was the only one of the three who ever knew +where anything was. It was this, as it turned out, that brought about +something in the nature of a great calamity, as we shall see.</p> +<p class="pnext">Von Essling, when he called, was sometimes accompanied by a short, +thick-set fellow, who went by the name of Rudolf Stork. Stork was a +strange-looking man, with an exceedingly wrinkled face, and a sinister +cast of countenance. Peggy, with the unfailing instinct of her sex, +mistrusted him from the start.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork was evidently a sailor, for he wore a pea-jacket, walked with a +rolling gait, and was eternally chewing tobacco, and expectorating with +a considerable degree of skill. If Rosencrantz was a scoundrel, Rudolf +Stork was something worse. There was that about him that suggested the +jail-bird, the man who knows what it means to wear a convict's clothes, +to be labelled with a number and pace a prison yard. One evening, +Rosencrantz left the office earlier than usual. There had been a +sudden bout of cold weather, when it had seemed that the spring was at +hand. A bitter wind was blowing through the New York streets, that +picked up the dust and drove it in eddies between the great, +square-cut, towering buildings. It was wholly characteristic of +Rosencrantz that he grudged his clerks a fire, though the stove in his +own room had been burning all that day. Peggy and Jimmy had been left +at their desks with orders to make up certain arrears of work. The boy +sat before an opened ledger; the girl was busy at her typewriter with a +sheaf of shorthand notes at her elbow.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly, she got to her feet, unrolled the last quarto, and placed the +cover over the machine.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've done," she said, looking across at Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy, who was still poring over the ledger, ran his fingers through +his hair.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I wish I had," he answered, in a tired voice. "If I can't balance +these accounts, I shall hear all about it to-morrow. Say, Peggy," he +continued, swinging round in his chair, "what do you say to a picnic?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy straightened, and shaped her lips as if about to whistle.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just fine!" she exclaimed. "But, Jimmy, dare we risk it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy's face altered; for a moment he looked quite serious.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No," said he. "It's not good enough. I don't mind for myself, but +I'm not going to get you into a row."</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, I don't care," she answered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's not allowed," said Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It wouldn't be half such fun if it was," observed Peggy, with a world +of truth. "Besides, he won't come back again to-night. He told me I +was to leave the most important letters till to-morrow morning."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy was on his feet in an instant; the ledger was slammed down upon a +shelf.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come on," he cried. "We'll have the feast of our lives."</p> +<p class="pnext">Their cooking utensils consisted of a cheap kettle, a frying-pan, and a +few knives, forks and spoons. These Peggy had hidden in a large +cupboard in Rosencrantz's room, which was used as a receptacle for old +account books and ledgers and all kinds of rubbish, and where their +employer never by any chance happened to look. As they rescued these +priceless possessions from behind a collection of office brooms and +dust-pans, Jimmy noticed that the mysterious leather box--which +Rosencrantz called his "attaché-case"--had been placed on the floor of +the cupboard.</p> +<p class="pnext">The recognized preliminary to an office "picnic" was that they should +club their money. On this occasion Peggy produced two dollars fifty, +whereas Jimmy could contribute no more than seventy cents. When Peggy +had filled the kettle, it was arranged that Jimmy should remain in +charge, whilst the girl went out to purchase supplies which, it was +decided, should include sausages, in regard to the cooking of which +Peggy was an acknowledged expert.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, an escapade of this sort loses much of its zest when the bold +adventurer finds himself alone; and no sooner had Peggy set out upon +her errand than Jimmy became conscious of feeling a trifle nervous. +Though he was never willing to admit it to himself, he held Rosencrantz +in considerable dread; and he did not like to think what the result +would be should he and Peggy be caught. In consequence, for the first +time in his life, he was really alarmed when suddenly he heard the +clashing sound of the brass doors of the elevator, followed by +footsteps in the corridor.</p> +<p class="pnext">Shuffling the knives and forks into his coat pocket, with the kettle in +one hand and the frying-pan in the other, he sprang to his feet and +stood for a moment irresolute, not knowing what to do. He could not go +back to the clerks' office, since there he would meet Rosencrantz, +whose voice was audible through the half-opened sliding door in the +wall.</p> +<p class="pnext">It did not take Jimmy long to come to the conclusion that, on such an +occasion as this, discretion is the better part of valour. Without a +moment's thought, he dashed into the cupboard; tripped over the leather +box, so that some of the half-boiling water was spilled from the spout +of the kettle, and then closed the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">He did so only in the nick of time; for, a second later, Rosencrantz +himself entered the room, followed by the Baron von Essling and Rudolf +Stork.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-iii-the-world-plot"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id4">CHAPTER III--The World Plot</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The office door was closed and Jimmy heard the key turn in the lock. +Rosencrantz offered his guests chairs, and then apparently seated +himself at his writing-desk. Of the conversation that ensued Jimmy +could hear every word, for the cupboard door was thin and von Essling, +who did most of the talking, had a deep, resounding voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">The plot that was unfolded, word by word, was amazing and colossal. It +was so cold-blooded and terrible, and was intended to be so +far-reaching in its results, that the boy could hardly bring himself to +believe the evidence of his ears. Time and again, he had to pinch +himself, to make sure that the whole thing was not a nightmare from +which he would presently awaken.</p> +<p class="pnext">It must be remembered that at that time the tragedy of Serajevo had not +taken place. Europe and, indeed, the whole world--was at peace. +Official Germany was even then talking of friendly relations with +England.</p> +<p class="pnext">And yet, it appeared, from what the Baron had to say, that Germany +intended to plunge the whole of Europe into war. By the first of +August, the German legions would be on the march, crossing the +frontiers of France on the very day that they swept down upon Paris in +1870--forty-four years ago.</p> +<p class="pnext">France was to be crushed, and would be crushed--according to von +Essling--after six weeks of war. Russia would take time to concentrate +her forces; and after Paris had fallen, the German armies could be +transferred to the east, where the fall of Warsaw would checkmate the +Russian armies till the conclusion of the campaign. When peace had +been declared, and the German Empire extended to the North Sea and the +great port of Antwerp, a fitting moment was to be seized to throttle +England and break up the British Empire, once and for all.</p> +<p class="pnext">This--as the Baron explained--was the main policy of all true +Pan-Germans. Not until Great Britain had crumbled to the dust, could +Germany realize to the full her dreams of World-Power and +World-Dominion. England stood between Germany and the sun.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I tell you, my friends," von Essling almost shouted; "I tell you, the +blow will fall with alarming suddenness. The declaration of war will +come like a thunderbolt. We are ready; France and Russia are +unprepared; it is impossible that England will dare to interfere."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That is good," cried Rudolf Stork. "I have no love for the English, +who encumber the face of the earth like a plague of flies. None the +less, I fail to see why a plain sea-faring man like myself should be +taken into your confidence."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It so happens," said Rosencrantz, "that you are the very man we want. +In the first place, though you call yourself a Dutchman, you are German +born, as I know very well, and can be trusted. Also, you know the +world; you can speak four languages--German, French, English and Dutch. +Moreover, you were once an actor; you should know how to disguise +yourself, to play several minor parts in this great drama which is +about to astonish the world."</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork gave a grunt of disapproval.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It seems to me," he said, "you know too much about me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know more than that," said the other. "I know that you are an +ex-convict, and even now are wanted by the police. However, you have +nothing to fear; I intend to keep my knowledge to myself. The Baron +himself will explain exactly what you will be required to do."</p> +<p class="pnext">Once again, von Essling took up the thread of this ruthless world-wide +plot. In order to hasten the decomposition of what he called the +already-tottering British Empire, rebellion must be stirred up in the +British colonies. The seeds of sedition must be sown broadcast, in +India, in South Africa and Egypt.</p> +<p class="pnext">Here, it appeared, both Rosencrantz and Rudolf Stork could be of the +greatest assistance. According to von Essling there was little or no +risk, and they might count upon being well paid. "The German Emperor," +said the Baron, "does not fail to reward those who serve the +Fatherland."</p> +<p class="pnext">The offices of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were to be used as a kind +of Secret Service Bureau. Whether or not England joined in the +conflict, the United States would, in any case, remain neutral. From +New York, intelligence could be transmitted direct to Berlin, and <em class="italics">vice +versa</em>. Von Essling's agents--one of whom was to be Rudolf +Stork--acting as spies in the war area, would transmit, or bring +personally, the information they gathered to Rosencrantz, who would +represent the Baron, who would sift all intelligence, and supervise +cyphered telegrams to the Intelligence Department in the Wilhelmstrasse +in Berlin. For the present absolute secrecy was to be maintained.</p> +<p class="pnext">Von Essling ended. There was a brief pause, during which Stork spat +upon the floor.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And may I ask," said he at length, "what guarantee I am to have? I +don't, mind you, say that all this is not true; but, still, business is +business, and no man takes on board a cargo without a manifest, which +is a kind of passport on the sea."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are quite right," said the Baron. "I can supply you with +credentials which will instantly dispel such doubts. I have already +entrusted to Mr. Rosencrantz papers of the utmost value, which will +prove to you that we are perfectly sincere, that it will be worth your +while to help us."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then that Rosencrantz got to his feet, and shuffled about the +room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It so happens," he observed, "that the papers you mention are in a +certain leather box which was given into the charge of my secretary."</p> +<p class="pnext">Von Essling gave vent to an exclamation of surprise.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You take grave risks!" said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My dear Baron," replied the other, "the girl can be trusted +implicitly. And besides, she is totally ignorant of what the box +contains."</p> +<p class="pnext">Von Essling had something else to say, but Stork took him up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What happens if I'm caught?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If you succeed," said the Baron, "you will be amply rewarded. You +will be paid according to the value of the information you obtain. But +if you fail the misfortune is yours. We wash our hands of you; we know +nothing whatsoever about you. That is the principle upon which the +Secret Service works."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I see," said the man. "Whatever I do is at my own risk."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Precisely," said the Baron.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was another pause; and then Stork got to his feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll do it," said he. "I've every confidence in myself. If you want +my candid opinion, I think I'm the very man for the job."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good!" said von Essling. "Self-assurance is essential. And now, +there are a few questions I would like you to answer. Have you ever +been to London? Could you find your own way about in that labyrinth of +a city? It will probably be necessary for you to go there."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know London well," said Stork, "from Whitechapel to Hammersmith. At +one time, I played Iago in Shakespeare's play, in a little theatre +which is now pulled down, in the Portobello Road."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah," said the other, "some time in the near future you and I may meet +in London. I have never been there. Though I can both speak and write +English with ease, I have never set foot in England."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are likely to leave New York?" asked Rosencrantz.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Perhaps; I can say nothing for certain. My post here is merely a +blind. I was transferred into the Diplomatic Service from the Secret +Service for reasons of convenience. As a military attaché, I have many +opportunities for gleaning information."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy Burke was only a boy, whose experience of the world was +necessarily somewhat limited. None the less, he was well able to +understand the depth of the perfidy with which he found himself +confronted. The whole thing seemed too villainous to be true. He +could not believe that the modern civilized world was such a hotbed of +treason and deceit--a kind of magnified thieves' kitchen wherein mighty +nations played the part of common footpads.</p> +<p class="pnext">Indignation and excitement left him breathless. In fact, he was so +astounded and dismayed that he had forgotten his own danger, when +suddenly he was brought back to his senses by the loud slamming of a +door. On the instant, as he recognized the truth, it was as if a blow +had been struck him: Peggy had returned!</p> +<p class="pnext">He was told afterwards what actually happened. At the time, shut up in +the darkness of the cupboard, fearing to move an inch, almost dreading +to breathe, he was able to see nothing of what took place in the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy, with cheeks flushed in the wind, and an armful of small paper +parcels, came swinging along the corridor, tried to open the office +door, and found it locked.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before she had time to guess what was about to happen, the door was +flung wide open, and she found herself confronted by Rosencrantz and +his companions.</p> +<p class="pnext">She stood stock-still, speechless and afraid. Her first inclination +was to fly; and the next moment, she found herself wondering what had +become of Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rosencrantz, after the manner of a cat who plays with a mouse, with +extreme politeness ushered her into the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And may I ask," said he, in a soft, oily voice, "may I ask what those +parcels contain?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy allowed him to take them from her hand. He opened them one by +one. The first contained a packet of cocoa; the next (of all +iniquities!) a bundle of sausages. There was also bread, butter, sugar +and lard.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I see," said Rosencrantz, "I see. It is not sufficient for me to give +orders; it is not sufficient for me to forbid you to turn my office +into a kitchen and a common eating-house; but you must leave your work +the very moment my back is turned."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is this the girl," asked von Essling, "who enjoys a position of trust?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have been mistaken in her," said Rosencrantz. "There can be no +doubt as to that. Where is my attaché-case?" he demanded. "Where have +you put the leather box?"</p> +<p class="pnext">At these words, it seemed to Jimmy that his heart ceased to beat. In +the ordinary course of events, he would have stepped forth boldly, to +share with Peggy the consequence of their joint guilt. As it was, with +this colossal secret on his mind, and knowing full well that his right +foot was resting on the very leather box in question, he was petrified +by fear.</p> +<p class="pnext">At times of extreme nervous tension, the senses are frequently acute. +Though Peggy's frightened voice came in little above a whisper, Jimmy +was able to hear her words with terrible distinctness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It is here, in the cupboard," she said. "I will get it--now."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-iv-shadowed"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id5">CHAPTER IV--Shadowed</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Peggy Wade was an American--which is the same thing as saying that she +was possessed of considerable presence of mind. In the climax that now +took place, she might easily have lost her head, instead of which she +did all that was within her power to avert calamity.</p> +<p class="pnext">She approached the cupboard door and opened it. Fortunately, the +hinges were towards the centre of the room, where the three men stood +together. Rosencrantz and his companions could neither see into the +cupboard nor observe the look of intense alarm that came into the +girl's face, the moment she found herself confronted by Jimmy Burke.</p> +<p class="pnext">She mastered herself in an instant. As quick as thought, Jimmy thrust +the leather box into her hand; at which she turned quickly, and closed +the door. For the time being, at least, the situation was saved.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have not yet told me," said Rosencrantz, in the assured tones of +an inveterate bully, "why you dared to disobey my orders?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy's thoughts were still with Jimmy. Though she knew nothing of the +colossal plot which had just come to light, she trembled to think of +what the consequences would be, should the boy be discovered. She +answered timidly, in a voice so low as to be hardly audible.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have no excuse," she said.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rosencrantz gave vent to a grunt.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I should think not," said he, with a quick shrug of the shoulders. +"And where's that rascal of a boy?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy could not answer. For a moment, she thought it was best to tell +a deliberate lie, and have done with it; and then, she found she could +not. She just stood quite still and silent, unable to lift her eyes +from the floor--a very figure of guilt.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rudolf Stork was a man upon whom little or nothing was lost. He had +the eyes of a lynx. He was one whose very liberty, perhaps, depended +upon his powers of observation, his memory and his wits. Without a +word, he turned upon his heel, in three strides crossed the room, and +flung wide open the cupboard door.</p> +<p class="pnext">And there stood Jimmy Burke, his head half lowered, his face white as a +sheet. He took two slow steps forward towards the centre of the room +where the three men stood regarding him in amazement, and then stopped +dead, apparently afraid to look about him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rosencrantz drew in a deep breath, as a man does who is about to take a +plunge into ice-cold water. Von Essling let out an oath in his own +language, as he drummed with his fingers upon the silver knob of a +stout malacca cane. As for Stork, his hand went quickly to his +hip-pocket, and a small nickel-plated revolver glittered in the light.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Eavesdropping!" cried Rosencrantz. "An eavesdropper--by all that's +wonderful!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you realize what this means?" exclaimed the Baron, gesticulating +wildly with a hand. "There's danger here! This boy must have +overheard every word we said. The result may be disastrous."</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork crouched like a tiger. The expression upon the man's face was +terrible. Slowly, he raised his revolver at arm's length, directing +the muzzle straight at Jimmy's heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's only one way," said he. "It's not pleasant, but I'll do it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Beyond doubt, he would have fired, had not the Baron seized his wrist.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do nothing foolish!" he exclaimed. "You forget the girl. There's a +witness--in the girl!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork lowered his revolver, turned slowly, and stared hard at Peggy, +who quailed before the ferocity of those pale, cat-like eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rosencrantz, who was a coward at heart, had no desire to see murder +done on his own premises; he had never bargained for that. Since +matters had already gone too far, and seeing some explanation was +necessary, he did his best to laugh it off.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Enough, my friend!" he cried. "That is enough. You desired to +frighten him, and have done so. See, the boy is trembling. It will +teach him a lesson to the very end of his life."</p> +<p class="pnext">This was not true; but, still, it was good enough to pass, to act as a +shield for Rudolf Stork. Von Essling had not yet recovered his +presence of mind; indeed, he was still so put out he could not stand +still, but, tucking his malacca cane under his arm, set to pacing +backwards and forwards in the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"This is serious," he muttered; "terribly serious." Then he pulled up +suddenly in front of Jimmy, whom he regarded steadfastly, looking the +boy up and down, from head to foot.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It may be all right," said he at last, with something that was not far +from a sigh of relief. "Fortunately the boy is young. And yet," he +added, "I cannot think why he hid himself. It is all a mystery."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think," said Rosencrantz, "I can explain. He was there by chance. +He did not know that I intended to return to the office, and having +deliberately disobeyed my orders, he had a natural desire to avoid me."</p> +<p class="pnext">The Baron von Essling shrugged his shoulders. Rosencrantz turned +sharply upon Jimmy and the girl, who now stood side by side.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You will both leave this place at once," said he, "and you will not +return. Understand, I never wish to see your faces again."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, he went to the door and threw it open, making a motion of the +hand for them to go.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were about to leave, when Stork seized Jimmy roughly by a +shoulder. He was a strong man, as the boy could tell from the iron +grip that held him as if he were in a vice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Wait a bit," said he. "Easy now. We'd be blind fools to let you go +like that. Listen here, my boy, and let what I've got to say sink into +your memory. Breathe so much as a single word to any living soul of +what you've heard to-night, and I'll find it out. You may set your +mind at rest on that. I'm not a mild man, nor a plaster saint; some +folk might say that sometimes I'm a little quick of temper. At any +rate, I tell you this: I'll stick at nothing, if you neglect the advice +I give you gratis. So, just beware, take warning; mum's the word."</p> +<p class="pnext">And at that, he sent Jimmy flying headlong through the doorway.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the boy recovered his balance--and indeed, he only just saved +himself from stretching his length upon the floor--he found Peggy at +his side, with a white face and trembling lips, and her hands clasped +together.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Oh, come," she cried, "we must go away from here. Jimmy, I never knew +that I could be so frightened." Somehow she was breathless.</p> +<p class="pnext">Very quickly, side by side, they ran down flight after flight of steps, +until, at last, they found themselves upon the sidewalk of the famous +street that traverses New York from end to end. A little after, they +stood together at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Broadway.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was night, and the great city was alive. The people were thronging +to the theatres; the street-cars were crowded, their bells clanging +incessantly; news-boys raced across the street. Broadway was a blaze +of light; thousands of advertisements, brilliantly illumined with all +the colours of the rainbow, caught the eye in all directions. Peggy +drew near to Jimmy, and took his arm and pressed it.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Whatever happened, Jimmy?" she asked. "I'm kind of dazed. I don't +really understand."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know that I do," said the boy. "Even now, I can't believe +that it wasn't all a dream."</p> +<p class="pnext">For a little time, they walked along in silence. It was Peggy who +spoke again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You had better come back with me," she said. "I must tell Aunt Marion +I've been dismissed. Somehow I don't think we ought to leave each +other now."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was another pause; and then Peggy gave a shudder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That man was terrible," she said. "I can see him now. Do you know, +Jimmy, he meant to kill you."</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy laughed. Now that he was quit of the atmosphere of that room +wherein had been disclosed the terrible, almost overpowering plot that +was to shake to its very foundations the whole civilized world, it was +easy enough to laugh. For all that, his boyish confidence in himself +had not yet wholly returned. Quite apart from the fact that his life +had been threatened, he had received a shock from which he was not +likely to recover for some time to come.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was quite late when they arrived at Peggy's home in Hoboken, where +they found Peggy's aunt, Miss Daintree, laying the table for supper.</p> +<p class="pnext">In a few brief words, Peggy told her aunt as much as she knew of what +had happened; whereat Aunt Marion expressed neither surprise nor +disappointment. She listened with a sweet smile, and rewarded Peggy +with a kiss, saying that she was more glad than sorry, since the firm +of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had never been to her liking. Besides, +as she pointed out, Peggy was worth a great deal more than they paid +her. There were thousands of chances for a good stenographer in New +York, so after all Peggy had no cause to despair.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy stayed to supper; but, despite the fact that both he and Peggy +had been deprived of the illicit joys of a "picnic," he had neither any +appetite nor any wish to talk, but remained pensive and grave as a +judge.</p> +<p class="pnext">Afterwards, seated before the fire with those two women, one on either +side, he told the whole truth, in defiance of Rudolf Stork. And that +was surely a strange audience to listen to a story of such world-wide +dimensions, fraught with such unheard-of possibilities. The one was a +woman who had already reached middle age, whose hair was touched with +grey, whose life had been spent for the most part in those simple, +sunlit joys which are God's gift to the really good. And the other was +a girl who might still have been at school.</p> +<p class="pnext">They listened in still amazement, finding it all not easy to believe. +And when Jimmy had come to the end of his narrative, and his face was +flushed and his eyes bright, he looked to Aunt Marion, as the +eldest--and presumedly the wisest--for some practical advice. But that +kind-hearted, loving lady knew, perhaps, even less of the world than he.</p> +<p class="pnext">She thought at first that it would be best to go at once to the police; +but, when Jimmy suggested that the New York police were notoriously +corrupt, she agreed that, perhaps, the British consul was a more +suitable person. Accordingly, after a long discussion, it was arranged +that Jimmy and Peggy should go together to that gentleman's office the +following day.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night, the boy slept on a sofa; but Aunt Marion had made him +promise that he would remain with them, as their guest, until he had +obtained some new employment. There was a box-room which she could +easily convert into a bedroom. She knew Jimmy well, and loved the boy; +she even knew the story of "Swiftsure Burke." She knew that Jimmy was +quite penniless, and would have to make his own way in the world; and +she was anxious to do all she could to help him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy spent the following morning bringing the few worldly goods he +possessed from his old lodgings in New York itself to the other side of +the harbour. He had enough money at home to pay the week's rent he +owed, and the cab fare and the ferry-boat. And when he had done that, +he found himself with nothing in the world--but "Swiftsure Burke's" +lucky, dented sixpence.</p> +<p class="pnext">At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the boy and girl sallied forth +together, to interview the British consul. They had an exceedingly +vague notion of what they were going to say to that all-important +personage when they met him; they had not even a very exact idea as to +what the duties of a consul were. None the less, they were quite +convinced that he would explain the whole affair.</p> +<p class="pnext">As it turned out, the consul was on a holiday--as his Britannic +Majesty's consuls frequently are. However, they were shown into the +presence of a certain Mr. Ridgeway, who introduced himself as the +consul's private secretary.</p> +<p class="pnext">This Mr. Ridgeway listened to the boy's story with an expression of +mingled astonishment and disgust. At one moment, he was really +alarmed; at the next, he was perfectly convinced that the whole thing +was a hoax. But, towards the end, when Jimmy became very excited, and +Peggy wrung her hands, he could scarcely fail to see that the boy was +terribly in earnest. Moreover, he knew the Baron von Essling by +reputation--which reputation was certainly not of the best. Still, he +could hardly bring himself to believe either that such a cold-blooded, +deliberate plot really did exist, or that a military attaché could so +abuse a position of the greatest trust.</p> +<p class="pnext">He promised, however, to tell the whole story to the consul when he +returned, and pointed out that in due course, no doubt, the Foreign +Office would be informed. In the meantime, Jimmy was to keep his eyes +open and his mouth shut. On no account whatsoever was he to say a word +to any one of what he knew.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy was determined to remember this advice, which--strangely +enough--coincided with that of Rudolf Stork. As he came down the front +doorsteps of the consulate, though he was out of work and practically a +pauper, though he was conscious of the fact that he was living on the +charity of others who could not afford to support him and upon whom he +had no claim, he walked with a lighter tread than ever in his life +before. He could not but feel proud of the fact that, for some +mysterious reason, he was, indeed, a person of importance.</p> +<p class="pnext">A man was leaning against the railings, both hands thrust deep in his +trousers pockets, a battered hat jammed over his eyes--one of the +inevitable loafers who are to be found in the streets of every city in +the world. As Jimmy reached the bottom step, this man looked at him +sharply from over his shoulder, and then slouched away.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy stood stock still, staring after the man with the battered hat, +with parted lips and widely opened eyes. He did not speak or move, +until Peggy suddenly touched his arm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Did you see that man?" he whispered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it?" Peggy exclaimed. "What's the matter, Jimmy?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy pointed to the receding figure which just then disappeared quite +suddenly round a corner.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That man," said he, "was Rudolf Stork. And he knows I saw him."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-v-dropping-the-pilot"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id6">CHAPTER V--Dropping the Pilot</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">If we put away ghosts and such like--in which nobody nowadays +believes--there is, perhaps, no more unpleasant experience in the world +than to be shadowed. The fact that one's footsteps are dogged +eternally, that at every sudden corner or darkened by-way a hidden foe +may lurk, is the kind of thing that is well calculated to test the +strongest nerves.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork, in his own words, was a man who would stick at nothing--a +desperate blade who, no doubt, had already more than one crime upon his +conscience. Peggy was terrified; and though Jimmy did his best to show +a bold front, his heart was filled with misgivings.</p> +<p class="pnext">Determined to get back to Hoboken as soon as possible, they quickened +their footsteps, crossing the great avenues that traverse the entire +length of this most wonderful of modern cities.</p> +<p class="pnext">As all Yankees know, the offices of an exceedingly influential +newspaper are situated in Fifth Avenue, which is the main thoroughfare +of New York; and as the boy and girl passed the entrance to this +enormous block of buildings, they were almost swept from the pavement +by a crowd of news-boys who came rushing round a corner, shouting +themselves hoarse, like a party of dancing Dervishes or Bashi-bazouks. +In point of fact, they made so much noise among themselves that it was +quite impossible to understand a single word they said, though it was +manifest that some news had just come to hand of startling importance.</p> +<p class="pnext">At that moment, a poster was pasted up in one of the windows on the +ground floor, which contained the following announcement--</p> +<div class="center line-block medium noindent outermost"> +<div class="line">TERRIBLE TRAGEDY IN EUROPE</div> +<div class="line">AUSTRIAN ARCHDUKE AND DUCHESS</div> +<div class="line">MURDERED BY SERVIANS</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Peggy and Jimmy stopped to read the notice, which--it must be +confessed--conveyed little or nothing to either of them. They could +not in any way associate the murder of the heir to the throne of +Austria with the colossal plot that von Essling had disclosed in the +presence of Rosencrantz and Rudolf Stork. They did not realize that +this was the spark that was destined to spread, within the space of a +few short weeks, into an almost universal conflagration; that the +curtain had been rung up upon the greatest drama the world had ever +known.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was during the next few weeks that it gradually became apparent to +the ordinary man in the street that the situation was serious. Nearly +all that time Jimmy was looking about him for some new employment. +Peggy had been almost immediately successful. She had secured quite a +well-paid position with a large firm of shipping agents: Jason, +Stileman and May, a British company whose house-flag is to be found on +every ocean in the world.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy, on the other hand, had no such luck; and indeed, he had not +Peggy's qualifications. Week after week, he roamed the streets of New +York, looking for work, and every night returned to Hoboken, +crestfallen and disappointed. Though he had come to regard Peggy and +Aunt Marion as his own relations, he was still the grandson of +"Swiftsure Burke," and found his position in one sense insupportable. +Though he was treated with the utmost kindness, he was never quite able +to forget that he was living upon the charity of those who were pressed +for money themselves. Finally, he resolved to work with his hands; and +seeing a notice to the effect that stevedores and dock-labourers were +wanted, he applied for work in the docks, and was engaged on the spot, +at a rate of pay which--to his surprise--greatly exceeded that which he +had received from Rosencrantz.</p> +<p class="pnext">Neither was his work particularly hard or uncongenial. All he had to +do was to manipulate a large hydraulic crane, by means of which cargo +was hoisted into the ships. For a week or so, he was happier than he +had ever been in his life. He continued to live with Peggy and Aunt +Marion, whom he had persuaded to accept payment for his board and +lodging. Indeed, he soon came to regard them as mother and sister; +Peggy and he were greater inseparables than ever. Also, he was man +enough not to be ashamed of his canvas working suit and oily hands. He +was earning an honest living; his work kept him out in the open air, +and the ships which went forth every day to all the seven seas, that +flew the ensigns of every country in the world, appealed to his +imagination and carried his thoughts back to the land of his birth +which he could only just remember.</p> +<p class="pnext">And then, the War broke out; Europe burst suddenly into flame. For +days the tension had been extreme. Austria, in spite of the +protestations of every country in Europe, with the sole exception of +the German Empire, was determined to carry out a kind of punitive +expedition against Servia.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not only the sacred duty of the Czar to protect Slav interests, +it was of vital importance to Russia that no Germanic power should gain +control of the Dardanelles; and hence, as a purely precautionary +measure Russia was forced to mobilize.</p> +<p class="pnext">At that the German Empire gathered its armies together, which made it +incumbent upon France to hold to her alliance, to be prepared to stand +side by side with her great Eastern ally. Germany knew quite well what +the result would be, when she urged Austria to take reprisals. It is +unbelievable that Austria would have acted without the assurance of +German support. Germany was resolved that a purely local question, +relating to the independence of the Kingdom of Servia, which might +easily have been settled in a friendly manner, should be made the +excuse for a trial of her own gigantic strength, for an attempt to +realize "World-Power."</p> +<p class="pnext">She wanted this for three reasons: Firstly, she recognized that she +could not maintain indefinitely the continued cost of her armaments and +fleet without internal troubles sooner or later arising; secondly, she +had supreme confidence in herself, she knew that she was prepared, and +that no other nation was; and thirdly, it was only by conquest that she +could gain the opportunities for national expansion she desired. If +any further proof be needed that the guilt of the Great War lies upon +the rulers of the German Empire, it is to be found in the fact that +when--mainly through the efforts of His Majesty King George, the Czar +of Russia and Sir Edward Grey--both Austria and Russia were ready to do +their best to come to some agreement, Germany bluntly replied that the +matter had gone too far, that the die was cast, and her troops--already +on the march--could not be called back. The great machinery of War had +been set in motion.</p> +<p class="pnext">And as if this had not been in itself a sufficient outrage upon the +claims of civilization, the German armies, without warning or excuse, +swept down upon poor, unhappy Belgium, and the whole world stood aghast +at atrocities which put to shame even the campaigns of Tamerlane and +Jenghiz Khan. In such circumstances as these, if England had stood +apart, the British Empire would have crumbled to the dust. There would +not have been a right-thinking, honest roan, worthy of the name of +Briton, who would not have disowned his Motherland for very shame. In +defence of Belgium, in defence of the sacred right of treaties, in +defence of our own honour, our homes and the land we love, we took up +the sword--which shall not be laid down until Belgium is avenged, and a +great and growing menace to the peace and prosperity of Europe has been +blotted out, once and for all.</p> +<p class="pnext">These things were understood by the majority of people in America, as +in every other neutral state in the world--with the possible exception +of Sweden.</p> +<p class="pnext">As for Jimmy Burke, working a good ten hours a day in the New York +docks, he yearned to board one of the many steamers flying the red +ensign of England, to sail to his native land. As the grandson of +"Swiftsure Burke" he longed to fight for England--a longing that was +almost irresistible during the first weeks of the War, when it seemed +that nothing could save Paris from the fate of '70.</p> +<p class="pnext">Aunt Marion and Peggy were no less anxious to help; there are noble +parts for women to play in war. It so happened that at one time Miss +Daintree had been a hospital nurse; and she was now resolved to return +to her old profession. Peggy, too, began to attend evening classes at +a hospital, and very soon displayed a natural aptitude for nursing--a +combination of quickness, sympathy and presence of mind.</p> +<p class="pnext">In all probability, Jimmy would have eventually worked his way to +Canada, and joined the loyal and splendid forces of the Dominion, but +for the incident narrated below, which altered the course of his life +in a very unexpected and violent manner. There is no question as to +the motive that led to the outrage: the boy was in possession of +extremely valuable information; and besides, he had deliberately +neglected Stork's advice.</p> +<p class="pnext">One night, when a ship, timed to sail at daybreak, had not taken on all +her cargo until past ten o'clock, and Jimmy was on his way home through +a narrow, and somewhat darkened street, he suddenly became conscious of +footsteps close behind him.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was that in the sound that made him start and look back in haste. +Some one was coming upon him rapidly and with stealth--some one who was +wearing india-rubber shoes.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy sprang aside--too late. He was seized roughly by the throat, +and held at arm's length, whilst a gruff voice let out, "I've got you!"</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 64%" id="figure-49"> +<span id="the-boy-sprang-aside-too-late-he-was-seized-roughly-by-the-throat"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-038.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +THE BOY SPRANG ASIDE TOO LATE. HE WAS SEIZED ROUGHLY BY THE THROAT.]</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Looking up, he recognized in the dim light the face of Rudolf Stork, an +expression of extreme ferocity stamped upon every feature.</p> +<p class="pnext">Afterwards, Jimmy remembered the man's words quite well, just as +clearly as one often remembers on waking one's last thoughts before +falling asleep.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You defy me!" he muttered. "You'll not live to do it again."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, he raised his right hand, in which was something like a bar of +iron, and Jimmy Burke remembered nothing more; the conscious part of +him vanished, as in a flash, and left him in a weird world of darkness, +nothingness and silence.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he came to his senses, he was in bed; Aunt Marion was bending over +him, and Peggy was near at hand. There were bandages about his head. +Also, something was the matter with his eyes; for, before he could +remember where he was, or who Peggy and Aunt Marion were, his eyes +began to ache, and he was obliged to close them.</p> +<p class="pnext">According to the doctor, it was a miracle that Jimmy had escaped with +his life. He had been dealt a shattering blow with some blunt +instrument; he had not been found for three hours, when he was picked +up by a labouring man on his way to his work in the small hours of the +morning. Since there was no hospital near at hand this man had carried +the unconscious boy to his own address which he had found in a +note-book in the pocket of Jimmy's coat.</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy had immediately hastened for a doctor; and the police were +informed of the identity of Rudolf Stork. For days Jimmy was +delirious; and had it not been for good nursing, he could never have +pulled through.</p> +<p class="pnext">Those critical days, when the boy's life was in danger and his mind +adrift, were followed by weeks of convalescence. And finally, when he +was quite well again, he was so reduced in strength that it was +altogether out of the question that he should think of returning to +work.</p> +<p class="pnext">And when he did try to go back to his former employment at the docks, +he found that his place had been filled by another. Since the outbreak +of the war, trade had been on the ebb, and work was harder than ever to +find.</p> +<p class="pnext">There followed another period of enforced idleness. And it was now +winter; and grey, sunless skies, bitter winds, and constant rain and +sleet, have, at the best of times, a sombre effect upon the spirits.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy became utterly depressed. He felt that he had no right to go +on living with Aunt Marion and Peggy, though both repeatedly assured +him that there was no need for him to worry. He felt that he was +approaching manhood, and it was a man's duty to work. This inactivity +was all the harder to bear, because the Great War was still raging with +unabated fury.</p> +<p class="pnext">At last, one evening, as he was wending his way home through Central +Park, after another unsuccessful day, he decided to take his destiny +into his own hands, to take a plunge into the future, which might be +fortunate or fatal, but which in any case would be decisive.</p> +<p class="pnext">He knew quite well that what he proposed to do was wrong. He had often +prayed to God for help, but that night he prayed to be forgiven.</p> +<p class="pnext">That evening he opened a small box of tools which his father had given +him years ago, and taking out a steel file, set to work on "Swiftsure +Burke's" lucky sixpence, which he deliberately filed in half.</p> +<p class="pnext">That took him the best part of half an hour; and it was almost as great +a business to punch a hole through each separate half. He was not +quite sure where he had heard of the old, time-worn superstition of +dividing a lucky sixpence. Perhaps his father and mother had done +something of the kind, in the days when they were young.</p> +<p class="pnext">He wrapped up a few of his most necessary belongings in a towel; and +when he had done that he went downstairs and found Peggy in the +sitting-room. Aunt Marion had gone to bed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Peggy," said he, "I'm going away."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Going away!" she repeated. "Where?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm going right away. I can't stay here idle any longer. I'm going +to try to do my duty."</p> +<p class="pnext">She came towards him, and a little nervously laid a hand upon his arm.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Jimmy," she said, "you're not serious, are you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">It took him quite a long time to convince her that he was really in +earnest; then, without another word, she gave him what he asked for--a +bottle of water and a loaf of bread. This he put into his bundle; and +then it was that he produced the two halves of the dented, lucky +sixpence, which had saved the life of the Admiral.</p> +<p class="pnext">What he had to say he said altogether clumsily, and even blushed as he +said it. He explained that he wanted to give her something by which +she would always remember him, and he thought half his lucky sixpence +might meet the case; indeed, it was all he had. Before he had finished +speaking there were tears in Peggy's eyes.</p> +<p class="pnext">She did not endeavour to dissuade him from going. But she told him +that Aunt Marion would never forget it, if he went away without seeing +her. Jimmy, however, felt that he had not sufficient moral courage to +resist further persuasions, and in this case it was kinder to be cruel.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was very late when he let himself out, and set off walking rapidly +in the direction of the docks. Peggy did not sleep that night; hour +after hour, she lay awake, her pillow wetted with tears, gripping +tightly in her hand her half of the Admiral's sixpence.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy knew his way about New York harbour. He knew where the ships +were moored, and how to elude the night-watchmen and the dockyard +police. He had tried, time and again, to work his way to England, as a +cabin boy or a steerage hand, and had failed. There was no other way +but this.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stealthily, he made his way along the wharves, creeping in and out +among bales and boxes of cargo. A large tramp steamer, the "Harlech," +which belonged to Jason, Stileman and May, was under steam, bound for +Portsmouth, due to sail some time the following day.</p> +<p class="pnext">From behind a great crane, similar to that at which he himself had once +been wont to work, Jimmy took stock of the "Harlech." Her +after-gangway was lowered, a lantern suspended at the top. The +night-watchman patrolled the main deck, pausing now and again to +relight his pipe. Presently, the man went forward to the forecastle; +and Jimmy seizing his opportunity, slipped up the gangway, crossed the +after-well deck, and tumbled down the hatch.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a sheer drop of ten feet at least. Luckily for the boy, he fell +upon soft bags of oats. Scrambling to his feet, he passed onward, +stumbling repeatedly, for the hold was so dark he could not see a yard +before him.</p> +<p class="pnext">More by good luck than by good management, he came upon the lower +hatchway, which connected with the hold beneath. Lowering himself with +the utmost care, he found a firm footing upon a great pile of boxes; +and passing over these, he found a place where he could sit down and +where there was little chance that he would be discovered. There, he +waited nearly twenty-four hours, during which time he had nothing to +eat but his loaf of bread, whilst he ran a great risk of his presence +being detected, for the time of sailing was put off until late on the +following night.</p> +<p class="pnext">There were rats in the hold, but he did not mind them in the least. +All that he cared about was that he should remain undiscovered until +the ship was well out at sea. He had no wish to be put ashore at Cape +Race or Halifax.</p> +<p class="pnext">Soon after sunrise, he heard the feet of men moving on the deck above, +and this continued throughout the day, whilst the winches rattled and +groaned. Fortunately for him, they were working on the forward holds, +and though the after-hatches were still open, there was apparently no +more cargo for that part of the ship. All this time the engines were +throbbing violently. There was a kind of continuous vibration +throughout the length and breadth of the ship which continued far into +the night. It must have been almost ten o'clock, when suddenly a voice +rang out--the voice of a man whom Jimmy was destined to know, whom he +was to learn to honour and admire. It was the voice of Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Dawes," came the voice, "all hands aboard?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"All aboard, sir."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then man the windlass, and let her go. We're mighty late as it is."</p> +<p class="pnext">A moment later, Jimmy heard the bell ring in the engine-room and the +"Harlech" was under way.</p> +<p class="pnext">She steamed slowly out of New York harbour, passing Liberty Island and +the forts. Jimmy--though he could see nothing but the outline of great +packing-cases and boxes, dimly visible in the half-light that crept +down through the open hatchway--pictured in his imagination the great +sky-scrapers around Wall Street, and the towering buildings in Madison +Square, fading gradually out of sight in the bright moonshine that +flooded New York harbour.</p> +<p class="pnext">From time to time, the bell rang in the engine-room; and then, the +"Harlech" slowed down to drop the pilot. And Jimmy Burke knew that he, +too, had dropped the pilot on the long voyage of life.</p> +<p class="pnext">His heart was beating rapidly in excitement and vague anticipation. +The Past had not been altogether happy. The Future was in the clouds.</p> +<p class="pnext">And then, once again, came the voice of Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Dawes, close that after-hatch."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy heard the men at work under the boatswain on the deck above; and +then, all was utter darkness and silence. The hatch had been battened +down.</p> +<p class="pnext">A little after, the "Harlech" took on a roll, as she struck the broad +Atlantic, and took up her course for the Fastnet on the south coast of +Ireland, nearly three thousand miles away. The grandson of "Swiftsure +Burke" was bound for the shores of the Motherland which he could only +just remember, and the Great War that thundered in the East.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-vi-captain-crouch"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id7">CHAPTER VI--Captain Crouch</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">At about ten o'clock in the morning of the day the "Harlech" sailed, +whilst Jimmy Burke lay in hiding in the hold among the packing-cases +and boxes of cargo, Captain Crouch was ushered into the offices of +Jason, Stileman and May.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, those who know nothing of Captain Crouch are unacquainted with one +of the most singular personalities it were possible to imagine. He +knew the world as few men know it, from Yokohama to Valparaiso, from +Hudson Bay to Hobart. Indeed, his strange and varied experiences would +fill a book, which could certainly never be published at less than a +guinea net.</p> +<p class="pnext">As a boy, he had sold newspapers in the crowded streets of London. +From that he had risen to command a merchant ship. He had been +shipwrecked time and again. He had been shot in the right eye with a +poisoned arrow, somewhere at the back-of-beyond on the West Coast of +Africa, which is called "The White Man's Grave." He had had a foot +bitten off by a shark in the Bay of Fernando Po. And yet, in spite of +his cork foot and his glass eye, he was more than a match for most men. +Though he was not much more than five feet four in height, he was as +wiry as a ferret, and as quick in all his movements. He feared no man, +and was a rifle and revolver shot who seldom missed his mark. He had a +threefold reputation: he was one of the most intrepid explorers in the +world; he had shot tigers in the Sunderbunds and rogue-elephants in the +forests of the Congo. As a master mariner, he had sailed the seven +seas for the greater part of his life, was a skilful navigator, and one +who could keep his head in an emergency.