Add files from ibiblio as of 2025-03-08 22:10:51HEADmain

1 files changed, 4503 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/40511-0.txt b/40511-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e01ce6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/40511-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4503 @@
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40511 ***
+
+                          COMMANDER LAWLESS V.C.
+
+             BEING THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF FRANK H. LAWLESS,
+             UNTIL RECENTLY A LIEUTENANT IN HIS MAJESTY'S NAVY
+
+                            BY ROLF BENNETT
+
+            Author of "THE ADVENTURES OF LIEUT. LAWLESS, R.N.,"
+                         "CAPTAIN CALAMITY," etc.
+
+
+    HODDER AND STOUGHTON
+    LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO
+    MCMXVI
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+        CHAPTER I THE NIGHT ATTACK                         1
+
+       CHAPTER II THE DERELICT                            23
+
+      CHAPTER III THE DECOY                               44
+
+       CHAPTER IV A BOLT FROM THE BLUE                    62
+
+        CHAPTER V THE HOAX                                80
+
+       CHAPTER VI PRISONER OF WAR                         95
+
+      CHAPTER VII THE RIDING LIGHT                       120
+
+     CHAPTER VIII THE BELL BUOY                          136
+
+       CHAPTER IX ABANDON SHIP!                          157
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE NIGHT ATTACK
+
+
+Flight-Lieutenant Lawless sat on an empty soap-box in a large shed
+watching his mechanic cleaning the engines of a monoplane which was
+housed there. The Lieutenant was sucking vigorously at an empty pipe,
+and, although his face wore an expression of deep melancholy, this was
+not a case of cause and effect, the gloom was due to his thoughts, not
+to his ineffectual efforts to draw smoke from an unfilled pipe--and he
+had plenty of tobacco, anyhow.
+
+Misfortune seemed to have dogged his footsteps ever since his
+transference from the Navy proper into the Flying Wing. In the first
+place he had discovered, with feelings of mingled astonishment and
+humiliation, that he was subject to violent attacks of air-sickness
+which, so far from wearing off, grew more acute as time went on. That
+this should happen to a man who had navigated a little cockle-shell of a
+destroyer in the stormiest weather with never a qualm seemed
+preposterous. But it was so, and, though the shameful secret was shared
+only by his mechanic, he was always fearing discovery. Also, because the
+Fates were against him, he had smashed up two monoplanes, and, with his
+mechanic, only escaped death by a miracle. As a result of the inquiries
+following upon these two mishaps Lawless had been severely censured, and
+his chances of being sent out to the Front remained less hopeful than
+ever.
+
+No wonder he felt depressed at thought of these things, and fervently
+wished himself back aboard the old _Knat_, chasing up and down the North
+Sea in search of enemy ships.
+
+But his meditations were suddenly interrupted by Mike Cassidy, the
+mechanic. Mike was fumbling in his pockets, a comical look of
+bewilderment on his face.
+
+"Th' divil!" he said.
+
+"What?" asked Lawless, suddenly waking up.
+
+"'Twas to meself I wus spaking, yer honour."
+
+"Just calling yourself names, eh?" said the Lieutenant, with a twinkle
+in his eye.
+
+Mike went on searching his pockets, and at last gave an exclamation of
+relief. The couple of tiny screws which he had carefully wrapped in a
+piece of paper and then mislaid had come to light. He took them out, and
+then threw down the piece of paper, which fluttered to the ground. The
+Lieutenant idly picked it up, his thoughts far away on those visionary
+battlefields, and glanced absentmindedly at the print. It was a notice
+issued by the North British Railway, and read as follows:--
+
+     "FIVE POUNDS reward will be paid to anyone giving information
+     leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who
+     on the night of the 4th inst. caused disfiguring paint marks to be
+     made on the railway track and girders of the Forth Bridge."
+
+Lawless was not a Sherlock Holmes, so he did not try to draw inferences
+or make deductions from the statement he had just read. Still, it
+puzzled him. Why should any "person or persons" employ their leisure
+moments in dabbing paint on the girders and track of the Forth Bridge?
+
+Lawless tossed the paper aside, and, for a time at least, forgot all
+about the notice. It was not till later on that he had occasion to
+recall it.
+
+"I expect we shall have to go out to-night, Mike, so have everything
+ready," he said, rising to his feet.
+
+"I will that, yer honour!" answered Mike, turning a hot and beaming face
+upon his superior.
+
+As he had anticipated, Lawless received orders to set out at eight
+o'clock that night on a scouting expedition. Although the public was
+kept in ignorance of the fact, the military authorities were nightly
+expecting a German attack on Rosyth. Every precaution had been taken to
+render such an attack abortive, and the entrance to the Forth was
+guarded by destroyers and submarines. Still, the seemingly impossible
+sometimes happens in time of war, and there was always a chance that the
+enemy might creep through the defences by some means or other. Already
+an apparently harmless merchant steamer had been stopped off Leith, and,
+upon examination, found to be chock-full of dynamite ready to be fired
+by time-fuses. No doubt this would have been exploded under the Forth
+Bridge, with the result that no warships could have entered or left
+Rosyth till the river mouth had been cleared of the _débris_.