</p> +<p class="pnext">Such a man was Crouch. Those who have read of his doings elsewhere +know that, on a former occasion, he penetrated to the reaches of the +Hidden River, in the unexplored valley of the Kasai, and there +unearthed both a modern slave-trader and a ruby mine. It was also +Captain Crouch who ventured into the trackless region of the Aruwimi, +in search of Edward Harden, the lost explorer, of whom nothing had been +heard for four years; and how he succeeded in his quest, and all the +adventures that befell him, have been written of elsewhere.</p> +<p class="pnext">In fact, Crouch was a man to whom adventure was as the very breath of +his nostrils; the spirit of adventure flowed in the blood of his veins. +He sought perilous enterprises because his idea of life was danger, +because he understood that in this world the main duty of man was to +accomplish. And Crouch accomplished much. He was one of the pioneers +of civilization, one of those who go before the flag that trade is said +to follow. He was as much out of his element in a comfortable armchair +before a winter's fireside, as a backwoodsman in a boudoir. He +belonged to the life of the open air, of the free and rolling sea. +Indeed, it may even be said that his little, shrunk and wizened figure +was a kind of stormy petrel: his very presence was a certain signal +that danger and adventure were at hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">And thus, it is hardly likely, on the face of things, that at the +outbreak of the Great War such a man would remain idle for long. Even +had he not sought employment of his own free will, there were those who +knew of him by reputation, who were only too eager to enlist his +services.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had been found in London, at the Explorers' Club in Bond Street, +which is a great place of a winter's evening, where you may hear tales +which are as wonderful as they are true. He had been asked to leave at +once for New York, on a certain dangerous mission. He had been given +five minutes in which to make up his mind; and that was exactly four +minutes and fifty-nine seconds longer than he required.</p> +<p class="pnext">He arrived in New York in a sailor's jacket, with brass buttons which +would have been none the worse for a polish. He wore a flaming red +tie, and gum boots such as seamen wear when the decks are running with +salt water and the funnels white with foam. His face was as wrinkled +as a date, the colour of tan, beaten for years by sun and wind and +rain. His nose was large, and hooked like an eagle's. He had a small +moustache, and beneath his underlip a little imperial beard, which he +was wont to tug whenever he was vexed or deep in thought. As he +entered the spacious offices of Jason, Stileman and May, he carried in +his right hand a seaman's kit-bag, and in the other, a small mahogany +box about six inches long.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was greeted by Peggy Wade.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Captain Crouch?" she asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Miss," said he, "the same."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Jason is expecting you," said Peggy. "Will you be so good as to +wait?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch regarded Peggy. The girl--whose own custom it was to look +people straight in the face--found the penetrating and unflinching +stare of Captain Crouch a somewhat trying ordeal.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You're a well-spoken lass," said he, at last, "and well looking, too. +Come, stay there a bit," he added, seeing that Peggy made as if to go; +"stay there a bit, my girl. I'll polish up the glass eye, and have a +better look at you."</p> +<p class="pnext">And at that, to Peggy's horror and consternation, Crouch slipped out +his glass eye, threw it up in the air and caught it, as though it had +been a marble, and then proceeded to polish it violently on the shiny +sleeve of his coat.</p> +<p class="pnext">That done, he put it back again in the socket, and looked at Peggy even +harder than before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Seems fair," said he. "You're a lass after my own heart; neat, trim +and ship-shape. I've half a mind to adopt you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy could not restrain a smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know," she said, "that I ever exactly wished to be adopted."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked thoroughly amazed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, my girl," said he, quite slowly, shaking his head in a doleful +manner, "you've no right notion what kind of man I am. I could tell +you stories that would make that curly hair of yours stand right up on +end, like the bristles on the neck of a pig. And maybe, some day, +p'raps, you'd learn to love me--like a father."</p> +<p class="pnext">To speak the truth, Peggy was by now a little frightened. In all of +her somewhat limited experience, she had never come across such an +extraordinary and eccentric individual. She knew nothing then of +Crouch's iron will and dauntless courage; she knew nothing of his deeds +upon the Congo or Aruwimi. She had more than a suspicion that the +little sea-captain was not quite right in the head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think," she said, "I had better tell Mr. Jason you are here."</p> +<p class="pnext">"No haste," said Crouch. "My cargo won't be aboard till daybreak +to-morrow morning, and I reckon all he has got to say to me won't take +above ten minutes."</p> +<p class="pnext">None the less, Peggy thought it advisable to announce the little +sea-captain's arrival to Mr. Jason, Junior, the New York agent, and a +nephew of the senior partner of the firm. Mr. Jason, who just then was +busy at the telephone, replied that he would see Captain Crouch in a +minute, and Peggy returned to the waiting-room.</p> +<p class="pnext">The following incident--though of little value in itself--goes a long +way to prove that Captain Crouch was both an observant man upon whom +little or nothing was lost, whose single eye was as good as most men's +two, and one who was by no means devoid of sentiment and consideration +for others.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My lass," said he, the moment Peggy entered, "a halved sixpence is a +lover's token. Who gave it you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">At first, Peggy was inclined to resent this blunt allusion, which she +regarded as a little too personal. Only the night before, she had bade +farewell to Jimmy, and even then tears were not so far from her eyes. +She had hung her half of the lucky sixpence around her neck on a little +chain; and she saw no reason why she should confide her innermost +feelings to Captain Crouch, who, after all, was a stranger.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, this--as we have said--to the everlasting credit of the little, +wizened captain: somewhere beneath his hardened visage, his rough +manners and his almost violent way of talking, there was a heart as +soft as a woman's. He saw, at once, that Peggy's feelings had been +hurt, that he had touched a tender chord, and he did his best to make +amends. When he spoke again, it was in a voice quite different, much +softer and full of sympathy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've no wish, my lass," said he, "to pry into your secrets. I only +asked, because I took a kind of fancy to you, the moment I saw you; and +that, as a general rule, is not my way with women. I'm a single man. +I've never married for two reasons: first, no one wanted to marry me; +second, I never wanted to. I can only remember two women in my life +with whom--as I might say--I was ever on speaking terms. One was my +landlady in Pimlico, who thought she knew more about cooking than I +did; and the other was an old negress, black as a lump of charcoal, who +did my washing at Sierra Leone. She weighed seventeen stone, and was +about as broad as an oil-tank steamer in the Bosphorus. So if I've +hurt your feelings, miss, you must forgive a rough sea-faring man, who +has had his port-light put out by a poisoned arrow, and who doesn't +know any better."</p> +<p class="pnext">And at that, he held out a hand so eagerly and frankly that Peggy could +not refrain from taking it.</p> +<p class="pnext">She experienced then, for the first time, what manner of a man was +Captain Crouch--if a shake of the hand counts for anything, as it is +generally thought to do. Indeed, he gripped her hand so tightly that +she was obliged to wince; and noticing that, he forthwith apologized, +by telling her once again that he was an old sea-dog more used to +marling-spikes than lassies.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm sorry," said Peggy, "I was so foolish as to think you too +inquisitive."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Say no more," said Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But, I will," she took him up. "There's no reason why you shouldn't +know, for this sixpence once belonged to a sailor."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know the breed," said Crouch, "and just because he was a sailor, I +guarantee he never kept it long."</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy laughed aloud, and shook her head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He kept it many years," she answered, "for this lucky sixpence once +saved his life. You can see for yourself," she went on, "it is dented +and covered with lead from a bullet. It belonged to an Admiral, whose +name was 'Swiftsure Burke.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch drove the fist of one hand into the palm of the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Known throughout the Navy," he exclaimed, "and to every right-thinking +sailor that ever sailed the ocean who takes a pride in the job! +Admiral 'Swiftsure Burke' of Sebastopol. Lass, you've got a jewel in +that lucky sixpence that I wouldn't exchange for a diamond as big as a +monkey-nut. Stick to it, and you'll come to no harm. It's what, in a +manner of speaking, you might call a talisman. It'll protect you from +fire, shipwreck, sudden death and the Income Tax. You're in luck's +way, my girl."</p> +<p class="pnext">Now Captain Crouch was a man who knew that God alone could give good +fortune, or permit evil to fall upon one, but he had all a sailor's +superstition and belief in omens and talismans, and was quite sincere +in what he said to Peggy.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then that the door of the inner office was thrown open, and Mr. +Jason, Junior, entered the room. He was a man who could not have been +more than thirty-four years of age, clean-shaven and a little +prematurely bald. He was immaculately dressed, a small orchid in his +buttonhole and a pair of exceedingly shiny patent leather boots making +him look as if he had just come out of a bandbox.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Captain Crouch," said he, coming forward, and holding out a hand, "I'm +delighted to see you. I have a very important matter to discuss. Miss +Wade," he added, turning to Peggy, "if any one else calls, you will say +I am engaged."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, he conducted Captain Crouch into his office, and was careful +to close the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch seated himself in a comfortable chair. As for Mr. Jason, he +walked backwards and forwards from the hearthrug to the writing-desk, +with the restless activity of a man who has something on his mind.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Captain Crouch," he repeated, speaking abruptly, "I can scarcely +exaggerate the extremely perilous nature of the task I have undertaken. +I sent for you, because I know no other man to whom I would care to +entrust so great a responsibility."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch yawned, and thrusting a hand into one of his coat pockets, +produced a tobacco-pouch, made of snake-skin, and about as large as a +letter-case.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Jason," said he, "with your permission, I'll light a pipe. Maybe, +you've no objection to Bull's Eye Shag. There's some people that don't +hold with it, but I don't suppose that would apply to you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, Mr. Jason knew Crouch's tobacco of old, and he knew that it was +powerful and pungent enough to fumigate anything from an isolation +hospital to a greenhouse. It was a brand of tobacco--if the truth be +told--for which there was no great demand, since he who smoked it +required the digestive organs of an ostrich. Its aroma would cling to +a bare room for days. The path of Captain Crouch through this populous +and sinful world was strewn with dead flies, wasps and beetles which +had been poisoned by the fumes of his tobacco.</p> +<p class="pnext">Accordingly, Mr. Jason--though he gave Crouch full permission to light +his pipe--took the double precaution of opening the window and lighting +one of his strongest cigars. Then, still pacing the room, he fired at +the little sea-captain a series of questions in a quick, nervous voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"When will the 'Harlech' be loaded?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"To-night, sir. Soon after nine."</p> +<p class="pnext">"With what kind of cargo?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"You should know that as well as I," said Crouch. "There's a few tons +of oats, a certain amount of machinery, and several cases of rifles."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ah," said Mr. Jason.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I said so," said the other, looking hard at the agent, whose conduct +was rather strange. Mr. Jason repeated over and over again, as if to +himself, the one word "rifles," and was then silent for more than a +minute, puffing vigorously at his cigar.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I suppose you've heard," said he, at last, "that several German +cruisers and commerce destroyers are abroad on the Atlantic?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've heard tell of it," said Crouch, quite unmoved.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Exactly. There is the 'Kronprinz Wilhelm' and the 'Königsberg,' and +moreover, the 'Karlsruhe' and the 'Dresden.' Also--as, perhaps, you +know--the English Channel and the Irish Sea are said to be swarming +with enemy submarines, sent out from Wilhelmshaven and Kiel. You +realize all that, of course?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Seems fair," said Crouch. "I'm ready to take my chance."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You'll take a greater chance than you think," said Mr. Jason.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How so, sir?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The fact is," said the agent, drawing nearer to the captain, and +speaking in a voice that was little above a whisper; "the fact is, that +although the cases are not marked, there is some reason to suppose that +German agents in New York suspect that the 'Harlech' has a cargo of +small-arms for the British Government."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch whistled softly to himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You mean," said he, "there's a chance that the secret has leaked out. +This place teems with spies."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can say no more," said Mr. Jason, "than that we suspect; but, these +times, we can be sure of nothing. It is quite possible that the German +commerce destroyers may be warned, and you will be run down in +mid-ocean. There may even be spies on board."</p> +<p class="pnext">"If I find one," said Crouch, "I'll know how to deal with him."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's not the point," said the other. "Are you willing to take the +risk?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch got to his feet, carefully knocked out his pipe in the +fire-grate, and then thrust his peaked sailor's cap on to the side of +his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why not?" said he, at last.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Jason smiled.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I thought you wouldn't hesitate."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why not?" repeated Crouch. "If those are my orders, I'll do my best +to carry them out, and I'll sight the Needles and take on a pilot in +the Solent, if a sound knowledge of navigation and steam coal can do +it."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Jason held out a hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm glad I sent for you," said he. "You will start to-night?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"We'll be under way," said Crouch, "before eleven, at the latest."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then, good-bye--and the best of fortune."</p> +<p class="pnext">A few minutes later, Captain Crouch, who had just taken an almost +affectionate farewell of Peggy Wade, was stumping on his cork foot +along the Fifth Avenue as if he owned New York.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-vii-in-the-hold"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id8">CHAPTER VII--In the Hold</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">We know already that Crouch went on board that night, shortly before +ten o'clock, and took over the command of the "Harlech" from Mr. Dawes, +the Chief Officer--a blunt, plain-spoken Yorkshireman, who had run away +to sea at the age of fourteen, and who, like Crouch himself, had worked +his way from the forecastle to the bridge.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, Captain Crouch encircled by the atrocious perfume of his famous +Bull's Eye Shag, holding forth upon the subject of his experiences in +various parts of the world, and Captain Crouch upon the bridge or in +the chart-room of the ship that he commanded, were two very different +men. Once he set foot upon the main deck--even the very moment he +grasped the gangway hand-rope--Crouch took upon himself the character +of a martinet. In the very tones of his voice, one was led to +understand that his word was law.</p> +<p class="pnext">In most things--and in the art of seamanship most of all--Crouch relied +upon no one but himself. He knew his job, and expected others to know +theirs. He maintained an iron discipline, exacting the maximum of work +from every ship's officer and member of the crew, from the cook's mate +(who was not sufficiently intelligent to be trusted with anything else +but the peeling of potatoes) to Mr. Dawes himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">The first signs of daybreak were faintly visible in the east when the +"Harlech" struck the ocean, where the great billows came rolling +westward across three thousand miles of water, to break in clouds of +foam upon the low-lying shore that extends for miles to the south of +Sandy Hook. Immediately, she took on that well-known corkscrew +motion--which is part roll, part pitch--that finds out the land-lubber +soon enough, and often tests the sea legs of even an old, +weather-beaten sailor.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, when a ship does this, he who has ever known the true and inward +meaning of <em class="italics">mal de mer</em>--which is a polite word for sea-sickness--will +be well advised to keep himself amidships and on deck. And Jimmy Burke +was neither one nor the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">With the hatchway closed and the engine-room adjacent, the hold had +become quite hot and stuffy. When the bows dipped in the waves and the +white spray flew wide above the forecastle-peak, the poop rose like a +hunter at a five-bar gate, to fall again quite suddenly, as if +descending to the nether regions. Moreover, when the stern part of the +ship was clear of the water, even for a moment, the screw raced as if +demented, shaking the old tramp so violently that it seemed as if every +bolt and bar and rivet must sooner or later be jangled out of place.</p> +<p class="pnext">Three hours of this, and poor Jimmy Burke believed, indeed, that his +last hour had come. He had long since consumed his loaf of bread; and +no doubt the pangs of hunger, added to the constant darkness and the +stifling atmosphere in which he was forced to remain, did much to +augment the symptoms of an illness from which surely the grandson of +"Swiftsure Burke" should never have suffered. However, we record plain +facts, and the whole truth must out: the boy was incontestably sea-sick.</p> +<p class="pnext">For all that, he would not accept defeat. Though he yearned for a +breath of fresh air, though he felt that he could stand no longer this +intolerable, impenetrable darkness, he would not climb the iron ladder +leading to the hatch and cry out for help. As he knew well enough, the +ship was not yet so far away from the coast; and Crouch might put about +and set the stowaway ashore at some forsaken port where the boy would +be stranded and even further from his goal than on the day he left New +York.</p> +<p class="pnext">In this life, there is a maxim above all others to remember: that +Providence helps only those that help themselves. Each man works out +his own position. God has given to all of us, to some freely, to +others sparingly, talents and attainments. It is for us to be always +true to ourselves, to make the best use of what abilities we have, and +continually to strive. And then, often, when a fainter heart would +have ceased to hope, we find ourselves on a sudden face to face with +the realization of our dreams.</p> +<p class="pnext">So was it now with Jimmy Burke, sea-sick and disconsolate. He was +resolute by nature. Right or wrong, he had made up his mind; he had +chosen his own course after due deliberation. He was sorely tried--as, +no doubt, he deserved to be--but he meant to go through with it, cost +him what it might. As we shall see, all that follows hangs upon the +fact that he remained until that night in the silence and darkness of +the after-hold. Had he become faint-hearted, had he made known his +presence on the ship, the fate of a certain German submarine--the +U93--would never have been sealed in such a manner as it was. And +thus, we see how in this world all happenings are strung together in +what may be called a "chain of circumstance," wherein each link, or +separate component part, is quite unlike its fellows.</p> +<p class="pnext">When night fell, the ship was far out at sea. And this was the third +night that Jimmy had spent on board. He had no way of telling the +hour, except that during the night-time he could hear neither footsteps +on the well-deck above nor the moving of chains and hawsers. The +ship's bell was forward, and could not be heard in the hold so long as +the hatch was closed.</p> +<p class="pnext">The ship still rolled considerably. The storm showed no sign of +abating. There is nothing more exhausting than sea-sickness; and +during these three interminable days the boy experienced little +difficulty either in falling asleep or remaining asleep for hours.</p> +<p class="pnext">How long he slept in the earlier part of the night he was never +afterwards able to say. He was conscious of waking with a start, and +sat bolt upright, listening, not knowing what he expected to hear.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly, with alarming clearness, three strokes of a bell smote upon +the silence of the night.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy was more than a little surprised. He had heard nothing during +the whole term of his self-imposed imprisonment but the constant +creaking of the ship, the throbbing of the engines, the persistent +gnawing sound of rats, and the periodical groaning of the steam +steering-gear. Never before had the ship's bell been audible in the +depths of the after-hold. The conclusion was obvious: one of the +after-hatchways had been opened. Also, it was three bells of the +middle watch, or--in other words--half-past one in the morning.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy got stealthily to his feet, and peered over an enormous +packing-case, behind which he had been sleeping. Immediately, it was +as if he was blinded by the bright light of a lantern, not ten yards +from where he stood.</p> +<p class="pnext">It took some time for his eyes to become accustomed to the glare; and +then he was able to perceive the figure of a man who, holding the +lantern in his hand, was slowly descending the iron ladder into the +hold.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy felt his heart thumping against his ribs. He was in danger of +being discovered. He even feared that in some way or other his +presence on the ship had already become known, and this man had been +sent to fish him out, as a salmon is landed in a net. Though he knew +that the time was bound to come when he would find himself face to face +with Captain Crouch, and would have to explain who he was, he dreaded +it, none the less.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the foot of the ladder the man paused and looked up, remaining for +as long as a minute in an attentive attitude, as if he were listening. +Then he placed the lantern on the top of a pile of boxes, and thrusting +a hand into his coat pocket, produced a large chisel and a hammer.</p> +<p class="pnext">With these, to Jimmy's infinite alarm, he approached the very +packing-case behind which the boy was hiding, and without waste of time +set to work in a manner that was at once business-like and guilty. +With a series of smart taps of the hammer, he drove in the chisel in +several places under the lid, which he then proceeded to prise open. +It took him five minutes or more to complete his task. He seemed +anxious to do the job as silently as he could; but he appeared in no +hurry, for he paused frequently to listen, and did not continue with +his work until he was assured that no one was on deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">All this time Jimmy was crouching low behind the packing-case, which +the man was opening from the other side. Though they were hidden from +view of one another, they could not have been more than two yards +apart. It was a situation which might have been comical, had it not +been fraught with danger.</p> +<p class="pnext">The lid of the box opened with that peculiar squeaking noise which +invariably accompanies the drawing of nails from out of soft, new wood. +Apparently the man removed from the top of the box a certain amount of +brown paper and waterproof sheeting; and then, on seeing its contents, +he gave vent to a loud exclamation, which might have been anything from +an expression of satisfaction to an oath.</p> +<p class="pnext">A moment after, he turned upon his heel, and went back for his lantern; +and then it was that Jimmy seized the opportunity to gratify the +curiosity which by now had taken the place of alarm in his somewhat +heated brain. There was a wide crack in the lid of the box through +which it was possible to see; and placing his eye to this, he found +himself looking down into a box that was filled with, at least, two +dozen Lee-Metford rifles.</p> +<p class="pnext">He crouched down again, as the man drew near once more. He had still +no desire to be caught. He had not yet had time to think matters out; +it was all too much of a mystery. He could not associate three facts: +his own presence in the hold, the box full of rifles, and the man who +had come like a thief, who now closed the lid, hammering in the nails +as quietly as he could, and who then, without the slightest warning, +swinging his lantern in his hand, stepped round the box--and came face +to face with Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy jumped to his feet. He had no thought of escape; and even had +that been so, his case was hopeless, for he was seized immediately by +the lapel of his coat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By James!" let out the sailor. "And who are you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy Burke was altogether speechless; for, looking up, in the bright +light of the lantern, he found himself confronted by the seamed and +heavy features of Rudolf Stork.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-viii-a-false-witness"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id9">CHAPTER VIII--A False Witness</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">It was the face of Rudolf Stork. It was the same face that Jimmy had +seen on that other occasion when he had been discovered hiding in the +cupboard in Rosencrantz's office--with this difference, Stork had now +grown a beard.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a black beard--coal black, and short and crisp--that made the +man look more villainous than ever. Though it hid the cruel wrinkles +about his mouth, it made it seem as if his lower jaw protruded like a +gorilla's. Before, Stork had looked both fierce and cunning; he now +gave one the impression of being akin to a savage beast.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's you!" cried Stork, and repeated the words several times as if +unable to believe the evidence of his eyes. "It's you! By thunder, +what's the game?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"A stowaway," said Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A stowaway!" said the man. "I don't need telling that when I find you +skulking here at dead of night, and the ship two days from port."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Take me to the captain," said the boy. "I am ready to take the +penalty for what I have done."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You are?" said Stork. Then he must have remembered something, for +thrusting his tongue into his cheek, he rolled his eyes. "Easy now," +said he. "These cards must be carefully played. A stowaway!" he +cried. "I'll not believe it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have not denied it," answered Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because you're something worse," let out the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Worse!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes, worse. We're on the high seas, where a man can speak his mind +without fear of contradiction; and if I choose to lay a charge who's to +gainsay me? Answer me that."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't understand," said Jimmy Burke.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ye don't, and small credit to your wits. Here's me, Rudolf Stork, a +ship's carpenter, and an honest man, who goes into the hold on right +and lawful business. And there what do I find prying among the cargo, +like a muzzled ferret in a ditch, but a brat of a German spy, caught +red-handed at his work."</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork pointed at the packing-case upon which he had laid his chisel and +hammer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"But these tools are yours!" cried Jimmy, who now felt his cheeks +burning in indignation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just so," said Stork. "I left them here this morning."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy gasped. It was not easy to believe that such outrageous perfidy +were possible. Indeed, it took him some little time to realize the +full meaning of the man's words. But the more he thought of it the +more apparent it became that he would find it extremely difficult to +prove his innocence. How was he to convince Captain Crouch of the +truth--that it was Stork himself who was a spy? The captain would +laugh in his face. Such a retort is the common experience of fools. +The cry of "You're another!" is the wit of the gutter-snipe that can +never carry conviction. Jimmy recognized, with a growing sense of +alarm, that in all probability he would shortly find himself in the +position of an accused man who had no evidence to call on his own +behalf.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you mean to say," he exclaimed, "that you intend to accuse me of +the very crime of which you yourself are guilty?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm here," said Stork, quite calmly, "to bandy words with no one. If +I say you're guilty, then guilty you are, unless you can prove +contrariwise. Which isn't likely so far as I can see."</p> +<p class="pnext">Upon the man's face there was an expression of half-amused contempt. +He had the appearance of being wholly confident and quite unperturbed. +A sort of half-smile played about his lips. This augured ill for +Jimmy, who realized that in Rudolf Stork he had an opponent who was +both without a sense of honour and well practised in the art of +deceiving others.</p> +<p class="pnext">The man picked up his lantern, which, whilst speaking to Jimmy, he had +set down upon the ground, and then turned to go. It was then that the +boy made a quick movement forward in the direction of the iron ladder +that led to the deck above.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We'll go together," he cried. "Your story and mine are not likely to +agree."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, Stork whipped round with a kind of snarl, and without a word +of warning, and clenching his fist, he dealt the boy a swinging blow in +the face that sent him reeling backward.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy staggered, stumbled and fell. For a moment he was half dazed. +He could still see--but indistinctly, as if through a gauze screen--the +flare of Stork's lantern which swung up and down, as the ship rolled +from side to side.</p> +<p class="pnext">By the time the boy had recovered his senses sufficiently to scramble +to his feet he was again in utter darkness. The great boxes and bales +of cargo were only just discernible in the dim light that came through +the opened hatchway above. There, he could see a few stars, appearing +at odd moments, to vanish almost immediately behind the narrow, +long-drawn clouds that streaked a wind-blown sky. He could hear the +waves, one after the other, beating violently against the sides of the +ship, the water washing over the decks and along the scuttles, the +rigging creaking, and the long chain of the steam steering-gear +jolting, from time to time, as the great strain of a heavy sea was +brought to bear upon the rudder. And then four bells rang out; it was +two o'clock in the morning.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy, crossing the hold, reached the iron ladder, and set foot upon +the bottom rung. The very moment he did so the figures of two men +appeared upon the well-deck above, one of whom Jimmy recognized at once +as Stork.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He's in there?" asked a voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Aye, aye, sir," answered Stork. "I found him at work among the cargo +like a half-starved rat."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Get down," said Captain Crouch, for the other voice was his; "go down +and fish him out."</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork was not slow to obey the captain's orders; and a moment later the +stowaway found himself upon the deck, standing ankle-deep in running +water, face to face with a man who was not so tall as the boy himself, +and who was clothed in a suit of bright red pyjamas, the trousers of +which were rolled up to his knees, so that the lower part of his legs +was bare.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bring him along to my cabin," said Crouch. "I'll not stand talking +here; it's a trifle too cold, I'm thinking, for a man who has spent a +good slice of his life in the equatorial parts."</p> +<p class="pnext">The captain led the way to the main-deck. As he ran up the +companion-ladder on the starboard side, Jimmy noticed how extremely +agile he was in all his movements. Though at this time of his life +Captain Crouch must have been approaching fifty years of age, he was as +active as a young man; and, indeed, had it not been for his cork foot, +he would have been prepared to back himself in a hundred yards race +against any man of not less than half his years.</p> +<p class="pnext">On board the "Harlech" the captain's cabin was situated at the forward +end of the main-deck, immediately under the bridge and next to the +chart-room. Here an oil lamp was burning which Crouch turned up so +high that the chimney smoked. He then picked up his pipe, filled it +with his terrible and strange tobacco, and seating himself upon a +plush-covered divan, proceeded to fill the room with smoke.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork, holding Jimmy by the sleeve of his coat, in much the same manner +as a policeman takes his charge to the nearest station, led the boy +into the room, and then closed the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Now," said Crouch, "where's your evidence?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy interposed. Thrusting forward both hands, in the attitude of one +who begs for mercy, he implored to be allowed to speak. But Crouch, by +describing a series of imaginary circles in the air with the stem of +his pipe, intimated that he desired Jimmy to remain silent.</p> +<p class="pnext">"One thing at a time," said he, "as my friend, Ned Harden, observed, +when he shot a crocodile with one barrel and a rhino with the other. +That was with an old-fashioned shot-and-ball gun that he got from a +trader at Lokoja, in the days when there weren't above ten white men on +the Upper Niger. I hear the evidence for the prosecution first, +which--to the best of my belief--is in accordance with the law. +Afterwards, my lad, you'll have full opportunity to speak. And now, +then, what's the charge?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Rudolf Stork told his story with simplicity, and a kind of easy +tolerance, as if he was really a little bored; and though he was +cleverly cross-examined by Captain Crouch, never once did he contradict +his former statements. Had his evidence been given on oath, he would +have perjured himself with no less assurance and without hesitation. +His manner, no less than the directness of his narrative, would have +deceived any jury in the world. And in any case, Captain Crouch--one +who knew more than his fair share of the tricks of rogues and the ways +of evil men--was led to a firm conviction that the boy was really +guilty.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork lied his soul away--or what can remain of a soul in a man who has +sunk to such great depths of infamy. He swore that he had been working +in the hold that very morning, and had gone back to fetch his chisel +and hammer. He had found the stowaway in the very act of opening one +of the packing-cases, which he had discovered were filled with new +short service-rifles for the British Army.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch, when he heard this, made a wry face, and looked at Jimmy. He +had not forgotten that Mr. Jason had warned him that he might find +German spies on board; and though there was no direct proof, the +evidence, as given by Rudolf Stork, was very black against the boy. He +had no reason to doubt Stork's word. The man had been engaged at New +York with a good character, and he seemed a capable ship's carpenter, +who understood his work.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Speak up, my lad," said Crouch--the expression upon whose thin, +wizened face had hardened--"speak up, and say nothing but the truth."</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, in those who are at all sensitive, indignation is one of the most +deep-seated emotions that exist. Smarting with a sense of injured +innocence, the boy's cheeks were already burning; and now, something +rose in his throat as if to choke him, so that he found it difficult to +speak. When words came, at last, they did so in a flood, and were only +half coherent. Small wonder that Captain Crouch took all this as a +sure sign that the boy was unquestionably guilty!</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll speak the truth, sir," poor Jimmy blurted out. "I know for a +fact that it is this man, and not myself, who is a German spy. He is +in the pay of the Prussian Secret Service, and was engaged in New York +by a certain Baron von Essling, as he himself knows quite well. As for +me, I came on board this ship as a stowaway, because I wanted to go to +England. I wished to serve my country."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch sprang suddenly to his feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Enough of this!" he roared. "Do I look like a man who would swallow a +yarn like that? My word, they're not over-squeamish when they take on +a boy like you to do their dirty work. I've heard tell of women spies, +but I never guessed they would employ mere children for the game."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sir," cried Jimmy, "I swear, I speak the truth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll hear no more!" Crouch almost shouted. "You know well enough that +the penalty for a spy in time of war is death. I'm not quite certain +whether I should be acting according to the law, if I strung you up to +the yard-arm like a dead crow in a cornfield. And then, there's the +cat-o'-nine-tails. Maybe, you've heard of that? If you had proved to +be no more than a simple stowaway, I should have had a sort of kindred +feeling; for, I ran away to sea myself, and so did Dawes, and many +another sailor who's worth the salt he eats. When I was a boy, the +'cat' was not unheard of; but, nowadays, I doubt if I'd be within my +rights in using it upon the likes of you."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then, at last, that poor Jimmy Burke broke down. He could +suppress neither the sobs that were surging in his breast nor the tears +that he felt rushing to his eyes. Falling into a chair that stood +vacant at his elbow, he buried his face in his hands.</p> +<p class="pnext">For a full minute his shoulders shook and trembled; and when he looked +up, his face was all streamed and marked with tears. He saw that +Crouch's lips were pressed tight together; there was an expression of +settled and immovable resolution upon the face of the little captain. +But, the bitterest blow of all was that Rudolf Stork was laughing, his +white teeth visible in the blackness of his beard.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm innocent!" let out the boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You can prove that in Court," said Crouch. "The very moment we are +tied up in Portsmouth Harbour, I hand you over to the police. You +shall have a fair trial, with a proper judge in a wig and all the rest +of it; and if you're not a dead man at the end of it, this here foot's +not cork."</p> +<p class="pnext">By way of illustration of this last remark, Crouch thrust forward his +cork foot which--as was quite apparent--was fastened to his bare leg by +means of several straps.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And as for the voyage," he added, "you'll work on board this ship like +a galley-slave. For every knot of your journey to the Solent, you +shall pay in honest labour. You can polish brasses, swab decks, wash +paint, and peel potatoes, and do ought else that you can lay a hand to. +Moreover, you'll report yourself every hour, from eight bells in the +morning to the end of the second dog-watch, to the officer on the +bridge. You'll sleep in the forecastle, and under observation. I'll +not trust you out of sight. You say you're an Englishman, perhaps you +may be; if so, the more disgrace to England. But, it's my belief +you're a Yankee, English born, who has sold his immortal soul to the +German Empire. There's many such in the States; in my thinking, they +are all Germans--every mother's son of them; and I tell you frankly, I +abominate them all without discrimination. And so, my lad, you've +heard my mind, and you know what I think of you and those you serve. +One last word of advice: as long as you're on board this ship, steer +clear of me. I'm not a man who jumps rashly to conclusions, but I've +sized you up according to the lights you show; and it's not probable +I'll change my mind. And now," he added, turning to Stork, "take him +to the fo'c'sle."</p> +<p class="pnext">Side by side, without a word, Stork and Jimmy crossed the forward +well-deck. Jimmy walked as in a dream. During the last hour so many +things had happened that he found it difficult to realize that he had, +indeed, been found guilty of being a German spy. In this world are +traps and opportunities for tripping us all, in the most unexpected +places.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the rest of that night, poor Jimmy lay sleepless, heartbroken and +disconsolate, upon a hard forecastle bunk. Things had not happened as +he had either hoped or feared. He was in the very depths of despair. +He had acted rashly, he knew, in endeavouring to leave America as a +stowaway on board a merchant ship. But he had acted with the best of +motives, from a fitting sense of patriotism. He had dreamed of the +Great War, or as much of it as he had been able to imagine from the +pictures he had seen in the illustrated papers. He had dreamed of +flying Uhlans, captured trenches, charging hussars and cuirassiers--and +now, he had been threatened with the "cat." Assuredly, there are +pitfalls for us all!</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-ix-the-dresden"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id10">CHAPTER IX--The "Dresden"</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Captain Crouch was a man who seldom--if ever--made up his mind in a +hurry. It was his custom to consider every aspect of a question before +he came to any definite decision; but, when once his opinions had been +formed, he was not disposed to alter them. He was a hard man in many +ways--one who, having had everything against him from the start, had +had to make his own way in a world that is not so charitable as some +may think. That Captain Crouch had made a great success of life, there +can be no shadow of doubt; and it is equally certain that he was never +indebted to any one throughout the whole course of his career-except +later on (as we shall see) to Jimmy Burke himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">In this particular case, he had made up his mind that Jimmy was a +German spy. He had heard both sides of the question, and saw no reason +to doubt the word of Rudolf Stork. In consequence, for more reasons +than one, he was determined to have nothing to do with Jimmy. Not only +did he hand over the stowaway for safe custody to Mr. Dawes the chief +officer, but he gave strict injunctions that Jimmy was to keep out of +his way--as far as that could be possible on a ship of not five +thousand tons.</p> +<p class="pnext">Life in the forecastle of an ocean tramp has little or no joys to one +who has been brought up, if not in luxury, at least in decency and +comfort. For the first week, the weather continued to be rough; it was +bitterly cold, and they saw little of the sun. The boy had no friends +on board; for the members of the crew--who laughed and joked together +on the forward well-deck after working hours--following the example of +the captain and the ship's officers, believed in their hearts that the +boy was, indeed, a German spy, and treated him with undisguised and due +contempt. From dawn to sunset, Jimmy went about his work practically +ignored. No one spoke to him, except to give him orders; and these he +received, not only from the chief officer and Stork, but also from any +one else who happened to require assistance.</p> +<p class="pnext">In these circumstances--as may easily be imagined--the boy was utterly +miserable and almost broken-hearted. There were nights when he found +it impossible to sleep, but lay awake, hour upon hour, writhing under +the great wrong that had been done him.</p> +<p class="pnext">He soon learnt to give up all hope of ever explaining matters to +Captain Crouch. He could not fail to see that he must bear his wrongs +as bravely as he might. Nor could he find any sympathizer amongst the +crew; one and all, they were loyal Britishers--with the sole exception +of Rudolf Stork--and as such were heartily against him. Had he been +subjected to physical cruelty, had he been thrashed and kicked and +beaten, his lot would have been easier to bear. He thought it all out, +time and again, in the darkness of the night, while the ship was +ploughing her way eastward across the great Atlantic, and always came +to the same sorrowful conclusion: that there was nothing he could do, +but find courage in the knowledge of his own innocence, and keep an eye +upon Stork.</p> +<p class="pnext">He knew Stork to be a spy. That no one else was likely to believe it +made it none the less true that, to the boy's certain knowledge, the +man's services had been engaged by Rosencrantz and the Baron von +Essling. Stork, beyond doubt, was on his way to England on some secret +business. It was quite possible that the man had in his possession +incriminating documents and papers. Jimmy realized that, if he could +but find this out for certain, he would be able to convince Crouch not +only of his own innocence, but of Stork's indubitable guilt.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was this vague hope that buoyed Jimmy's spirits during the first +five or six days of the voyage. By then, they had reached mid-ocean, +where the presence of the Gulf Stream, and a welcome change of weather, +had raised the temperature by, at least, twenty degrees. Jimmy had +already discovered that Stork kept a sea-chest under his bunk in the +forecastle--a strong chest, iron-bound and made of oak, fastened both +by an ordinary lock and a padlock, the keys of which Stork kept on a +chain, along with a jack-knife and a whistle.</p> +<p class="pnext">There had been times when Jimmy had thought quite seriously of forcing +his way into the captain's cabin, and imploring Crouch to have this +chest examined, on the off chance that thereby Stork might be proved +the scoundrel he was. That the boy never decided to take a step so +irretrievable and final, goes a long way to prove that he was possessed +of little of the gambling instinct of his father. He saw from the +first that there was a good chance that the sea-chest would contain +nothing of an incriminating nature, in which case he would be in a +worse plight than before. Throughout all this strange, mysterious +business, so much was at stake that Jimmy felt he was not entitled to +risk more than he need. And it was well for him that he resolved to be +discreet; for, in a manner that was at once surprising and dramatic, +Providence, for the first time, came to his aid.</p> +<p class="pnext">One morning, soon after daybreak, they sighted a British +torpedo-boat-destroyer, racing due northward, travelling at a speed of +almost thirty knots an hour. The destroyer, evidently wishing to speak +to the "Harlech," which was not, of course, equipped with wireless +apparatus--drew to within a cable's length of the steamer, when the +commander shouted through a megaphone to Captain Crouch, who was on the +bridge.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have you heard the news?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What news?" asked Crouch. "We've seen no papers since we left New +York, more than a week ago."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Admiral Sturdee has thrashed the German squadron off the Falkland +Islands. The 'Gneisenau,' the 'Scharnhorst,' the 'Leipzig,' and the +'Nuremburg' have been sunk; but the 'Dresden' managed to escape, and is +believed to have come this way."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've seen nothing of her," answered Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you know what she looks like?" asked the commander.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sure enough," said Crouch. "Protected cruiser, of about three +thousand five hundred tons. Speed about twenty-four and a half. Two +masts and three funnels--a trifle forward. Sister ship to the 'Emden.' +Completed in 1908."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's her," shouted back the officer. "Sorry you haven't seen her. +Good-bye, and good luck. Look out for enemy submarines," he added, +"when you get into the Channel."</p> +<p class="pnext">A moment later, the destroyer was flying on its way, cutting through +the water at such a velocity that the spray was sent high into the air, +to form a kind of rainbow in the sunshine immediately above her bows.</p> +<p class="pnext">The news of the defeat of Admiral von Spee's squadron was received with +delight by the ship's officers and crew of the "Harlech." That +evening, for the first time during the voyage, a banjo made its +appearance on the forward well-deck, and there were songs, not +unconnected with the fact that England had been in the past, and would +continue to be in the future, the sole mistress of the seas. +Throughout these quite excusable rejoicings, it was a fact--that passed +unnoticed by every one, except by Jimmy Burke--that Rudolf Stork held +himself aloof, standing apart from the others, with his bare arms +folded and never a smile upon his lips. Jimmy hoped that the man's +surly manner would be noticed by the captain, upon whom as a rule +little or nothing was lost. But Crouch paced the main-deck, with both +hands behind his back, lost in thoughts of his own and a veritable +cloud of the black smoke of "Bull's Eye Shag."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was quite late at night when the forecastle, at last, was still. +Six bells had sounded when the banjo was put back into its case and the +crew turned in. An hour after that, Rudolf Stork was pacing the lower +deck---a silent, shadowy figure in the moonlight, moving in and out +among the derricks and the hatches. Jimmy Burke, lying upon his bunk +at the entrance of the forecastle, watched the man for a long time, +wondering what were the dark thoughts that Rudolf Stork could share +with no one; and when, at last, the boy fell asleep, the ship's +carpenter was still striding to and fro, like some restless, evil +spirit.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy was awakened suddenly by the shrill note of the boatswain's +whistle. One after the other, close upon each other's heels, the crew +tumbled out upon the well-deck. Simultaneously, the voice of Captain +Crouch rang out, so loud as to be audible from one end of the ship to +the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Every man at his alarm post! Have the boats ready to be lowered; we +may have need of them before we are much older. Mr. Dawes, spare every +man you can to work in the engine-room like a nigger. If we can manage +to squeeze fifteen knots out of the old ship, there'll be just a dog's +chance that we escape."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy waited to hear no more, but, springing from his bunk, hastened +out upon the deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">A group of men was standing upon the main-deck immediately beneath the +bridge, many of whom were pointing excitedly towards the east. It was +dawn; and although the sun had not yet risen, the first signs of +daybreak were clearly visible upon the horizon. The sea itself looked +black; in the sky, a few stars still glimmered faintly. Upon the +eastern sky-line extended a long belt of silver, in the immediate +centre of which there could be seen a thin trail of smoke. Captain +Crouch was on the bridge, with a large telescope raised to his only eye.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the first five hours of that memorable day, the excitement that +prevailed on board the "Harlech" was intense. Every one went about his +work in breathless haste. Mr. Dawes shouted his orders like a madman. +From time to time, the chief engineer appeared on deck to report +progress from the engine-room. Every pound of coal that it was +possible to throw into the furnaces would tend to increase the ship's +speed, if--as Captain Crouch believed--the trail of smoke upon the far +horizon came from the funnels of the "Dresden."</p> +<p class="pnext">By eight o'clock, there was no doubt whatsoever that it was the German +cruiser herself that they had sighted. A little after, it was evident +that the "Dresden" was giving chase. From the well-decks only her +smoke was visible, but this was rapidly growing more and more distinct. +Crouch remained upon the bridge, his telescope glued to his eye; and +from that altitude no doubt the hull of the German warship was visible.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently, from the direction of the enemy, there came a dull booming +sound that died away across the great expanse of water, like the +rolling sound of a monster drum. It had hardly ceased before there +became audible a shrill, piercing hoot, not unlike a human shriek, that +became louder and louder with alarming rapidity.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no need for one of the crew who had taken part in the South +African War to cry out that a shell was coming. Every one on board +knew what that sound meant. Following a not unnatural curiosity, every +man rushed to the taffrails, to see what would be the result. There +was a loud, and almost unanimous, shout of "There she goes!" as the +shell plunged into the water about two hundred yards from the starboard +side of the ship, sending a great savage fountain high into the air.</p> +<p class="pnext">By then, the "Harlech" was steaming almost due south. Her course had +been changed at daybreak, when the "Dresden" had been sighted +immediately ahead. The first shell, which was marvellously accurate as +far as direction was concerned, must have passed immediately over the +mast-head of the merchant ship.</p> +<p class="pnext">This augured ill for the remainder of the day. There seemed little or +no chance that the "Harlech" would escape, though she burnt every ton +of coal she carried in her bunkers. The British destroyer had gone due +north. Nowhere else, except in the direction of the "Dresden," was +there a ship in sight. The "Harlech"--as we have already pointed +out--was not equipped with wireless, and had no means of calling for +assistance.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the next two hours, the utmost confusion and consternation +prevailed on board. A shell struck the forecastle-peak, and tore away +a great piece of the ship, as a bull-dog might rend the clothes of a +tramp. Another broke its way through the superstructure under the +bridge; and a third, fourth and fifth, pierced the ship's sides above +the water-line.</p> +<p class="pnext">Throughout all this, Captain Crouch remained perfectly calm and +collected, from time to time taking his pipe from his mouth to knock +out the ash on the heel of his boot, refill it and light it with the +utmost care. The "Dresden" was now well in sight, bearing straight +down upon them, as a tiger might rush upon its prey. It seemed, +indeed, that they were doomed.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was about mid-day when the German cruiser signalled to them to +surrender; and though there could be no question that a refusal would +lead to the destruction of them all, Crouch flatly refused to +acknowledge that the game was up. His only answer was to hoist the +Union Jack to the mast-head and run up the Red Ensign on the poop.</p> +<p class="pnext">The appearance of the British flag upon the high seas upon that calm, +sunlit winter's morning was a hint to the captain of the German cruiser +to open fire with shrapnel.</p> +<p class="pnext">From this time onward, the decks were highly dangerous. The German +gunners got the range to an inch, and managed to keep it, in spite of +the fact that every minute brought them nearer and nearer to their +prey. These shells exploded one after the other, in quick succession, +each one with a white puff, in the very midst of the rigging; whilst +the round, leaden bullets descended in a shower, to bury themselves in +the teak decks or crash through the glass of the skylights.</p> +<p class="pnext">No one faced this, with the exception of Captain Crouch; and how he +managed to live in the midst of it all must ever remain a mystery. He +never lost his head for a moment, but continued to give orders which, +because of the constant noise of bursting shells, he was obliged to +shout through a megaphone.</p> +<p class="pnext">A ship's quartermaster, clambering up from one of the forward holds, +dashed up the ladder to the bridge, which was all twisted like a +corkscrew, and reported to the captain that the ship had been struck +below the water-line, and was sinking by the bows. Just then there was +a lull in the firing; and Crouch called the crew together, and +addressed them in the following words--</p> +<p class="pnext">"If I haul down that flag," he cried, pointing to the Union Jack, "we +may live to regret it, to tell those who come after us how we +surrendered like a pack of curs. I'll save you that at any rate. If +we must die, we'll die like men and Britons. Come, tell me, have I +spoken square and honest?"</p> +<p class="pnext">A cheer came from the men--a cheer that was cut short by a great +explosion on the poop, that carried away the round-house and a great +iron bollard that had been held to the deck by four cast-iron rivets, +each one as thick as a strong man's wrist. Crouch paid no heed to +this, but continued, waving his pipe in his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well spoken, lads," he cried. "Though we've got no guns of our own, +we'll stick to the Flag to the last; and maybe they'll hear of it in +England. And now, pay no heed to the shells, but all hands to the +pumps."</p> +<p class="pnext">The men obeyed with that business-like promptitude that is +characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon race. They were not disposed to +argue that, after all, life was possibly worth living, and there is no +more terrible death than to be drowned in calm water when the sun is +shining in the midst of an illimitable sea. It was enough for them +that their captain had spoken words that moved them to the depths of +their rugged hearts: they were resolved to die like men.</p> +<p class="pnext">For half-an-hour they worked in a kind of frenzy at the pumps, striving +to keep the stricken ship afloat. It seemed that their efforts were +successful; for, though the "Harlech" had taken on a marked list to +port, and her stern was lifted a good six feet in the water, she seemed +to be still seaworthy and as yet showed no signs of settling down. The +"Dresden" was now not much more than four miles in the wake of the +fugitive ship, which did little more than crawl.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 63%" id="figure-50"> +<span id="the-harlech-had-taken-a-marked-list-to-port-no-one-could-live-upon-the-deck"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-086.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +THE "HARLECH" HAD TAKEN A MARKED LIST TO PORT--NO ONE COULD LIVE UPON HER DECK.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">At such a range shrapnel is at its worst and deadliest. Shell after +shell burst upon the "Harlech," until the masts were splintered, the +decks riddled, and the rigging cut and torn in a thousand places. The +top of one of the funnels had been blown away; the glass windows of the +chart-house had been driven in.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently the shell fire became so severe, and there had been so many +casualties among the crew, that it became impossible to continue to +work the pumps. No one could live upon the deck; and something in the +nature of a stampede was made to the saloon, whither the wounded had +been carried.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy, who had been working at the pumps, had been one of the last to +leave. His courage had not passed unnoticed by Captain Crouch, who +found himself at a loss to reconcile two facts: firstly, that Jimmy had +displayed a supreme contempt for danger, and secondly, that the boy was +presumed to be a German spy.</p> +<p class="pnext">As a great shell struck the mainmast, and brought down a spar upon the +deck to which was attached the tattered shreds of what had once been +the flag of England, the boy sought safety in the forecastle. There, +one of the first things that met his eyes was a sea-chest, the lid of +which had been broken open by the force of the concussion by which it +had been hurled across the deck. Upon one of the broken pieces of this +box were inscribed in black lettering the two words: RUDOLF STORK.</p> +<p class="pnext">This was no time upon which to stand upon ceremony. There is no such +thing as private property in time of war--as, during the long months of +this colossal combat, Europe has learnt to her cost. Jimmy Burke had +suspicions of his own, which he had cause to know were well grounded. +Chance had brought an opportunity to hand which he was not slow to +take. In a second he was down on all fours, turning out the contents +of Stork's sea-chest, which appeared to have been filled with nothing +but documents and papers, the majority of which were in the handwriting +of Rosencrantz, the tool of the Baron von Essling.</p> +<p class="pnext">What these papers were Jimmy was given no opportunity of finding out; +for, hardly had he picked up the first to examine it more closely, than +he was suddenly seized from behind by the scruff of the neck.</p> +<p class="pnext">With a quick movement he managed to free himself, escaping to the +windlass, which is in the very peak of the ship. There he found +himself cut off by Rudolf Stork, who stood immediately before him, so +that there was no means of exit from the forecastle.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork was like a madman. He wore nothing but a shirt and a pair of +trousers. Upon his left shoulder there was a patch of blood where he +had been struck by a shrapnel bullet. Even in the semi-darkness of +that place, Jimmy could see that the man was in such an insensate fit +of fury that his eyes were gleaming like coals of fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">With a loud oath, hurled through his teeth in the direction of the boy, +he gathered his papers together in an armful, and hurled them through a +port-hole into the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And now," he cried, "you infernal young dog, I'll do for you!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly, as he picked up a marlinspike that happened to be lying close +at hand upon the deck, with an expression stamped upon every feature of +his face that could mean nothing short of murder, a loud British cheer +came from somewhere amidships that was clearly audible in spite of the +bursting shells and the incessant thunder of the "Dresden's" guns. +Stork paused in the very act of raising his weapon to strike.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's that?" he cried.</p> +<p class="pnext">No sooner had the words left his lips than the cheer was raised a +second time, louder than before. And then the voice of Captain Crouch +rang out, in which there was a clear note of triumph.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Back to the pumps!" he shouted. "Boys, we'll save her yet."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-x-the-mysterious-message"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id11">CHAPTER X--The Mysterious Message</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">No doubt we should always be prepared for the unexpected, but the fact +remains that we very seldom are. In this case, the voice of Captain +Crouch carried from one end of the ship to the other, bringing a sudden +ray of hope into the heart of every man that heard it, that was like a +flash of light in a darkened room.</p> +<p class="pnext">Every living soul on board--including the ship's carpenter himself--had +already given himself up for lost. The "Harlech" was apparently in a +sinking condition, and under the continual and merciless fire of the +enemy cruiser. They were miles from anywhere, in the very midst of the +ocean; and it had seemed as if nothing could save them from a watery +grave, or, at least, captivity. And suddenly, the intelligence was +burst upon them that the ship might yet be saved. The crew had been +ordered to return to the pumps. The unexpected had occurred.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, curiosity is a very natural sentiment that at times overcomes even +the strongest impulse. For the moment, Stork forgot that he was on the +point of committing murder; Jimmy Burke, that his life was in the +greatest peril. Without a thought for one another, both rushed out +upon the well-deck, to learn what had happened.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Harlech" still listed so much that the decks sloped at an angle of +almost twenty degrees. It was then afternoon, though the sun was still +high. The "Dresden" lay to the north-east, her great guns sounding in +quick succession, like peal after peal of thunder immediately overhead. +Though the shells still shrieked through the rigging, or burst their +way through the fragile sides of the ship, all eyes were turned towards +the south, in which quarter Captain Crouch upon the bridge was +directing his enormous telescope. Jimmy, regardless of his danger, +dashed up the steps that led to the forecastle-peak, and shading his +eyes against the glare of the sun, looked in the same direction.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was some moments before he was able to make out anything at all; and +then, suddenly, he discerned quite clearly the funnels--from each of +which proceeded a thin trail of smoke--of three separate ships that +appeared to be advancing in line, steaming forward with rapidity and +making straight for the "Dresden."</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly, Captain Crouch tucked his telescope under his arm, and +shouted to Stork, who was still upon the well-deck, to take charge of +the party that was again working at the pumps. And hardly had the +words left his lips than from the south there came a heavy thudding +sound that was like a thunder-clap in the distance, and a few seconds +later, a great shell screamed immediately overhead, to send up a +fountain of water several feet into the air, not more than forty yards +from the "Dresden's" bows.</p> +<p class="pnext">A loud cheer was lifted by the crew of the "Harlech"--the men who saw +on a sudden, as if newly awakened from a nightmare, that deliverance +was, indeed, at hand. For yonder, bearing straight in their direction, +the tolling of the great guns echoing across the sea, were three ships +of the British Navy, racing towards the enemy like as many joyful +greyhounds loosed together from the leash.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were indeed three greyhounds of the sea: the "Glasgow," the +27-knot cruiser that had escaped from the fatal fight off Coronel, when +the "Monmouth" and the "Good Hope" went down before the weight of the +German guns; the "Kent," which had run down and sunk the "Leipzig"; and +the "Invincible," the splendid armoured cruiser--the first of its +kind--whose twelve-inch guns had sent to the bottom the "Scharnhorst" +and the "Gneisenau," to avenge the death of Cradock. These were ships +that had been tempered in the stern forge of warfare, that had been +tried and not found wanting; even then, they had come from a great +victory in the south. As they swept down upon the foe, there was +something in the outline of their dark and threatening hulls, in the +very smoke that issued from their funnels, that made them appear, in +very truth, invincible and ruthless.</p> +<p class="pnext">One after the other, in quick succession, their great guns opened fire, +until the sound was deafening, and it was as if the broad waters were +alive. Everywhere were great living fountains in the sea, and around +each one the water was churned white as snow.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Dresden," which was completed in the year 1907, had been built +with the idea of speed, and was but lightly armed. She carried only +ten four-inch guns and two torpedo-tubes, and with these she could not +hope to put up a fight against such a powerful adversary as the +"Invincible." In an old, time-worn phrase, she questioned not the +order of her going, but, putting her helm about, fled like a startled +roe at very sight of those who had marked her down.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is impossible to describe the feelings of the men on board the +"Harlech." They had been rescued, at the eleventh hour, from the very +jaws of death; and the sudden knowledge that they, at last, were safe, +combined with a sense of relief that the living shells were no longer +hooting and shrieking about their ears, had a singular effect not only +on every member of the crew, but even upon Captain Crouch himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">One and all, they worked at the pumps in a kind of frenzied joy, and as +they worked, they cheered. It soon became manifest that the "Harlech" +would be saved. She had been struck upon the water-line; the forward +holds had filled; and had the sea been rough, there is no doubt she +would have gone down with all hands on board. As it was, she shipped +no water that the pumps were not able to eject. Even as the men +worked, her bows rose, inch by inch, to their normal level above the +surface of the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Invincible" rushed past, and signalled to the "Harlech," asking if +she needed help. Crouch, who was a fighting man by nature, knew well +enough that the object of all war is to damage the enemy, and that it +was a sound principle, both in practice and in theory, to let the +wounded lie. The "Harlech" was wounded; she lay upon the water like a +winged duck, for the time being crippled and quite useless. The main +business of the British armoured cruiser was to overhaul and sink the +"Dresden." If she stayed to give help to the merchant ship, if she +slowed down and changed her course, the German would stand the better +chance of escape. Captain Crouch, therefore, did not hesitate to send +back the answer that he was well able to take care of himself; at the +same time, he made so bold as to wish His Majesty's ships the very best +of luck.</p> +<p class="pnext">By then, the "Dresden" was almost out of sight, steaming due +north-eastward, with the full power of her engines. As the chase +continued, the English men-of-war became strung out, the "Invincible" +and "Glasgow" leading, the "Kent" falling behind. In every hold the +stokers were hard at work, shovelling with frantic energy more coal +upon the furnaces, until the sky-line was black with long clouds of +rolling smoke. Until the sun went down in a flood of red upon the +western sky-line, and darkness spread slowly across the illimitable +ocean, this headlong chase continued.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Dresden" held her own, keeping within long range of the great guns +of the armoured cruiser. As they learnt afterwards, under cover of +night, she turned south again, thus escaping from her pursuers. She +had been designed as a commerce-destroyer, and, together with her +sister-ship the "Emden," was well suited to evade more powerful and +heavily armoured ships. On this occasion, she got away in safety; but, +a few weeks afterwards, she met with the inevitable fate that was in +store for her, and hauled down her flag--so that the ensign of the +German Navy vanished from the seas.</p> +<p class="pnext">With matters of historical importance we are only secondarily +concerned. The business of this narrative is with Jimmy Burke, and +also, in a less degree, with Captain Crouch. Crouch had not spoken +rashly when he signalled that the "Harlech" stood in no need of help. +He had already satisfied himself that the vessel would remain afloat. +Thanks to Providence, the damage she had sustained was nearly all above +the water-line; and this was due very largely to the fact that the +"Dresden" for the most part had fired shrapnel at decisive range.</p> +<p class="pnext">This had been done with an object. The German captain desired nothing +better than that the merchant ship should haul down her colours and +surrender. She had--as he probably knew--a valuable cargo on board; +and besides, the tons of coal she carried in her bunkers would be of +infinite value to a ship to whom all coaling stations were closed by +the extended pressure of the British Navy. Had the "Dresden" wished to +sink the "Harlech," there is no doubt she could have done so straight +away. As it was, in pursuance of the Prussian policy of frightfulness, +it had been her object to terrorize the crew. Moreover, being in +complete ignorance of the fact that the British cruisers were rapidly +drawing down upon him, the captain of the "Dresden" had imagined that +he had plenty of time upon his hands.</p> +<p class="pnext">He very nearly paid the penalty of over-confidence. He escaped by the +skin of his teeth, leaving the "Harlech" still floating, but a battered +hulk.</p> +<p class="pnext">All that night, Crouch and his men worked in desperation. On board the +ship was a perfect hubbub of hammering, hastening to and fro and the +giving of orders. Such holes in the ship's sides as were likely to +prove dangerous, should the sea get up, were repaired in rough, eager +haste; and not until then did Crouch give orders to clear away the +debris of the superstructure from the main-deck and hatchways.</p> +<p class="pnext">By daybreak the following morning, the ship--though still in a sorry +plight--was pronounced seaworthy and well able to continue on her +voyage. And by that time, also, by sheer chance alone, there had +fallen into the hands of Jimmy Burke something of the most significant +importance, upon which--as will afterwards appear--the whole thread of +this narrative depends.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy had been set to work upon the forward well-deck, clearing away, +by the light of a lantern, the pieces of shattered and twisted iron and +broken woodwork that lay everywhere upon the riddled, splintered decks. +On a sudden, he had come across a half sheet of note-paper, caught in +the cogs of one of the winches and smeared with grease and oil.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, there is nothing remarkable in a half sheet of note-paper; and +there is small doubt that Jimmy would not have hesitated to throw it +away at once, had he not remembered that he had seen this very paper +before. It was the kind of paper that was used largely in the offices +of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, in New York. It was a blue paper, +upon the top of which had been stamped the initials of the firm: R.&G.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a half sheet that had been torn carelessly, and which in +consequence was wider at the top than at the bottom. Jimmy was +positive that he had seen it in the sea-chest of Rudolf Stork. And +therefore, instead of throwing it overboard, he put it furtively into +one of the pockets of his coat, perfectly certain that, when Stork had +thrown his papers away in such alarmed, suspicious haste, this single +piece had been blown back upon the deck. It contained about five lines +in a bold handwriting, rather large and sprawling; and Jimmy had a mind +to read it as soon as a suitable opportunity occurred.</p> +<p class="pnext">That did not happen till early the following afternoon, when he found +himself alone in the forecastle, with half-an-hour to spare. He pulled +out the sheet of paper from his pocket, and holding it to the porthole +light made out the following mysterious and vague announcement--</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<p class="pfirst"><em class="italics">Steamboat entrance verified. Evening +navigate. Follow idea. Vernacular encumbrance. +Enter into Guinea half-speed.</em></p> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">He read it over and over again; and the more he read it, the more +ridiculous and senseless did it seem. He could see no meaning in the +words at all, or rather, the sentences appeared quite unconnected one +with the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">He read it so often that he very soon knew it word for word by heart. +And throughout the remainder of that voyage, until the very evening +when a great calamity befell them, he racked his brains continually to +find some solution of the riddle.</p> +<p class="pnext">The probability was that these strange words meant something. The +handwriting, though unknown to him, was sufficiently angular in its +characteristics to suggest that it belonged to a German; and that, +together with the fact that Rudolf Stork was undoubtedly a German spy, +was firm ground for suspicion. But, to discover--if such existed--some +unknown and hidden meaning was no such easy matter.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xi-the-middle-watch"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id12">CHAPTER XI--The Middle Watch</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Throughout the next few days Jimmy found himself in a veritable +whirlpool of perplexity and doubt. He knew quite well what he ought to +do, but could see no way of doing it. Hitherto, affairs had been going +persistently against him.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the first place, he knew that Rudolf Stork was a spy, and the man +was probably on his way to England on some secret business not +unconnected with the war. It was Stork who had broken open the cases +of cargo in the after-hold, to find them filled with service rifles for +the British army. Again, the man had given proof of his own guilt +when, during the panic that ensued when the ship was believed to be +sinking, he had cast the contents of his sea-chest overboard. That the +papers in question had been of an incriminating nature could not be +doubted; the strange message, written upon a half sheet of note-paper, +was probably in some code which could be deciphered easily enough at +the Headquarters of the German Secret Service in Berlin. It was even +possible that Stork had managed to convey the intelligence to the +"Dresden" that the "Harlech" was carrying contraband goods in the shape +of munitions of war. They had been saved at the eleventh hour; but +there was no certain guarantee that Stork--if he was really guilty of +such treachery--might not attempt to betray the ship again to enemy +submarines, as soon as they had gained English waters.</p> +<p class="pnext">On board the whole ship, Jimmy alone was conscious of the danger in +which they stood. Stork, by the depth of his perfidy and his +outrageous cunning, had managed to put Captain Crouch upon a false +scent, by levelling an accusation at the only person who was fully +aware of his own guilt.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy knew all this, and thought it out, time and again, during the +long watches of the night; and in the end, he determined to interview +Captain Crouch, to see if the little sea-captain could be persuaded to +listen to his story even for a few minutes.</p> +<p class="pnext">With this object in view, Jimmy waited an opportunity which did not +present itself for some time. In the first place, the captain was +seldom alone, and Jimmy--by Crouch's orders--was never allowed to work +by himself. It was not until they were nearing the south coast of +Ireland, and Crouch was growing anxious in regard to prowling +submarines from Kiel and Wilhelmshaven, that the boy was able to seize +his chance.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was during the middle watch at night, and Jimmy, who had not been to +sleep, saw a light suddenly appear in the captain's cabin. At the same +time, the aquiline and birdlike features of Captain Crouch were +silhouetted against one of the portholes that looked out upon the +forecastle and the forward well-deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy slipped from his bunk, crossed the well-deck, and reached the +main-deck by way of the companion-ladder.</p> +<p class="pnext">He found the door of the captain's cabin ajar, and looking in, saw +Crouch bending over a chart. The atmosphere of the room was thick with +the smoke of Bull's Eye Shag, and the extraordinary pungent odour of +this strange tobacco was wafted along the deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was as much as Jimmy could do to summon sufficient courage to knock; +and when, at last, he did so, the sound of the captain's gruff voice, +which was not unlike the sharp bark of a dog, caused him visibly to +start.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come in," said Crouch. "Come in."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy, recognizing that he was about to take the bull by the horns, +screwed up all his courage, took in a deep breath, and entered the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">The moment he set eyes upon the boy, Crouch set his brows in a frown.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You!" he exclaimed. "I thought I gave definite orders that on no +account were you to attempt to see me."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy, who had intended to maintain a bold front throughout the +interview, found all his resolution vanish before the single piercing +eye of Captain Crouch. He took another step forward, and brought both +his hands together with the gesture of one who begs for mercy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Please, hear me, sir," he pleaded. "I have something of the utmost +importance to tell you. I declare that I will speak nothing but the +truth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you mean," said Crouch, "that you have come at this hour of the +night to confess that you are a German spy?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I mean nothing of the sort, sir. I am innocent."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch turned upon his heel with a gesture of impatience.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You mean to lie," said he; "you mean to lie to the end. You belong to +a breed of liars."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I come of English blood, sir," answered Jimmy. "My family has a good +name."</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy was going on to speak of "Swiftsure Burke," and the Admiral's +gallant deeds, when Crouch took him up in a voice of thunder that must +have been audible to the officer on watch upon the bridge.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I care nothing for your pedigree," said he; "for ought I know you may +be descended from Peter the Hermit. If you've got the good name you +say, you can clear it in a public court, as soon as ever you are set +ashore in England."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Sir," said Jimmy, "the clearing of my good name will not help to save +your ship."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What d'ye mean?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I mean, sir, that I am innocent, as I have said, but there is one on +board this ship who is, in truth, a spy."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who?" asked the captain.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The ship's carpenter," said Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Rudolf Stork?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The same, sir; the man who accused me falsely."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch shook his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You ask me to take your word against his? Why should I do so? +There's a plain question as from one man to another--though you're +nothing more than a boy. If I believe him, I take the word of a man +who came to me with a good character, who has done his work well since +he has been aboard. If I believe you, I put my trust in one against +whom the evidence is overwhelming, who slunk on board this ship like a +thief in the night. No, my lad; I'm a plain man, and, I hope, a fair +one. I've a good share of common sense. I want to do the right thing, +as any God-fearing man should do; but, I've formed my opinion of you, +and I'm not disposed to alter it. One thing, and one thing only, is in +your favour. The other day, when the ship was in danger, when we were +under fire from that pirate's guns, I noticed that you behaved yourself +like a man. When the shrapnel shells were bursting in the rigging, you +were the last hand to leave the pumps. I saw that myself, and I'm +grateful. But it's not proof, mind you. You're a plucky lad, sure +enough, else you'd never have taken on the job you're doing now. I +give credit where credit's due; but, the fact that you have a certain +amount of courage goes rather to prove, than to disprove, that you are +a German spy."</p> +<p class="pnext">The captain paused, knocked out his pipe upon the toe of his cork foot +into a large spittoon that stood upon the floor, and then gave vent to +a grunt which might have signified either satisfaction or disapproval.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy saw that there was nothing left to him but to produce such +evidence as was afforded by the strange message upon the half sheet of +note-paper. With trembling hands, he drew this from his pocket, and +held it towards Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I found that," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had meant to say much more, but a sense of injured innocence and +indignation, and a full realization of his own helplessness, made it +difficult for him to control his voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch looked at the paper, turning it over several times in his hand, +and then read it aloud.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's all this?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It belonged to Stork, sir," muttered Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And what of that, my boy? What does it mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I can't say, sir," stammered Jimmy. "I thought that, perhaps, you +might be able to explain. It has some hidden meaning. I know that +Stork is a German spy."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch crumpled the paper in his hand and hurled it across the cabin in +a fit of impatience. "Hidden meaning to Jericho!" he roared. "Go to a +younger man than me, and one who knows less of the world, with an old +wives' tale like that. This is so much gibberish, written by an idle +sailor who thought to ape the scholar, when he had been better employed +sail-making or splicing ropes. Go back to bed, my lad, and worry me no +longer. I hold fast to my resolve; you shall be tried for your life in +Portsmouth by a proper legal court, and if you can't give a +satisfactory account of yourself, as sure as a typhoon in August in the +China Seas, you'll swing for a German spy."</p> +<p class="pnext">Without a word, poor Jimmy Burke left the captain's cabin, more +heartbroken and despondent than he had ever been before. Captain +Crouch, for all his virtues--and these, as we are soon to learn, were +many--was a hard man by nature, and, moreover, one who was as obstinate +and pertinacious as any rough and weather-beaten mariner can be.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xii-the-u93"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id13">CHAPTER XII--The U93</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">During the latter part of her voyage, the "Harlech" was not able to +travel faster than eight knots an hour, whereas normally she was +capable of doing as much as thirteen under favourable conditions. The +truth was her engines had been badly damaged by shell fire; and had she +not been commanded by a man of inflexible resolution, there is no doubt +she would have put into one of the Irish ports for safety and repairs. +Crouch, however, had his orders, and these were to take the ship to +Portsmouth, with as little delay as possible and in face of every risk; +and thither he was determined to go.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not until the evening upon which they sighted the Fastnet light +that Crouch himself, for the first time, had some cause for suspicion +in regard to Rudolf Stork. The man's conduct on that particular +occasion was by no means easy to explain.</p> +<p class="pnext">During the incident with the "Dresden" two of the ship's quartermasters +had been severely wounded and rendered incapable of carrying on their +work. On ocean liners and merchant vessels the quartermasters are +entrusted with a very important office: it is they who take their turn, +watch by watch, at the wheel, who are responsible that the ship +maintains her course. There were now but two quartermasters capable of +doing duty; and Captain Crouch had to look about him to find other men +capable of taking the places of those who had been disabled.</p> +<p class="pnext">It so happened that Rudolf Stork was one of the first to volunteer, and +was able to prove that he had sufficient knowledge of a ship's compass +to take charge of the wheel. He was told off for the middle watch, +which was that commanded by the chief officer, Mr. Dawes.</p> +<p class="pnext">Having picked up the famous Fastnet light, and verified his course, +which was almost due south-east to the Scillies, Captain Crouch turned +in at midnight, at the end of his own watch, and handed over to Dawes, +who ascended the bridge steps followed by Stork. The night was +bitterly cold; a fine rain was driving south-westward, down the St. +George's Channel. There was also a sea fog which completely +obliterated the moon and stars. Both Dawes and the acting +quartermaster wore waterproof coats and sou'westers.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, it so happened that on this occasion the chief officer was very +far from well. A few days before, he had contracted a violent cough +which that night showed signs of becoming serious. He had reported to +the captain that he felt indisposed, but protested that he was quite +able to do his duty. For all that, he had not been upon the bridge +three-quarters of an hour when he was seized with an immoderate fit of +coughing. This coughing was not only a serious impediment to the +proper carrying out of his duty, but it was also exceedingly painful. +His pulse was exceptionally fast, and a certain hot dryness of the skin +was a sure symptom of fever. Indeed, had there been a doctor on board, +he would have diagnosed the case at once, and pronounced the chief +officer to be on the verge of double pneumonia, aggravated by bronchial +trouble. In face of this, it speaks volumes for the pluck and +perseverance of Mr. Dawes that he had undertaken to go on watch at all.</p> +<p class="pnext">Very soon, however, the coughing became so violent and persistent that +he was, at last, obliged to leave the bridge, to go below to his cabin. +He was not absent much longer than ten minutes; but, it so happened +that, whilst he was away, Crouch, who had not yet been to sleep, +returned to the bridge.</p> +<p class="pnext">The captain did not ascend the steps that led from the main-deck, but +came upon the wheel from the after side, by way of the boat-deck, which +had been much shattered by the shell fire of the "Dresden." Crouch--as +is well known--had the eye of a lynx; and he saw at once that Stork was +holding the ship on a course at least twenty-five degrees south of that +marked upon the captain's chart.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hullo there!" he shouted, so suddenly that Stork started and let out +an exclamation of surprise.</p> +<p class="pnext">The man was obviously alarmed, and for a moment lost his +self-possession, but recovered himself in an instant, and put the ship +about upon her proper course.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look here," said Crouch, "I'll have no monkey tricks on board this +packet. What d'ye mean? Answer me that! What d'ye mean?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork made some feeble excuse, to which Crouch listened in stony +silence. When Mr. Dawes returned to the bridge, he found his captain +in none of the best of tempers. Neither was Crouch much inclined to be +sympathetic in regard to the chief officer's hacking cough.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You're ill, man," said he; "of course, you're ill. I know that as +well as you; and as I told you before, you were in no fit state to come +on duty. Still, if you undertake a job of work, I expect you to do it; +and it is not for me to tell you a ship's officer's duty. As long as +you hold the bridge, you remain there. Understand this, Mr. Dawes: +there's a mighty difference between a ship crossing the Atlantic in +time of war, with such a cargo as we shipped in New York harbour, and +an oil-tank steamer in the south Pacific, when the captain and the mate +can play halfpenny nap all day and sleep like infants half the night. +If you're not fit for duty, go below, sir, and leave the bridge to me. +It won't be the first time in my life I've done eight hours on end."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Dawes took the hint, which, indeed, he was hardly in a condition to +reject. He went below, still coughing and more than a little ashamed.</p> +<p class="pnext">As for Crouch, he remained on duty until eight bells had sounded, +which--as the conclusion of the middle watch--is four o'clock in the +morning. Throughout that time, he kept the eye of a hawk upon the man +at the wheel, who, in his turn, never once looked up from the compass.</p> +<p class="pnext">All this while, Crouch's brain was active. He may have been inclined +to be pig-headed, but he was by no means a fool. For the first time, +he found himself wondering whether there was any truth in what Jimmy +had told him. He was perfectly convinced that Stork had changed the +course of the ship on purpose. The man was not only quite thorough in +his work as a rule, but understood his duty, and was hardly likely to +have made so serious a mistake through negligence alone.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the last watch came to deck, the captain's eyes followed Stork as +he made his way to the forecastle; and then he, too, went below to his +cabin, to snatch a few hours' sleep. He was now quite ready to admit +the possibility that he had made a serious mistake, and made up his +mind to keep a sharp eye upon Stork throughout the remainder of the +voyage.</p> +<p class="pnext">The next day--when the "Harlech" was steadily ploughing her way, +heading for the entrance of the Channel--was an anxious time for +Crouch. He knew the full value of the cargo he carried, and its utmost +importance to those to whom it was consigned; and he knew also that, at +any moment, a torpedo from some lurking, hidden foe might send the ship +and all on board to the bottom. A heavy sea fog lay upon the surface +of the water. Dawes was in bed, unable to rise; and since the third +officer was somewhat young and inexperienced, nearly all the +responsible work of the ship devolved upon the captain.</p> +<p class="pnext">That afternoon, towards sunset, the fog lifted a trifle. Crouch +remained upon the bridge, straining his single eye through his long +telescope for minutes at a time. Presently, he closed the instrument +with a snap, tucked it under his arm, and dived both hands into his +trousers pockets.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Just as I thought!" he exclaimed. "We're a good six points to the +south, and on the wrong side of the Scillies. That man's a rogue."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no one to hear this remark but the quartermaster at the +wheel, and Jimmy Burke, who had just then ascended the bridge steps +with a cup of bovril for the captain, who had sent below for something +to warm him up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My boy," said Crouch, "I may have done you a wrong. Mind, I don't say +I have; but, I'm quite ready to confess that there's a chance of it. +Come and see me in my cabin, at ten o'clock to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">During that evening and the early hours of the night, the "Harlech" +rounded the Scilly Islands, and sighted the Cornish coast, where the +great, powerful light at the Lizard flashes its message of warning +across eighty miles of sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy Burke, filled with anticipation concerning his coming interview +with the captain, did not turn into the forecastle, but betook himself +to the poop, where he lay down upon a great coil of rope.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, those who know anything of the hardships of a sea-faring life are +well aware that a coil of rope makes a couch that is far from being +uncomfortable--as things go with those whose fate it is to serve before +the mast. There is always a great depression in the middle, in which +it is possible for the body to sink; and this is exactly what happened +to Jimmy Burke. He sank so deeply in the midst of the coils of rope +that, in spite of the fact that it was an exceedingly bright moonlit +night, his form was completely hidden from any one who might happen to +be passing.</p> +<p class="pnext">He did not fall asleep, because he was particularly anxious to count +each sounding of the ship's bells, knowing that at four bells precisely +he would have to report himself to Captain Crouch. He was therefore in +full possession of his senses and wide awake when a shadowy form +ascended the poop steps, and passed to the taffrails at the very stern +of the vessel, from which was suspended the rope of the ship's log.</p> +<p class="pnext">This man Jimmy recognized at once as Rudolf Stork. Even in that light, +there was no mistaking his broad, sloping shoulders and his slovenly +gait. Stork carried something in his hand; and at first the boy was +not able to make out what this was. He was not left long in doubt, +however; for, when Stork raised it to the level of the taffrails and +began to move up and down a small lever which made a persistent, +irregular tapping sound, it became manifest that the man was in +possession of a signalling lamp, with which he was sending messages to +some unknown point in the darkness that was spread upon the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy Burke was like one transfixed. He remained motionless and +breathless, amazed at the man's audacity. And before he had time to +put two and two together, to realize the full import of what was +happening, four bells sounded from the forward part of the ship. It +was ten o'clock; Jimmy was expected in the captain's cabin.</p> +<p class="pnext">Swiftly and silently, the boy got to his feet. As he did so, fearing +that his presence might be discovered, he kept an eye upon Stork, whose +back was turned to him, whose attention was fully occupied with the +work he had in hand. On the surface of the water, in the white wake of +the ship, Jimmy could see the reflection of the signalling lamp that +flashed and flickered with the dots and dashes of the Morse code, as +if, in its own poor way, it strove to imitate the magnificent +lighthouse that lay but a few miles to the north.</p> +<p class="pnext">And then, on a sudden, from out of the darkness, like an evil eye in +the night, there appeared an answering light--small, far away, and yet +marvellously distinct.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 63%" id="figure-51"> +<span id="like-an-evil-eye-in-the-night-there-appeared-an-answering-light"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-116.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +LIKE AN EVIL EYE IN THE NIGHT THERE APPEARED AN ANSWERING LIGHT.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">Jimmy drew back in horror. For all that, he remained sufficiently +master of himself to keep absolutely silent. Without a sound, he +glided down the companion-ladder to the well-deck, reached the +main-deck, and burst into the captain's cabin.</p> +<p class="pnext">He had not troubled to knock; and his abrupt entrance caused Crouch to +look up from a volume of sailing instructions he had been in the act of +reading.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My lad," said he, "we're not over particular here in regard to +manners; but, it's customary to ask permission to enter the captain's +cabin."</p> +<p class="pnext">Then he saw that the boy's face was ashen white, and shaped his lips as +if about to whistle.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's up?" said he. "What's up?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"For mercy's sake," cried Jimmy, "come with me! That villain is +signalling from the poop to a German submarine."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch straightened like a man struck. For fully a minute, he stared +at Jimmy in amazement. There was that in the expression of the boy's +face that left no room for doubt. No one--and Captain Crouch less than +any one--could fail to see that he had spoken what he honestly believed +to be the truth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A German submarine!" repeated Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What else could it be?" cried Jimmy. "No cruiser, gunboat or +destroyer would dare to show up so far from home. It's a submarine, +sir, sure enough. And the rascal's signalling with a shuttered lantern +in the Morse code, and they have answered back."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch moved quickly to the doorway, and then, coming back into the +room, flung open a drawer in his writing-desk, and took out a small, +nickel-plated revolver that glittered in the lamplight.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We'll put a stop to this," he cried. "It may not be too late to save +the ship." Followed by the boy, he dashed out upon the deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">There are scenes in the lives of us all which impress us so vividly at +the time that we carry them with us always in our memory, as clearly +and as permanently as an impression can be made upon a photographic +plate.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy Burke will never forget the moonlit scene that was presented to +his view from the doorway of Captain Crouch's cabin, that was at once +beautiful and terrible. On the starboard side of the ship the rocks of +Cornwall arose from out of the sea in a long, dark, rugged line, in the +centre of which the Lizard light flashed like a brilliant star. A full +moon hung low in the heavens, tracing a broad, silvery pathway across +the broken surface of the sea. The "Harlech" was moving cumbrously +through the water, on a course almost due east, when, on a sudden, in +the full light of the moon, there rose out of the water, like some +hideous monster of the under-sea, the periscope and conning-tower of an +enormous submarine, upon the side of which was just discernible the +ominous and dreaded letters--U93.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xiii-to-the-boats"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id14">CHAPTER XIII--To the Boats!</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Even in broad daylight there is something about a submarine that is +uncanny. The capacity to float half-submerged, the peculiar shape and +the dull slatey colour of this latest triumph of naval science, remind +one of some weird antediluvian animal--one of those strange, gigantic +monsters that are known to have inhabited the world long before man +made his appearance. On this fateful night the bright moonshine, +scintillating on the broken surface of the water, made the German +submarine seem ghost-like and supernatural. Its sudden and unexpected +appearance had the effect upon Jimmy Burke of a douche of ice-cold +water. For several seconds he remained standing quite motionless and +breathless, staring in stupefied amazement at the dark outline of the +enemy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch, on the other hand, wasted not as much as the fraction of a +second. A man who has spent a great part of his life in shooting wild +and savage beasts is not easily taken by surprise. He was used to +shocks. He saw at once that the peril in which the "Harlech" stood was +both extreme and immediate. At such a moment it was not his business +to ask himself why this calamity had come to pass. He was concerned +only with the ship that he commanded, which it was his duty to save at +every cost.</p> +<p class="pnext">As quick as thought he turned, and dashing up the bridge steps, thrust +the quartermaster aside and seized the spokes of the wheel.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Harlech" was travelling at full speed ahead--that is to say, she +was making a poor seven knots an hour. The U93 lay on the starboard +quarter; and Crouch, without a moment's hesitation, put the helm hard +aport, with the result that the bows of the ship swung round on an +angle of forty-five degrees, until she was heading straight for the +submarine.</p> +<p class="pnext">The moment was one of such intense excitement that Jimmy could think of +nothing else but the extreme danger in which he found himself; he had +forgotten completely all about Rudolf Stork. Crouch had sent below the +quartermaster on duty, with orders for the boatswain to summon the +crew; and in less than a minute every one--with the exception of those +who were at work in the engine-room and stokeholds--was on deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">The members of the crew crowded along the taffrails on the starboard +side of the ship, where they shouted to one another and pointed +excitedly in the direction of the submarine. Jimmy found himself in +the midst of a crowd of half-clad, panic-stricken men, who jostled one +another, and whose voices were inarticulate and hoarse. It is a +significant fact that these men, who had sustained unflinchingly the +fire of the "Dresden's" guns, who had behaved like heroes throughout, +were now as senseless and as frightened as a flock of sheep in a field +with a savage dog. The reason of this is not so far to seek: the +submarine is not only as deadly a weapon as has ever been contrived, +but, so far, no adequate means have been invented to counteract its +subtle powers of aggression. Submarine is useless against submarine; +destroyers are not able to account for under-water craft without having +luck on their side--an auxiliary to warfare that is seldom absent, and +yet which can hardly be relied upon. Neither are wire nets wholly +adequate, since these can be utilized with effect only in certain +localities where the seas are narrow and not deep.</p> +<p class="pnext">None the less, though the crew of the "Harlech" were excited and +apprehensive, they could not fail to see that it was Crouch's object to +run the submarine down. One and all, they had supreme confidence in +Crouch, and knew--now that the captain himself was at the wheel---that +their lives could not be entrusted to safer hands.</p> +<p class="pnext">They heard the tinkling of the engine-room bell when Crouch rang down +to tell the chief engineer to let her go. The captain's teeth were +set; he held the wheel at arm's length in an attitude of tension, his +one eye staring straight before him, over the peak of the vessel, to +the point where the U93 lay upon the surface of the water, her +conning-tower and superstructure showing like the back of a whale.</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed at first that they would succeed, that the submarine would be +rammed, cut in half and sent to the bottom like a stone. There could +not have been fifty feet between the bows of the "Harlech" and her +little venomous enemy when the U93 began to move, gaining almost at +once sufficient velocity to cause the water to part about her forward +ventilators in a long feathery wave, arrow-shaped and snow-white in the +moonshine.</p> +<p class="pnext">For ten minutes the chase continued; and those were moments of +breathless and intense excitement. Once, at least, a torpedo was +fired, which missed the ship by a matter of yards, passing on the port +side, leaving a trail in the moonlight that was like the sheen on the +scales of a fish. It caused each man on board who saw it firstly to +shudder, and secondly to lift a silent prayer of thanksgiving to the +great God above.</p> +<p class="pnext">Had Crouch not turned the ship head-on to the submarine, had the +"Harlech" presented a broadside target, there is small doubt the +torpedo would have found its mark, and all on board would have +perished. Afterwards, no one was able to testify that more than a +single torpedo had been fired.</p> +<p class="pnext">It now became clear that the submarine commander had decided to gain +his ends by swift manoeuvring. Crouch himself was the first to +recognize that the "Harlech" stood no chance of overhauling its enemy. +The U93 could apparently travel on the surface at the rate of not less +than fifteen knots; and even had the "Harlech" not been so sadly +disabled, she could hardly have overtaken her quarry.</p> +<p class="pnext">The submarine drew away some distance ahead, and then made a half +circle to the left, returning on a parallel course, until she was level +with the steamer. The "Harlech" was then not more than a mile away +from the Cornish coast, where the dark, rugged outline of the hills was +clearly visible in the moonlight.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly the hatch in the conning-tower of the U93 was seen to open, +and two men made their appearance, one of whom shouted through a +megaphone. He spoke good English. In the stillness of the night every +word he said was audible.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ahoy, there!" he cried. "Slow down at once, and stop; or we send you +to the bottom."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are you?" asked Crouch, more with the idea of wasting time than of +gleaning any definite information.</p> +<p class="pnext">"His Imperial Majesty's submarine U93," came the answer. "Heave to, at +once!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch saw that he had no alternative but to surrender. The "Harlech" +was now broadside on to the submarine, which was not a hundred and +fifty yards away. A torpedo, if discharged, could no more fail to +strike its target than send the merchant ship to the bottom in the +space of a few moments. It was a bitter pill to swallow; and as he +paced to and fro upon the bridge, the little wizened master-mariner +thought of Jason, Junior, sitting in his spacious offices in the midst +of the hurry and commotion of New York.</p> +<p class="pnext">He looked again at the submarine, which had now turned round and was +following its victim as a cat plays with a mouse--except that, in this +case, the mouse was huge and cumbrous, the cat quite small and fragile. +In something that was very like a fit of rage Crouch grasped the handle +of the telegraph, and rang down to the engine-room to "Stop."</p> +<p class="pnext">The submarine drew even closer, until at last the German commander was +able to make himself heard without the use of his megaphone.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you the 'Harlech'?" he demanded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you know that?" said Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">This seemed to anger the German, for he shouted even louder than before.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I am not here to answer questions, but to ask them. Please understand +that I am master of the situation: I have but to give the order, and a +torpedo puts an end to you all."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do what you like," said Crouch. "We've no means of self-defence, as +you can see."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have contraband goods on board," said the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That may, or may not, be."</p> +<p class="pnext">The German laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I know it," said he. "And now, I give you fair warning: you and your +men have precisely five minutes in which to leave the ship. If you are +not gone by the end of that time, you will pay the penalty of death, +for the ship goes to the bottom."</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch knit his brows in a frown. This was the first time in +the life of the little man that he had met with anything in the shape +of failure. As we have already pointed out, he was one who had made a +success of most things. He had risen from extreme poverty and small +beginnings to be a man of note--one whose name was well known in the +four quarters of the globe. Just now, he felt as if he would never be +able to hold up his head again, to look in the face the old friends who +had followed him through thick and thin, who had always thought so +highly of their leader.</p> +<p class="pnext">Still, if he felt all this, he showed it neither in the expression of +his face nor in the tones of his voice. In much the same manner as he +would have given an everyday and simple order, he raised a hand to his +mouth, and shouted at the full power of his lungs--</p> +<p class="pnext">"All hands to the boats!"</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xiv-the-doomed-ship"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id15">CHAPTER XIV--The Doomed Ship</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">"All hands to the boats!"</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no need for the order to be repeated a second time. The men, +who knew quite well what was coming, were only waiting for the word. +Indeed, in one part of the ship, the captain's orders had been +anticipated by no less a person than Rudolf Stork.</p> +<p class="pnext">There is little doubt that--had the submarine not appeared when it +did--the days of Rudolf Stork had been numbered, then and there. Had +Captain Crouch found Stork upon the poop, signalling to the enemy, he +would have shot him like a dog, without a moment's hesitation. But, +during the brief space of time whilst Jimmy was in the captain's cabin, +the submarine had drawn quite close to the "Harlech"; and in the +immediate presence of this new and more certain peril Crouch--and Jimmy +also--forgot all about the ship's carpenter who had betrayed all on +board.</p> +<p class="pnext">There is every reason to suppose that Stork knew well enough the plans +of the German commander. Possibly, he had known all along that the +"Harlech" was doomed. He understood that the so-called submarine +blockade was to be carried out with ruthless energy and perseverance, +and that the lives of neutrals, even of women and children, were not +likely to be held of much account.</p> +<p class="pnext">He was therefore in the greater haste to get quit of the ship; and for +this his position on the poop--the stern part of the vessel--offered +him an opportunity which he was not likely to refuse.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hoisted alongside the demolished round-house, where most of the ship's +stores were kept, was a small gig, not much larger than a dinghy, used +as a rule for harbour work. It so happened that when all hands were +called on deck by the shrill note of the boatswain's whistle, the cook +and the cook's mate had hastened from the galley to the poop; and it +was these two men that Stork summoned to his assistance.</p> +<p class="pnext">Without much difficulty, they lowered the dinghy, and had even launched +it in the water, before Crouch had given the order for the boats to be +manned. To lower a rope was the work of a minute; and before any one +was aware that the ship's carpenter had left the ship, Stork and the +two cooks were rowing frantically for the shore. There was no question +but that they would reach the coast in safety. The dinghy was quite +seaworthy; the damage done to the ship's boats during the bombardment +from the "Dresden" had been repaired upon the voyage. The night was +clear, the sea perfectly calm, and the shore--as we have said--not far +away.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the meantime, the German commander continued to issue his orders. +Crouch still remained upon the bridge.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Lower a gangway!" cried the German.</p> +<p class="pnext">"A gangway!" echoed Crouch in open derision. "Do you think that we're +a pack of school-girls that can't swarm down a rope? For why should we +want a gangway?"</p> +<p class="pnext">For some reason or other this seemed to infuriate the German.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do as you are told," he roared; "and don't argue the point with me. +Lower a gangway at once. Do you imagine I intend to waste one of our +finest Krupp torpedoes on a cargo ship of not five thousand tons! No, +sir, we are not such fools in Germany. As soon as you and your crew +are off, it will be short work, with such a cargo as you carry, to send +her sky high with a bomb."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch said nothing more, but came down from the bridge like a beaten +man. It was when he gained the main-deck that he remembered Rudolf +Stork, and went aft, with a set look upon his face and a loaded +revolver in his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he reached the poop, he was furious when he saw what had happened. +Not only was the dinghy gone, but the rope--by means of which Stork and +the two cooks had managed to escape--was dangling at the ship's side.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The rascal!" Crouch hissed between his teeth. Then, thrusting his +revolver into a coat pocket, he clenched his fist, and shook it at the +stars.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If ever I get the chance," he muttered, "I'll be even with that rogue. +I've been a blind fool, all along."</p> +<p class="pnext">He returned to the main-deck, and supervised the lowering of the boats, +in which there was ample accommodation for the crew. This work was +carried out in the utmost haste; all on board knew well enough that the +submarine commander would hold to his word, that they had five +minutes--and not a second longer--in which to make good their escape.</p> +<p class="pnext">Still, there was not much time to spare when the four boats were rowed +round to the foot of the gangway steps, down which filed the crew, the +ship's officers and engineers, each one with a bundle under his arm, in +which he carried his most prized possessions.</p> +<p class="pnext">Grim resolution, smothered anger, and deep sullen dejection--these were +the sentiments that were imprinted on the face of every man. They were +helpless, and they knew it. The German had spoken truly; the +submarine, fragile, slender and evil-looking, was the absolute master +of the situation. The will of the submarine commander was the law, +immutable and rigid. They had no option but to obey, without question +and in haste.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch remained on deck until--as he thought--every man had descended +to the boats. Then he himself took his place on the stern seat of the +last boat to leave the ship. One after the other, they rowed away in +the darkness, the rhythmic plashing of the oars growing fainter and +fainter in the distance, and seeming to strike upon the silence of the +night a note of sadness that was not out of keeping with the scene: the +gentle moonshine on the water, the distant, rugged hills, and the +ship--forsaken, listless, doomed. Some such thought may have entered +into the mind of the German officer himself, standing on the +conning-tower of the boat that he commanded, miles away from the +Fatherland he loved and the lighted cafés of Berlin.</p> +<p class="pnext">However that may be, he had evidently no intention of failing in what +he conceived to be his duty. The submarine drew slowly alongside the +gangway steps. The commander ascended to the main-deck, followed by a +seaman who carried in his hand a great egg-shaped thing, from the top +of which protruded the head of a fuse. It was a bomb, timed to explode +precisely two minutes after the lighting of the fuse. Of a certainty, +the "Harlech," of the house of Jason, Stileman and May, was doomed, +sentenced to be destroyed.</p> +<p class="pnext">None the less, the German officer was in no haste. Leaving the sailor +at the head of the companion-ladder, he entered the captain's cabin, +overhauled the ship's papers, and even helped himself to a box of +cigars which had been given to Crouch by Mr. Jason, Junior, on the day +he left New York.</p> +<p class="pnext">At the very moment this was happening, Captain Crouch himself, holding +the tiller ropes in his hands, sat in the stern seat of the last boat +like a man who is in a dream. Stern and hard as he was, accustomed to +rule both circumstance and men by sheer force of will, he found this +great calamity by no means easy to bear. It was no simple matter to +realize the full extent of what had happened. He had been specially +chosen to carry out a difficult and dangerous mission; and he had +failed. It was not in his nature to think of what excuse he should +make; he was prepared to take the blame. He knew now that he had made +an irreparable mistake, that he had been deceived. And that brought +back his mind to Rudolf Stork.</p> +<p class="pnext">From Stork his thoughts turned naturally to Jimmy Burke; and then it +was that he remembered, with the suddenness of an electric shock, that +he had not seen the boy go on board any one of the boats. He thought +it over quickly. Jimmy could not be in the dinghy, for he had caught +sight of the boy on the main-deck after the dinghy had been launched. +He was also equally certain that Jimmy had not descended the gangway +when the crew manned the boats.</p> +<p class="pnext">For once in his life--probably the only time on record--Captain Crouch +was alarmed. He knew now that he had wronged the stowaway, and in the +deep dejection of the moment was inclined to be unjust to himself, +forgetting that, from the first, the circumstantial evidence had been +all against the boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">As he sat silent, motionless and downcast, he turned, and looked back +at the dark outline of the forsaken, stricken ship. And little did he +dream of the deed of unexampled heroism, of the scene of such vital and +dramatic interest that even then was being enacted on board.</p> +<p class="pnext">As the German officer tested Crouch's best cigars, lifting one after +the other to his ear to see that they were dry, a face appeared at the +porthole on the port side of the ship. It was the face of Jimmy +Burke--a white, scared face, upon which, however, was the cast of +resolution.</p> +<p class="pnext">The German went out on to the main-deck on the starboard side, where he +took the bomb from the sailor's hands. Thence he passed down the +companion-ladder, along the alley-way to the engine-room, where he +descended the trellised stairway, step by step.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the floor of the engine-room, in the very base of the ship, he +deposited his bomb, and then, stooping, struck a match and lit the end +of the fuse.</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, he ran up the steps, dashed out upon the forward well-deck, +and hastened down the gangway. And at the very moment he set foot on +board his submarine, Jimmy Burke appeared suddenly in the alley-way, +from the direction of the engineers' mess-room, where he had been +hiding. Thence, he ran to the engine-room, and at the top of the steps +paused a moment to look down.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the midst of the vast machinery, now idle and seemingly inert, but +still droning from the effect of compressed, wasted steam, upon the +black, oily floor, lay the egg-shaped German bomb. A little spurt of +blue smoke was issuing in coils from the burning fuse, of which not +more than two inches now remained.</p> +<p class="pnext">With a loud cry that he was not able to suppress, the boy dashed down +the stairs.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xv-the-penitence-of-captain-crouch"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id16">CHAPTER XV--The Penitence of Captain Crouch</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">It can scarcely be denied that danger, and even death itself, are more +terrible from a distance than when they actually stare us in the face. +The truth is that, in moments of intense nervous strain, there is +little time for the imagination to run riot; and--as the greatest of +all poets has told us--it is imagination, more than anything else, that +causes fear and panic. A time of emergency is a time for action, when +it is better to do than to think. And always is it wiser and more +manful to strive for success than to pause to consider, even for a +single instant, the possibilities of failure.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy Burke, as he hastened down the engine-room steps, was concerned +with one thing only: to reach the bomb before it was timed to explode. +Had he waited to consider what would happen should he be too late, it +is more than probable that he would have failed; he would never have +lived to tell the tale. As it was, breathless and expectant, with a +cold perspiration broken out upon his forehead, and his heart thumping +violently against his ribs, he reached the infernal machine in the very +nick of time. Seizing the burning end of the fuse between a thumb and +finger, he crushed it out: and thus was the "Harlech" saved.</p> +<p class="pnext">None the less, to make doubly sure of success, he carried the bomb up +the staircase to the alley-way, where he threw it down an ash-shoot +into the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the meantime Captain Crouch, seated on the stern seat of the last +boat to leave the ship, found himself--as the saying goes--between the +hammer and the anvil, between Scylla and Charybdis. He was anxious to +make amends for the fatal mistake that he had made; to save, if +possible, the life of the boy who was still upon the ship. And on that +account, he found himself in something of a dilemma.</p> +<p class="pnext">If he put back to the "Harlech," he imperilled the lives of every man +in the boat; and he felt some doubt as to whether he was justified in +doing that. He thought over the matter quickly, and then resolved to +speak the truth.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My lads," said he to his men, "all the voyage through I've done a +great injustice to that boy of ours. He was a stowaway, right enough, +but as loyal as I am. Even to-night, he did his utmost to warn me of +danger ahead--he played the part of a man. Now, I ask you a fair +question, and I want a straight answer, such as a sailor has a right to +expect. For some reason or other, the boy has been left behind; and +the ship--as you know--is doomed. She may have another minute to live; +but the chances are that in a few seconds she'll be sent sky-high, +blown to smithereens. Now, here's the point: are we to go back, and +try to save the lad, or shall we row ahead for the shore? Yes, or no? +There's no betwixt and between in a matter such as this."</p> +<p class="pnext">The men in the boat did not take long to make up their minds. They +were all British born--men whose forbears for generation after +generation had earned their bread upon the sea. And nowhere else is +the spirit of self-sacrifice and honest heroism more dearly fostered, +nowhere else is a finer school for courage, than upon the broad waters +of the ocean where young and old, from the forecastle to the galley, +from the North Sea trawler to the Atlantic liner, take their fortunes +in their hands and run the danger of their lives amid the wild typhoons +of the southern seas, the blizzards of the Horn, and the icebergs of +the Arctic. As one man, they offered to return to the stricken ship, +to endeavour to save the stowaway.</p> +<p class="pnext">Turning the boat round, they rowed in desperation, for their own lives +also were at stake. The moonlight now seemed brighter than before; the +few clouds had shifted; a light wind had sprung up from the west which +formed endless ripples upon the surface of the sea, that glistened +everywhere like myriads of spangles.</p> +<p class="pnext">They could see the dark hull of the doomed ship, looming large against +the sky-line. She lay there in the midst of the night, helpless and +silent, like the great carcase of some stranded mammoth beast. And +though these men rowed in a kind of frenzy, straining every nerve and +muscle to the utmost, there was little hope in their hearts.</p> +<p class="pnext">By now, the submarine had drawn away from the "Harlech." Lying upon +the surface of the water, she was like a spider that watches its prey +from the centre of its web. The hatch of her conning-tower was closed. +The "Harlech," the U93 and the boat in which was Captain Crouch, stood +to one another in the relation of the corners of an equilateral +triangle. Waves were breaking against the superstructure of the +submarine--waves that were white as silver in the bright light of the +moon.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly, Crouch let out a cry, and pointed excitedly towards the east.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look there!" he shouted. "A destroyer!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Every man turned his eyes in the direction indicated; and there, sure +enough, standing out upon the sky-line, clearly silhouetted and looking +like the teeth of a broken comb, were the four funnels of a +torpedo-boat-destroyer, from which proceeded a long, black trail of +smoke that lay low and almost parallel to the surface of the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">The destroyer rushed through the water as an arrow comes singing +through the air. Even as they looked, she grew larger and more +distinct; until, presently, they could hear the throbbing of her +engines and see the churned water lashed by the revolutions of her +screws.</p> +<p class="pnext">The U93 dived like a startled duck. In a few seconds she was gone.</p> +<p class="pnext">The destroyer, which was originally heading straight for the "Harlech," +now changed her course, and began to move round in circles, steaming at +topmost speed, in her movements for all the world like a joyful dog on +a lawn.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the ship's boat was not more than a hundred yards from the +"Harlech," the destroyer drew to within speaking distance, and the +lieutenant-commander upon the bridge shouted to Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Have you seen the U93?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Seen her!" cried Crouch. "Why, she's not a cable's length from where +you are. We have been turned out of our berths, and given five minutes +in which to leave the ship; and there's a bomb on board which should +have exploded before now."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, the British commander appeared vastly excited, raising his +voice even louder.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then, man alive, keep your distance!" he bellowed. "If the explosion +takes place, that boat of yours is as likely as not to be scuttled by a +falling spar. You're heading the wrong way, man! Put about, get your +distance, and stand clear while the trouble's on."</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 63%" id="figure-52"> +<span id="you-re-heading-the-wrong-way-man-put-about-and-stand-clear-while-the-trouble-s-on"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-138.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +"YOU'RE HEADING THE WRONG WAY, MAN! PUT ABOUT AND STAND CLEAR WHILE THE TROUBLE'S ON."</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">"I'm going back," calmly answered Crouch, whose men had never ceased to +row. "I'm going back to the ship, to save a boy who has been left on +board."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, the officer gave vent to an exclamation of surprise, and then, +raising his night glasses, vowed that he could see some one on the +forecastle-peak, waving his arms about him wildly, like one who calls +for assistance.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Row ahead!" Crouch shouted to his men. "Row for all you're worth! +That bomb has misfired, or I'm a Prussian. We'll save the stowaway +yet."</p> +<p class="pnext">A few more strong strokes of the oars, and the boat drew alongside the +foot of the gangway steps. Crouch, agile as a panther, sprang on to +the footboard, and racing to the main-deck, came on a sudden face to +face with Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come off!" he cried. "There's no time to spare."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy Burke could not refrain from smiling.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's all right," said he in a quiet voice. "It's all right; the +ship's saved. There is no danger any longer."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch, catching his breath, stared at the boy in amazement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Saved!" he repeated.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Yes. The bomb has been thrown overboard. I stayed on board to do it."</p> +<p class="pnext">For at least a minute, Captain Crouch uttered never a word. Then, +quietly, without any show of haste, he took his pipe from his pocket, +filled it, struck a match and lit it, and puffed a cloud of smoke into +the air.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I've known many men," said he at last, "and I've seen most parts of +the world. I was first introduced to danger--if I might call it +so--when I was little more than a lad, and we've kept up a nodding +acquaintance ever since. I've known different kinds of danger, +too--all the family relations, so to speak: jungle fever, malaria, +cholera and Black Jack; lions, tigers, rogue-elephants and buffalo, and +the last's an ugly customer when he's wounded--you may take my word for +that; I've seen war, shipwreck, cannibals, pygmies and sudden death; +and I've known men who could hold their own in the midst of the whole +boiling lot. But I've never seen, or heard, or read of, a finer thing, +my boy, than you have done to-night. I say that because I mean it; and +there's a hand to shake."</p> +<p class="pnext">And Captain Crouch held out a hand which Jimmy took, to find himself +held fast as in a grip of iron.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I ask your pardon, lad," said Captain Crouch. "I did you a monstrous +wrong. The evidence was against you, that's true enough. None the +less, I might have found out the truth before now. But I didn't. So +it's up to you to forgive."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy Burke knew not what to say. Indeed, he felt a little awkward. +He was undemonstrative by nature, and Crouch still held his hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I ask your pardon, lad," said the captain again. "I shan't feel happy +till you've told me I'm forgiven."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Of course, sir," said Jimmy, "I forgive. And after all, it was only +natural you should think as you did; the evidence was very black +against me."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch let go the boy's hand, and walked quickly to the head of the +gangway. There he told the men in the boat below that the ship had +been saved, and ordered them to ascend at once to the main-deck. After +which, the captain himself hastened to the bridge, and there let loose +the siren.</p> +<p class="pnext">The loud shriek of the ship's hooter broke upon the silence of the +night, to be echoed back from the Cornish hills, and to die away in the +distance upon the moonlit sea. It was the signal for the other boats +to return.</p> +<p class="pnext">Time and again, Crouch sent out his message; and in between the +hootings of the siren, the little, wizened sea-captain paced to and fro +upon the bridge of the "Harlech" with quick and eager steps, his hands +folded behind his back and his head enveloped in the cloud of smoke +that issued from the bowl of his pipe. And in the meantime, His +Majesty's ship "Cockroach"--a destroyer with a displacement of over +nine hundred tons and a designed speed of thirty knots an hour, burning +oil fuel only and armed with three four-inch guns and four +torpedo-tubes--was flying hither and thither in the darkness like a mad +dog in a storm.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xvi-at-the-goat-and-compasses"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id17">CHAPTER XVI--At the "Goat and Compasses"</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Presently, the regular plashing sound of oars, accompanied by human +voices, rapidly becoming louder and more distinct, warned Crouch that +the other boats were returning to the ship.</p> +<p class="pnext">One after the other, they showed up in the darkness like white hovering +ghosts, keeping at a safe distance from the "Harlech" until assured +that all danger was past.</p> +<p class="pnext">A few minutes later, Crouch himself mustered all hands upon the +main-deck, when it was discovered that the dinghy had not returned, and +that the sole absentees were Stork, the ship's cook and his mate.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was nothing to be gained by further delay. Stork, who had by now +probably gained the shore at some desolate spot on the wild Cornish +coast, was not likely to pay much attention to the repeated hootings of +the siren. He knew well enough that his secret was out; that for some +reason or other the plot to destroy the ship had misfired, and that he +was likely to receive scant mercy at the hands of Captain Crouch, who, +for once in his life, had been fooled to the top of his bent. The +so-called ship's carpenter knew when he was safe.</p> +<p class="pnext">As was afterwards discovered, he experienced no difficulty in playing +upon the simple mind of the cook, a chicken-hearted fellow at the best, +who had already had more than enough of the merchant service in time of +war. As chance had it, both this man and his mate lived at Truro, and +ten minutes after the dinghy had been beached, Rudolf Stork was left to +his own resources, with a free hand to go whithersoever he wished.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is as well therefore that Crouch ordered the engine-room watch +below, and got the ship under way on a straight course for the Needles, +before the steel-blue streak of morning was far spread upon the eastern +sky-line.</p> +<p class="pnext">The U93 was nowhere to be seen. She may have descended to the sea-bed, +to lie in hiding like a dog-fox in deep earth, or else made off +straight for Wilhelmshaven at her top speed under water--probably the +best part of ten knots, in all seas and weathers. As for the +"Cockroach," she was more mad than ever, flying here and there with all +the superfluous energy of her powerful turbine engines, looking for her +stealthy and elusive quarry like a terrier hot on the scent of a +rabbit. As the daylight grew, and a blood-red sun arose upon a calm, +grey winter's sea, the Lizard light went out; and the coastguards at +the trim white-washed signal station (which is what may be called the +"booking-office" of the English Channel) watched through their +telescopes a large trans-atlantic tramp, steaming eastward--spoken as +the "Harlech," bound for Portsmouth--and little dreamed of the tragedy +that had been so narrowly averted.</p> +<p class="pnext">When the same ship reached the Solent, and the chalk cliffs of the Isle +of Wight stood out like a bank of cloud, those on board had passed +unscathed through a terrible ordeal, they had run the gauntlet of the +seas in time of war, and played their several parts like men. And +there was not one among them who did not realize that he had but Divine +Providence to thank that he was still alive.</p> +<p class="pnext">It so happened that it was Sunday; and with all hands assembled on the +forward well-deck, Crouch read the service, and there was a meaning in +the words of the psalm that went deep into the hearts of those rough, +sea-faring men: "<em class="italics">If I take the wings of the morning and remain in the +uttermost parts of the sea; even there also shall thy hand lead me.</em>" +War brings men back to fundamental truths that were known of old in a +warlike age when the majestic poetry of the psalms was first conceived: +that the heart of man is a heart of sin and savagery, but over all is a +God, just, yet full of mercy.</p> +<p class="pnext">There is in Gosport--as, indeed, in every other port that lies between +San Francisco and Yokohama by way of the Manchester Ship Canal--a +branch office of the firm of Jason, Stileman and May; and here, to no +less a person than the senior partner of the firm (Mr. Jason, Senior, +the uncle of the New York agent), Captain Crouch told his story from +start to end, and did not hesitate to blame himself. He explained in +full how he had been deceived by Rudolf Stork, who had escaped from the +ship off the coast of Cornwall. He dwelt at length upon the part that +had been played throughout by Jimmy Burke, who--on Crouch's +showing--had saved the "Harlech" from complete and inevitable +destruction.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Jason replied that the firm was not likely to forget the valuable +services the boy had rendered. Crouch had had a long talk with Jimmy, +and knew a certain amount of the boy's past history. Mr. Jason was +personally willing to guarantee the boy's future; but, on hearing that +Jimmy had no other ambition than to serve his country in her hour of +need, he said that he would do what he could to assist the lad to enter +the Army or Navy.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the meantime, Jimmy was handed over to the care of Captain Crouch, +who was instructed to look after him as if he were his own son. +Crouch, who never had a son of his own, had rather vague ideas on the +subject of paternal duties. He betook himself, together with his +charge, to a certain small, old-fashioned hotel in a by-street, where +he was in the habit of staying whenever his ship was lying in +Portsmouth Harbour.</p> +<p class="pnext">The name of this establishment was the "Goat and Compasses." In former +times, under the sign of "God Encompass Thee"--a gentle salutation to +the traveller--the place had been a well-known coaching inn, at the +extremity of the famous Portsmouth road. In later times, as the +English mercantile fleet swelled to the present proportions, it became +a famous resort for ships' officers and master-mariners, such as +Captain Crouch himself; and in the smoking-room of a winter's evening, +when a wood fire of the pine logs of Hampshire blazed and sizzled in +the grate, more tales were told of the five continents, the seven seas, +and the islands of the South, than could very well be contained in a +whole library of books of travel.</p> +<p class="pnext">To the "Goat and Compasses," therefore, Crouch and Jimmy Burke +departed, arm in arm. And the captain ashore--as we have said +already--was a very different man from the captain afloat, on the +quarter-deck or bridge. He was hail-fellow-well-met with almost every +other person he encountered in the street. He informed an old lady, +who sat knitting at an open window, that she was the possessor of an +extraordinary fine canary. He gave a crossing-sweeper fourpence, and a +tobacconist--from whom he purchased two pounds of his celebrated Bull's +Eye Shag--the benefit of his views on German methods of warfare. At +last, at the "Goat and Compasses," he ordered a meal that would have +overtaxed the digestive powers of a hyæna, emphasizing the fact that +what he called a healthy appetite was the one and only outward (or +inward) token of a Britisher.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was during supper that something happened in the nature of a +coincidence. It will be remembered that Jimmy Burke had taken nothing +on board the "Harlech" except a few personal belongings, done up in a +handkerchief, and a dry loaf of bread. He wore, however, a watch-chain +which had once belonged to his father, and from this was suspended his +half of the Admiral's lucky sixpence. On a sudden, Crouch's eyes +became glued to this small shining souvenir.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is as well to remember that Captain Crouch had an excellent memory. +He was an extremely observant man, who took careful stock of everything +that came his way.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pardon me," said he, "do you mind if I have a look at that broken +sixpence?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy handed the sixpence across the table. Crouch examined it for +some time without saying a word. Then, he gave it back to its owner, +and lying back in his chair, thrust both hands deep into his trousers +pockets.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How did you come by that?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">Forthwith Jimmy told the whole story of "Swiftsure Burke," who was his +grandfather, and how the Admiral's lucky sixpence had been the saving +of his life.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And so," said Crouch, slowly nodding his head in approval, "and so +you, who came on board my ship as a stowaway in New York, are a +grandson of Admiral Burke! That's strange enough, but there's more +still to marvel at. Where's the other half of the Admiral's lucky +sixpence?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy experienced some difficulty in explaining that his best friend on +the other side of the Atlantic was a girl who had once worked in the +same office as himself. He even went so far as to say that her name +was Peggy Wade, and that it was for her that he had filed in half the +little silver coin.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's what I mean," said Captain Crouch. "It's what you might call a +kind of a concurrence. I met that girl in New York. She's in Mr. +Jason's office; and we talked things over, she and I. I might even +say, in a manner of speaking, that I took an uncommon fancy to the +young lady; and, mind you, I've not been brought much in the way of +womenfolk. I don't like 'em as a rule."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, Captain Crouch produced his pipe, and thumbed his black +tobacco into the bowl.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Swiftsure Burke," said he, as if to himself, "Swiftsure Burke was a +man of whom the British Navy has every right to be proud. I'm more +ashamed than I can say, when I think that I treated a grandson of his +in the way I treated you. But, that's all past and done with. You +must forget it, lad; for, though I was a blind fool, my heart was in +the right place, and I meant it all for the best."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, Crouch rose suddenly from his chair, and stumped out of the +room. With his cork foot he walked with a pronounced limp, though he +was sufficiently active to go upstairs two steps at a time. He led the +way to a small sitting-room on the first floor; and there he and the +boy remained, poring over the mysterious message that had been rescued +from the sea-chest of Rudolf Stork, until the small hour of the morning.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch, now that he knew for a fact that Rudolf Stork was a spy, was +willing enough to spend hours endeavouring to decipher the message. +Holding the paper first in one hand and then in the other, he read it +over and over again.</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<p class="pfirst"><em class="italics">Steamboat entrance verified. Evening navigate. Follow idea. +Vernacular encumbrance. Enter into Guinea half-speed.</em></p> +</div> +</blockquote> +<p class="pfirst">At last, he laid down his pipe upon the table, and clapping his hands +together, cried out, "I've got it!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you mean," said Jimmy, "that you can explain it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Seems fair," said Crouch--a favourite expression of his, used as a +rule to express an affirmative. "Seems fair. I was a bit puzzled at +first, but it's plain sailing all right, once you've got the thread of +it."</p> +<p class="pnext">And thereupon the little captain went on to explain what he took to be +the meaning of the message which, according to him, referred to a chart +of some little-known and lonely island, probably in the Western Pacific.</p> +<p class="pnext">He said that he thought that "Guinea" must refer to New Guinea, which +is a German colony, and not to the Guinea that lies on the West Coast +of Africa. The island alluded to was probably one of the smaller +atolls lying to the south-east of the Indies. In this island, it +appeared, there was a harbour, the entrance to which would admit +sea-going steamers. Such a harbour, Crouch explained, would be +invaluable to the German commerce-raiders operating in those waters.</p> +<p class="pnext">The beginning of the message was therefore quite easy to understand. +Soundings had evidently been taken, and the entrance found navigable. +It was necessary, however, to negotiate the harbour in the evening, +because there would then be less chance of being discovered.</p> +<p class="pnext">The meaning of the next words, "Follow idea," Crouch was not wholly +able to explain. He said it was possible that they referred to some +suggestion made by the writer or, perhaps, by Rudolf Stork himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">The rest of the message, according to Crouch, was simplicity itself. +"Vernacular encumbrance"; in other words, the language would be a great +difficulty. As the captain himself was able to testify, all branches +of the Kanaka language were extremely difficult to learn; and it is not +always easy to make South Sea Islanders understand by means of signs. +If the Germans required this island as a secret base, or coaling +station, they would first have to make friends with the inhabitants, +since obviously they could not afford to keep a permanent garrison in +the place. The concluding sentence was altogether apparent. The chief +port of German New Guinea, or Kaiser Wilhelm's land, is Stephansort, +which lies at the end of Astrolabe Bay, and a ship entering the harbour +would naturally steam at half-speed to avoid the numerous shoals.</p> +<p class="pnext">The captain went on to say that, since there was no doubt that Stork +was a German spy, he had probably received definite instructions in +regard to the wireless station in New Guinea against which, it was +believed, an Australian expedition had already been despatched. It was +even probable that the message was not without reference to the German +cruiser, the "Emden," which in point of fact had already been +overhauled and destroyed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"None the less," said Crouch in conclusion, "there's mischief enough +brewing in all conscience. So far as I can see, there's nothing to +prevent the enemy's light cruisers breaking away from Kiel and taking +to the high seas, where, by reason of their great speed, they are +capable of doing a great deal more damage than the submarines. That +this message refers to some secret coaling-station in the Western +Pacific I have not a shadow of doubt."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was something so simple, and yet so probable, in Captain Crouch's +explanation, that Jimmy Burke was from the first both interested and +filled with admiration for the little captain's ingenuity. The more he +read the message the more was he certain that Crouch was on the right +track. As for the captain himself, now fairly launched upon the +subject of his travels, there is no knowing when he would have left off +talking of coral islands, cannibals and great banana festivals, had +not, on a sudden, Jimmy's attention been attracted by a very singular +thing.</p> +<p class="pnext">Regarding the message from over Crouch's shoulder, he was struck by an +extraordinary coincidence, which he had not noticed before, namely, +that the first letters of the first five words were S-E-V-E-N.</p> +<p class="pnext">He pointed this out at once to Crouch; whereupon it appeared that in +similar fashion the first letters of the next four words spelt F-I-V-E.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch was so amazed that he even paused in the act of lighting +his pipe, with the result that he burnt his fingers with the match.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's strange," said he. "It may be we've got hold of the wrong end +of the stick. What about the rest of it? Have the first letters of +the remaining words any sort of meaning?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Letter by letter Jimmy spelt them out.</p> +<p class="pnext">"E-I-G-H-S."</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's a flaw there," said Crouch. "It should end up with a T. That +last word should be <em class="italics">eight</em>."</p> +<p class="pnext">By then Jimmy was wildly excited. The whole affair had suddenly become +not only interesting, but vastly thrilling.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What about the <em class="italics">last</em> letters of each word?" he exclaimed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"T-E-D-G," spelt Crouch. "That means nothing, so far as my knowledge +goes."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's the next letter?" asked the boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"E," said Crouch. "T-E-D-G-E, that spells nothing either." Then +suddenly his expression changed. "Wait a moment!" he exclaimed. "What +about this? Supposing the last word, which is <em class="italics">half-speed</em>, counts as +one word, and not as two. Take the first letters of each word, and +then go back to the beginning and take the last letters. That makes +the 't' at the end of <em class="italics">steamboat</em>, the last letter of the word +'eight'----"</p> +<p class="pnext">"And then," cried Jimmy, taking the words out of the captain's mouth, +"then the last letters are E-D-G-E-W-A-R-E-R-O-A-D."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Edgeware Road!" cried Crouch, "by all that's wonderful and mad!"</p> +<p class="pnext">They looked at one another with the blank expression of men who are +half-dazed. Then Crouch produced a pencil from his pocket, and wrote +down this new interpretation of Rudolf Stork's mysterious instructions--</p> +<!-- class: center medium| 758 EDGEWARE ROAD --> +<p class="pnext">It was only natural that Jimmy should look for advice to Captain +Crouch, who was considerably older and far more experienced than +himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And whatever does that mean?" he demanded.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch made a wry face, and shrugged his shoulders.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ask me another!" said he. "I know well enough where the Edgware Road +is, and seeing that I was born and bred in London I suppose I ought to. +But, if you want to know what that has got to do with my secret +coaling-station in the South Sea Islands, I'm afraid you've come to the +wrong shop. Seven hundred and fifty-eight, Edgware Road! Jimmy, my +lad, we're no nearer the solution of this mystery than we were +before--in fact, it seems to me, we've lost our bearings in a fog."</p> +<p class="pnext">In addition to which, there is no denying that Captain Crouch felt not +a little personally aggrieved that his own lucid explanation, his +strange, fantastic solution concerning some mysterious Pacific island, +should be supplanted by so commonplace and well-known a locality as the +Edgware Road in London.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My boy," said he, knocking out his pipe on the toe of his cork foot, +"we'll go to this address, just you and I, and find out who's at home."</p> +<p class="pnext">"When?" asked Jimmy, all eagerness.</p> +<p class="pnext">"When!" repeated Crouch. "Why, now."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xvii-number-758"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id18">CHAPTER XVII--Number 758</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The more they thought about the whole strange, mysterious business, the +more was it apparent that they were face to face with plain +matter-of-fact. It was now obvious that the written message was +nothing more than the memorandum of an address. Every Londoner knows +the Edgware Road. Stork, however, or perhaps Rosencrantz or von +Essling, the German military attaché, had thought it advisable to write +it down, and that in such a manner that it would be extremely +improbable that any one else could read it.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch was once again upon his feet, limping backwards and +forwards from one end of the room to the other, talking in a quick, +excited voice, and flinging his arms about him like a windmill.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We must go to London at once," he cried. And at that, he hastened +from the room, to find the whole hotel in complete darkness. The "Goat +and Compasses" kept late hours as a rule; but it was now two o'clock in +the morning, and everyone had long since gone to bed. Crouch found his +bedroom candle and lit it, and with the aid of this searched the +smoking-room for a South-Western Railway time-table, a copy of which he +at length succeeded in finding. Licking the end of his second finger, +he turned over the pages so rapidly that he tore several in half.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here we are!" he cried. "There's a workmen's train at three-fifteen. +We'll catch that, and be in London before daybreak."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch woke up the proprietor in order to pay his bill, concerning +which neither was much inclined to argue, the one being too sleepy and +the other in too great haste even to count his change. They had little +in the way of luggage, and Crouch had been well supplied with money by +Mr. Jason, who was determined that Jimmy Burke should want for nothing. +Accordingly, in little more than an hour after they had discovered that +Stork's message was nothing more or less than a simple acrostic cypher, +they were speeding to London at the rate of forty miles an hour, both +sound asleep on the comfortable cushions in a first-class railway +carriage.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch had his own rooms in Pimlico, where he had constituted his +headquarters--so to speak--and where he rented two rooms, divided one +from the other by folding doors. In one was a camp-bed and a veritable +armoury of big-game rifles and shotguns; whereas the other, which he +called the dining-room, contained a table, a few basket chairs, and +many kinds of curios from all parts of the world. The walls of both +rooms were adorned with the heads and antlers of many rare animals: +waterbuck and koodoo, white and black leopards, jaguars, tigers and +lions.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thither, on a cold, dark, wintry morning, Crouch and his young +companion hastened immediately on their arrival at Waterloo, chartering +the only taxi that was to be found at that early hour.</p> +<p class="pnext">First, it was necessary to have breakfast, during which Crouch +explained that it would be certainly advisable for them to disguise +themselves. In all probability, Stork would repair to the house in the +Edgware Road, and it would never do for them to be recognized. They +had the whole morning at their disposal, and it must be admitted that +the precautions that the little sea-captain deemed it expedient to take +bordered on the ludicrous.</p> +<p class="pnext">For himself he purchased an extremely vulgar-looking shepherd's plaid +suit, a flaming red tie, and a white bowler hat which he set jauntily +on the side of his head at a very acute angle.</p> +<p class="pnext">As for Jimmy, it has been stated that he was a fair boy, with light +brown hair. That was now dyed completely black. A similar darkening +of the eyebrows, carried out by an expert in the art of "making up," +completed the boy's disguise, to the complete satisfaction of Captain +Crouch and the delight of Jimmy himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My lad," said Crouch, "I'd lay a sheet-anchor to a safety-pin your +best friend wouldn't know you now. As for me, I'll go so far as to +shave off my moustache and beard."</p> +<p class="pnext">A little after, he entered a barber's shop, and having fulfilled his +promise, looked, without his moustache and small imperial beard, even +more formidable than ever. His great, square, protruding chin +suggested a determined and aggressive nature; whereas his thin, tightly +compressed lips proved convincingly enough that here was a man who +could not be trifled with.</p> +<p class="pnext">They lunched together in a fashionable restaurant in the West End, +where Crouch, in the strange and wonderful costume, was evidently under +the impression that he was cutting a dash. Thence, arm-in-arm, they +sallied forth up Regent Street and along Oxford Street, in the +direction of the Edgware Road, entering a gunsmith's on the way and +purchasing a brace of revolvers and a score of rounds of ammunition.</p> +<p class="pnext">They found Number 758 to be a large block of unoccupied flats. Crouch +stationed himself on the opposite side of-the road, and regarded the +building for some time in silence.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's one thing about the place which is suspicious," he observed. +"Do you notice that every one of those flats is unoccupied, with the +exception of one on the first floor? On the ground floor are shop +premises, also 'To let.' Now, when you come to think of it, that is a +very remarkable thing. This is a popular and central part of London, +and one moreover in which rents are fairly moderate. Also, the agent's +notice on the ground floor has, by the look of it, been there for +months. Come, my boy, we'll look into the matter. But have your +revolver ready in case of an emergency, don't hesitate to use it, and +take your lead from me."</p> +<p class="pnext">So saying, the little captain stepped across the street, and rang the +bell of Number 758, Edgware Road.</p> +<p class="pnext">They did not have to wait long before the door was opened by an old +woman with a shawl about her shoulders, who asked who they were in an +exceedingly squeaky voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you Mr. Russell?" she piped, the moment she set eyes upon Captain +Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch thought for a moment before he answered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I won't say I'm not," said he; "on the other hand, I won't go so far +as to say I am. The main question is, who are you?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm Mrs. Wycherley," said the old woman, "her that looks after the +flat. And if you're Mr. Russell, the rooms are well aired and the +fires was a-lighted this morning."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Ha!" said Crouch. "That's just as it should be. I and my friend will +go upstairs."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, without a moment's hesitation, he brushed past the old woman +and ascended the stairs to the first floor, whither Mrs. Wycherley +followed him, muttering a great deal to herself on the subject of "the +rheumatics."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Where's the key?" demanded Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was an air of self-assurance about him that would have deceived a +Russian diplomat, to say nothing of a London charwoman of about seventy +years of age. Mrs. Wycherley, producing the key, flung open the door +of one of the first-floor flats and ushered in both Jimmy Burke and +Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">They found themselves in a small self-contained flat, consisting of +three rooms and a kitchen. These rooms were not only tastefully, but +even expensively, furnished; whereas the kitchen was complete as far as +furniture and cooking utensils were concerned.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch had a good look round, and then, producing his blackened briar +pipe, seated himself in the most comfortable armchair in the +dining-room, and proceeded to smoke at his leisure. Both Jimmy and the +charwoman remained standing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There are a few points," said Crouch, fixing the old lady with the +mouthpiece of his pipe, in much the same way as a man would point a +pistol, "there are one or two things I would like to know."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Begging your pardon, sir," said the woman, "if you're a friend of Mr. +Russell's, and Mr. Russell knows you're here, well and good. But if +you ain't, might I make so free as to ask your business, because my +daughter, Emily Jane, lies a-dying, and that's as true as I'm standing +here, and it's no time for me to be gossiping with gents with white +hats, nor black neither."</p> +<p class="pnext">She had spoken exceedingly fast, from time to time lifting her voice to +a higher key, until at last she pulled up short, apparently for want of +breath, having reached the topmost note she was capable of producing.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mum," said Crouch, "don't you get fidgety. I'm an honest man, though +a dog-breeder by profession. As for Russell, he knows me well enough, +or he was never a ship's carpenter that cut off in a dinghy with the +ship's cook and the cook's mate. So you may set your mind at rest."</p> +<p class="pnext">Old Mrs. Wycherley, who had not the least idea as to what Crouch was +talking about, folded her arms, and nodded her head as in approval.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If you're a friend of Mr. Russell's," said she, "I'm sure it's all +right. Perhaps you don't know, sir, that I'm expecting him here this +evening."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Is that so?" said Crouch. "I'm glad to hear it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Maybe you'll stay," said the old woman, "until Mr. Russell arrives?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I will that," said Crouch, feeling in his coat pocket for his +revolver. Then, in a changed voice, he remarked, "These are fairly +comfortable rooms."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Comfortable!" exclaimed the old woman. "Fit for a king, I calls them. +And that clean you could eat your dinner off of the carpet, as no one +knows better than me who've worked day and night as I'm a living woman."</p> +<p class="pnext">"When did Mr. Russell leave?" asked Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Leave! Why he ain't never come since the flat was took."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And when was that?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"On the fourth of August, sir. My memory ain't of the best, and I only +recollect the date because it was on that day, sir, that this here +'orrible war broke out. The fourth of August was the date, or I ain't +never been married, which I've lived to repent ever since the very +moment the ring was put on me finger."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch sat silent for a moment, mersed in thought, filling the room +with clouds of his evil-smelling tobacco smoke.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How is it," he asked at length, "that none of the other flats in the +building have been taken?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's no knowing," said the old woman. "But the fact is, that since +August no one, saving yourself, ain't been near the place."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch drew a whistle and looked across at Jimmy; then, once more, he +turned to Mrs. Wycherley.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And what about Emily Jane?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"She was took bad three weeks ago, and ain't left her bed for a +fortnight. And it's my solemn belief as all her blood's turned to +water."</p> +<p class="pnext">Whereupon, as the old woman showed signs of tears, Crouch thought it +advisable to change the subject; which he did with great dexterity.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How do you know," he asked, "that Mr. Russell arrives this evening?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because Mr. Valentine rung me up on the telegraph, and said as I was +to have the rooms ready by eight o'clock this evening."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And who is Mr. Valentine?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Don't know no more than you, sir, except that he's the gent what took +the rooms in August, as I'm a-telling you."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Well, then," said Crouch, "I don't think you need trouble to stay. +You can go back to Emily Jane. I and my friend will remain here until +Mr. Russell arrives. We'll keep the fire alight, and make ourselves at +home."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mrs. Wycherley, who a moment since had been on the verge of tears, +gathered her shawl about her shoulders, and beamed upon Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And it may be," said the little captain, "that Emily Jane will be none +the worse for a few comforts, such as beef-tea and a jelly. On your +way home, you might be able to get her something with that."</p> +<p class="pnext">So saying, he banged down a sovereign on the table, which Mrs. +Wycherley was not slow to accept.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then with your permission," said she, "I think I'll just be stepping +round."</p> +<p class="pnext">With that, and with a curtsey, she was off, with much more alacrity +than she had shown before.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xviii-mr-russell"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id19">CHAPTER XVIII--"Mr. Russell"</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Left alone with Jimmy, Crouch solemnly refilled his pipe.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The moment I first set eyes on her," he observed, "I summed that old +woman up. Emily Jane's a hoax."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are you sure of it?" asked Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Absolutely certain," said Crouch. "I don't imagine for a moment that +the old woman's in league with a gang of German spies; else she would +never have shown us up here. For all that, she's not to be trusted +further than a first engineer can throw a quoit. That's all the better +for us. I don't suppose she'll come back to-night."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And what about these men, Russell and Valentine?" asked Jimmy. "Who +are they, do you think?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Valentine may be any one," answered Crouch. "But I've a shrewd +suspicion that Russell is Rudolf Stork. Stork has now been in England +three days. He has had plenty of time in which to get to London."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And if he turns up," asked the boy, "what are we to do?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"If it's necessary, shoot him like a dog," said Crouch, forgetting that +he was not on his ship's deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">For the next half-hour, they systematically searched the whole flat, +but could find nothing suspicious. There was an aspect of newness +about the place; carpets, curtains, and cushions had evidently come +straight from the furnishers, and showed no signs of wear. In an +old-fashioned Sheraton bureau were writing and blotting paper, ink and +pens; but, the blotting paper was quite spotless, and the pen nibs had +never been dipped into the ink.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's nothing here," said Crouch. "We shall have to wait for Stork."</p> +<p class="pnext">And hardly had the words left his lips than a bell rang, somewhere in +the room. Jimmy started, and even Crouch carried a hand to the coat +pocket that contained his revolver. The moment was one of intense +excitement; they were face to face with great events. It was as if the +atmosphere of the room was electrified by the strong current of +anticipation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The telephone!" cried Jimmy, pointing to the wall.</p> +<p class="pnext">In a moment, Crouch had the receiver to his ear. He had the wisdom not +to speak, until he had found out who it was who had rung up the +unoccupied flat, and this proved to be no less a person than the +mysterious "Mr. Valentine," who was speaking from the "Hotel +Magnificent" in the Strand. "Are you there?" he asked. "Are you the +charwoman?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch replied at once, in the old woman's squeaky voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm Mrs. Wycherley," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I told you," said the voice, "that you were to expect Mr. Russell this +evening. He will probably arrive at about eight o'clock."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Very well, sir," said Crouch. "The rooms is aired, and all the fires +was a-lighted this morning, and everything's that clean you could eat +your dinner off the carpet, as sure as my Emily Jane's blood has turned +to water."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Shut up!" cried "Valentine," so loudly that even Jimmy was able to +hear. "I've not rung up to hear about Emily Jane. I intended to come +round this evening, to meet Mr. Russell on his arrival; but I have to +go to Edinburgh at once, on extremely urgent business, and have only +just time to catch my train. Can you hear what I say?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bless you, yes, sir," answered Crouch. "It don't make no difference +whether it's the butcher or a hundred-weight o' coal, I allus makes use +of the telegraph, and I don't take no sauce from the young woman in the +middle."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then, listen here," said "Valentine." "I'm sending round a +messenger-boy with an important sealed letter. On no account whatever +are you to let this letter out of your hands, until you give it to Mr. +Russell, the very moment he arrives."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Valentine," in order to make quite sure that Mrs. Wycherley had heard +aright and understood, made Crouch repeat his instructions word for +word. That done he rang off, apparently in the greatest haste, no +doubt fearing to miss his train.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch was wildly excited. Jamming his white bowler hat well +on to the back of his head, he proclaimed that they were hot upon the +scent of the gang. Mrs. Wycherley had left him in possession of the +key of the flat; and going down to the front door, he waited +impatiently for the messenger to arrive.</p> +<p class="pnext">The messenger-boy had some diffidence about handing over the letter to +Crouch, saying that he understood that he was to deliver it to a +charwoman. Crouch, however, was not to be denied, and with the sealed +letter in his hand returned to Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">To break the seal and tear open the envelope was the work of a few +seconds. The letter was written in German, of which language Crouch +and Jimmy knew enough to make out the meaning, though there were one or +two words that neither could understand. With the translation of +"Valentine's" letter all doubt was dispelled that the unknown "Mr. +Russell" was any one else than Rudolf Stork, the ship's carpenter of +the "Harlech."</p> +<p class="pnext">The letter began with the words "Dear Stork," and continued to the +following effect: A sea raid had been planned on the North Coast, +against the dockyards of the Forth and Tyne. All German submarines had +been warned, with the exception of the U93, whose wireless had been +probably by H.M. Destroyer "Cockroach." The U93 had come +north-eastward from the Lizard, had passed the Straits of Dover in +safety, and was now lying somewhere in the vicinity of the Wellbank +lightship, which is a little north of the latitude of the Tyne.</p> +<p class="pnext">Immediately on his arrival in London, Stork was to go to Hull, taking +the first and fastest train. Thence, he was to put to sea in a fishing +smack, the "Marigold," the skipper of which was in the pay of +"Valentine." He was to find the U93, and tell her to proceed due east +without delay, to meet the German fleet, issuing from the Bight of +Heligoland, and which would comprise some of the biggest +battle-cruisers ever built: notably, the "Derfflinger," the "Seydlitz," +the "Blücher," and the "Moltke."</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch was a man of iron nerve; but, when he realized the +colossal magnitude of the plot with which they were confronted, even he +could not control the features of his face. As for Jimmy Burke, his +lips were parted, and when he held the letter in his hand, the sheet of +paper trembled like a leaf. Scene by scene, the great drama that had +opened in the offices of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern unfolded itself +before the eyes of those who were something more than mere spectators. +And each scene, it appeared, was more dramatic, more fraught with +terrible consequences and possibilities of triumph or disaster, than +that which had gone before.</p> +<p class="pnext">It took Jimmy Burke some time to find his breath. He was so excited +that he found it difficult to speak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's not a moment to lose!" he cried. "We must report what we know +both to the Admiralty and Scotland Yard."</p> +<p class="pnext">"We can't leave this place," said Crouch. "Stork may turn up at any +minute; it must be nearly eight o'clock already. I'll ring up the +Yard, at once."</p> +<p class="pnext">He went straight to the telephone, where almost immediately he got into +communication with the famous headquarters of the London Police. He +was informed that a superintendent-detective would be sent at once to +Number 758, Edgware Road.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch placed the receiver back upon its rest, and pulled out his watch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's past eight o'clock," said he. "Russell should be here."</p> +<p class="pnext">It was at that very moment that they heard the sound of footsteps upon +the stone staircase without. Crouch hurried to the door and threw it +open; and there entered three men, two of whom were young, whilst the +other was considerably over sixty.</p> +<p class="pnext">Both Crouch and Jimmy scanned the face of each man as he entered, and +both, with their hands in their pockets, grasped the handles of their +revolvers. In spite of the intense excitement of the moment, Jimmy +Burke was conscious of a feeling of bitter disappointment, when he saw +that not one of these three men was Rudolf Stork.</p> +<p class="pnext">Each of the two younger men was well over six feet in height, broad of +shoulder and deep of chest. They were dressed precisely the same, and +wore blue suits, light-coloured overcoats, brown boots and +wide-brimmed, black felt hats. As for the older man, he had the +appearance of a professor, or some sage of ancient times; there was +something about him that might almost be described as druidical. His +hair was quite white, very long and somewhat greasy. He had a white +beard that reached almost to his waist. His nose was long and +aquiline, and his eyes much magnified by a pair of gold-rimmed +spectacles. In his hand he carried an ash-plant, so knotted and heavy +at the head that it resembled a club. It was he who was the first to +speak, staring at Crouch over the top of his spectacles.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Pardon me," he observed, in a voice that was exceedingly soft; "pardon +me, but I have not the pleasure."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Nor I," said Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think you must have made a mistake," the old man went on. "My name +is Russell--Theophilus Russell--and this flat belongs to me."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then," said Crouch, "there must certainly be some mistake. My name is +Shakespeare--Melchisedek Shakespeare--and this flat happens to belong +to me."</p> +<p class="pnext">Mr. Russell adjusted his spectacles upon his nose, and looked around +the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There should be a woman here," said he; "a Mrs. Wycherley."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She's gone out," said Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">The old man smiled and pointed with his stick.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, there she is!" he exclaimed. "How strange that I never noticed +her before."</p> +<p class="pnext">He had pointed to the armchair, at the other end of the room, in which +Crouch had formerly been seated. The whole thing was so cleverly +planned, the old man's voice was so dulcet and confiding, and his +expression of surprise so admirably feigned, that Crouch could not +resist the wholly natural impulse of turning round, to see for himself +whether or not Mrs. Wycherley were there.</p> +<p class="pnext">His eyes had not left the old man's face for longer than the fraction +of a second before there took place a kind of transfiguration which was +even more terrible to see than it was surprising.</p> +<p class="pnext">There had been something about the patriarchal figure of the old, +white-bearded man that was gentle, beneficent and charitable. His +expression had been that of one who looks upon the world, and all its +fooleries and foibles, with the comfortable tolerance of age. On a +sudden, this expression changed. His eyes flashed; his brows became +knit in a savage frown. At the same time, this transformation extended +to his body, which straightened, quivered, and even seemed to grow +larger. Before it was possible to guess what he was about to do, or +make the slightest movement by way of self-defence, he had raised his +heavy ash-plant high above his shoulder, and brought it down with a +crashing blow upon the head of Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">The little sea-captain had been taken unawares. Once again had he been +fooled. He let out a groan, spun round like a top, and then came down +heavily upon the floor.</p> +<p class="pnext">In so short a space of time did this calamity occur that Jimmy Burke +had barely time to act. He had taken two steps forward, and had got so +far as drawing his revolver from his pocket, when he was seized and +held fast in the powerful arms of the two younger men. Before he had +time to cry out, or even to realize what had happened, he found himself +not only with a gag thrust into his mouth, but with both hands +handcuffed behind his back.</p> +<p class="pnext">Russell laughed aloud, in a voice that was far from dulcet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I saw through your disguise," he cried, pointing to the prostrate +figure of the little captain, "the very moment I entered the room. +Something more is needed than a white bowler hat and a scarlet necktie +to conceal the identity of Captain Crouch."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, Crouch struggled to his feet, and stood for a second swaying. +Then, with a loud cry and a kind of lurch forward, he flung himself +like a wild-cat upon the old man, whom he seized roughly by the throat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You villain!" he shouted at the full power of his lungs.</p> +<p class="pnext">So great was his passion, so amazing his agility, that there is little +doubt he would have strangled the old villain then and there, had it +not been for the two younger men, who hurled themselves upon his back.</p> +<p class="pnext">They dragged him away as though he had been a mad dog, but not until he +had seized Russell by his long, flowing beard, which he tore, not +piecemeal, but bodily, in a mass, from the old man's wrinkled face.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 64%" id="figure-53"> +<span id="crouch-seized-russell-by-his-long-flowing-beard-which-he-tore-bodily-from-the-old-man-s-wrinkled-face"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-172.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +CROUCH SEIZED RUSSELL BY HIS LONG, FLOWING BEARD, WHICH HE TORE BODILY FROM THE OLD MAN'S FACE.</div> +</div> +<p class="pfirst">A moment later, Crouch, like Jimmy Burke, stood handcuffed. Panting, +literally foaming at the mouth, he glared at his assailant. And as he +glared, it was as if his single eye grew larger in his head. His thin +lips parted, though not a word escaped him; it was as if amazement had +struck him dumb.</p> +<p class="pnext">The truth was, he found himself confronted by the most surprising part +of an incident which, from start to finish, was at once unlooked-for +and bewildering. For, the old man, bereft of his spectacles and beard, +stood before Crouch discovered and confessed; and in place of the grey +and patriarchal features of the so-called "Mr. Russell" was the seamed +and weather-beaten countenance of Rudolf Stork.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xix-a-clue"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id20">CHAPTER XIX--A Clue</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">It may seem surprising that our good friend Captain Crouch (who was +very far from a fool) should have been gulled so successfully, and on +no less than two occasions, by Rudolf Stork. It must not be forgotten, +however, that Stork had been an actor, who knew well not only how to +disguise himself, but how to change his voice, and the expression of +his face, and to assume those habits and little mannerisms by which +personality is made evident. He not only looked the part of an old +dry-as-dust professor, but acted up to it so cleverly that both Crouch +and Jimmy Burke were quite deceived.</p> +<p class="pnext">When he found himself overpowered and handcuffed, when he saw how +completely he had been duped, Captain Crouch could not conceal his rage +and mortification. He shouted at the full power of his lungs, in a +vain hope that some one would hear and hasten to his help, forgetful +for the moment that the building was utterly deserted, that Mrs. +Wycherley was not likely to return.</p> +<p class="pnext">In any case, Rudolf Stork was not the man to run unnecessary risks; his +case was altogether desperate. To silence Crouch by means of a gag, +accompanied by a vicious kick in the ribs, was a task of not much +difficulty, nor one that took longer than a minute at the most.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stork then rose to his full height, and placing both arms akimbo, +looked down upon his victims, who lay side by side upon the floor.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If I had killed you out of hand," said he, "you'd have nothing but +your own cleverness to blame. You should have learnt by now to let +sleeping dogs lie. Let me tell you this, Captain Crouch, as one sailor +to another: you set foot on dangerous ground the moment you thought fit +to interfere with me."</p> +<p class="pnext">Going down upon a knee, he turned out their pockets, finding first the +keys which Crouch had obtained from Mrs. Wycherley, and then the brace +of revolvers that they had purchased that very morning.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You came prepared, I see," he grumbled. "It's just as well I thought +to disguise myself, or, like as not, I should have been shot on sight."</p> +<p class="pnext">And then, in the inner pocket of Crouch's coat, he discovered the +letter written by "Valentine" in German, which had come in a sealed +envelope from the "Hotel Magnificent." Without a word, he read it to +the end, and then, folding it carefully, put it away in a letter-case +which he kept in a hip-pocket along with a jack-knife large enough to +cut a loaf of bread.</p> +<p class="pnext">"The fat's in the fire," said he, turning to his companions; "there's +no doubt as to that. These fellows know more than is good for them. +We must put them out of the way. It's a nasty business, but war's war, +and those who employ me don't stick at trifles, such as the life of a +tramp skipper and a stowaway."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that, one of the younger men lifted a hand--a quick, nervous +gesture, denoting at once surprise and consternation.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Kill them!" he exclaimed.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's no other way," said Rudolf Stork.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't like it," said the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">The third man now spoke for the first time. "It would be madness," +said he, "and a cold-blooded business as well. We can leave them here, +handcuffed, gagged, and with their feet bound tightly."</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's the old woman," said Stork. "She'll find them for a certainty +before twelve hours are past. For myself, I take no risks."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'll not be a party to it," said the man who had spoken first.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then you're a fool," cried Stork. "You fail to realize the gravity of +the business. A raid has been planned on the North Sea coast, and +these two know all about it. In any case, the raid will take place, +there's no time now to stop it; and if the British Admiralty is warned, +the result will be disastrous. Whatever happens, the lips of these two +men must be closed, for five days at least." Then on a sudden, he +changed his voice and slapped a hand upon his thigh. "I've got it!" he +exclaimed. "Valentine purchased the whole of this building, on behalf +of the German Secret Service, in order that we should have no +eavesdroppers in the way of next-door neighbours. I've got the keys +here. We'll lock them both up in one of the empty flats, the one on +the top floor for choice. There, they'll be well out of the way, and +as good as dead."</p> +<p class="pnext">This idea commended itself to both the younger men. It was eminently +safe, and presented not the least difficulty. Also, it had the +advantage of evading the terrible responsibilities of wilful murder.</p> +<p class="pnext">Accordingly, the two captives were carried up to the top storey of the +building, where, after their legs had been tightly bound, they were +locked up in an empty room. Here not even Mrs. Wycherley would find +them. From the amount of dust upon the floor and windows, and the +innumerable cobwebs suspended from the ceiling, it was evident that no +one had entered the flat since the very day upon which the last tenant +had left it. Even had Crouch and Jimmy not been gagged, and had they +shouted till they were hoarse, they could never have made themselves +heard. Neither was there any possible means of escape. They were shut +up in a room which had once been used as a bedroom, and the hall door +of the flat was locked from the outer side. The only window--which was +quite small--looked out upon the roofs and chimney-pots of the adjacent +houses several feet below.</p> +<p class="pnext">Since Stork and his companions could afford to waste no time, the whole +of this dastardly business was carried out quickly and in silence. And +in less than ten minutes after the suggestion had been made, Crouch and +Jimmy Burke were left alone, listening to the receding footsteps of the +German spy and his confederates growing fainter and fainter as the +three men descended flight after flight of stairs.</p> +<p class="pnext">The thoughts of a man who finds himself in such a situation cannot be +of the pleasantest. What Crouch's were, no one is ever likely to know, +since--for very shame, perhaps--he ever afterwards kept them to +himself. As for Jimmy Burke, he felt then, and quite believed, that +from the very days of his boyhood, his life, and every enterprise he +had ever undertaken, was doomed to failure. So far, nothing had gone +well with him; and now that his fortunes were bound up with those of +Captain Crouch, it seemed that he was to lead even the little +sea-captain--hitherto so masterful--along the straight and certain path +to unmerited disaster.</p> +<p class="pnext">There are moments in the lives of us all when despondency obscures our +outlook upon life, in much the same manner as a thunder-cloud darkens a +summer sky. And yet, we should learn that Hope can remain with us to +the last. We can no more foresee the actions of other men that +influence our own lives--often indirectly--than we can foretell the +dispensations of Providence itself. Always, we are in God's hands; it +behoves us to act like men, and put our trust in Him.</p> +<p class="pnext">It is possible to become so hopeless that we deliberately turn our +backs upon the brighter side of things; and this is what goes by the +name of pessimism. And now Jimmy Burke, giving himself up for lost, +was quite unable to remember that there still existed a very great +possibility that both he and Captain Crouch would be discovered.</p> +<p class="pnext">Indeed, not more than ten minutes had elapsed after Stork had taken his +departure, when suddenly the whole house was made to echo with a dull, +thudding sound, as if some one were banging on a door. This noise +continued without ceasing for at least five minutes. It appeared to +proceed from the lower part of the building. At first, the boy could +not think what it was; and then, on a sudden, like a bright flash of +light in the midst of all the gloom of his despondency, he remembered +that Crouch had rung up Scotland Yard, and that in all probability it +was the police themselves who were below.</p> +<p class="pnext">Apparently the same thought occurred to Crouch, for the little captain +made a sudden and desperate effort to free himself; and presently, by +some means or other, he managed to stagger to his feet, only to fall +once more prostrate to the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">For all that, he was not one to admit that he had failed so easily. He +got to his feet again, stumbled across the room and threw all his +weight upon the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch was neither tall nor heavily built; he could not have +weighed more than nine stone; and, naturally enough, he failed to break +open the lock--even if that had been his intention. He fell to the +ground a second time, bruised and out of breath; but there was a +possibility that the noise had been heard by those who were within the +building.</p> +<p class="pnext">For some seconds they waited in suspense, listening intently, silent +and quite helpless. And then, they heard footsteps on the stairs, and +the sound of voices, and some one trying the doors.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch got to his feet again. He could not cry out because of the gag +that was still fastened in his mouth. He had no other means of making +his whereabouts known than the method he had tried before. Again he +threw his weight upon the door and fell heavily to the ground.</p> +<p class="pnext">This time there could be no doubt that he had succeeded in his purpose. +A man came to the outer door of the flat, tried to open it and failed, +and then called out in a loud voice, asking who was within.</p> +<p class="pnext">Neither Crouch nor Jimmy could answer. It must also be remembered that +the room in which they were imprisoned was quite dark, save for the +fact that a full moon had arisen which had cast upon the floor a square +pattern criss-crossed by the shadows of the framework of the window. +Since the flat was quite unfurnished and the walls of the passages were +bare, human voices were magnified in sound, and it was possible to hear +quite distinctly what was said by those outside the door. The voice of +one man was particularly distinct. Not only was it louder than the +others, but its tones were authoritative; it was he who gave orders to +those who were with him. As they guessed from the very first, this was +Superintendent-detective Etheridge--a man whose reputation in his own +line of business was second to none.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Go on, man!" he exclaimed. "Break the door down. There's no time to +waste trying to force the lock."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a dull thudding sound, as the full weight of a six-foot +London policeman was hurled against the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Try again," said the detective; "and this time all four of us +together."</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a pause, during which, no doubt, the detective and his +companions gathered themselves together; and then, as one man, they +threw themselves forward, so that four heavy shoulders struck the door +a single blow.</p> +<p class="pnext">The combined weight of these men could not have been less than +fifty-four stone, at the very lowest estimate; and that is a shock that +a modern spruce-wood doorway was never constructed to stand. Not only +was the lock broken open, so that the woodwork of the jamb was +splintered for at least a foot, but the hinges were wrenched bodily +away. The outer door flung back with a crash, and a second later the +detective and his men found themselves in the passage of the flat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Which room is it?" cried Etheridge. "Where are you?" he shouted at +the full power of his lungs.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch could not answer by word of mouth, but he could do just as well. +Sitting as upright as he could, he spun round like a top, so that his +two heels rapped out upon the door. Then he rolled over and over, +until he had gained the security of the centre of the room.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was Etheridge who spoke again.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here!" he cried. "This room! All together, as before!"</p> +<p class="pnext">The inner door was forced even more easily than the first. As it fell +inwards, and four burly figures burst into the room, both Crouch and +Jimmy were blinded by the sudden glare of three policemen's lanterns. +A moment later the gags were taken from their mouths, and they were +free to speak.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who are you?" asked the detective, assisting the little sea-captain to +his feet and unlocking his handcuffs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm the man who rang you up," said Crouch. "The rascals left here not +twenty minutes ago. Had you come sooner, you would have bagged all +three of them. As it is, there's no knowing where they've gone, nor +whether we'll ever see them again."</p> +<p class="pnext">There were a hundred things the detective wished to know. As yet he +had been told nothing, beyond the fact that Captain Crouch had certain +information in regard to a gang of spies. Together they went down to +the first-floor flat, where they turned on the electric light, and +where Crouch answered the detective's questions, telling his whole +story in instalments, so to speak.</p> +<p class="pnext">They had not a copy of the mysterious message which Jimmy Burke had +found on board the "Harlech"; but this made no difference, since both +Crouch and Jimmy knew it by heart. In order to explain to the +detective how they had discovered the address in the Edgware Road, +Jimmy went to the writing-table, and taking pen and ink, wrote out the +message.</p> +<p class="pnext">They explained to the detective how they had discovered the concealed +address in the first and last letters of every word; and then they were +able to see something of the peculiar workings of a great detective's +mind.</p> +<p class="pnext">In this world, there is reason in all things--even in those things +which may seem most trivial and unimportant. The criminal investigator +must not be satisfied with facts; it is his business to find out the +why and wherefore of everything that comes in his way. Moreover, he +must be observant; he can afford to miss nothing. As often as not, a +clue is to be found in the most improbable place.</p> +<p class="pnext">Superintendent-detective Etheridge had no sooner read the message a +second time than he laid hold upon a clue.</p> +<p class="pnext">"This message," said he, waving the paper in his hand, "was written by +a man who does not know London well."</p> +<p class="pnext">"How's that?" said Crouch. "As far as I can see, there's no way of +telling who wrote it. It was picked up on board the ship that I +commanded, that by all the laws of chance and methods of modern warfare +should have been sent sky-high, to be no more than a ton or so of +floating wreckage."</p> +<p class="pnext">The detective preferred to hold to his own opinion; and it must be +confessed that that opinion was likely to be right.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It was written," he repeated, "by a man who does not know London well. +Otherwise, he would have been able to spell 'Edgware Road.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">Etheridge had now spread the paper upon the table, and both Crouch and +Jimmy were gazing over his shoulder, whilst the three plain-clothes +policemen stood together in the doorway.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Edgware Road," the detective went on, "does not happen to be spelt +with an 'e.' This cypher was evidently concocted by a man who--if not +an Englishman himself--was well able to write--and, in all probability, +speak--the English language. He was not, however, personally +acquainted with London. For myself, in view of what you have told me, +I should say that it was written by one of the German gang you +discovered in New York."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I have it!" cried the boy. "When I overheard the conversation that +took place in Rosencrantz's office, I remember that von Essling himself +said that, though he was well acquainted with the English language, he +had never been to London, but expected to go there shortly."</p> +<p class="pnext">Etheridge, who had produced a large note-book from his pocket in which +he was scribbling a few hasty lines, closed it with a snap.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That settles it," said he. "The Baron von Essling and this 'Mr. +Valentine' who lives at the 'Hotel Magnificent' are one and the same +person. I've no doubt of it whatever."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What proof have you of that?" asked Captain Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"No proof," said the detective. "I set to work on bare suspicion, and +leave proof to the last. In this case my suspicions are well founded. +A few days before war was declared, a man, passing himself off as +'Lewis Valentine,' landed at Liverpool, having crossed from New York on +the 'Olympic.' He is known to have stayed at the 'Hotel Magnificent,' +and is supposed to have remained in London about three weeks. +Afterwards, evidence was forthcoming to the effect that he was one of +the Prussian military attachés in the United States, who was engaged +upon Secret Service work. Two days ago rumours reached me that this +man was once again in England; and the very reason I was late here +to-night is that I was first obliged to go to the 'Magnificent,' where +I learned that Valentine had left not an hour before. Take my word for +it, this fellow is von Essling."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And he has gone to Edinburgh?" asked Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Not a bit of it!" said Etheridge. "It is no more likely he would tell +a charwoman his destination than his real name and business. He has +gone to Liverpool; and that's all the more probable since the 'Baltic' +sails early to-morrow morning."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thunder!" cried Crouch. "This is a greater game than big-game +shooting in the Sunderbunds. I never in my life picked up a spoor like +this."</p> +<p class="pnext">"One thing's a certainty," said Etheridge; "I leave for Liverpool +without delay. There's no fast train till morning; but I can get there +in an eighty horse-power car. But, first, you must both come with me +to the Admiralty. Jarvis," he added, turning to one of the policemen, +"don't forget to drop into the White Star offices to-morrow morning, +and tell them there's no fear this voyage that the 'Baltic' will be +torpedoed."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xx-commander-fells"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id21">CHAPTER XX--Commander Fells</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">For reasons which are usually described as having regard to the public +interest, and also because of the Censorship in war-time, it is not +possible to relate in any detail the interview that took place between +Jimmy Burke and Captain Crouch and a certain Admiralty official, who +may as well be called the Director-in-Chief of the Naval Secret Service.</p> +<p class="pnext">This gentleman--by name Commander Fells--knew the +superintendent-detective as well as any of his own immediate +subordinates. Though it was by then past ten o'clock at night, they +found him in his office, hard at work. Though he wore the uniform of a +naval officer with the three gold stripes of his rank on either sleeve, +his was the pale careworn face of a man who works at a desk--moreover, +for long hours of the night.</p> +<p class="pnext">Etheridge stayed no longer than was necessary to introduce Crouch and +Jimmy, and to explain the important business upon which they desired to +see Commander Fells. The detective then took his departure in haste on +being told that the enormous Rolls-Royce car for which he had +telephoned to Scotland Yard was waiting for him in Whitehall, outside +the iron gates that guard the entrance of the Admiralty.</p> +<p class="pnext">Alone with his visitors, the Commander lay back in his chair, and +closing one eye, looked hard at Jimmy with the other. A little later, +he twisted round sideways, so that his elbow rested on the back of the +chair--a position that enabled him with comfort to bite the end of his +thumb--a habit not to be encouraged in those who are still at school, +but excusable no doubt (for the sake of Empire) in Commander Fells. A +singular thing in this man, who was undoubtedly one of the +powers-that-be in the Navy, was that he wore no medal ribbons on the +left side of his coat, the sole decoration with which he had ever been +honoured being the plain blue medal of the Royal Humane Society for +saving life at sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">There were a great many things he wanted to know. His method was quite +different from that of the Scotland Yard detective who had +cross-examined the two witnesses earlier in the evening. Whereas +Etheridge asked an infinity of questions, the Commander simply +requested Jimmy, and then Captain Crouch, to tell him all they knew. +When he had heard both stories, had seen a copy of the cypher message, +and turned up von Essling's name in a Prussian Court directory, he got +to his feet and walked quickly out of the room. He returned in about +an hour, saying that he had talked the matter out with an exceedingly +high official (whom it would not be possible to mention). He asked a +few more questions concerning Rosencrantz, and Rudolf Stork, and then +turned to Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You must understand," said he, "that in a matter like this absolute +secrecy is necessary. From the moment you leave this building, you are +not to breathe a single word of what you know to any one. For all +that, we are exceedingly grateful for the information you and your +young friend have brought."</p> +<p class="pnext">"The Grand Fleet, sir, will be warned?" asked Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Commander bowed his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That has been done already," said he. "Five minutes after I left +you--that is to say an hour ago--Sir John Jellicoe was made acquainted +with the possibilities of the raid. Torpedo-boat-destroyers were +warned to keep a sharp look-out for German submarines in the vicinity +of the Well-bank light-ship. You say that this man Stork means to put +to sea in a smack called the 'Marigold'?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's so," said Crouch. "And if you have no objection, I should like +to make a suggestion?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"By all means," said the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I may not look it," Crouch went on, "but I'm a sea-faring man by +trade, though I have spent half my life knocking about on land. At one +time--when I was little more than a boy--I went to sea on a trawler. I +know the North Sea as well as any smacksman, and it so happens that the +part I know best is this same Well-bank, where the U93 is supposed to +be. And now, sir, here's the point; I've an old score to pay with +Rudolf Stork; he's fooled me twice already, and if ever he does it +again, this foot of mine's not cork. I know every fathom of the Dogger +Bank, and I ask nothing better than leave to go to sea, and run down +the 'Marigold.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good!" exclaimed the Commander, slapping Crouch on the back, "you +shall have your wish and a 'permit' to see you through. It's hardly +likely that we should stand in your way when you want to do no more +than help us."</p> +<p class="pnext">Though the one was an officer in the Royal Navy and the other no more +than an honest merchant captain, there is--as we have said before--a +kind of bond that binds all men together who learn to read the face of +Nature in the changing aspects of the sea. As the oceans are wide and +the seas many, so do all sailors who leave port under the red or the +white ensign belong to a great brotherhood that lives one life, whether +it be in ward-room, in gun-room, or in stokehold, that runs the same +risks and faces the same cold and tragic death, for the honour and good +name of that same old England that centuries ago ousted the Don from +the Spanish Main and carried the British flag from Pole to Pole. There +was this in common--though they never thought it--between Captain +Crouch and Commander Fells, R.N.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was long after midnight when Crouch and Jimmy Burke left the +Admiralty. By then, they had received the most minute instructions as +to what they were to do; they had also been supplied with a certain +amount of money from the Secret Service funds, as well as a railway +warrant and a roll of Admiralty charts.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before daybreak they were travelling northward. In undisputed +possession of a first-class carriage, they made themselves as +comfortable as they could, and having been assured by the guard that he +would wake them up before they reached their destination, they were +soon fast asleep.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch was able to sleep like a dog. All his life he had been +accustomed to drop off whenever he wished to, for an hour or so, or +sometimes only for a few minutes at a time. It was probably because of +this that he had retained well into middle age much of the vitality and +enthusiasm of youth. In spite of the fact that his hair was touched +with grey and inclined to thinness on the crown, in spite of all the +hardships and privations he had undergone, Crouch, for all practical +purposes, may be regarded as a young man. He now gave an exhibition of +the extreme simplicity of going to sleep at will. He took off his +coat--which he rolled round his white bowler hat--in order to make a +pillow--wrapped himself in a tartan rug he had bought that afternoon, +curled himself up like a hedgehog, wished Jimmy good-night, and a +moment later was snoring like a pig.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy's case was altogether different. Young though he was, he found +that on such an occasion as this sleep was no easy matter. Unlike the +little sea-captain, his had not been a life of adventure and +excitement. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought it possible +that he personally would take part in so tremendous an undertaking.</p> +<p class="pnext">The whole thing was amazing. The Scotland Yard detective had appeared +to have little or no doubt that "Valentine" was the Baron von Essling +himself. It was, indeed, quite possible. Von Essling had told +Rosencrantz that, in all probability, he would visit England, and he +may have done so at the time of the outbreak of war. Also, there was +nothing to prevent him repeating his visits, disguised and under an +assumed name, as often as he liked. In these days of quick travelling, +the journey across the Atlantic seldom occupies longer than seven days.</p> +<p class="pnext">The secrecy with which the whole plot had been laid, and the care with +which every detail had been considered, spoke volumes for German +efficiency and organization. No one in London--least of all in the +Edgware Road itself--had thought for a moment that the large block of +untenanted flats had been purchased outright by the German Government, +in order to be used as the headquarters of a gang of spies. The +military attaché went about his business in Washington, the capital of +the United States, and no shred of suspicion rested upon himself. +Nothing had been overlooked. German agents had been found in Hull; and +a fishing smack, the "Marigold," was able to put out from an English +port and patrol the high seas on behalf of the German Navy, which dared +not show its face within range of the great fifteen-inch guns of the +British super-Dreadnoughts. Stork had been specially selected for work +of a singularly dangerous character, and there was little doubt that +his services would prove of inestimable value to those who controlled +the destiny of the most formidable nation in arms that any country has +ever been called upon to face. But, perhaps, the most remarkable thing +of all was that the whole plot should have been discovered as it seemed +by a mere stroke of luck. Had it not been for the particular gust of +wind--a little eddy in the air, in mid-Atlantic, hundreds of miles from +the nearest land--that blew Stork's cypher message back upon the deck, +nothing would have been found out, and the Secret Service Department in +the Wilhelmstrasse of Berlin would have been able to carry out their +plans unimpeded.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was such thoughts as these that kept Jimmy Burke awake. And when, +at last, he fell asleep, it was to dream in a vague disjointed way of +Rosencrantz and Rudolf Stork, the thunder of the "Dresden's" guns, and +the silent, shadowy form of the U93, gliding northward to the +fog-soaked Dogger Bank.</p> +<p class="pnext">How long he had actually been asleep he never had the least idea, when +the door of the railway carriage was thrown open, and the guard seized +both Crouch and Jimmy by the shoulders and shook them to wake them up.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here you are, sir! This is Hull."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy sat up and rubbed his eyes. It was broad daylight and bitterly +cold. The few passengers and railway servants that were to be seen +upon the platform were all enwrapped in mufflers and overcoats.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch sprang to his feet, cast aside his tartan rug, and jammed his +battered white bowler on to the back of his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come on!" he cried. "If Stork's here, there's no time to lose."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxi-on-board-a-white-star-liner"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id22">CHAPTER XXI--On Board a White Star Liner</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Whilst Jimmy and Crouch were travelling at the rate of about forty +miles an hour upon the track of the Great Northern Railway, +Superintendent-detective Etheridge was traversing the country every bit +as rapidly, upon an almost parallel route.</p> +<p class="pnext">Leaving Whitehall shortly after ten o'clock at night, he followed the +old Roman road which goes by the name of Watling Street that runs from +London to Chester. He knew what he was about; and he knew also that, +provided the Rolls-Royce car met with no mishap upon the road, he could +reach Liverpool before the "Baltic" sailed. He had already telegraphed +to the police both at that place and at Hull, giving a detailed +description of "Mr. Lewis Valentine" and Rudolf Stork. It was +discovered afterwards--and we have already said as much--that his +telegram reached Hull too late. Stork, with his usual luck, had +arrived in the nick of time, and before Detective-inspector Manning +could trace his whereabouts, he had embarked upon the "Marigold," and +was well out to sea in one of those dripping, impenetrable fogs, which +are of such common occurrence upon the Dogger Bank.</p> +<p class="pnext">At Liverpool, however, the case was very different. The police in that +city were warned in time; and besides, it so happened that the +boat-train was delayed by the breaking down of an engine which +obstructed the main-line traffic for several hours. The great White +Star liner lay alongside her wharf, under steam, with her cargo all +aboard; but, long before the first batch of passengers had arrived, no +less than six detectives and plain-clothes policemen were in possession +of the gangways. A Mr. Lewis Valentine, registered as an American +citizen, of Minneapolis, appeared in the list of passengers; and the +police were already in possession of Etheridge's description of the man +he wanted.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the meantime, the superintendent-detective himself was speeding +northward upon the famous road that in bygone days had conducted the +Roman legions to the strong fortified posts upon the frontier of Wales. +Etheridge knew the possibilities of the Rolls-Royce, which on many a +previous occasion had stood him in good stead. It was by means of this +car that he had captured Jack White, the famous Ealing murderer, and +had been able to run down Joss Hubbard, the anarchist, whose arrest he +brought about at the very moment when the criminal was setting foot +upon the cross-Channel boat at Dover.</p> +<p class="pnext">Towards morning, it rained steadily--a fine, drizzling rain which soon +after daybreak turned to sleet. Even the main roads were covered with +mud and slush, whereas the country lanes were converted into quagmires.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hour by hour, the Rolls-Royce tore northward. Its great staring lights +rushed through many a sleeping village. Its horn sounded repeatedly, +giving ample warning to the few people who happened to be abroad--for +the most part agricultural labourers going to their work in the small +hours of the morning--that one of His Majesty's servants had urgent and +important business to transact on behalf of the public safety.</p> +<p class="pnext">In such a situation there was nothing novel as far as the +superintendent-detective was concerned. He knew exactly where he was +going, when he would get there, and what would--or what would +not--happen, when he did. Accordingly, he folded his arms, turned up +the collar of his fur coat, and lying well back in his seat, slept no +less soundly, though not quite so noisily, as Captain Crouch himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">He woke up as the car was entering Liverpool, pulled out his watch, and +looked at the time. He had still three-quarters of an hour to spare; +he would arrive on board the "Baltic" before she was due to sail.</p> +<p class="pnext">Leaving the Rolls-Royce at the dock gates, he walked along the +magnificent wharf owned by the White Star Company, where at the foot of +the gangway he was recognized by one of the local detectives. Though +no one, watching the two men's faces, would have imagined for a single +instant that they had known each other for years, Etheridge gathered +all the information he desired: namely, that the so-called "Mr. +Valentine" had not yet come on board.</p> +<p class="pnext">He ascended the gangway to the main promenade deck, where, cigar in +mouth, he leaned upon the taffrail, surveying the crowd of dock +labourers, customs house officials and passengers that was assembled +under the wharf-shed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently, a tall man approached who was wearing a heavy ulster, and +who addressed Etheridge as if he were talking to an absolute stranger, +though as a matter of fact he was no less a person than +Superintendent-detective McGowan of Liverpool who had worked with +Scotland Yard for years.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I beg pardon, sir," said he, producing a cigarette from a morocco +case, "but would you be so good as to oblige me with a light?"</p> +<p class="pnext">Etheridge rummaged in his pockets, produced a box of safety matches, +struck one, and held it in the hollow of both hands to screen the flame +from the wind. When he was quite assured that the light would not be +blown out, he leaned forward so that McGowan was not only able to light +his cigarette, but to whisper in his colleague's ear. The words he +used may, at first blush, seem somewhat vague; for all that, to the +quick intelligence of the London detective they conveyed all the +information he desired to know.</p> +<p class="pnext">"D Forty-one," said McGowan, who then, having lighted his cigarette, +thanked Etheridge, and strolled carelessly away.</p> +<p class="pnext">Etheridge walked casually along the deck until he came to one of the +lifts, where he asked the attendant to take him down to "D" deck. +There, as if looking for his own cabin, he wandered about, until he +came to number forty-one, which he promptly entered and where he seated +himself in a comfortable armchair.</p> +<p class="pnext">Then, producing a copy of the morning paper which he had purchased at +the dock gates, he proceeded to read the news of the day. About the +Baron von Essling he troubled himself not in the least. He never gave +him a thought. He had gathered from McGowan that D41 was the number of +the cabin that had been booked by "Mr. Valentine." Sooner or later, +Valentine himself would arrive. Until that moment, +Superintendent-detective Etheridge was determined to give the whole of +his attention to the morning's news.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly, a steward entered, carrying a Gladstone bag. He appeared +somewhat surprised to see the cabin in possession of the detective, of +whose identity he had no idea.</p> +<p class="pnext">"This is the wrong cabin, sir," said he.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I think not," said the other. "It has been booked by a Mr. Valentine, +I believe. I have here a police warrant for his arrest."</p> +<p class="pnext">The usual effect of a police warrant can only be described as +electrical. The steward allowed the Gladstone bag to fall from his +hand, and stood regarding the detective in amazement.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What shall I do?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Mr. Valentine has come on board?" asked Etheridge, disregarding the +steward's question.</p> +<p class="pnext">"He is on the promenade deck now."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then show him down to his cabin, and leave us together. You need not +trouble to remain at hand, as several of my assistants are on board the +ship, and besides, I am provided with these," he added, producing a +Colt revolver and a pair of handcuffs.</p> +<p class="pnext">The steward went out, walking on tiptoe, with the demeanour of a man +who is conscious that he finds himself on dangerous ground. And no +sooner was the door closed than Etheridge flung himself at the +Gladstone bag as a hungry dog might tackle a bone. To undo the straps +was the work of a moment. Producing a skeleton key from his pocket, he +succeeded in opening the lock, and then turned out the complete +contents of the bag upon the floor.</p> +<p class="pnext">He found nothing more suspicious than a suit of pyjamas, washing +materials and an extraordinary number of neckties of every conceivable +colour, tone and shade. He bundled these back into the bag with scant +ceremony; and no sooner had he done so than the door was opened, and +there entered a man wearing a tweed suit and one of those soft felt +hats which are so popular in the United States.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I understood," said he, regarding Etheridge in surprise, "I understood +this was my cabin--D41."</p> +<p class="pnext">At that moment, there entered another steward--a thick-set man with a +heavy, black moustache--who carried upon his back a large cabin-trunk, +upon the lid of which were inscribed the words: "LEWIS N. VALENTINE, +MINNEAPOLIS, MINN."</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, Superintendent-detective Etheridge had already searched the +archives of Scotland Yard for a photograph of von Essling; and there +was no question but that this Mr. Lewis N. Valentine (of Minneapolis, +Minn.) bore a striking resemblance to the military attaché, with the +exception of the trifling fact that von Essling wore a moustache and +Valentine was clean-shaven.</p> +<p class="pnext">The steward set down the trunk in the middle of the cabin, and then +went out without a word, half closing the door. Etheridge and +Valentine stood face to face, regarding each other closely, the one +wondering whether he had found the right man, the suspicions of the +other fully aroused.</p> +<p class="pnext">Etheridge had a method of his own that seldom failed. It was his +custom to confront suspected persons with the truth. On such +occasions, it is extremely difficult not to give one's self away; the +most hardened criminal is not capable of controlling his features or of +finding suitable words of explanation, when he suddenly finds himself +face to face with his own guilt. If "Valentine," or von Essling, were +so obliging as to betray his own identity, there was little doubt in +the detective's mind that the necessary proof would be forthcoming, +when the man's baggage was overhauled. However--as we shall +see--Valentine himself was possessed of considerable presence of mind. +He was a desperate man in a desperate situation, and was not likely to +stick at trifles.</p> +<p class="pnext">"To the best of my knowledge," said Etheridge bluntly, "this cabin was +reserved for the Baron von Essling, a military attaché to the German +Embassy in Washington, who has certainly no right to be in England at +the present time."</p> +<p class="pnext">Valentine started. He was not sufficiently master of himself to +prevent it. He drew back a quick step, and stared hard at Etheridge. +His lips had parted, and the colour had vanished from his cheeks.</p> +<p class="pnext">"What do you mean?" he exclaimed.</p> +<p class="pnext">He got the better of his feelings in an instant, and feigned annoyance. +Etheridge, however, had already formed his own opinion, and was +determined to arrest the man, at once.</p> +<p class="pnext">"If you're wise," said he, "you'll speak the truth. It's my duty to +warn you that anything you say may be used in evidence against you."</p> +<p class="pnext">Very quietly, without ostentation or any show of violence, Valentine +drew a revolver from the hip pocket of his trousers, and directed the +barrel fair at the detective's heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Hands up!" said he, almost in a whisper.</p> +<p class="pnext">With an air of meekness and submission that was little short of +amazing, the superintendent-detective raised both hands above his head.</p> +<p class="pnext">Valentine spoke again, this time more quickly, as if he were excited.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Who you are," he cried, "I neither know nor care. But attempt to +betray me, attempt to leave this room until we have come to some mutual +understanding, and you do so at your peril. How you discovered my +identity, I don't pretend to know."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then," said Etheridge, whose hands were still held high above his +head, "then, you admit that you are von Essling."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I admit nothing," rapped out the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">"You have already done so," answered the detective. "And that is +enough for me."</p> +<p class="pnext">And hardly had the words left his lips than Valentine was seized +roughly from behind and both arms were pinned to his sides. For a +moment, he struggled violently to free himself; and it was then that +the revolver went off, and the leaden bullet was driven deep into the +flooring. With an effort, he twisted round, to see who his adversary +might be; and his disgust and astonishment can better be imagined than +described when he found himself confronted by the same white-coated +steward--the thick-set man with the black moustache--who had carried +his cabin trunk on board. A second later, he was out of action, his +hands fastened together behind his back by means of a pair of handcuffs.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That was smart work, Richards," observed the superintendent-detective, +turning to the steward. "I hope you were able to hear every word that +passed between us?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Every word, sir," said the steward, who, as a matter of fact, was one +of the detective's most trusted men, who had accompanied him from +London, sitting beside the driver in the eighty horse-power Rolls-Royce +car, which had come from Whitehall at the rate of forty miles an hour.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxii-by-the-dogger-bank"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id23">CHAPTER XXII--By the Dogger Bank</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">Whilst these events were in progress Captain Crouch and Jimmy Burke, in +the great seaport town of Hull, were hot upon the scent of Rudolf Stork.</p> +<p class="pnext">From the railway station they drove straight to the central police +station, where they found the inspector in his office. Scotland Yard +had telephoned during the night that Stork would probably arrive in +Hull early in the morning. Detectives had been dispatched at once to +the railway station, but got there too late to arrest the spy, who was +probably the only first-class passenger who arrived by the one +forty-seven train from King's Cross, who had no other baggage than a +small handbag, and who was met by a motor-car in which he went off in +the direction of the docks.</p> +<p class="pnext">The police had made sundry inquiries among the fishing people in the +poorer part of the town, and had learnt that the smack "Marigold" had +put to sea in the small hours of the morning.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch saw that there was nothing to be done but to continue the +pursuit, even into the midst of the shoals and fog-wreaths of the +Dogger Bank. He knew well the maxim that it was wise to set a thief to +catch a thief, and decided to follow the "Marigold" in another +fishing-smack, and not a steamer.</p> +<p class="pnext">His reasons for this were twofold. In the first place, the Well-bank +was extremely shallow water, across which no ocean-going ship could +pass. Secondly, as he knew full well, in view of the forthcoming raid, +the neighbouring waters were alive with enemy submarines, who were more +likely to torpedo a steamer flying the English flag than a +comparatively valueless fishing-boat.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, the name of Captain Crouch's friends was legion, but for the most +part they lived, moved and had their being in seaport towns, and there +were not a few in Hull.</p> +<p class="pnext">One of these was a Grimsby man, with nearly thirty years' experience as +a trawler, who was known as Captain Whisker; and it was to his house +that Crouch and Jimmy Burke betook themselves, as soon as they had +gleaned all available information from the police.</p> +<p class="pnext">Though it was still exceedingly early in the morning Captain Whisker +was up, digging furiously in his garden, with a blackened pipe between +his lips. He was a man the very opposite of Crouch. Crouch was small +and wizened; Whisker broad, florid and colossal. He could not have +been less than six feet five in height, and his chest measurement was +exceeded only by the girth of his waist. He was clean-shaven, but his +eyebrows were so extremely large and bushy that they resembled a kind +of superior moustache, and made his surname of "Whisker" seem +singularly appropriate.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, Crouch!" he exclaimed, driving his garden fork into the ground +and coming forward with outstretched hand. "The last man on earth I +ever thought to see! It must be five years, at least, since you and I +were shipmates; and that was on the West Coast, when I took you down +from Sierra Leone to Banana Point, when you were bound for the Aruwimi, +to look for a lost explorer who, you said, was a good two inches taller +than I."</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's no time now to talk of that," said Crouch. "I've a job of +work on hand, and you're the very man who can help. There's a German +spy who put to sea at daybreak in the 'Marigold,' and I've a mind to go +after him, if you know of a craft that can be safely recommended."</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Whisker drew himself up to his full height and puffed out both +his cheeks, at the same time opening his blue eyes so widely that they +resembled those of an enormous doll.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come inside," said he, almost in a whisper, after a pause sufficiently +long to enable him to recover from his surprise. "Come inside, and +talk matters out."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch and Jimmy followed the burly captain into a very singular room, +in which a hammock was suspended from the ceiling, whilst the floor was +wholly taken up by fishing-nets, tarpaulins, ropes, boats' anchors, +lifebuoys and a hundred odds and ends such as might be picked up on a +sheltered beach near which a wreck had taken place. There was barely +room in which to move.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch told his story briefly--or as much of it as he deemed it was +necessary for his seafaring friend to hear. When he had ended, Captain +Whisker unburdened himself as follows--</p> +<p class="pnext">"You can't do better," said he, "than set out in the 'Kitty McQuaire.' +She's a faster smack than the 'Marigold'; she can do a good knot and a +half better. I reckon she can sail nearer the wind than any +sailing-ship of any kind between here and Aberdeen. She was going out +this morning, in any case. I'll come with you, and take command. It's +some years, Crouch, since you skippered a smack; and though I don't +doubt that you still know as much of your old trade as I do, what you +have told me has kind o' hoisted a flying jib before the mainsail of my +curiosity; and I should like to see the business through."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come on, then!" Crouch almost shouted. "It won't be the first time, +by a long chalk, that you and I were shipmates in adventure. And, +what's more, you always brought me luck."</p> +<p class="pnext">Resolved to waste no further time, they set out together; and long +before the sun had reached its meridian, they were passing out of the +mouth of the Humber, where they set their course to the north, towards +the Well-bank lightship.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Kitty McQuaire" proved herself to be all that Whisker had said. +As the afternoon advanced the sea got up, until by evening a gale was +blowing from the south-east. The smack danced and dived and +pirouetted, sometimes being lifted high upon the crest of the waves, +and at other times plunging, nose foremost, into the depths.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Whisker soon proved himself no less capable a seaman than +Captain Crouch. Indeed, had it not been for his great knowledge of the +sea and admirable presence of mind, it is more than likely that the +"Kitty McQuaire" would have been driven on to a shoal or foundered in +open water. They were obliged to haul down their sails, and keeping +the smack head-on to the storm, to put their trust in Providence that +they would not be driven back upon the shore.</p> +<p class="pnext">That night to Jimmy Burke was a night of purgatory and terrible +suspense. In the first place, he was unconscionably seasick. What he +had endured upon the "Harlech" was as nothing to the torments he +suffered now. In a very short time he was reduced to such a state of +utter wretchedness that, in his fevered imagination, death by drowning +was preferable to life under these conditions. For all that, he was +filled with a great fear that the smack would, in truth, go down. +Sometimes, when a great wave broke immediately before them, the salt +water washed the ship from bows to stern, so that they were obliged to +cling to the masts or whatsoever they could lay hold upon, to prevent +themselves from being swept away.</p> +<p class="pnext">In addition to the wind that shrieked and howled through the rigging, a +denseness lay upon the uneasy surface of the waters. It was so dark +that they could not see twenty yards before them, and knew not in which +direction they were being driven by the wind. For some hours they +lived in horrible anticipation that they would suddenly find themselves +stranded on a sandbank or some lonely part of the coast, where the ship +would be battered to fragments by the waves.</p> +<p class="pnext">With the first signs of daybreak the fog lifted and a great blood-red +sun, like an enormous Chinese lantern, arose from out of the east, to +flood the desolate scene with a kind of purple-tinted twilight, such as +one might suppose should infest a land of ghosts. At the same time, +the wind dropped and changed further towards the south. Within two +hours the sea had so abated that they were able to hoist their sails +and to continue on their course.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently they caught sight of the coast, and Whisker recognized at +once the white cliffs of Flamborough Head. They were much further +north than they had dared to hope; if the wind continued to be +favourable, they would reach the neighbourhood of the Well-bank soon +after dark. Jimmy, also, had by midday sufficiently recovered of his +seasickness to eat a ship's biscuit so hard that he was obliged to +break it with an axe.</p> +<p class="pnext">Early in the afternoon, since there were several ships in the +neighbourhood--fishing-smacks, Government trawlers and steamers from +the northern ports--they lowered a net to make a pretence of fishing +and to avoid arousing suspicion. It is as well they did so, for soon +afterwards they sighted a smack, a mile or so ahead, bearing on the +same course as themselves, which Whisker recognized at once as the +"Marigold," upon which--it was presumed--was Rudolf Stork.</p> +<p class="pnext">The wind could not have been more favourable for their purpose. They +were able to hold a straight course, and under full sail to bear right +down upon their quarry.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was not long before the "Marigold" appeared to guess that she was +being followed, for her skipper hoisted all the sail the smack could +carry, and changed his course a little to the north. By that time the +"Kitty McQuaire" was about two miles in rear. The other ships had been +left far to the south, with the exception of a large tramp steamer, +with a funnel so aft as to appear to proceed from the poop, which was +steadily ploughing her way northward, bound possibly for Leith or +Inverness.</p> +<p class="pnext">Though the "Marigold" strained every stitch of sail to widen the +distance between herself and her pursuer, it was very soon apparent +that she had little chance of escaping. The "Kitty McQuaire" was +overtaking her quarry, inch by inch, gaining a yard or so with every +gust of wind.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch from the bows of the smack regarded the "Marigold" +through a long telescope that belonged to Captain Whisker, and upon +which was emblazoned in blood-red letters the name of every ship upon +which he had ever sailed. Crouch had already examined the tramp +steamer to learn that she was the "Mondavia"--by a strange chance one +of the fleet of Jason, Stileman and May, the very house to which Crouch +himself belonged.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly, with a loud cry of triumph, he thrust the telescope into the +hands of Jimmy Burke.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look there!" he cried. "There's Rudolf Stork, or else I never yet set +eyes upon the man! He's got his eyes glued on us through a pair of +glasses! There are not more than five men on board, so far as I can +see; and there's a strange sort of arrangement aft, which might be +anything from a cucumber-frame to a coffin! If we can overtake her +before it's dark we'll have the whole gang at the Old Bailey under a +week!"</p> +<p class="pnext">He was wildly excited, as, indeed, he had some cause to be. By all the +laws of chance Stork was as good as captured. It was plain the +"Marigold" could not escape, for it still wanted two hours to sunset, +and she was making no better headway. It appeared that certain success +was well within their grasp. And it was just at this junction that +there happened an incident which was at once disastrous and unexpected. +The "Marigold" opened fire!</p> +<p class="pnext">To be fired upon without warning on the high seas by an ordinary +fishing-smack is not an event that one might look for; and neither are +effective counter-measures possible when one is both unarmed and +unprepared. The first shot struck the water ten yards from the +"Kitty's" bows, whereas the next whistled high overhead, to plunge into +the sea a long way astern. It was apparent that the suspicious +arrangement which Crouch had noticed on the deck of the "Marigold" was +one of those old-fashioned high-angle muzzle-loading guns which go by +the name of mortars. As far as Jimmy Burke could make out with the aid +of the telescope, the mortar was covered over with fishing-nets and +tackle of all kinds, and Rudolf Stork was directing its fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now the appearance of this new factor in the situation cast at once a +very different hue upon the prospects of all concerned. In the first +place, these weapons may be of no more use than pea-shooters when +brought to bear upon a man-of-war; but one shot below the water-line of +the "Kitty McQuaire" would suffice to send her to the bottom. +Secondly, though Crouch, Jimmy and Whisker were all armed with +revolvers, they had no weapon that was of the slightest value at a +range beyond a hundred yards.</p> +<p class="pnext">None the less, Crouch stoutly refused to give up the chase. He loudly +protested that he would overtake the "Marigold" or go down to Davy +Jones.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Mondavia" was then about four miles to the west, between the +"Marigold" and the coast. They had no means of signalling to the +steamer, since there was not a flag on board, and though there was a +signalling lamp, this was quite useless whilst the daylight lasted.</p> +<p class="pnext">At length, at the end of about ten minutes, the "Kitty McQuaire" was +hit. One of the round projectiles from the mortar struck the mainsail +obliquely, so that it tore a great rent that flapped open in the wind. +Crouch clenched both fists, and stamped upon the deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Are we to go ahead?" he cried to Jimmy. "Are we to go on with it, or +give up the chase?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"Go on!" cried the boy, who was quite beside himself with excitement. +"I don't care what happens. It's too late to go back now."</p> +<p class="pnext">They were then almost within revolver range of the "Marigold." Crouch +went to the bows, and fired three shots in quick succession at the +fugitives.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Heave to, you curs!" he shouted at the full power of his lungs.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was the voice of Stork that answered.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Come and take us," he cried in loud derision.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Do you think we dare not?" answered Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Before Stork could answer, Crouch broke in again, telling Stork to +blaze away with what he called his "pop-gun" which was not capable of +knocking a hole through an empty rain-barrel. These words, in spite of +the fact that they were never spoken seriously, were uttered at a most +inopportune moment; for, hardly had they left the little captain's lips +than a shot struck the starboard quarter of the "Kitty McQuaire" about +a foot below the water-line.</p> +<p class="pnext">Whisker was the first to recognize the danger, and ordered all on board +to stand by the hand-pump, which was the only means they had of bailing +the ship.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And even that won't save us," he added in a doleful voice. "She'll +fill for a certainty. She'll not take ten minutes to settle down."</p> +<p class="pnext">The alarming truth of this was at once wholly apparent. Within the +space of a few minutes, the "Kitty McQuaire" took on a decided list. +At the same time, she slowed down; every second, the "Marigold" widened +the distance between herself and her pursuer. As they lowered the +sails, they heard Stork's loud, boisterous laugh, as the man looked +back upon the sinking ship upon the deck of which his victims stood in +silence, side by side.</p> +<p class="pnext">Indeed, Crouch and his companions were face to face with inevitable +destruction. Though the storm had subsided, the sea was still too +rough to launch the only small boat the "Kitty" carried. This was a +small dinghy used for harbour work, which could neither carry all who +were on board nor live for two minutes in such a sea without being +swamped.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Kitty McQuaire" was sinking slowly by the bows, turning over quite +gently--like a tired beast that lies down to sleep. The deck was now +so much aslant that they were obliged to hold fast to the masts and +rigging, to prevent themselves slipping down, one after the other, into +the cold, hungry sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">The sun, at last, was setting. Darkness was spreading from the east; +and at the same time, a lowering mass of cloud was drifting forward on +the wind which presently would shut out the starlight and the moon.</p> +<p class="pnext">There is no situation more terrible, there is nothing that requires +greater fortitude to bear, than to find oneself doomed and deserted +upon the unutterable loneliness of the sea, as the sun sinks in the sky +and the mists of twilight glide upon the surface of the waters. There +was no help for it; they knew that they must die. At such an hour, it +was but human nature that their thoughts should turn to the God Who had +given them life. Each man closed his eyes; and standing together, +clinging to the last of the sinking ship, one and all prayed silently +and swiftly that death might be easy, and that the wrong they had done +in their lives should be forgiven.</p> +<p class="pnext">And then, as if to make their lot more hard, the cruelty of their end +more bitter, within a hundred feet of the fishing-smack, silhouetted +against the red glow of a winter's sunset, there arose from out of the +water, the shark-like, threatening form of the U93.</p> +<div class="align-center auto-scaled figure" style="width: 63%" id="figure-54"> +<span id="as-they-sank-out-of-the-red-glare-of-a-winter-s-sunset-there-appeared-the-threatening-form-of-the-u93"></span><img class="align-center" style="display: block; width: 100%" alt=" " src="images/img-216.jpg" /> +<div class="caption figure"> +AS THEY SANK OUT OF THE RED GLARE OF A WINTER'S SUNSET THERE APPEARED THE THREATENING FORM OF THE U93.</div> +</div> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxiii-the-loss-of-the-kitty-mcquaire"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id24">CHAPTER XXIII--The Loss of the "Kitty McQuaire"</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The submarine had made its appearance quite suddenly, rising in silence +to the surface of the water, where the waves broke against the +superstructure, which was presently the centre of a white circle of +foam. A little afterwards, the figures of two men appeared upon the +conning-tower, one of whom Jimmy Burke recognized immediately as the +German officer who had hailed the "Harlech," and whom he had followed +to the engine-room of the deserted ship.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was something almost uncanny in the thought that this dreaded +submarine monster had travelled northward all the way from the Lizard, +evading the Allied destroyers which thronged the Channel and the +Straits of Dover, steering amid the shoals and shallows of the Goodwin +Sands, passing under water in all probability often within a stone's +throw of His Majesty's ships guarding the shores of England.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of all craft that put to sea, the modern submarine is the most +formidable, inasmuch as it seems gifted with an intelligence of its +own. It is an invention so highly organized and delicately equipped, +its capabilities are so marvellous, its possibilities so great, that it +is not difficult to imagine it even possessed of a kind of +consciousness of its own. As a matter of fact, it is no more than a +perfectly complete machine which--after the manner of all +machinery--answers to the will of its commander. When that commander +is ruthless and pitiless, when his orders are to wage war upon innocent +men, women and children, to show neither gallantry nor clemency to +whomsoever may fall into his clutches, then a submarine--such as the +U93--becomes the shark, the ship of prey, among the navies of the world.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Kitty McQuaire" was sinking fast by the bows. In the red +sunset--the last of a dying day--she had not ten minutes in which to +live; and yet, faced with such a tragedy, with the spectacle of so many +men so indubitably doomed, the commander of the U93 threw back his +head, and laughed.</p> +<p class="pnext">His voice sounded false and fiendish amid the soft, rhythmic washing of +the waves. It was the laugh of a coward in his hour of triumph; for +there can be no true courage which does not go hand in hand with +clemency and generosity. Assuredly, the kindness of the seas, the +sense of gallantry that led Nelson's sailors to risk their lives so +often in saving their drowning foes, does not extend to all. The +German Navy is a thing of yesterday; and it had been better for the +honour of the Fatherland had German naval officers and seamen learnt +something more of the glorious traditions that British sailors honour +and respect. It was not enough to copy the latest type of British +super-Dreadnought or battle-cruiser. There is no such thing as a +seaman without a sailor's heart.</p> +<p class="pnext">The man's laugh died away in the distance, as the submarine raced after +the "Marigold," which was now almost a mile ahead. The U93 had made +her intentions perfectly clear in the brutal laugh of her commander. +She was in no way disposed to hold out a helping hand to enemies in +distress. Captain Crouch and his friends on board the sinking +fishing-boat could be safely left to drown like rats. Their lives had +been a menace to the German Empire; Crouch, in his own small way, was +one of those who had stood between Germany and the sun. It was as well +that they should be thrown upon the mercy of the sea, to swim at +random, desperate, until great fatigue and a sense of their own +helplessness should weigh them down, to sink, one by one. The U93 +followed in the wake of the "Marigold," which had heaved-to, and from +which a signalling lamp was now throwing out its dots and dashes in the +twilight.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch turned to Captain Whisker. They were clinging, side by side, to +an iron bollard fastened to the deck; for the smack was leaning over so +that her deck sloped like the roof of a house.</p> +<p class="pnext">"How long do you give her?" he asked.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Three minutes more, perhaps. She may dive on a sudden, or she may +settle down quite quietly. They sometimes do, as you know as well as +I."</p> +<p class="pnext">They remained silent for some moments, both staring hard at a certain +fixed point in the midst of the gathering darkness. Here, like a small +star, a red light suddenly shone out; and as they looked, a white light +appeared, higher up and in front of the red one, and then higher still, +another, so that all three together formed an isosceles triangle.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's the 'Mondavia'!" said Crouch. "I know the skipper well--a man +called Cookson, who once sailed with me to Melbourne. As a last hope, +I'll try to pick her up."</p> +<p class="pnext">He asked for the signalling lamp, lit up, and raised and closed the +shutter to see that it was in working order. Whilst Crouch was so +employed, Captain Whisker gave his final instructions. Every man was +ordered to put on his lifebelt; several spars were loosened, and left +upon the deck, so that when the boat went down they would float. As +soon as the "Kitty" foundered, the men were to take to the sea, where +they could cling to the floating spars. They were warned, however, to +avoid the dinghy, which would prove nothing but a death-trap.</p> +<p class="pnext">Seeing that their chances of ultimate salvation were very small, all +these instructions and precautions must appear somewhat unnecessary and +useless. It is, however, a natural instinct for men to cling to life. +Life is held to be so precious, and death so gloomy and uncertain, that +no sane man of his own free will can bring himself to take the first +step that leads to the Great Unknown. These rough seamen of the +Yorkshire coast thought of the wives and children that they would leave +behind in Hull and Grimsby, and such thoughts are enough in themselves +to lend strength and courage to the last. In grim silence, they set to +work following the skipper's instructions, fastening their lifebelts +around their waists, still clinging to the ship that was now in such +desperate plight that the forward part was almost entirely under water.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch, holding with one hand to the tiller, used the other to +work the signalling lamp, the face of which was directed towards the +"Mondavia." Darkness had now set in; neither the "Marigold" nor the +U93 was to be seen, and of the tramp steamer nothing was visible but +the two masthead lights and the red light on the port quarter.</p> +<p class="pnext">Suddenly, Jimmy Burke--who had never left the side of his good friend, +Captain Crouch--let out a loud cry, and pointed excitedly towards the +Jason steamer.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look there!" he exclaimed. "She has seen our light. She's swinging +round."</p> +<p class="pnext">All eyes were turned towards the west. In the half-light, the men were +just able to discern the faces of their comrades, and everywhere were +the same emotions legible: hopelessness, pity for those who would be +left without support, bitterness at the harshness of their fate, and a +set determination to die like British seamen. They looked in the +direction indicated with hungry, sorrowful eyes, as if each knew only +too well in his heart that help was so far away that it was sheer folly +to think of it at all.</p> +<p class="pnext">None the less, they could not dispute the evidence of what they saw. +Even as they looked, the lights of the steamer swung round, so that the +two white lights appeared in the same vertical plane, the one above the +other. The red light also grew smaller and less distinct, and at the +same time a green light appeared on the same level as the red.</p> +<p class="pnext">To anyone who had the smallest knowledge of the sea, there can be no +mistaking signs so manifest. The "Mondavia," which hitherto had shown +her port light to the east, had now changed her course, and was making +straight for the sinking boat. Though there was no necessity to +explain to sea-faring men exactly what had happened, Captain Whisker +seized the opportunity to speak words of courage to his men.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bear up, my lads," he cried. "She has sighted us; you may be sure of +that."</p> +<p class="pnext">"She'll reach us in time?" asked Jimmy.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's no chance of it," answered the burly captain. Then on a +sudden, his voice became much louder, as he struck a note of alarm. +"She's going, now!" he cried. "Take to the water, lads; and each man +for himself!"</p> +<p class="pnext">As he said the words, he threw off his coat, waistcoat, and his long +gum-boots, and plunged headforemost into the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Kitty McQuaire" had run her course; her days of usefulness were +ended. As all honest ships--and, indeed, all honest men--are some day +bound to do, she had come to the Parting of the Ways. She had been a +good craft in her time, as Captain Whisker himself could testify; and +she went down into the depths gently and silently, as if she welcomed +an eternity of rest.</p> +<p class="pnext">And there remained upon the troubled surface of the water, now lifted +high upon the crest of rolling waves, now buried in the wide trenches +of the sea, the black forms of the heads and shoulders of a dozen +struggling men.</p> +<p class="pnext">The majority of these had gone into the water clinging to the loose +spars by means of which they hoped to save themselves from drowning. +They were all strong swimmers; and, moreover, with their cork +lifebelts, it was hardly possible for them to die until the icy +coldness of the water had chilled them to the bone.</p> +<p class="pnext">As chance had it, Jimmy Burke found himself clinging to the same piece +of wreckage as both Captain Crouch and the burly skipper. This was a +big iron-ringed boom which--though it floated--was too heavy to rise to +the top of the waves that swept over it in quick succession. Hence, it +was all that they could do to retain their hold, and neither would they +have succeeded in this had it not been that a rope was attached along +the entire length of the spar.</p> +<p class="pnext">How long they remained in this desperate situation not one of them was +afterwards able to say. The water was bitterly cold; it was as if they +were being frozen to death, and were dying from the feet upwards. +Before long they had lost all power of sensation. They did not speak +to one another, nor were they so foolish as to try to. Every few +seconds a great wave swept over them, and they were buried in the sea, +sometimes as much as three fathoms deep. At such times, there was a +rushing in their ears--a great sound like a multitude of cataracts; and +then, gasping, breathless, with but little of life remaining to them, +they emerged once more upon the surface, to behold the dim starlight, a +pale, dying moon screened by a mist, and the great rolling sea on every +side.</p> +<p class="pnext">Quite suddenly, the loud siren of the steamer sounded near at hand. It +was as if the noise was within their very ears. They had no means of +answering; there was not one who had strength enough to shout. They +could only wait, half-frozen and altogether desperate, trusting to +Providence that they would be discovered in the midst of the +illimitable darkness.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was Providence, indeed, that came to their aid, that brought the +"Mondavia" to the very place where they were struggling for their +lives; otherwise, they could never have been found. There was no +searchlight on board the ship, and the sea was still so rough that, +even had it been broad daylight, they would have been hidden by the +waves.</p> +<p class="pnext">The captain of the "Mondavia" had done all that was in his power; he +had ordered every cabin and deck lamp to be lighted, so that in the +darkness the old sea-going tramp was like a liner, with every porthole +shining, brilliantly illumined.</p> +<p class="pnext">And no sooner did this great blaze of light stand forth before those +who were struggling in the sea than, as one man, they threw themselves +from the spars to which they had been clinging and struck out towards +the ship. The gangway had been lowered, as well as every rope ladder +that the "Mondavia" had on board; and it was Jimmy Burke himself who +was the first to know that he was saved.</p> +<p class="pnext">Dripping, aching in every limb, so numbed that he could not stand +upright, he crawled to the main-deck, and there fell, speechless and +coiled up, with his knees drawn to his chin.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no need for him to speak. His very presence there was direct +evidence of all that the captain of the steamer wished to know. On the +instant, the engine-room bell rang down for the ship to "stop," and +then "half-speed astern"; and--as nearly as she could--she remained +stationary, rolling on the heavy swell that still moved the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">One after the other, those drenched, frozen and half-suffocated men +dragged themselves on board; and of them all, Captain Crouch was the +only one who had the ability either to move or find his voice. He was +a man so inured to hardship and so wiry that it was as if his vitality +was endless. He sat up and looked about him, and then slowly counted +with a finger the number of the drenched and motionless figures that +lay in the lamplight on the deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Bluffed!" he cried. "Bluffed, as by a miracle! There's not a man +missing. The cowards might as well have tried to drown a shoal of +mackerel." Then, on a sudden, he seized the pockets of his coat.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Thunder!" he uttered, in tones of mingled mortification and rage. +"Thunder, I've lost my favourite pipe!"</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Cookson of the "Mondavia" was staring at him in amazement, +after the manner of one who beholds a ghost. Then, seizing Crouch by +both shoulders, he shook him so violently that the salt water flew from +off him as from a dog on a river bank.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's Crouch!" he cried. "It's Crouch!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"The same man," said Captain Crouch, holding out a wet, ice-cold hand. +"The same man, Cookson, but without his favourite pipe."</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxiv-the-tables-turned"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id25">CHAPTER XXIV--The Tables Turned</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">In all probability, there was not one of these men who had not been +shipwrecked before. They were fishermen by trade, who earned their +living at the peril of their lives amid the fogs and shoals of the +Dogger Bank. Their forefathers had followed the same calling for +generation after generation; and in consequence, this race of hardy men +had been bred on the principle of the survival of the fittest. They +had become strong, brave and skilful. The sea was at once their +natural element and the mother of them all, who gave her gifts +unsparingly, but who ever and anon strove to betray and to destroy.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the warmth of the stokeholds of the "Mondavia," before the opened +doors of blazing furnaces, these half-perished men rapidly revived. +They were provided with dry clothes; and those who wished it were given +a tot of rum.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the meantime, Captain Crouch, habited once again in the clothes that +became him best of all--a rough pea-jacket and a pair of slacks--was +seated in Captain Cookson's cabin, with a borrowed pipe between his +lips.</p> +<p class="pnext">Word by word, from the very day when he had set sail from New York with +his orders from Mr. Jason, Junior, he told the whole of his story, +concealing nothing, neither the details of how he himself had been +fooled, the marked gallantry of Jimmy Burke, nor the full perfidy of +Stork.</p> +<p class="pnext">"It's a strange tale," said Captain Cookson, folding his arms and +staring hard at Jimmy, who was sound asleep in his bunk. "It's a +strange tale; and from the lips of any man but you, Crouch, I should +never believe a word of it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't care a rap," said Crouch, "whether you believe it or not. The +point is, you must do what I tell you, or--if you like--give over the +command of the ship to me. You've served as my first mate once; I see +no reason why you should not do it again."</p> +<p class="pnext">"And I see every reason," said the other. "In the first place, I've my +own orders, which are to take my cargo to Leith. In the second place, +though you may be senior to me, and you're a man for whom I have always +had a most sincere respect, this ship happens to be under my command, +as the papers I carry will prove. I can't shirk my responsibilities, +nor do I mean to."</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's the right spirit!" cried Captain Crouch. "I'm proud to be your +friend. And meanwhile, this pipe don't draw, and your tobacco has no +more taste than a pinch of hay."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Then why smoke it?" asked the other with a smile.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Because," said Crouch, "as far as a man's brain-box is concerned, +tobacco acts like steam in an engine-room. It's the motive power, so +to speak, if you manage to follow my meaning. Without steam, there's +no use in a boiler, a connecting-rod or a shaft. Without tobacco +smoke, there's no use in the convolutions of the human brain. That's +how it is with me; though I'm bound to confess I can't, as you might +call it, get much steam up with a brand of fuel like this."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It costs fourpence an ounce," said Captain Cookson.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And that's more than I ever paid for Bull's Eye Shag," said Crouch. +"I wouldn't use this stuff to smoke out a wasps' nest. What do you +call it--School Girls' Mixture, Fairy Footsteps or some such name as +that?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"No. Navy Cut," said the other.</p> +<p class="pnext">"And that's an insult to the Royal Navy," answered Crouch. "I reckon a +sober-minded British man-o'-war's man wouldn't give it to his youngest +baby to chew. If Lord Nelson had smoked a tobacco like that, he'd +never have won the Battle of Trafalgar."</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look here," said Captain Cookson, who had come to the end of his +patience; "all I've got to say is this: if you don't like my 'baccy, +don't smoke it."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I won't," said Crouch.</p> +<p class="pnext">And at that, without any more ado, he hurled the pipe out of the +porthole into the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My favourite pipe!" cried Cookson, springing to his feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's your misfortune," answered Crouch. "And after all, you're in +no worse luck than I am. Still, we waste time, when there is much of +importance to discuss. Whether you or I command this ship matters no +more than the two buttons on the back of the frock coat of a +shopwalker. I and my friends set out in the 'Kitty McQuaire' to run +down the 'Marigold,' and we've been hoist on our own petard--as the +saying goes. For all that, I'm not disposed to give up the chase. As +soon as day breaks, we should sight the fishing-smack with Stork on +board; and it's my suggestion that, counting the pop-gun she carries +for nothing, we run her down, and serve all on board in the way they +treated us."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You forget the submarine," said Captain Cookson.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I forget nothing of the sort," said Captain Crouch. "I'm ready enough +to take what risks there are."</p> +<p class="pnext">Cookson thrust both hands deep into his trousers pockets, and strode to +and fro in his little cabin. For some moments, he seemed to be deep in +thought. Then, at last, his mind made up, he approached his old +shipmate, and held out a weather-beaten, horny hand.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm with you, Crouch," said he. "I'm with you, come what may."</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch rose to his feet, at the same time bringing the fist of one hand +into the opened palm of the other, with a gesture suggestive of the +utmost satisfaction.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Good!" he cried. "There's three men on board who won't be baulked by +anything--three men who have sailed the seas together for the greater +part of their lives. And there's the boy, too--a rare lad, as I +promise you, who knows no more of fear than I about keeping bees. +Whisker's in a bad way just at present, but he'll pull round long +before morning. He was never born to be drowned; and for the matter of +that, neither were you or I."</p> +<p class="pnext">In spite of the dangers that the morrow was almost certain to bring +forth, in spite of the immediate presence of so formidable an adversary +as the U93, these two merchant captains--men who had spent the best of +their years in facing the manifold dangers of the sea, in every quarter +of the globe--laid them down to sleep, as if nothing unusual had +occurred, or was likely to occur. Captain Crouch snored lustily; +whereas Captain Cookson appeared perfectly comfortable stretched at +full length upon the floor, with a rolled-up overcoat doing duty for a +pillow.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy, in the meantime, slept the sleep of pure exhaustion on the +comfortable bunk in Captain Cookson's cabin. Soon after his rescue, he +had been given some hot soup; and almost immediately after drinking it, +he had dropped off into a heavy slumber, from which he did not awake +until the first signs of daybreak were far spread upon the eastern +skyline.</p> +<p class="pnext">The first thing he saw was the lean, wiry figure of Crouch, standing in +the open doorway, with a large telescope under his arm. On the one +side of Crouch was Cookson; on the other, Whisker, who seemed more +bulky, more huge than ever, since his great form was silhouetted +against the half-light of approaching day.</p> +<p class="pnext">"That's her, right enough," Captain Crouch was saying. "That's the +'Marigold' that we came out of Hull to look for; and on board of her +there's the greatest villain that ever tied a reef-knot or a bowline in +a bight."</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy sprang out of bed, and hastily dressed in a suit of seaman's +clothes which he found laid out upon a chair. A moment later he was on +the main-deck with the three merchant captains, who had come to some +sort of mutual understanding that they should command the ship +together. They formed a kind of triumvirate, wherein the knowledge, +experience and powers of initiative of each were combined and amplified.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch turned to Jimmy, and asked him if he had recovered from the +trying ordeal of the previous day. The boy answered that he felt no +ill effects; whereat Crouch laughed, and slapped Whisker on the back.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Here's seventeen stone," said he, "that can no more sink in salt water +than a corked-up, empty bottle. Mark my words, my boy, we were not +saved as we were at the eleventh hour for nothing. It doesn't do to +count your chickens afore they're hatched, but Rudolf Stork's not seen +the last of us yet."</p> +<p class="pnext">Meanwhile, Cookson had run up the bridge steps, where he called both +his brother captains and Jimmy to his side.</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's something suspicious about that smack," said he. "She's got +no sail up; I can see no one on board. She's lying just as if she was +at anchor."</p> +<p class="pnext">The daylight was now spreading fast. Already the sun was rising. They +were drawing quite near to the "Marigold," which--as Captain Cookson +had pointed out--appeared to be deserted and riding lazily at anchor.</p> +<p class="pnext">As we know, it had been Crouch's intention to run the smack down, to +send her to the bottom. Such a light craft would stand but a small +chance in a direct collision between herself and the heavy ocean tramp.</p> +<p class="pnext">However, as they drew near to the "Marigold," it became apparent that +once again they had been foiled by Rudolf Stork. Strange--almost +miraculous--as it must have seemed at first, the fact remained that +Stork and every one of his companions had vanished as completely as if +they had been spirited away.</p> +<p class="pnext">A surprise has this effect upon us all: we lose, for the moment, our +natural powers of reasoning; we cannot, as it were, put two and two +together. They could not explain this seeming miracle, until, as in a +flash, they remembered the U93. There could be no question that Stork +and those who were with him had been taken on board the German +submarine.</p> +<p class="pnext">Thus, as at a stroke, were all Captain Crouch's hopes dashed to the +ground: his well-laid plans had gone astray. If Stork was already on +board the submarine, he had accomplished the very task for which he had +been sent out into the North Sea. The U93 had been warned of the +coming raid.</p> +<p class="pnext">There is an old proverb which reminds us that the worm will sometimes +turn; and this is exactly what happened now. Crouch had set forth in +the "Kitty McQuaire" with the idea of bringing a German spy to his +account. At first Stork had been the fugitive; but before the full +disc of the round morning sun was visible above the skyline, the tables +had been completely turned.</p> +<p class="pnext">The U93 rose once again from out of the water like some weird, +remorseless and formidable monster that lives and has its being in the +unfathomable depths of the sea. Almost immediately, two men made their +appearance in the conning-tower; and one of these was the commander, +whilst the other was Rudolf Stork. By a strange coincidence, there was +not another ship in sight, except a trawler, far away to the south.</p> +<p class="pnext">The U93, in accordance with the design of the very latest submarines, +was armed with two quick-firing guns. With both of these, without a +moment's delay or hesitation, the Germans opened fire upon the +"Mondavia," raking her with shrapnel from end to end.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no question now as to who commanded the ship; for the very +first projectile burst immediately above the bridge, so that both +Whisker and Cookson--who were standing side by side--were struck, the +former falling heavily to the ground, whereas Captain Cookson, carrying +a hand to his shoulder, cried out that his collar-bone was broken.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch flew to the "telegraph" which communicated with the engine-room +below, and shouted his orders for "full steam ahead." He then put the +helm hard a-port, and did so only in the nick of time; for the white +streak of a torpedo flashed through the water, missing the steamer's +rudder by five yards at the most.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was a kind of fog upon the sea, the surface of which--though by +no means calm--was a great deal less troubled than it had been on the +evening of the previous day. Captain Crouch recognized at once that +their only chance of safety lay in flight. Moreover, two things were +necessary: firstly, never to present a broadside to the submarine, +which would thereby be offered a suitable target for a Krupp torpedo; +secondly, to follow--as far as was possible--a zigzag course, so that a +torpedo, if discharged, would probably miss its mark.</p> +<p class="pnext">There followed, during the early hours of that bleak, sunless morning, +a stern chase--a matter of life and death. The "Mondavia" soon proved +herself capable of holding her own. Both wind and tide were against +the submarine, which also--by reason of the fact that she carried the +crew of the "Marigold" over and above her normal complement--was +overloaded. The tramp, which was under full steam, had been dry-docked +that very autumn; and on this occasion she excelled herself, surpassing +all that her builders had ever dreamed of in the way of speed.</p> +<p class="pnext">None the less, never for a single instant were those on board the +steamer out of danger. The forward gun of the U93 spat fire like a +cornered cat, raining in quick succession a perfect hurricane of shells +upon the unprotected decks. Crouch behaved as he had done on board the +"Harlech" when that ship had been under fire from the "Dresden's" guns. +He stood steadfast at his post, with Jimmy Burke at his side, giving +his orders to the engine-room and to the quartermaster at the wheel, +encouraging, both by his example and his words, those whose duty it was +to remain upon the deck.</p> +<p class="pnext">Once, when he looked back, he saw that the submarine had dropped far +behind.</p> +<p class="pnext">"We'll escape, my boy!" he cried. "We'll slip away by the very skin of +our teeth."</p> +<p class="pnext">"What's that?" cried Jimmy, whose eyes had been fixed ahead.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch at once brought his telescope to his only eye. And +there, sure enough, immediately in front of them, standing out in a +line like a great row of forts, right across the horizon, were the +great battle-cruisers of the German Navy which had come from Kiel, that +the white cliffs and green fields of England might echo with the +thunder of their guns.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxv-vae-victis"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id26">CHAPTER XXV--Væ Victis</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">To anyone who has the slightest knowledge of the fighting ships of the +world, the identification of the German Dreadnought cruisers is a +comparatively easy matter. The ships which took part in the third +German raid, which left Kiel on the night of January 23, have certain +characteristics of their own which no one can mistake.</p> +<p class="pnext">The latest of these, the "Derfflinger," was launched at Hamburg in +1914. On the outbreak of war, she was actually performing her trials, +and was no doubt hurriedly completed and commissioned. She is +distinguishable by the fact that all her turrets are in the centre +line, an arrangement that enables the majority of her guns to fire a +broadside to either flank. The main battery consists of eight 12-inch +guns. The turbine engines are of the very latest pattern, and are +designed for a speed of twenty-seven knots.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Seydlitz," a slightly larger edition of the "Moltke" and the +"Goeben," is in a class by herself. She has about the same speed as +the "Derfflinger," but is not so heavily armed, her largest guns not +being greater than 11-inch weapons--a calibre that is unknown on board +the ships of the British Navy. As far as can be ascertained, the +"Seydlitz" cannot be regarded as a complete success. By reason of her +great speed, her heavy batteries and thick armour belt, she consumes, +when travelling at her utmost speed, an amazing amount of fuel, which +could not easily be replaced if the ship were operating in distant seas.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Moltke" is the sister-ship of the famous "Goeben," which succeeded +in escaping from the Mediterranean squadron at the beginning of the +war, seeking refuge in the Bosphorus, where she hoisted the Turkish +ensign. The "Moltke" was launched at Hamburg in 1910, and is +considerably faster than either the "Seydlitz" or the +"Derfflinger"--which can be accounted for by the fact that she is not +so heavily armoured.</p> +<p class="pnext">The last ship of the squadron, the "Blücher," is, for more reasons than +one, likely to be of the greatest interest to English readers; firstly, +because of the fate with which she met, and secondly, because of her +history.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the year 1908, it was known in German Naval circles that the British +Admiralty was building a new class of ship, which was to combine +something of the heavy batteries and armour-plate protection of a +battleship with the speed of a first-class cruiser. The designs of +these ships--which are now known as the "Invincible" class--were kept +wholly secret; and beyond the fact that they were likely to prove a +kind of combination of the Dreadnought and the cruiser, nothing +concerning the details of their construction was known either at +Hamburg or at Kiel.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was none the less necessary for the German naval authorities to +design and construct some kind of ship capable of holding its own +against the British "Invincibles"; and the "Blücher" was the result.</p> +<p class="pnext">It must be confessed--even by the most patriotic Junkers that ever +swaggered in Unter den Linden--that she was a failure. When launched, +the ship was found to be very greatly inferior to its British rivals. +The "Blücher" carried twelve 8.2-inch guns as against the eight 12-inch +guns of the "Invincible." Her top speed was also a good knot an hour +less than that which could be accomplished by the British ships, in +spite of the fact that she was no better protected and was even more +expensive in regard to fuel. It is, indeed, doubtful whether this ship +can rightly be called a "battle cruiser," though--to her cost--she was +included in the German battle-cruiser squadron that set forth from the +Bight of Heligoland, on the morning of January 24, to raid the English +coast.</p> +<p class="pnext">All these ships have a most formidable appearance. Combining, as they +do, great strength with maximum speed, they are enemies not to be +despised. They appear even more powerful than they are, since all lie +low in the water and have enormous, stumpy funnels from which the black +smoke rolls in clouds.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch, who was well acquainted with the ships of the German +Navy, recognized them the moment he brought his telescope to bear in +their direction, and saw at once the extreme danger of the situation. +The German cruisers, steering due north-west, were making straight for +the "Mondavia," which was already within range of the great 11-inch +guns. Flight would be altogether useless, since the men-of-war were +travelling at, at least, twice the pace of the tramp. Moreover, to +turn back would be doubly fatal, since this would bring the "Mondavia" +within range of a torpedo discharged from the submarine.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch was not a man who took long to make up his mind. When +it was necessary to act, to take the greatest risks, he never hesitated +to do so. He may already have given himself up for lost, or else he +may have thought that a small chance, one last hope, remained; in any +case, he put the ship about, and steaming at full speed, made straight +for the U93.</p> +<p class="pnext">As he did so, the submarine re-opened fire; and once again the +"Mondavia" was raked from forecastle to poop, so that the life of every +man on board was in the utmost peril. Nor was this all, for a greater +calamity was yet to come. It was as if a thunder-cloud had burst +immediately above them, when the great guns of the "Blücher" opened +fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">A loud report smote the cold, grey waters of the Dogger Bank in such a +manner as the hammer of Vulcan must have sounded and echoed in Olympus. +Almost immediately, the great shell was heard shrieking and singing on +its way. It fell some distance short, plunging into the sea at a point +from which a huge column of water shot upward like a jet.</p> +<p class="pnext">We have all seen raindrops splashing in a puddle, and this is precisely +what happens, on a very much larger scale, when projectiles from modern +guns strike the surface of the sea. Sometimes, owing to the extreme +sensitiveness of many high explosives, shells will burst on impact with +the water, which is churned white by the explosion, as under the triple +screws of an Atlantic liner. The fire from the quick-firing guns on +board the submarine was a menace to the individual lives of those on +board the tramp; but one shell from the "Blücher," if it struck a vital +part of the ship, would suffice to send her to the bottom.</p> +<p class="pnext">It must be remembered that the range of the great guns of modern navies +is so long that ships come into action the moment they are in sight. +In this case, the German battle-cruisers were still so far distant that +they could not have been recognized with the naked eye. No more was +visible than the great funnels, from each of which was issuing a long +trail of smoke; so that the gigantic ships appeared as four black +smudges on the sky-line.</p> +<p class="pnext">To them the "Mondavia" must have appeared as but a small speck upon the +horizon; and, in face of this, it is somewhat remarkable that the +"Blücher" should have opened fire with such little hesitation. At that +distance she could not possibly have seen the submarine, which was more +than a mile to the north of the steamer. Hence, since the "Mondavia" +flew no flag, it was not at first apparent to Captain Crouch on what +justification the German gunners had got to work.</p> +<p class="pnext">There is, however, a factor in modern warfare, both on sea and land, +which must always be taken into account; and this is expressed in one +word--"Wireless." The U93 was moving forward at her topmost surface +speed. She was equipped with wireless apparatus, of which, of course, +the "Mondavia" was deficient; and there could be little doubt that the +U93 was already in direct communication with the "Blücher."</p> +<p class="pnext">What her first message was may safely be left to the imagination. She +must have signalled to the effect that the tramp was an enemy, flying +for safety, with the German submarine in hot pursuit. The commander of +the U93 had realized that his prey was fast slipping through his +fingers, that the "Mondavia" was making good her escape by means of her +superior speed and the ability of her commander.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hence, the U93 needed assistance, and fortunately for her, powerful +support was close at hand. She sent her wireless signal to the +"Blücher," the nearest of the four German battle-cruisers; and +presently, in quick succession, the great guns were thudding forth +their messages of destruction.</p> +<p class="pnext">Luckily for Captain Crouch and all those on board the tramp, the range +was still too long for accurate shooting. The "Mondavia" had completed +a semicircle, and was now steaming back upon her own track. For all +that, if the chase was continued, the battle-cruisers must soon come +within decisive range, when no power on earth could serve to save the +ship.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Whisker had been carried below unconscious. Cookson was in his +own cabin, where, with the help of the ship's steward, he was +endeavouring to bandage his hurt shoulder. As neither one nor the +other had the slightest knowledge of first-aid dressing, the thing was +clumsily done; and besides, the captain had lost so much blood already +that he was very nearly in a fainting condition, and in no fit state to +return to his post on the bridge.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fortunately, in Captain Crouch, there was one on board capable of +dealing with the situation, who saw at once that desperate measures +were necessary, and was resolved to take them.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was impossible to suppose that the "Mondavia" could live for long +under fire from the guns of such monster ships as the German +battle-cruisers. One well-placed shell--as we have said--would be +sufficient to complete the business. Still, inasmuch as Captain Crouch +was fleeing from the men-of-war with all the speed he could, the +chances were that the fatal moment would be delayed. The German ships +were steaming ahead at the rate of about twenty-five knots an hour, +with the result that the "Mondavia" was being rapidly overhauled. Even +now, the great shells were falling in dangerous proximity to the ship.</p> +<p class="pnext">The commander of the U93 saw his danger in a trice. No doubt he had +thought it quite improbable that the "Mondavia" would turn and make +back upon her own wake. Had Crouch not been a man of iron, he would +have endeavoured to escape towards the coast. As it was, he headed +straight for the submarine with all the engine power that the old tramp +had at her disposal.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Blücher's" shells were falling thick and fast, when quite suddenly +the battle-cruiser ceased firing, so that the silence that fell upon +the sea seemed strange and deathlike after the colossal uproar of the +guns. The truth was that the commander of the submarine and Rudolf +Stork himself, both of whom were still together in the conning-tower, +had been the first to recognize that the U93 was in danger of +destruction from the "Blücher's" shells, since the submarine and the +steamer were drawing closer and closer together. Accordingly, another +wireless message was despatched, asking the "Blücher" to hold back her +fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">In warfare, it often happens that deeds are accomplished so daring that +even those who witness them cannot believe them true. So was it now +with the commander of the U93, who could not at first bring himself to +believe that it was Crouch's deliberate intention to run him down.</p> +<p class="pnext">A torpedo, fired from the submarine, passed through the water like a +flash of light, and missed the "Mondavia's" bows by a matter of inches. +Captain Crouch, upon the bridge, threw back his head and laughed; but +it was the laugh of one who was quite beside himself with intense +excitement and the savage exhilaration of the moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy Burke could not refrain from laughing, too. The moment was one +of ecstasy. They were flying onward through the water straight for +what looked like sudden death; the living shells no longer plunged into +the sea on either side of the ship, but the small quick-firing guns of +the submarine had re-opened with a deadly accuracy. Indeed, the range +was so decisive that it was almost impossible to miss so large a target.</p> +<p class="pnext">The canvas screens, which guarded the bridge upon which Crouch and +Jimmy Burke were standing, were torn to rags and tatters. The funnel +was so riddled with shot that it was like a sieve. The teak decks were +splintered right and left, and in some places the taffrails were so +twisted by the sheer force of exploding shells that they resembled +corkscrews.</p> +<p class="pnext">As they drew nearer to the submarine, the danger they were in became +more imminent. The noise was deafening. The surface of the sea both +to port and starboard was lashed by showers of shrapnel bullets, so +that it was just as if hailstones were falling from the leaden skies.</p> +<p class="pnext">At this supreme moment, Jimmy Burke could not take his eyes from +Captain Crouch, who was like a man transfigured. In his very attitude +there was something heroic. He now stood motionless, still and silent +as a statue cut in stone. He no longer laughed. He looked neither to +the right nor left, but straight ahead, his great, square chin +protruding more than ever, his single eye fixed and yet ablaze.</p> +<p class="pnext">He himself was at the helm. The quartermaster, whose place he had +taken, lay face downward in the welter of his blood, struck stone dead +in the fulfilment of his duty.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch gripped the handles of the wheel so tightly that the knuckles on +his sunburnt hands showed white beneath the taut skin. The man was +evidently wrought up to the very highest pitch, his iron nerves +strained to the utmost. When the shells burst about his ears, he never +flinched, nor moved the fraction of an inch. He kept his eyes glued to +the German submarine ahead, and moved the wheel, first this way and +then that, so that the bows of the "Mondavia" were ever directed +straight for the U93.</p> +<p class="pnext">The commander of the submarine saw his danger just too late. He put +his helm hard a-starboard, hoping to escape across the steamer's bows, +and get a broadside target for his last torpedo. The movement was +fatal, for Crouch's eye was quick to see, as his hands were quick to +act. The "Mondavia" swung in upon her victim, as a half-blind +rhinoceros charges when brought to bay.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy Burke, forgetful of his own great danger and the extreme peril in +which all on board lay, dashed down the bridge steps, crossed the +forward well-deck, and raced to the forecastle-peak.</p> +<p class="pnext">He reached this point of vantage in time to behold the consummation of +this tragedy, or epic--or whatever it may be. He looked down upon the +submarine, rocking on the swell, and saw a torpedo shoot into the sea +and flash into nothing in the distance. He could see those of the crew +who were on deck--the men who had worked the guns. They were so close +he could even distinguish the whites of their staring eyes. And there, +standing at the elbow of the round-faced, young commander, was Rudolf +Stork--the paid servant of the Wilhelmstrasse, the man who had served +the Fatherland for gold.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rage seized him when Stork saw his danger and recognized the boy who +had tracked him, half by pluck and half by chance, from the +close-packed streets of New York City to the sombre desolation of the +Dogger Bank. And then, fury gave place to terror--the last emotion +that seizes all men who find themselves confronted by inevitable death.</p> +<p class="pnext">There is nothing strange in that. Whatever faith we have in God, the +only Over-Lord of Victory, death, standing on the threshold, must seem +terrible by reason of the darkness and the mystery of the grave. All +men have sinned, and this poor, desperate hireling more than most; and +perhaps, at that grave, anxious moment, he saw the evil of his life +take living shape and rise before him from the depths to taunt, +threaten and condemn.</p> +<p class="pnext">Be that as it may, he clasped his hands, and looked upward to the sky, +as if seeking mercy there. And then, the iron bows of the steamer +crashed into the U93. There was a loud bursting sound--a kind of +wrench--and simultaneously a shout--human voices uplifted in anguish +and dismay. And the U93 crumpled--just crumpled like a paper cap--and +vanished in a thin, hissing cloud of steam, leaving upon the surface a +great, glassy pool of floating oil.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxvi-the-titans"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id27">CHAPTER XXVI--The Titans</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The U93 went to the bottom like a stone. On the surface of the water a +modern submarine is as vulnerable as she is deadly underneath it. +These boats, when compared to ocean-going steamers, have but little +stability and strength. They are the vipers of the sea--venomous +snakes whose backs may be broken with the lash of a whip, whose heads +can be crushed with a stone.</p> +<p class="pnext">No sign of the submarine remained upon the surface, except the pool of +oil and the struggling forms of three men, who had somehow escaped +destruction at the moment of the collision. To save the lives of these +was a duty that devolved upon Captain Crouch, by dint of the fact that, +though he loathed the German nation from the Kaiser downward, he was +still a British seaman who could not stand by in idleness and witness +the needless death even of those who had betrayed him.</p> +<p class="pnext">Lifebuoys were cast overboard, and with a promptness which says much +for the discipline on board the "Mondavia," a boat was lowered, into +which the three drenched, exhausted men were hauled neck and crop.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were found to be three simple sailors; and though, because they +were subordinates, they cannot be held entirely free from blame, it +must be confessed that Captain Crouch was not filled with a great +remorse that the irony of fate had not decreed that he should save the +life of Rudolf Stork. In such a war as this personal animosity cannot +be altogether absent. It was from the very beginning a war to the +knife; and by methods of warfare hitherto undreamed of by the people of +civilized nations, by abuse of the Red Cross and the enemy's uniform, +and the introduction of poisonous gases and bullets reversed in their +cartridge cases, Germany has decreed that it shall remain a war to the +knife to the very end. Humanity, chivalry, even gallantry--these are +the virtues that belonged to the heroes of the past: the paladins, the +Crusaders, Wellington's soldiers, Nelson's sailors and the old Guard at +Waterloo. Nor can the honest nations be held to blame to-day if the +common enemy chooses to cast aside all that tends to make glorious and +noble the terrors and the fearful sacrifices of war.</p> +<p class="pnext">In sinking one of the most famous of the U-boats within range of the +great guns of four of the most powerful of the German battle-cruisers, +Captain Crouch accomplished a feat which was as much to his own credit +as it was of service to his country. Still, he could never have +succeeded had he not been cast in a most heroic mould. Three separate +times did the U93 attempt to torpedo the ship, and on each occasion the +"Mondavia" escaped by a matter of a few feet, which is little enough +when we come to consider the illimitable magnitude of the sea. +Moreover, the merchant ship had been riddled fore, aft and amidships by +the submarine's quick-firing guns, and it was sheer good luck that not +one of these shells had struck a vital part of the ship. Two or three +below the water-line would have been enough to cause the "Mondavia" to +sink. Had the ship's steam steering-gear been damaged, or her engines +rendered useless, Crouch could never have rammed the submarine and sent +her to the bottom. On this occasion, as so often happens, fortune had +favoured the brave. The boldest course had proved the safest after all.</p> +<p class="pnext">However, the "Mondavia" was far from being out of danger, as those on +board were soon to learn. The battle-cruisers had by now drawn so +close to the British steamer that, in all probability, the loss of the +submarine had been witnessed through the captain's telescope from the +"Blücher's" bridge. At all events, five minutes had not elapsed after +the three German seamen had been rescued from the water before once +again the great guns of the "Blücher" opened fire.</p> +<p class="pnext">This time, by reason of the fact that the range was more decisive, the +"Mondavia" was in far more deadly peril. Every shell, as it came +whistling and shrieking through the air, seemed to cry out aloud for +vengeance for those who had perished on the U93.</p> +<p class="pnext">To make matters worse, the "Moltke" took up the quarrel--if such it can +be called, when on one side there is a giant and on the other a +pigmy--and pounded the steamer till the sea on either side was white +with beaten foam.</p> +<p class="pnext">The battle-cruisers were still steaming due north-westward. For miles +the horizon was streaked black with rolling smoke. Crouch could +scarcely hope to make good his escape by heading straight for the +coast. The "Mondavia" was far out to sea, and if she changed her +course to the westward would be travelling in an oblique line across +the front of the German cruisers, and of a certainty would be +overhauled and sunk before she had gone a mile.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch's only chance lay in holding to the same course as the enemy +ships. Before long the "Mondavia" must be overtaken and destroyed. +However, for the time being, Crouch could strive to delay the +inevitable moment.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was then a little after seven o'clock. The atmosphere was clear +though the sky was cloudy. The sun, which had appeared for a few +moments at daybreak, was now masked and invisible, except for a patch +of brightness above the eastern sky-line. There were no ships in +sight, save for a few trawlers veering towards the north. On that +fateful morning the neighbourhood of the Dogger Bank--swarming as a +rule with fishing craft of every kind and description--was unusually +deserted.</p> +<p class="pnext">The German battle-cruisers were now close enough for their hulls to be +distinguishable. The outline of each ship stood forth, clear-cut and +black, against the sky-line. Each was rushing forward at its topmost +speed, bearing down with inevitable precision upon the defenceless +cargo ship, which, like an exhausted, hunted animal, strained every +bolt, bar and rivet to save herself from unutterable disaster. +Suddenly, it became apparent that, in addition to the Dreadnought +cruisers, the sea was alive with a host of smaller craft--light +cruisers and torpedo-boat-destroyers. There were in all--so far as +they could see--six light cruisers and a number of destroyers, which +were spread out on all sides like a ring of skirmishers or scouts.</p> +<p class="pnext">In less than five minutes, the "Mondavia" was reduced to a floating +wreck. She was so riddled with shell, so battered, torn and damaged, +that she was no more than a sheer hulk, lying idle on the waves. Her +funnel had been struck low down, and hurled piecemeal overboard, taking +with it the greater part of the boat-deck and the upper davits. Both +masts had been shot away, the main-mast falling forward, so that all +the superstructure on the main-deck, from the companion-way to the +chartroom, had been reduced to ruins. In the sides of the ship there +were, at least, half-a-dozen gaping holes, each one large enough to +admit the body of a man. One shell had burst in the engine-room, +killing the chief engineer and wounding three of his assistants, and +leaving the engines no more than a mass of scrap-iron.</p> +<p class="pnext">How Crouch and Jimmy Burke lived in the midst of this, it is not +possible to say. The dogs of war, ferocious though they be, are +sometimes kind and sometimes pitifully cruel. One man will be killed +by a spent bullet the very moment he comes within the sound of guns; +whereas another, time and again, will live in the midst of mad, raging +carnage, and come forth unscathed and still alive.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch's clothes were in rags and tatters. He had been hurled to the +forward well-deck when the bridge had given way, and had found himself +buried beneath a heap of splintered wood and twisted brass and iron. +He was bruised from head to foot, and had been, at first, a little +stunned; for a moment he had not been able to remember where he was.</p> +<p class="pnext">And Jimmy Burke was in no better plight. Indeed, he looked as if he +had received a mortal wound, for he was all sprinkled with the blood of +a man who had been killed quite near to him--a poor fellow who had been +literally blown to pieces by an 11-inch shell that burst at his very +feet.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch, followed by Jimmy, dragged himself to the forecastle, which was +the only point of vantage left on the demolished, shattered ship. Save +these two, no one was to be seen upon the deck, in which great holes +yawned like chasms. Here and there, in horrid attitudes, lay those who +had given up their lives, who had been murdered--for it was nothing +else but murder--under the Naval Ensign of the German Empire, for the +vile cause of the Fatherland and Kultur.</p> +<p class="pnext">The great shells still rained in fierce and venomous profusion. Sooner +or later, the unhappy ship must be struck below the water-line, when +nothing could save the lives of those on board; for, not one of the +ship's boats remained, and they could hope for little mercy from German +seamen.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch looked about him like a man who finds himself, upon a +sudden, on the horns of a dilemma. In spite of his dishevelled and +tattered garments, he appeared quite unconcerned. He took not the +least notice of either the great shells or the deafening explosions +which every few seconds rent the air. He stood with his legs wide +parted, and both hands thrust into his trousers pockets.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I don't know how it is we're still alive," said he; "or how the old +ship isn't lying on her beam ends, at the bottom of the sea. It's a +mystery that no one will ever solve. It would stump Solomon himself, +or my name was never Crouch."</p> +<p class="pnext">"It can't last," said Jimmy, with his eyes fixed upon the gigantic +shadow of the "Blücher."</p> +<p class="pnext">"You're right, my boy," said Crouch; "it can't last; that's sure. +We've run our course; we've hove in sight of the harbour lights where +all men some day come to port. There's no need to signal for a pilot."</p> +<p class="pnext">Even as he spoke, a shell came rushing past their ears, so close that +the hot air in their faces was like the blast from an oven. It plunged +into the sea, not twenty yards from the "Mondavia's" bows; and both +Crouch and his young companion were wetted from head to foot with spray.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Another one like that," said Crouch, "and there's an end to you and +me, and the poor old ship as well."</p> +<p class="pnext">For the next five minutes, these two stood side by side, waiting in +heroic patience for the end, which seemed so long in coming. And then, +on a sudden, like the sharp bark of an angry dog, a gun spoke--from the +north.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch had lost his telescope; but, bringing the open palm of a hand to +his brow, he strained his eye ahead.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Look there!" he cried. "Look there!"</p> +<p class="pnext">"What is it?" asked Jimmy, breathless with instant hope and the terror +of the moment. "What is it?"</p> +<p class="pnext">"I may be wrong," said Crouch; "but, unless I'm much mistaken, that's +one of the British light cruisers of the 'Arethusa' class, in all +probability the 'Arethusa' herself, or else the 'Aurora.'"</p> +<p class="pnext">A few minutes sufficed to prove Captain Crouch in the right. The +"Aurora"--for it was she--had opened fire upon the leading enemy light +cruiser, which lay some distance to the east. And presently, two other +British ships appeared, which Crouch identified as the "Southampton" +and the "Arethusa."</p> +<p class="pnext">The appearance of the British men-of-war meant the saving of the +"Mondavia"; since, the very moment the light-cruiser squadron hove in +sight, the German Dreadnoughts left the merchant vessel to her fate, +and directed their fire upon an enemy who was capable of answering back.</p> +<p class="pnext">For all that, it was still a rank unequal fight; and Captain Crouch was +even more perturbed as to what would be the fate of the light cruisers +under the heavy gun-fire of the "Moltke," the "Derfflinger," the +"Blücher" and the "Seydlitz," than he had been anxious about himself +and the ship that he commanded.</p> +<p class="pnext">"By thunder!" he exclaimed. "They're as game as bantams. I never saw +the like of it! They've speed enough, it's true; but if it comes to a +square fight, they won't be able to keep above water for half-an-hour +at the most."</p> +<p class="pnext">It seemed, indeed, that the light-cruiser squadron was purposely +courting death. Seven ships were now in sight: the "Southampton," +"Nottingham," "Birmingham," "Lowestoft," "Arethusa," "Aurora" and +"Undaunted," besides Commodore Tyrwhitt's destroyer flotillas. These +ships would have proved far more than a match for the lighter German +men-of-war, but the presence of the four "Dreadnoughts" put a very +different aspect on the situation. And yet, the "Arethusa" and her +sisters tore onward, at full steam ahead, making straight into the very +jaws of a formidable and powerful foe</p> +<p class="pnext">"I'm thinking," said Captain Crouch to Jimmy, "I'm thinking the +'Arethusa' must have something up her sleeve."</p> +<p class="pnext">She had. She knew that she was backed up by some of the finest ships +that were ever launched, the monarchs of the sea. And presently, from +the north, the sudden report of a great gun smote the desolation of the +Dogger Bank with a mighty thunder-clap which was like the bursting of +the skies. And a little after, there hove into sight upon the northern +sky-line, the "Tiger" and the "Lion," and, in their wake, the "Princess +Royal," the "Indomitable" and the "New Zealand." The Titans were come +to pick up the gauntlet thrown by the Giants.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxvii-the-battle-of-the-dogger-bank"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id28">CHAPTER XXVII--The Battle of the Dogger Bank</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">The German Emperor had styled himself "The Admiral of the Atlantic"--a +title that rested largely upon the power and seeming invincibility of +such battle-cruisers as the "Seydlitz," and the "Goeben."</p> +<p class="pnext">For all that, the dominion of the Western Ocean--as, indeed, of all the +High Seas from the Gulf of Mexico to the Sea of Japan--had been settled +generations ago, before ever the first ship of the Prussian Navy was +launched, when Sir Francis Drake sailed to the Spanish Main and the +guns of Nelson's wooden, three-decked ships thundered in the Bay of +Aboukir.</p> +<p class="pnext">The German press and people may have claimed at the outset of the war +that the steel ships of modern navies had never been put to the test, +and Britain had once again to prove that she was Mistress of the Seas. +In this sweeping announcement an important fact was forgotten: namely, +that it was Britain herself who had invented, designed and launched the +very first ironclad that ever put to sea. And what England had +invented, England, in all probability, knew how to use.</p> +<p class="pnext">There was no reason to suppose that Great Britain had fallen in any way +behind the other nations in the art of naval construction. So much +skill, science and money had been expended in the naval dockyards of +the country that Englishmen had every reason to believe that, when the +tragedy of a universal war fell like a thunderbolt upon the whole +civilized world, the British Navy would not be found wholly unprepared.</p> +<p class="pnext">If the "Derfflinger" and her companions were the giants of the ocean, +the British battle-cruisers were the Titans. They represented the +triumph of modern naval construction. They were the very finest ships +afloat.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Lion," which led the line, steaming at the rate of twenty-eight +knots an hour, carried a main armament of ten 13.5-inch guns, and flew +the flag of the Vice-Admiral, Sir David Beatty. She and her +sister-ship, the "Princess Royal," are ships that cannot easily be +mistaken. They have three funnels; one almost amidships, another aft; +whereas the third, which is considerably more slender than the others, +is situated abaft the mainmast, immediately in rear of the bridge.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Invincible" has already been mentioned as the first type of +battle-cruiser ever built; and the "Indomitable," the ship that +accompanied Sir David Beatty on that eventful morning, was a slightly +smaller member of the same class. The "New Zealand" was an improved +type, slightly larger, but capable of no greater speed. The normal +speed of both these last-named ships was inferior to that of the +"Tiger" and the "Lion" by at least three knots an hour.</p> +<p class="pnext">Of the whole squadron, the "Tiger" was perhaps the masterpiece. This +ship is the largest battle-cruiser afloat. She was laid down at +Clydebank, and launched in 1914. Her total cost has been estimated at +two million, two hundred thousand pounds--a sum considerably in excess +of the cost of the very latest Dreadnought battleship, such as the +"Iron Duke" or the "Maryborough." She is armed, like the "Lion," with +13.5-inch guns. In appearance, having three funnels of the same size +and only one mast, she resembles no other ship afloat. In her, and in +the "Lion" and her sisters, the most wonderful results have been +obtained. These ships have a normal speed of twenty-eight knots an +hour, which can no doubt be exceeded under stress; that is to say, they +are capable of travelling at half the rate of an express train, in +spite of the fact that they are heavily armoured, and carry colossal +guns, which have an effective range at seven miles.</p> +<p class="pnext">The turbine engines of the "Tiger" are something to marvel at. They +have a horse-power of a hundred thousand; whereas the turbines of a +great battleship, such as the "Iron Duke," are designed for twenty-nine +thousand horse-power.</p> +<p class="pnext">The fight that took place that bleak, wintry morning, in the +neighbourhood of the Dogger Bank, was the first occasion upon which +ships of the "Dreadnought" period were matched against each other. It +was therefore something in the nature of an experiment. Both the +English and the German navies had a certain amount of curiosity in +regard to the fighting capacities of their opponents, which neither the +Battle in the Bight of Heligoland, nor even the engagement off the +Falkland Islands, had served to satisfy. For instance, British seamen, +believing half the tales they had heard, had come to believe that +German naval gunnery was something almost superhuman. Also, the +comparative value had yet to be proved of the British heavy 13.5-inch +gun as opposed to the lighter, but quicker firing, 11-inch weapon with +which the German cruisers were armed.</p> +<p class="pnext">The combat that ensued was greatly to the credit of the British Navy. +It proved, in the first place, that our naval constructors had not been +at fault, that our Intelligence Department was efficient and alert, and +that British gunnery was by no means inferior to the German, and last, +but not least, that the spirit that animated British seamen was the +same that had existed in bygone days, when Drake, Blake, Hawke, Nelson +and St. Vincent swept the enemies of Britain from the seas.</p> +<p class="pnext">The first part of the action was witnessed by both Crouch and Jimmy +Burke from the shattered, broken deck of the "Mondavia." Of the +concluding phase they heard afterwards, when they were picked up, like +men who had been marooned, by H.M.S. "Cockroach," which--it will be +remembered--was the self-same torpedo-boat-destroyer which had come to +the assistance of the "Harlech" off the Scilly Isles.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Lion" and the "Tiger" tore into action with something of the +ferocity of the noble, savage beasts from whom they had taken their +names. The "Lion" was in the van, with the pennant of Sir David Beatty +flying in the wind. A long trail of black smoke came from her triple +funnels, as shot after shot rang out in slow precision, like the sullen +tolling of a bell.</p> +<p class="pnext">At first she did no more than endeavour to pick up the range. A +distance of about eleven miles still separated the rival ships. The +"Mondavia" lay mid-way between the two squadrons, so that the hulls of +both the German and the British ships stood forth upon either horizon +with alarming clearness.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was precisely nine minutes past nine when the "Lion" hit the +"Blücher." Shortly afterwards, the "Tiger" drew up to within range, +and the "Lion" fired salvo after salvo at the "Seydlitz," which stood +third in the German line.</p> +<p class="pnext">Presently, the "Princess Royal" joined in the battle, and fired with +such deadly accuracy that almost at once the Blücher was observed to be +rapidly falling astern.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a running fight across the open reaches of the North Sea. The +Germans were heading straight for safety, for Heligoland and the +mine-field in the Bight; and it was now that it was proved that as good +work can be done on board a ship in action in the stokeholds as in the +turrets.</p> +<p class="pnext">As has been explained, the "Indomitable" and the "New Zealand" were not +such fast ships as the three larger cruisers. The stokers were called +upon to make stupendous efforts, and as one man they answered to the +call. Every available hand was turned down to the stokeholds, and +there they worked like Trojans, stripped to the waist as seamen fought +in the days of old, until they were black as negroes from the coal +dust, and the perspiration poured from off their moist and glistening +backs.</p> +<p class="pnext">The noise of the firing was now like a tremendous thunderstorm. On +both sides the battle-cruisers were engaged, whereas the lighter craft +and torpedo-boat-destroyers flew here and there like swarms of gnats, +their quick-firing guns spluttering right and left.</p> +<p class="pnext">When it became apparent that the "Blücher" was seriously damaged, the +"Princess Royal" shifted her fire to the "Seydlitz," leaving the +"Blücher" to the by-no-means tender mercy of the "New Zealand" and +"Indomitable."</p> +<p class="pnext">Both the "Seydlitz" and "Derfflinger" were in a bad way: the former was +seen to be on fire. The Vice-Admiral ordered the flotilla cruisers and +destroyers to drop back, as their smoke was fouling the range, and the +German ships were completely screened from view by the black clouds +that rolled upon the surface of the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was this that at once saved the "Seydlitz" and sealed the fate of +the "Blücher." The "Tiger," as soon as the third ship in the German +line became invisible, turned her attention to the "Blücher," which was +already being pounded to death by the 12-inch guns of the "New Zealand."</p> +<p class="pnext">As a last hope, the German admiral ordered his destroyers to drop back, +to threaten the British ships with their torpedoes, and to foul with +their black smoke the line of fire. For a moment, this new danger was +so imminent that both the "Lion" and the "Tiger" were obliged to shift +their fire from the battle-cruisers to the destroyers, which soon +afterwards were compelled to beat a hasty retreat.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Blücher"--which a few minutes before had seemed so formidable and +had presented so bold a front--was now in the last throes of her death. +It is not possible for anyone to describe, it would be sheer +presumption for anyone even to attempt to describe, the scenes of +horror and carnage that were taking place between the "Blücher's" decks.</p> +<p class="pnext">She was riddled like a sieve. Her seven-inch plates amidships had been +hammered into pig-iron; her four-inch plates, forward and aft, had been +shattered into fragments. One of her great guns had suffered a direct +hit; and a weapon, weighing thirty-six tons, and capable of firing a +projectile of six hundred and sixty-one pounds, was cast bodily into +the sea like a broken toy. Both her masts were shot away. Her forward +funnel was uprooted like a rotten tree in a gale. Her battery decks +were strewn with the mangled remains of the men who--it must be +confessed--stuck to their guns until there were no guns left to serve, +who fought with extreme gallantry to the very end.</p> +<p class="pnext">If naval warfare is more romantic, less monotonous and weary than the +trench-fighting to which the armies in Flanders have been reduced, it +is, at least, in such cases as the fate of the "Blücher," even more +ghastly and more tragic.</p> +<p class="pnext">The great ship had taken on a heavy list to port. Her speed had died +down gradually to not much more than fifteen knots an hour, when +suddenly she hauled out and steered straight for the north.</p> +<p class="pnext">Upon the instant the "Indomitable," like a great savage, stealthy +animal, broke from the British line and bore down upon her prey. There +was something in her aspect, in her dull, slate-grey outline, that +reminded one of an enormous cat that creeps upon a bird lying helpless +with a broken wing.</p> +<p class="pnext">One after the other in quick succession her guns roared upon the beaten +ship, which suddenly heeled right over so that the light colour below +her waterline glittered in the daylight, and only the tops of her +remaining funnels were visible from the starboard side. And then, she +dived. With a roar, and in the midst of a great cloud of steam, she, +with six hundred souls on board, slid into the depths.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the meantime, the battle continued as the great ships raced towards +the south. Both the "Seydlitz" and the "Derfflinger" had been severely +punished; and there is little doubt that the victory would have been +made far more complete than it was, had not a mishap befallen the +"Lion." A shell from the "Derfflinger" struck her in a vital part, so +that she dipped peak-foremost in the sea. Moreover, her engines had +been damaged; and it was this that had the immediate effect of putting +her out of the action, since she could no longer hope to keep pace with +either the "Tiger" or the "Princess Royal."</p> +<p class="pnext">Admiral Beatty, boarding the destroyer "Attack," shifted his flag to +the "Princess Royal," and did not rejoin his squadron until half-past +eleven, when he met them retiring towards the north. He then learnt +what had happened from Rear-Admiral Brock. The German ships had been +pursued to the very mouth of the mine-field, where the British squadron +was threatened by submarines and seaplanes, besides a gigantic Zeppelin +which had put out from Heligoland. It is fully in accordance with +German views upon the conduct of modern naval warfare, that this +Zeppelin should have dropped bombs among the British boats that were +endeavouring to save the lives of the survivors of the "Blücher," who +were swimming here and there at random. Had it not been for this +dastardly incident, the Germans might have had some good reason to be +proud of the Battle of the Dogger Bank. Their ships were outmatched +and overpowered, and yet they fought gallantly in face of heavy odds. +As the matter stands, not only did they tarnish the honour of their +country once again, by scorning the noblest traditions of the sea, but +they had the audacity to claim the whole affair as a glorious German +victory.</p> +<p class="pnext">They did this in the belief that they had sunk the "Tiger" or the +"Lion," or both. As a matter of fact, the total British casualties, +including killed and wounded, were four officers and thirty petty +officers and men; and the material injury done to the "Tiger" and the +"Lion" was only such as would take a few weeks to repair, though it was +certainly necessary to tow the last-named ship to port.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the German side the losses were considerable. The "Blücher," which +was certainly a notable asset to the German navy, was sunk; whereas the +"Derfflinger" and "Seydlitz" were damaged much more seriously than any +British ship. As far as personnel was concerned, the total German +casualties certainly exceeded a thousand--killed, wounded and prisoners.</p> +<p class="pnext">But the Battle of the Dogger Bank cannot be regarded solely in respect +of the relative loss of ships and men on either side. It was much +more. Its moral effect was universal. It re-established the old order +of things that had existed at the outbreak of war. It decided, once +and--we must hope--for all, British supremacy upon the seas. Though a +small action--as things go nowadays--it was decisive, in the same sense +as the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the battles of the First of June, +Trafalgar and the Nile.</p> +<p class="pnext">The flag of Germany had already been swept from the seas. The lesson +of the Dogger Bank to Grand Admiral von Tirpitz and his colleagues +amounted to this: that it was not only a risky, but was likely to prove +an exceedingly unprofitable undertaking, to operate with sea-going +ships--whether battleships, cruisers or destroyers--far from the +security of the Kiel Canal.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxviii-the-wounded-lion"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id29">CHAPTER XXVIII--The Wounded "Lion"</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">As the battle rolled away in the distance, and the smoke of the great +fighting ships grew faint beyond the southern skyline, Captain Crouch +and Jimmy Burke remained standing together on the forecastle peak of +the half-wrecked cargo ship. Not a word had been spoken for some time. +It was Crouch who was the first to find his voice.</p> +<p class="pnext">"All my life I've been proud of one thing," said he: "that I was born a +Britisher. I was always sort of sorry for a dago of any kind. But, +half-an-hour ago, when I saw the 'Lion' and the 'Tiger' come charging +into action, I felt something in my throat, my lad, that I never felt +before. It was just wonderful and splendid. War, nowadays, isn't so +much a matter of physical strength and courage as a question of +national wealth, industry and invention; we live in a scientific age. +And, take it from me, a ship like the 'Tiger' is a kind of eighth +wonder of the modern world."</p> +<p class="pnext">"I suppose," said Jimmy, "that what you say is true; things have +changed since men fought with cutlasses and boarded enemy ships. It's +more terrible to-day--and marvellous."</p> +<p class="pnext">"So it seems to me, too," said Captain Crouch. "And now, this is no +time to stand idle; there's much for both of us to do. Firstly, we +must look to the wounded--and I'm afraid there are more than enough on +board. Secondly, we must see if anything can be done to get the +engines under way."</p> +<p class="pnext">Accordingly, then and there, they went down into the engine-room, which +they found in a state of chaos. As we know, the chief engineer had +been killed; but, in the alley-way on the starboard side they +encountered the second engineer, whose head was done up in a bandage. +He had been knocked down by the force of an exploding shell, and his +head cut open against an iron stanchion.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was he, with Crouch and Jimmy Burke, who gathered together as many +of the ship's hands as they could find in a fit state to do an hour's +honest work. They removed such of the smaller parts of the machinery +as had been thrown out of gear, when the total amount of damage done +could be estimated. It was at once evident that there was no +possibility whatsoever of the engines being repaired. Moreover, how +the old ship remained afloat was little short of a miracle. They could +hope for nothing but to be found either by the British squadron +returning to home waters or some ship bound for Newcastle, Leith or +Hull.</p> +<p class="pnext">As far as the wounded were concerned, they were able to do much. +Crouch took possession of the ship's medicine chest, and soon proved +that he had a passable knowledge of both surgery and medicine. A man +who has spent a great part of his life in the wilderness of Central +Africa is not likely to be wholly ignorant as far as drugs are +concerned.</p> +<p class="pnext">More than a fifth of the crew had been killed; and many of the wounded +had received the most ghastly injuries. The modern rifle bullet is a +humane means of waging war. Being nickel-plated it gives a clean +wound, which under ordinary conditions will heal rapidly. If it kills, +it kills instantly, and as often as not without pain. Shell fire, +however, is very different. Leaden shrapnel bullets are both large, +rough-edged, and liable to cause gangrene in those who are not in the +best of health. Common shell, charged with high explosives, causes +infinite damage; and on board steel-plated ships, or in the vicinity of +houses, men are horribly maimed and wounded by fragments of masonry and +iron, by flying stones and splintered woodwork.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Whisker was in a bad way. Though a man of considerable +physical strength, he was in no fit condition to suffer continual loss +of blood. His temperature had already risen to extreme fever heat; and +there is little doubt that, had Crouch not administered suitable drugs +in the right proportion, his old shipmate would have lost his life. As +for Captain Cookson, sitting in a comfortable chair in the midst of the +wreckage of what had once been his cabin, he gave vent to his feelings +and opinions in regard to the German Empire.</p> +<p class="pnext">Like all sailors he loved his ship. A true seaman will be a special +pleader on behalf of his ship in much the same manner as an adoring +mother will speak of a backward son. If a ship lies so heavy in the +water that, when a squall is blowing, the waves sweep over her decks +like water from a floodgate, she will be described as "steady as a +rock." And if, on the other hand, she rolls at every billow, and +pitches into every minor trough, she is--in the unanimous opinion of +her master and her crew--"seaworthy" in the higher sense of the word, +whatever it may mean.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Cookson loved the "Mondavia"; and when he looked about him and +witnessed the destruction and havoc that had been wrought by the guns +of the German ships, he railed at the whole Teutonic brotherhood, from +the Kaiser to the last interned German waiter in a detention camp in +England.</p> +<p class="pnext">For all that, by wholesale round abuse, he was likely to do no more +good to himself than harm to the German Empire. The fact was, all on +board were in much greater danger than they knew of. For, during the +last half-hour, the wind had got up, shifting to the south-west, so +that once again they were able to hear the distant booming sound of the +great guns of the rival battle-cruisers.</p> +<p class="pnext">The ship lay in one of the innumerable channels that divide the shoals +of the Dogger Bank. When any wind is blowing, it stands to reason that +the current in these channels is exceedingly strong, since the +sandbanks act in much the same way as breakwaters, holding back the +tide, whilst the water becomes congested elsewhere.</p> +<p class="pnext">Now, under the influence of the freshening wind, the "Mondavia" began +to roll heavily upon the swell, and seeing that the upper part of the +ship had been destroyed piecemeal by a hurricane of shells, she was in +no fit condition to weather even the suspicion of a squall.</p> +<p class="pnext">She began to ship water from the very first; and soon afterwards, +Crouch, who was scanning the horizon with great anxiety, watching every +shift of the wind, came to the conclusion that, unless the wind dropped +as abruptly as it had risen, the "Mondavia" would go down.</p> +<p class="pnext">The afternoon was now well advanced. The surface of the sea was broken +in all directions by a great number of white waves running strongly +northward. It was low tide, and on some of the shallows the foam +showed white as snow in the sunlight that was now, for the first time +that day, breaking from behind the clouds.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Mondavia" rolled as a ship rides at anchor. Her engines had been +rendered useless; she was not capable of steaming a hundred yards. In +addition to this her steering-gear was so seriously damaged, and the +rudder itself so out of order, that she could do nothing else but +drift, like a derelict, upon the tide.</p> +<p class="pnext">To all intents and purposes, the ship was already a wreck; and every +time she rolled to starboard, she shipped water in her holds; so that +in less than an hour she was so low down that both well-decks were +flooded, and those who passed along the alleyways were obliged to wade +knee-deep in water. It must also be remembered that all her boats had +been destroyed. Though the great guns were now silent towards the +south, and there could be little question that the British squadron was +returning, there was neither a sail nor a smoke-stack in sight, as far +as the eye could reach.</p> +<p class="pnext">And even had there not been a dozen wounded men on board--many of whom +were in a critical condition--the situation had been none of the +pleasantest. Once again, it looked as if all on board were doomed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch, seeing that there was no time to waste, gathered together all +the men he could find, and set about the construction of a raft. In +this task he was aided by the dilapidated condition in which the German +battle-cruisers had left the ship. In the ordinary course of events, +on such occasions, it is necessary to break up the deck with axes; but +here, this work had already been done by the shellfire of the +"Blücher." The demolished chart-room and the shattered bridge afforded +an abundance of material. There was no lack of rope on board, and the +buoyancy of the raft was considerably increased by a number of +life-buoys and belts.</p> +<p class="pnext">The raft was constructed on the forward well-deck, where the men, often +standing up to their waists in water, worked in feverish haste; and it +is astonishing what prodigies of labour can be accomplished in so +terrible a situation. Indeed, they worked not only to save, their own +lives, but also the lives of those of their comrades who were unable to +assist themselves.</p> +<p class="pnext">One after the other, the wounded were brought down from the main-deck, +and laid upon mattresses, spread side by side upon the raft. There was +something extraordinarily precarious in the state of these unhappy men, +since they had no means of knowing whether the buoyancy of the raft +would maintain the weight of them all, when the ship, at last, went +down. Crouch had taken every precaution that was possible; practically +without exception the lifebuoys and cork lifebelts had been lashed +underneath the raft, the better to serve their purpose.</p> +<p class="pnext">When it became clear that the ship was sinking rapidly, Crouch ordered +all hands to the forward well-deck, to be ready for the crisis. +Fortunately, the ship was going down on an even keel. It was probable, +however, that at the last moment she would dive. If she did so stern +foremost, all would be well; but if she shot down into deep water bows +first, then the chances were that the foremast would foul the raft, +which would either be destroyed piecemeal, dragged under water, or so +tilted up that those who had sought safety there would be cast headlong +into the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">The disaster came about quite gradually, and in the very way that +suited them best. They had plenty of warning that the ship was about +to go. The raft had been manned by all--except a few who were prepared +to swim--when the water rose like ether in a tube from the after +well-deck to the poop. And then--of all strange things--the whole ship +bobbed forward, like a playful duck in a pond, whilst the sea spread in +a long, single wave from the poop to the forecastle-peak, above which +the raft shot clear like a ship launched from the slips.</p> +<p class="pnext">When they found themselves free and floating upon the surface of the +water, they marvelled that the whole thing had been so inconceivably +simple. They were huddled together like a flock of sheep, and in three +minutes they were wet from head to foot in spray and from the water +that splashed upward through the gaping holes in the structure of the +raft. The last they saw of the "Mondavia" was the top of her shattered +funnel, gliding on the surface for the fraction of a second, like the +dorsal fin of a shark. Then, even this small black object vanished, +and there was nothing to be seen but an infinity of bubbles and +hundreds of broken pieces of spar and splintered, painted wood. The +"Mondavia" was gone.</p> +<p class="pnext">Those who, as a wise precaution, had taken to the water, now that it +was seen that the raft was safe, scrambled one after the other, +drenched and dripping, to this frail, uncertain place of safety. +There, crowded together, shivering from the wet and from the cold, they +awaited whatsoever fate might be held in store for them, in the midst +of the desolation of the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">They could not have been more than fifteen miles from the coast, but +that, to them, was an infinite distance; they could never hope to gain +the security of land. They had neither sail nor mast; there had been +no time to make one or the other. Neither had they any means of +propelling the raft. They could but drift whither tide and wind and +current took them, and this was out to sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">Moreover, it was now rapidly growing dark. The sun, which had remained +hidden throughout the greater part of that memorable day, showed for a +few minutes upon the north-western horizon, in a great flood of red and +gold, and then dropped down into the sea. At the same time, the squall +freshened once again; the wind showed signs of blowing up to a gale; +and to make matters worse, a kind of sea fog--dripping wet and +cold--drove up from the south, like a great cloud of smoke.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch was a man who had a will of iron and a great heart of gold. He +knew that his own life, and the lives of all those who were with him, +was in the hands of an Almighty Power. Those poor, lonely castaways +were in the care of Providence.</p> +<p class="pnext">At such an hour, they were not likely to forget the God Who had given +them birth, Who had first opened their eyes to all the beauties of the +earth, and held them wonderstruck, time and time again, at the +immensity of the eternal sea. As one man, they offered up silent, +breathless prayers. Nor were these prayers that they might live, such +as might issue from a coward's lips, but prayers for ever-lasting +grace, for forgiveness and courage to the last.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch drew near to Jimmy. The raft was now so strained and lifted by +the broken surface of the water that she groaned and fretted as in pain.</p> +<p class="pnext">"I fear one thing," said he, "and one thing only; if the wind holds +she'll break. She can't bear the strain much longer. She was knocked +together like a Canton flower-boat, or an Irish fence."</p> +<p class="pnext">"There's still hope," said Jimmy Burke.</p> +<p class="pnext">He spoke in a monotone, in a voice without expression, as if his words +meant nothing. Indeed, he himself hardly understood them. In his +heart he saw no cause to hope; there was no reason why they should be +saved. He was wet to the skin and well-nigh frozen, so numbed in all +his limbs that he could scarcely move. And it is only natural, when +the body is reduced to this condition, that the mind should cease to +work; it becomes a mere machine; and words are spoken in much the same +way as a monkey jabbers or a parrot talks, without regard to their +meaning.</p> +<p class="pnext">They waited in patience, in silence and a fortitude that was something +more than heroic. They waited for nearly another hour. By then, it +was almost dark. The raft still held together, though those on board +of her were almost perished. The sea fog had evidently driven past, +for a few stars were visible above them.</p> +<p class="pnext">And then it was that H.M.S. "Cockroach" hove in sight, steaming due +north-westward at the rate of thirty knots an hour.</p> +<p class="pnext">As one man, they lifted their voices in a great shout that went out +upon the loneliness of the black, rolling waters, to reach the ears of +men in comparative security, who stood bewildered and amazed in the +very hour of their triumph and elation.</p> +<p class="pnext">His Majesty's ship "Cockroach," but newly come from the thunder of the +Dogger Bank, changed her course on the instant, and veered round to the +south. And a little after, those castaways were saved.</p> +<p class="pnext">They were well cared for by the seamen on board the +torpedo-boat-destroyer, who could talk of nothing but victory and the +sinking of the "Blücher." The survivors of the tramp steamer were +given food and warm drinks; and the lights of Tynemouth were in sight +when Jimmy Burke went on deck with Crouch and the Lieutenant-commander. +The night had cleared. Above them was a whole canopy of stars. A new +moon, too, had risen--a moon that heralded another month of the World +War, of carnage, victory and repulse. And this moon had traced upon +the surface of the sea a narrow, glittering silver pathway, which was +like a road that led from out of all these scenes of horror and +destruction to a far-off land of happy dreams. And on a sudden, into +this silver pathway, there hove the shadows of two mighty giants. They +heard the engines of a great ship groaning, as the strong screws +churned the water; and then they saw the dark, colossal outline of one +of the monarchs of the sea, with an even greater ship in tow.</p> +<p class="pnext">Both were men-of-war that moved forward slowly, cumbrously, as if in +pain. It was the wounded "Lion," crawling back to port--broken, +bleeding, but invincible to the very end. On that calm, moonlit night, +the "Lion" stood forth as a symbol of all England: hard hit and heavy +of heart, but resolute, defiant and unconquerable.</p> +</div> +<div class="level-2 section" id="chapter-xxix-conclusion"> +<h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><a class="toc-backref" href="#id30">CHAPTER XXIX--Conclusion</a></h2> +<p class="pfirst">There is romance in all things. No one will dispute, for instance, +there is romance in war; but, it is not everyone that realizes that +there is just as much that is romantic in a coalfield, a factory or a +dockyard.</p> +<p class="pnext">The traveller who journeys by night through one of the great industrial +centres of England cannot fail to be impressed by the enormous strides +that civilization has made during the last century, at the vast wealth +of modern nations and the organization of industry. In a night scene, +where great chimneys and the head-gears of coal-pits tower against the +starlight, and the sky is red with the reflection of thousands of +flaming furnaces and ovens, and white-hot rubbish is tossed here and +there like hay in a new-mown field, there is much to marvel at, and not +a little of romance.</p> +<p class="pnext">Modern industry has grown like a mushroom. The invention of the +steam-engine was the first step in the great march of science that led +to the conquest of nature, and placed into the hands of man the +illimitable resources of the earth. Mineral wealth is the capital of a +country, a source of income that is almost inexhaustible.</p> +<p class="pnext">In all busy England, there is no greater centre of activity than the +mouth of the river Tyne. Here we have, clustered together within a +comparatively small area, a score of flourishing towns--Shields, +Tynemouth, Jarrow, Wallsend and Newcastle. Each of these is another +Sheffield in itself, where working men labour for long hours, live +well, grumble much, and find little time to wash. The men of Tyneside +are the toughest breed in England--the toughest and, perhaps, the +roughest, too.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was to the Tyneside that the wounded "Lion" crawled home. It was to +the mouth of this turbid, close-packed river, to the smoke-stained +atmosphere of thousands of factories and workshops, that H.M.S. +"Cockroach" brought the crew of the "Mondavia."</p> +<p class="pnext">Many were wounded; some were even at the door of death; and all had +looked Eternity in the face. They had come through unheard-of dangers; +they had waited for destruction, counting the seconds to the end; and +they had been saved, as by a miracle, from out of the midst of the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">Perhaps one of the most singular and amazing contrasts in the universe +lies in the transformation of a battlefield into a hospital ward. In +one, we find such uproar and confusion, such thunder, fire, +imprecations and groans of agony, as can only be compared to the nether +regions. In the other, all is stillness, cleanliness, solicitude and +care. It is a strange thing for a man who is but newly come from a +scene of noisy and indescribable carnage, to look into the smiling eyes +and red-cheeked, morning face of an English girl. It is not easy for +him to comprehend that the same world can contain such vastly different +aspects.</p> +<p class="pnext">Upon a certain jetty above the mud-dyed water of the Tyne, a dozen of +such women were waiting for the torpedo-boat-destroyer as she neared +the shore. They were members of the Women's Emergency Corps, dressed +as hospital nurses, who had come prepared for anything, but most of all +to welcome back to Tyneside those who had helped to keep the flag of +England flying on the seas.</p> +<p class="pnext">Arrangements had been made for the casualties sustained by the Navy, +but no one had reckoned upon the arrival of a score of seriously +injured men of the crew of a small tramp steamer. However, there was +one there--a lady in some position of authority--who took the matter +into her own hands, with a degree of common-sense and promptitude that +stands much to her honour.</p> +<p class="pnext">"They must go to the American hospital," said she. "They have plenty +of accommodation there, and are simply crying out for patients."</p> +<p class="pnext">Accordingly, it was to this American hospital that the crew of the +"Mondavia" were conducted, some on stretchers and some of the more +seriously wounded--such as Captain Whisker--in motor ambulances which +had been sent down to meet them.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was a sad procession that passed through the streets that famous +evening, when men could do nothing else but talk of the North Sea +fight, and no one showed the smallest inclination to go to bed. When +it became known what the fate of the well-known cargo ship had been, +the eyes of these slow-thinking, stubborn people were opened at last to +the full meaning of the war. That a powerful battle-cruiser like the +"Blücher" should deign to direct her guns upon a defenceless merchant +ship, proved only too clearly once again that the German Empire, +thwarted in her senseless ambition, was prepared to stick at nothing.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was conduct such as this that had turned the sympathies of the whole +world towards the Allies; and it was by means of field hospitals and +various Red Cross institutions that a large section of the American +public had been able to give practical expression to their feelings.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch, accompanied by the medical officer himself, who had come down +to the jetty, was the first to reach the hospital. The little +sea-captain was so accustomed to hardships, and possessed of such great +vitality, that the terrible ordeal through which he had passed did not +seem to have had the slightest effect upon either his physical strength +or his nerves. He walked briskly, though with his usual limp, carrying +on an animated and somewhat one-sided conversation with the doctor.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was hardly possible to mistake the American hospital--by reason of +the enormous "Stars and Stripes," which, day and night, floated from +above the portal. Within was everything that human ingenuity, modern +science and the generosity of a great and charitable nation could +devise. Captain Crouch was not the least surprised at that; but, what +caused him to stop stone-dead, like a man struck, and stand gaping like +a yokel at a fair, was the slim figure of a young girl, dressed in the +white cap and apron of a trained nurse, who was the first person he set +eyes upon the moment he entered the door.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Crouch had a good memory. Besides, not so many weeks had +elapsed since he had had his little confidential chat with Peggy Wade +in the New York offices of Jason, Stileman and May. He remembered +nearly everything Peggy had told him, even the story of the lucky +sixpence that had once belonged to Admiral "Swiftsure Burke." He +remembered, as well, the strange coincidence that had come to light in +the "Goat and Compasses" hotel, on the night when he and Jimmy had +deciphered the mysterious message.</p> +<p class="pnext">"My lass," said he, holding out a hand, "my lass, we've met before."</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy must be excused if she could not at first recollect. Though +Crouch's heart was the same as ever and his was the same indomitable +will, he bore more than one mark of the recent conflict: his clothes +were in rags, his face was cut and bruised, and he had been drenched to +the skin in the salt water of the sea.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Forgive me," said Peggy; "but, I can't remember."</p> +<p class="pnext">And then, she saw Crouch's strange glass eye that always stared in +front of him, and remembered on a sudden.</p> +<p class="pnext">"Why, yes!" she cried, holding out both hands. "Of course, I remember +now."</p> +<p class="pnext">A few quick questions from either side were answered no less briefly. +The waters of remembrance--even of quite little things--are very sweet +indeed; and it was pure joy to them to speak of the Admiral's lucky +sixpence.</p> +<p class="pnext">It was that that brought back Crouch's mind to Jimmy, whom a strange +fate was bringing to the very hospital where he would be cared for by +the best friend and sole companion of other far-off days.</p> +<p class="pnext">The ship's officers and crew of the "Mondavia" came to this quiet haven +of rest like broken men--men who had been broken upon the relentless +wheel of war. Jimmy Burke was well able to walk; for all that, he was +so bruised and aching in his limbs that he did so like an old man, +limping painfully and leaning heavily upon a stick.</p> +<p class="pnext">His surprise and amazement can better be imagined than described when, +arrived at the hospital, he found himself confronted by Peggy Wade. It +was, indeed, a strange thing that, in so short a space of time, and +after so many vicissitudes and dangers, these two should be brought +together again. All the way across the Atlantic--more especially when +they were off the coast of Ireland and pursued by a German +submarine--the girl's thoughts had been of Jimmy, the friend and +companion from whom she had parted in New York. Two days after the boy +had gone, she had been offered a post with an American hospital which +was about to be established in the north of England, prior to leaving +for the scene of operations in France. And three days after her +arrival in England, a strange "chance" brought him--hurt, broken and +weary--to the very hospital where the girl herself was employed.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jimmy's case was not very different from that of the majority of his +companions. Though he had sustained no serious bodily injury, he had +passed through an ordeal that had been enough to shatter the nerves of +the strongest men. Long hours of peril, followed by sleepless nights, +during which the greatest hardships have to be endured, will sap the +strength and vital energy no less surely than the most dangerous +wounds. It was necessary for all these men to rest, to be given +nourishing food and to be allowed to sleep. As for those who were +wounded--like the two merchant captains, Cookson and the burly +Whisker--they received skilful treatment and the tenderest care; so +that, though more than one was brought to the hospital more dead than +alive, not one succumbed to his injuries.</p> +<p class="pnext">In two days' time, when Jimmy Burke was quite restored to health, +though still sore, a party of three people travelled to London by +train. And these three were Captain Crouch, Peggy Wade (who had +obtained a few days' leave) and Jimmy Burke himself.</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy and Jimmy had many things to speak of. The boy was delighted to +hear that Aunt Marion was in England, too. As for Peggy, she listened +in rapt attention to the whole story: of how Jimmy had discovered Stork +on board the "Harlech," and how the villainous ship's carpenter had +accused the boy of being a German spy. Crouch related his experiences +at the top of his voice, working himself up into such a state of +excitement that he waved his arms about him like a maniac, and from +time to time laid hold of Jimmy by the shoulders and shook the boy +violently, as if he desired to satisfy himself that the whole thing was +not a dream.</p> +<p class="pnext">He described the attack of the "Dresden," and the havoc that had been +wrought by the guns of the German cruiser. He produced a note-book and +pencil, and wrote out the mysterious message--the riddle that Jimmy had +solved. And then, he told the girl how the ship had been sighted by +the U93; and when he spoke of Jimmy's gallantry in saving the "Harlech" +from destruction, Peggy felt a thrill of pride that she counted as her +best and truest friend one who had rendered such signal service to his +country. Somehow or other, in the stuffy New York office, she had +never looked upon Jimmy Burke in the light of a hero; he had been just +a boy, with whom she had been wont to revel in the joys of forbidden +office "picnics," making cocoa and cooking sausages upon the stove.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hitherto, the girl's life had been somewhat circumscribed; and Crouch's +story seemed to her too wonderful to be true. If the saving of the +"Harlech" was an incident that caused her pulses to throb and the blood +to fly to her face, all that had happened at the empty flat in the +Edgware Road was fantastic and mysterious. It resembled an episode +from the "New Arabian Nights."</p> +<p class="pnext">She listened in breathless eagerness to the description of the +"Marigold," and to how the "Kitty McQuaire" had sighted the enemy's +battle-cruiser squadron, steaming north-westward for the Tyne. The +sinking of the fishing-smack, the crew rescued by the "Mondavia" at the +eleventh hour, the re-appearance of the dreaded U93, and the hurricane +of shells hurled from the "Blücher's" guns--all this was the very +essence of adventure. And then Crouch, with becoming modesty, told how +he had rammed the submarine, and sent her to the bottom, speaking of +the whole episode in much the same manner as he mentioned the loss of +his favourite pipe.</p> +<p class="pnext">When Peggy heard of the sufferings they had endured and the mental +torture they had gone through when adrift upon the raft, she was filled +with two emotions: a great wonder that human men could face such +terrors and survive, a feeling of thankfulness to the great God Who +watches over all, Who holds in wonderful subjection life and death, +victory and defeat.</p> +<p class="pnext">The story of the North Sea fight rang throughout the British Empire, +from Melbourne to Vancouver, from the Orkneys to the Cape. It mattered +little what the Germans had to say, whether or not they believed that +the "Lion" and the "Tiger" had been sent beneath the waves; the fact +remained that all Britons were assured that, should the German High +Seas Fleet desire to put matters to the test, should the great +battleships that were rusting in the Kiel Canal come forth upon the +open sea, the Grand Fleet of Britain was prepared to meet them. Until +that time, raids might take place, by aeroplanes and Zeppelins; but, as +far as any grand invasion was concerned, the shores of England were--as +they have been in the past--inviolable and secure.</p> +<p class="pnext">A winter afternoon was far advanced, and the streets shrouded in gloomy +darkness, when Crouch and his companions arrived in London. They went +first to the head-offices of Jason, Stileman and May; then to Scotland +Yard where they found Superintendent-detective Etheridge, who +accompanied them to the Admiralty, where once again they were +questioned and congratulated by Commander Fells.</p> +<p class="pnext">All that happened in those few days in London can be told in a dozen +lines.</p> +<p class="pnext">Commander Fells had not spoken rashly when he promised that the +Admiralty would not forget the services that Crouch and his young +friend had rendered to the Allied cause. The firm of Jason, Stileman +and May rewarded the boy handsomely for saving the "Harlech." +Jimmy--who a few weeks ago had been a pauper in New York--found himself +the possessor of a banking account such as he had never dreamed of. +For days he carried his cheque-book about with him, as if it were a +kind of passport--as, indeed, a cheque-book is.</p> +<p class="pnext">The boy was given the choice of a commission in the Royal Naval +Division or one of the Service battalions of the new army. He now +wears a khaki uniform and a Sam Browne belt, and is burnt to the colour +of tan by many months in the sun; and on each shoulder-strap and on the +lapels of his jacket is the grenade crest and the title badges of the +Royal Wessex Fusiliers.</p> +<p class="pnext">As for the Baron von Essling--who was no less a person than "Mr. +Valentine" of the "Hotel Magnificent"--he is to be found at a +Prisoners-of-War camp at Wakefield, where he spends most of his time +reading the works of Treitschke, who has much to say that is gratifying +(to a German) on the subject of World Power and the downfall of the +British Empire.</p> +<p class="pnext">Unfortunately, Herr Rosencrantz still enjoys the privileges of his +alleged neutrality; and it is quite unlikely--however long the war may +last--that he will ever venture to risk his precious life. He still +carries on his business as a money-lender, though nowadays his +practices are said to have become so extremely dubious and shady that +even Guildenstern has given up his share in the business.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crouch is still Crouch, though he wears the uniform of a naval officer, +with the twisted gold stripes upon his sleeve that denote the Royal +Naval Reserve. The Admiralty--who were not disposed to waste the +services of so valuable a man--saw to it that he received an +appointment in which he was likely to have ample opportunity of +displaying both his presence of mind and courage. He now holds a +senior and responsible position on board one of the armed auxiliaries +that are doing duty as light cruisers in the outer seas, though--in the +public interest--what his work exactly is cannot be explained.</p> +<p class="pnext">The World War has spread to the uttermost parts of the earth. It came, +like a sudden and tremendous earthquake, to shake Civilization itself +to its foundations. It has sent men, who in the long-off days of Peace +thought little of wars and little dreamed of fighting, to all climes +and countries. And so it was with Crouch and the two young friends +that came with him to London. Peggy is working hard in a base hospital +in France. Jimmy Burke is in Flanders. The exact whereabouts of +Captain Crouch is quite unknown; he was last heard of in mid-Atlantic, +where he is likely to be as much at home as anywhere else. One thing, +however, is quite certain: in spite of his previous experience, in +spite of the ill-fated U93, he cares no more for a German submarine +than a porpoise or a black-fish.</p> +<p class="pnext">The World War must continue to the end. Civilization can never again +know the meaning of Peace until the German States themselves have +endured the havoc and witnessed the desolation that follows in the path +of War. To that end, Britons, Latins and Slavs will continue to +strive, giving freely of their very best and bravest, that the world +may, at last, be free. And it is for that far-off Freedom that the +guns are thundering now, on the Yser, on the wild plains of Poland, on +the towering heights of the Italian frontier, on the classic lands of +Greece, and even in the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates, the +cradle of the human race.</p> +<p class="pnext">THE END</p> +<blockquote> +<div> +<div class="line-block outermost"> +<div class="line">PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY</div> +<div class="line">RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,</div> +<div class="line">BRUNSWICK ST., STAMFORD ST., S.E.,</div> +<div class="line">AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.</div> +</div> +</div> +</blockquote> +<!-- class: center large| THE BOY'S LIBRARY OF| *Adventure and Heroism.*| --> +<p class="pfirst"><em class="italics">An excellent series of Gift Books, of good bulk, handsomely printed, +illustrated and bound. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, coloured wrappers</em>.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">A lively and thoroughly healthy tale of Public School life; abounding +in stirring incident and in humorous descriptions.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Hero in Wolfskin. By TOM BEVAN.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Story of Pagan and Christian.</p> +<p class="pnext">A young Goth performs feats of valour against the Roman legions, and +dazzles a huge audience with his prowess in the Coliseum.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Adventures of Val Daintry in the Graeco-Turkish War. By V. L. +GOING.</p> +<p class="pnext">A bright and vigorous story, the main scenes of which are laid in the +last war between Turkey and Greece.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">A straightforward story of school-life, and of the duties and +temptations of young men entering upon the work of life.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Cock-House at Fellsgarth. A Public School Story. By TALBOT BAINES +REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">The juniors' rollicking fun, the seniors' rivalry, the school elections +and football match are all told in a forcible manner.</p> +<p class="pnext">Wild Life in Sunny Lands. By GORDON STABLES, M.D., R.N.</p> +<p class="pnext">A capital book of some butterfly-hunters' adventures, including +fighting bears, and penetrating trackless jungles in various Oriental +regions, told in this author's usual vivid style.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Dog with a Bad Name. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">The story of a big, ungainly youth who seemed fated to be +misunderstood, and to be made the butt of his comrades.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Master of the Shell. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">Dealing with the pranks of schoolboys, bubbling over with mischief and +fun, and the trials of a young House-Master.</p> +<p class="pnext">From Scapegrace to Hero. By ERNEST PROTHEROE</p> +<p class="pnext">The Scapegrace, who became a thorough-going hero, was a wild, +unmanageable village boy possessing an inveterate taste for mischief.</p> +<p class="pnext">My Friend Smith. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">A first-rate story dealing with the temptations and difficulties boys +meet with when entering upon business life.</p> +<p class="pnext">Comrades under Canvas. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A breezy, healthy tale, dealing with the adventures of three Boys' +Brigade companies during their annual camp.</p> +<p class="pnext">Parkhurst Boys, and other Stories of School Life. By TALBOT BAINES +REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">A collection of stories from The Boy's Own Paper, containing some of +this popular author's best work and brightest wit.</p> +<p class="pnext">Reginald Cruden. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">Depicting the last days at school of Reginald Cruden, who then starts +in business at the bottom of the ladder.</p> +<p class="pnext">Roger Ingleton, Minor. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">A bright, vigorous story for boys, introducing the reader to various +characters, all drawn with this well-known author's usual skill and +power.</p> +<p class="pnext">For Queen and Emperor. By ERNEST PROTHEROE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A vivid description of the deadly struggle of the undisciplined Britons +against the victorious Romans, in which the exploits of Boadicea are +depicted.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Cruise of "The Golden Fleece." By SARDIUS HANCOCK.</p> +<p class="pnext">This stirring story of the days of Queen Mary is full of exciting +adventure, with battles on sea and on land.</p> +<p class="pnext">That Boy of Fraser's. By ERNEST PROTHEROE.</p> +<p class="pnext">David Fraser passed through many troubles caused by the disappearance +of his father; how he encountered them makes invigorating reading.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Collegian in Khaki. By WILLIAM JOHNSTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A South African war story abounding in adventure. The hero is taken +prisoner, escapes, and takes part in many battles.</p> +<p class="pnext">With Rifle and Kukri. By FREDERICK P. GIBBON.</p> +<p class="pnext">The many heroic deeds called forth by England's "little wars" along the +Indian frontier are here narrated in stirring language.</p> +<p class="pnext">Meltonians All! By F. COWLEY WHITEHOUSE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A first-rate story of school-life and after, full of vim and stirring +incidents. Jim, Ken and Goggles make a fine trio.</p> +<p class="pnext">Myddleton's Treasure. By ERNEST PROTHEROE.</p> +<p class="pnext">Railway accidents, the evil doings of those in power, a shipwreck, and +adventures in Africa all help to make up a thrilling story.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Baymouth Scouts. By TOM BEVAN.</p> +<p class="pnext">A thrilling story, especially suitable for Boy Scouts, of the days of +Napoleon, and his threatened invasion of England.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Last of the Paladins. By CHARLES DESLYS.</p> +<p class="pnext">A romance of the chivalry of the Middle Ages, of gallant knights and +beautiful ladies, of battles and heroic feats.</p> +<p class="pnext">Rollinson and I. By W. E. CULE.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Story of a Summer Term.</p> +<p class="pnext">An attractive tale of schoolboy life, detailing a broken friendship, +much misunderstanding, repentance, and finally reconciliation between +the two characters in the title-role.</p> +<p class="pnext">Under the Edge of the Earth. By F. H. BOLTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A schoolmaster with a genius for mathematics has various hobbies, one +of which proves useful in the rescuing of a kidnapped boy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Derrick Orme's Schooldays. By EDITH C. KENYON.</p> +<p class="pnext">Describes the experiences and persecutions of a high-minded Colonial +lad by a bullying schoolfellow, who is at last driven to admit his +transgressions.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sir Ludar. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">A stirring tale of the days of Queen Elizabeth, dealing with the +wonderful adventures of a sturdy 'prentice-lad.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tom, Dick and Harry. By TALBOT BAINES REED.</p> +<p class="pnext">A splendid story, exhibiting in the highest degree this popular +author's knowledge of schoolboy life and humour.</p> +<!-- class: center large||| *The Premier Library* --> +<p class="pnext"><em class="italics">A select series of entertaining stories for readers of all ages. +large crown 8vo, illustrated, cloth gilt.</em></p> +<p class="pnext">A Peep Behind the Scenes. By Mrs. O. P. WALTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">The story of a child who lived in a travelling caravan, and saw beyond +the gay outer life of the show-people.</p> +<p class="pnext">On the Emperor's Service. By EMMA LESLIE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A splendid tale of the time of Constantine. The reader will not be +satisfied till the last page is reached.</p> +<p class="pnext">From the Enemy's Hand; or, The Chateau de Louard. By H. C. COAPE.</p> +<p class="pnext">An elaborate story of Huguenot times, full of the dangerous, exciting, +and cruel incidents of that period.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crushed, Yet Conquering. By DEBORAH ALCOCK.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Story of Constance and Bohemia. Abounds in incident and describes +the trial and martyrdom of John Hus, and his influence in later days in +Bohemia.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Brownie of Weirdlaw. By CYRIL GREY.</p> +<p class="pnext">The interference of the Brownie, a mis-shapen scrap of a man, though an +Earl, in the affairs of the heroine, has a most happy result.</p> +<p class="pnext">Condemned to the Galleys. By JEAN MARTEILHE.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Adventures of a French Protestant. Jean Marteilhe's capture and +condemnation to the galleys, his life as a slave, and his eventual +release, reads like a romance.</p> +<p class="pnext">Under Calvin's Spell. By DEBORAH ALCOCK.</p> +<p class="pnext">Dealing with the Reformation in Geneva at the time of Calvin's greatest +power. The incidents are many and exciting.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Reign of Love. By H. M. WARD.</p> +<p class="pnext">A baby, befriended by a good woman "with a heart as soft as +rain-water," eventually brings wealth to a humble home.</p> +<p class="pnext">Allan Ruthven, Knight. By E. FERGUSON BLACK.</p> +<p class="pnext">Left in impoverished circumstances, a family of boys and girls set +themselves to work for their mother and home, finally meeting with +success.</p> +<!-- class: center large||| *The Recreation Series.* --> +<p class="pnext"><em class="italics">A splendid set of gift-books, providing recreation both for the body +and the mind. Profusely illustrated, of good bulk, handsomely Printed, +and attractively bound in cloth gilt.</em></p> +<p class="pnext">The Boy's Own Book of Outdoor Games and Pastimes. Edited by P. P. +WARNER.</p> +<p class="pnext">Every phase of sport is represented in this volume, from Cricket to +Kite-Flying, and each contribution it by some well-known authority.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Boy's Own Book of Indoor Games and Recreations. Edited by MORLEY +ADAMS.</p> +<p class="pnext">Containing a mine of information on Conjuring, Ventriloquism, Model and +Toy making, Puzzles, Home Entertainments, and so on.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Boy's Own Book of Pets and Hobbies. Edited by MORLEY ADAMS.</p> +<p class="pnext">An invaluable guide to finding something to do. Many a long evening +may be brightly spent and lasting pleasure afforded by it.</p> +<p class="pnext">Every Boy's Book of Railways and Steamships. By ERNEST PROTHEROE.</p> +<p class="pnext">The author marshals his facts skilfully and tells, without +technicalities, the romance of the railway and the great waterways of +the world.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Handy Natural History (Mammals). By ERNEST PROTHEROE, P.Z.S.</p> +<p class="pnext">This marvellous book is something more than a mere record of +observation, while the exploits of many hunters of wild beasts are +recorded.</p> +<p class="pnext">Adventures in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, P.Z.S.</p> +<p class="pnext">An admirably written description of the adventures which the +photographer and naturalist has to encounter in his quest for pictures +of British birds.</p> +<p class="pnext">Home Life in Bird-land. By OLIVER G. PIKE, P.Z.S.</p> +<p class="pnext">A deeply interesting narrative of the habits of our feathered friends, +which will be eagerly welcomed and appreciated for the charm which it +reveals.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Boy's Own Book of Heroism and Adventure. Edited by A. R. BUCKLAND, +M.A.</p> +<p class="pnext">Heroism of many sorts and thrilling adventures in many lands, by +well-known writers for boys, crowd these pages.</p> +<!-- class: center large||| *The Boy's Own Series.* --> +<p class="pnext"><em class="italics">Excellent stories by popular authors, attractively bound and well +illustrated. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, coloured wrappers.</em></p> +<p class="pnext">Max Victor's Schooldays: the Friends he made and the Foes he conquered. +By S. S. PUGH.</p> +<p class="pnext">This history of the friends Max made and the foes he conquered, makes +up a very interesting story of schoolboy life that is full of incident.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Martyr's Victory. By EMMA LESLIE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Tale of Danish England.</p> +<p class="pnext">A stirring tale of the ninth century, dealing with the ravages of the +East Anglian Danes on the fields of Mercia and Wessex.</p> +<p class="pnext">Gentleman Jackson. By H. FREDERICK CHARLES.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Story of London Life.</p> +<p class="pnext">A lad starts in life heavily handicapped by a drunken father, but +succeeds by hard work in attaining an honourable position.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Story of a City Arab. By GEORGE B. SARGENT.</p> +<p class="pnext">Describes the life of a poor, neglected youth, brought up amid +wretchedness, and shows how honesty may enable the very poorest to +surmount the difficulties of their position.</p> +<p class="pnext">Harold, the Boy Earl. By J. P. HODGETTS.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Story of Old England.</p> +<p class="pnext">A stirring tale of Saxon England, full of adventure and facts relating +to the life and thrilling deeds of those exciting times.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ilderim, the Afghan. By DAVID KER.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Tale of the Indian Border.</p> +<p class="pnext">A stirring and highly imaginative tale of India, in which three lads +have many exciting and thrilling adventures while engaged in fighting +the Afghans.</p> +<p class="pnext">Adventures in the South Pacific. By ONE WHO WAS BORN THERE.</p> +<p class="pnext">The hero passes through hurricanes and famines; and perilous risks from +man-eaters, sharks, and other foes of the human race.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Story of a Pocket Bible. By GEORGE E. SARGENT.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Pocket Bible is made to write its own autobiography. Touching, but +natural, scenes are described by a powerful hand, and great principles +are enforced.</p> +<p class="pnext">Captain Cook. His Life, Voyages and Discoveries. By W. H. G. KINGSTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">The life and labours of this well-known explorer, his discoveries and +various adventures among the South Sea Islands, are graphically +described.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Heir of Bragwell Hall. By ALFRED BEER.</p> +<p class="pnext">A powerful story, in which the young heir, an objectionable person, +encounters many disasters in a tour round the world; these change his +whole character.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Wallaby Man. By Dr. A. N. MALAN, F.G.S.</p> +<p class="pnext">The "Wallaby Man" keeps a tame kangaroo. Two schoolboys attracted by +the animal get mixed up, unwillingly, in two robberies. A very amusing +story.</p> +<p class="pnext">Untrue to His Trust; or, Plotters and Patriots. By HENRY JOHNSON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A masterly tale of life and adventure during that interval of suspense +between the death of Cromwell and the return of the "Merry Monarch."</p> +<p class="pnext">Kormak, the Viking. By J. FREDERICK HODGETTS.</p> +<p class="pnext">This vigorous story abounds in exciting incidents, and depicts vividly +the life on land and sea of our old Viking ancestors.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cyril's Quest; or, O'er Vale and Hill in the Land of the Inca. By A. +GRAY.</p> +<p class="pnext">Hal proceeds to Peru in search of treasure, and is lost. His brother +goes after him, and their adventures and final success are well +depicted.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Voyage of "The Stormy Petrel." By W. C. METCALFE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A stirring tale of an adventurous voyage in which exciting incidents, +narrow escapes, and strange experiences follow one another in rapid +succession.</p> +<p class="pnext">Duck Lake. By E. RYERSON YOUNG.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stories of the Canadian Back-woods.</p> +<p class="pnext">The bush life of the settlers is pictured with a graphic pen, and there +are a number of sensational episodes, including a bear hunt.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Settlers of Karossa Creek, and other Stories of Australian Bush +Life. By Louis BECKE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A sturdy family of selectors win success in spite of drought, bush +fires, and the enmity of a couple of desperate ruffians.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Specimen Hunters. By J. MACDONALD OXLEY.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Story of Adventure in India and the Far East. Professor Orde, with +his two nephews, has many thrilling adventures and hairbreadth escapes +while in quest of specimens of wild animals in the Far East.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Adventures of Timothy. By E. C. KENYON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Tale of the Great Civil War.</p> +<p class="pnext">The hero passes through thrilling adventures in his endeavours to +rescue his betrothed from the hands of an unscrupulous villain.</p> +<p class="pnext">Out in the Silver West. By Dr. GORDON STABLES, R.N.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Story of Struggle and Adventure.</p> +<p class="pnext">Depicting, in Dr. Gordon Stables' usual vivid style, the difficulties, +hardships and experiences peculiar to early settler life in the +Argentine Republic.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Camp Doctor, and other Stories. By E. RYERSON YOUNG.</p> +<p class="pnext">A splendid series of stories dealing with settler and Indian life is +the back-woods of Canada; full of incident and excitement.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the Van of the Vikings. By M. F. OUTRAM.</p> +<p class="pnext">A fascinating story of the Vikings, whose courage and skill in fighting +is always attractive, skilfully woven from real Norwegian history and +tradition.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the Heart of the Silent Sea. By P. H. BOLTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">An up-to-date story of intense interest for boys who love adventure and +exciting situations, and illustrating the possibilities of the airship.</p> +<p class="pnext">Bob Marchant's Scholarship. By ERNEST PROTHEROE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A capital story of school life. Bob Marchant, a noble, +generous-hearted fellow, gained distinction in spite of adverse +circumstances and untold difficulties.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Heroism of Lancelot. By JEANIE FERRY.</p> +<p class="pnext">Lancelot is bitter at first against his twin brother Rex, but +eventually risks his life for him, and later risks his whole career as +well.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jack Safford. By WILLIAM WEBSTER.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Tale of the East Coast.</p> +<p class="pnext">A thrilling story of adventure on land and sea. Jack, among other +things, had to find a way out of a very awkward predicament.</p> +<p class="pnext">From Slum to Quarter-Deck. By Dr. GORDON STABLES, R.N.</p> +<p class="pnext">A street arab wins his way into the Royal Navy, and while in the +Service has a series of interesting and exciting adventures.</p> +<p class="pnext">Allan Adair; or, Here and There in Many Lands. By Dr. GORDON STABLES, +R.N.</p> +<p class="pnext">Allan sees the world with a vengeance, circumnavigating the globe, and +having a succession of miraculous escapes from death in all conceivable +forms.</p> +<p class="pnext">Gallant Sir John. By SARDIUS HANCOCK.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sir John performs many deeds of daring at Agincourt. The schemes +hatched against him are all brought to naught, and he marries the lady +of his choice.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Voyage of "The Blue Vega." By Dr. GORDON STABLES, R.N.</p> +<p class="pnext">A brisk, dashing story, full of wild adventure. The weird description +of the frozen ship and crew is thrilling and blood-curdling.</p> +<p class="pnext">St. Merville's Scholarship Boys. By ERNEST PROTHEROE.</p> +<p class="pnext">Two boys climb from an Elementary to a Public School, where they meet +with exciting adventures, especially in combating the schemes of the +school bully.</p> +<p class="pnext">Young Sir Ralph. By M. B. FRASER.</p> +<p class="pnext">Ralph is haughty, sulky, wilful and disobedient, but he is eventually +teased out of his selfish ways by several young persons with whom he +stays.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Boy Settler; or, The Adventures of Sidney Bartlett. By H. C. +STORER.</p> +<p class="pnext">Stirred by a desire for adventure, Sydney Bartlett joins the New +Zealand Mounted Police during the Maori War, and afterwards becomes a +settler in that country.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Heroes of Castle Bretten. By M. S. COMRIE.</p> +<p class="pnext">The hero is a lad of indomitable courage, and, with his friend, has +many exciting adventures before he finally succeeds in tracing his lost +father.</p> +<!-- class: center large||| *The Bouverie Florin Library.* --> +<p class="pnext">Interesting stories by popular authors. Each with coloured +illustrations.</p> +<p class="pnext">Large crown 8vo, attractively bound. 2s. each.</p> +<p class="pnext">Adnah. By J. BRECKENRIDGE ELLIS.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Tale of the Time of Christ.</p> +<p class="pnext">Adnah suffers unjustly for some years, and his long trial, when a +slave, his hardships, struggles and escape, make interesting reading.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Hero in the Strife. By LOUISA C. SILKE.</p> +<p class="pnext">The hero finds abundant scope for heroism in the agitating events of +the Great Plague and the Fire of London.</p> +<p class="pnext">Margaret Somerset. By LOUISA C. SILKE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A historical tale of the time of the Monmouth Rebellion, abounding in +stirring incidents and incorporating many important historical +personages.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Chariots of the Lord. By JOSEPH HOCKING.</p> +<p class="pnext">A romance of the time of James II. and William of Orange. Benedict is +a right manly fellow who has many contests with the infamous Judge +Jeffreys, and escapes from peril and prison.</p> +<p class="pnext">From Prison to Paradise. By ALICE LANG.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Story of English Peasant Life in 1557.</p> +<p class="pnext">Describes the time of Mary Tudor, and illustrates the conflict between +the Romish and Protestant idea of life and service.</p> +<p class="pnext">Dearer than Life. By EMMA LESLIE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A splendidly written story of the adventures of brave knights and fair +ladies during the times of Wycliffe.</p> +<p class="pnext">The King's Service. By DEHORAH ALCOCK.</p> +<p class="pnext">A tale of the Thirty Years' War, during which many exciting incidents +occur. This book has its full share, and is written in the author's +usual clear and vivid style.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Wonder-Child. By ETHEL TURNER (Mrs. H. R. CURLEWIS).</p> +<p class="pnext">A young girl has an extraordinary musical gift, which, developed by +careful training, brings to her both fame and fortune.</p> +<p class="pnext">Mistress Dorothy Drayton: Her Diary, 1553-1559. Edited by JULIA +GREVILLE.</p> +<p class="pnext">This interesting story, drawn from the diary of a lady of the sixteenth +century, possesses all the charm of that period.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Awakening of Anthony Weir. By SILAS K. HOCKING.</p> +<p class="pnext">A young minister enters upon a pastoral life from selfish motives, but +the stern discipline of events shows him his true position.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Rose of York. By FLORENCE BONE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A captivating historical romance of absorbing interest. Humphrey +Thorpe, a young Royalist, is employed against his will to spy upon a +suspected enemy of the King.</p> +<p class="pnext">Money and the Man. By H. M. WARD.</p> +<p class="pnext">Two young men through integrity and industry reach important positions, +while the downward career of a rich mine owner's son comes out sharply +by contrast.</p> +<p class="pnext">Living It Out. By H. M. WARD.</p> +<p class="pnext">A family passes through some very trying experiences, caused by their +being unjustly under a cloud; they are eventually found innocent.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the Days of the Gironde. By THEKLA.</p> +<p class="pnext">Describing the adventures of the heroine in Paris during the reign of +terror. She is condemned to the guillotine, but manages to escape.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Trouble Man; or, The Wards of St. James. By EMILY P. WEAVER.</p> +<p class="pnext">The life of a clergyman and his young wife among the rough but +kind-hearted settlers in the North-West of Canada is described in a +very readable manner.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Secret of Lake Kaba. By MARGARET S. COMRIE.</p> +<p class="pnext">Dealing with the fortunes of a pair of lovers involved in the +persecutions in Germany during the Thirty Years' War. The plot is full +of interest, and so worked out as to be fresh and keen to the end.</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy Spry. By H. M. WARD.</p> +<p class="pnext">A clever Lancashire story of a man who makes a strange will. There is +a strong love element in the tale.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Intriguer's Way. By J. BLOUNDELLE BURTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A tale of much dramatic power, dealing with the period that brought to +a close the Stuart dynasty, and placed a Hanoverian on the English +Throne.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Battle by the Lake. By DORA BEE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Story of Zurich in the Days of Zwingli.</p> +<p class="pnext">The vicissitudes of a young German officer, who plays a prominent part +in the fighting around Zurich, are described.</p> +<!-- class: center large||| *The Favourite Author Series.* --> +<p class="pnext">A splendid series of entertaining stories, by Popular Authors, for +girls still at school. Illustrated.</p> +<p class="pnext">Crown 8vo, or large crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 3s. each.</p> +<p class="pnext">Bede's Charity. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A poor farmer's daughter, "an unlearned woman," tells the history of +her life--and very interesting reading it makes, too.</p> +<p class="pnext">Carola. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A most graphic and powerful story. The career of the heroine and the +character of an old Jew are skilfully portrayed.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Children of Cloverley. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A charming story for children of life in England and America during the +terrible time of the American Civil War.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Cloak of Charity; or, Miss Molly's Adventures at Sandmouth. By +LADY ARBUTHNOT.</p> +<p class="pnext">The cloak is a large, well-worn, but warm garment, worn when its owner +went on errands of mercy.</p> +<p class="pnext">Cobwebs and Cables. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A powerful story, the general teaching showing how sinful habits that +begin as "cobwebs" generally end as "cables."</p> +<p class="pnext">Dwell Deep. By AMY LE FEUVRE.</p> +<p class="pnext">The difficulties and happiness of a very sober-minded girl among her +more flighty companions are brightly described.</p> +<p class="pnext">Enoch Roden's Training. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A thoroughly interesting story for young people, who will find the +teaching conveyed in it very helpful when in trying circumstances.</p> +<p class="pnext">Fern's Hollow. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">An interesting story of humble life, illustrating the power of faith in +seasons of disappointment and loss.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Fishers of Derby Haven. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">Having caught the meaning of religious truth a fisher-boy endures much +persecution and ruffianism from his brutal master.</p> +<p class="pnext">Half Brothers. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">Describes the passionate love, and misunderstandings, which grow up +between a girl-wife and her boy-husband.</p> +<p class="pnext">In the Hollow of His Hand. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">Michael Ivanoff is a boy Stundist, whose experiences are as fascinating +as any middy's or boy-explorer's.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jill's Red Bag. By AMY LE FEUVRE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A nursery chronicle of the amusing adventures of Jack, Jill and Bumps. +Vivaciously told with all this author's usual charm.</p> +<p class="pnext">Legend Led. By AMY LE FEUVRE.</p> +<p class="pnext">The legend of the Holy Grail took firm hold of little Gipsy's fancy, +and led her to many exciting adventures.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Little Maid. By AMY LE FEUVRE.</p> +<p class="pnext">Peggy is the funniest and most lovable of small servants. Her history +would touch anybody's sympathies.</p> +<p class="pnext">Odd. By AMY LE FEUVRE.</p> +<p class="pnext">A little girl, who is not understood by those about her, lavishes her +affection upon a dog, which finally saves her life.</p> +<p class="pnext">Olive's Story. By Mrs. O. F. WALTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">This bright and charming book contains vivid sketches from a girl's +life, with evangelical teaching very deep and true.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Peep Behind the Scenes. By Mrs. O. F. WALTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">The story of a child who lived in a travelling caravan, and saw beyond +the gay outer life of the show-people.</p> +<p class="pnext">Pilgrim Street. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">An interesting and pathetic tale describing the joys and sorrows, the +privations and homely pleasures of a family of operatives.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Puzzling Pair. By AMY LE FEUVRE.</p> +<p class="pnext">An indolent father, a puzzled stepmother, and a pair of very dissimilar +twins are the principal actors in this splendid tale.</p> +<p class="pnext">Scenes in the Life of an Old Arm-Chair. By Mrs. O. P. WALTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">The vicissitudes of an old arm-chair have given this popular author +scope for her fancy, and the story is full of interest.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Soul of Honour. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">Phoebe Lincoln passes through some trying experiences owing to the +unscrupulous behaviour of her supposed father, a big financier.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Thorny Path. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">Dealing with aspects of humble life, but nevertheless full of genuine +pathos, and will appeal to the sympathies of all readers.</p> +<p class="pnext">Through a Needle's Eye. By HESBA STRETTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">An exciting story of a clergyman's experience of wealth and poverty. +He conquers in a struggle against sore temptation.</p> +<p class="pnext">Was I Right? By Mrs. O. F. WALTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">Should a woman marry a man who has not her own religious belief? That +is the whole point of this interesting tale.</p> +<p class="pnext">Winter's Folly. By Mrs. O. F. WALTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">This helpful story shows how a little girl found her way to the heart +of a disappointed and friendless old man.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Wonderful Door; or, Nemo. By Mrs. O. F. WALTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A very spirited and amusing story of a nameless child who is adopted by +a basket-hawker, a noble-hearted dwarf.</p> +<p class="pnext">Kiddie; or, The Shining Way. By AMY WHIPPLE.</p> +<p class="pnext">Kiddie is a child of misfortune who escapes from the cruel guardianship +of the owner of some travelling roundabouts.</p> +<p class="pnext">Looking Heavenward. By ADA VON KRUSENSTJERNA Translated by A. DUNCAN +DODDS.</p> +<p class="pnext">A Russian lady's sincere Christian character and conversation bring +blessings and peace to the hearts of all whom she meets.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Hillside Children. By AGNES GIBERNE.</p> +<p class="pnext">Risely's boyishly-clever criticisms and witticisms frequently lead to +his own undoing, and his venturesome pranks bring trouble.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Scarlet Button. By KATE MELLERSH.</p> +<p class="pnext">John and Joan discover an old family jewel, the fortunes of which form +the chief subject of this story.</p> +<p class="pnext">Our Dick. By LAURA A. BARTER SNOW.</p> +<p class="pnext">A really good story of a boy who is a boy, and fights his battles in a +brave, manly way.</p> +<p class="pnext">More About Froggy. By BRENDA.</p> +<p class="pnext">Froggy has much trouble, brought about by some bad acquaintances, and +many adventures on land and sea, until all ends well.</p> +<p class="pnext">Peter and Pepper. By KATE MELLERSH.</p> +<p class="pnext">Peter is a jolly little fellow, and the pranks he and "Pepper" play +together provide splendid and interesting reading.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Shadow on the Hearth. By the Rev. T. S. MILLINGTON.</p> +<p class="pnext">A young architect, a Protestant, marries a Roman Catholic lady, and +much trouble arises through priestly interference; but the dark +"shadow" is removed in the end.</p> +<!-- class: center large||| *Splendid Tales for Boys.* --> +<p class="pnext">Full of excitement, incident and adventure, yet pure and wholesome +reading throughout.</p> +<p class="pnext">Illustrated. Crown 8vo, or large crown 8vo, cloth gilt.</p> +<p class="pnext">Jeffrey of the White Wolf Trail. By J. CLAVERDON WOOD.</p> +<p class="pnext">Tells in a stirring way how a schoolboy, after many rough experiences +as a scout, Indian fighter and ranchman, finally became a wealthy +mine-owner.</p> +<p class="pnext">Sinclair of the Scouts. By J. CLAVERDON WOOD.</p> +<p class="pnext">An exciting story of thrilling incidents, hairbreadth escapes, and +daring adventures. For skill, pluck, ability and confidence Tom is +hard to beat.</p> +<p class="pnext">Branan, the Pict. By M. P. OUTRAM.</p> +<p class="pnext">A slave boy only discovers that he is a king, after he has saved his +young mistress from the long-lived vengeance of a rejected suitor.</p> +<p class="pnext">The Conscience of Roger Treherne. By E. EVERETT-GREEN.</p> +<p class="pnext">Roger's warfare with himself, a year or so of storm and stress, is +powerfully and skilfully told.</p> +<p class="pnext">In Pursuit of a Phantom. By E. EVERETT-GREEN.</p> +<p class="pnext">An up-to-date tale of society with its bridge-playing and gambling, and +the consequences that follow in their train.</p> +<p class="pnext">John Delmayne's Ambitions. By MARK WINCHESTER.</p> +<p class="pnext">John joins an expedition to the heart of Africa. His terrible +experiences with the Ruga Ruga tribe and his remarkable escape are told +with great cleverness.</p> +<p class="pnext">Marcus Stratford's Charge; or, Roy's Temptation. By B. EVERETT-GREEN.</p> +<p class="pnext">Roy had much to contend with, and for a time gave way to unworthy +suspicions, but he at length conquered temptation.</p> +<p class="pnext">In Quest of Hatasu. By IRENE STRICKLAND TAYLOR.</p> +<p class="pnext">Graphically describes the search for the tomb of the ancient Queen of +Egypt, while the final scene and combat with Arab tomb riflers, and the +explosion, give a decided thrill.</p> +<!-- class: center medium||| LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.|||| --> +<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> +<div class="backmatter"> +</div> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 39387 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |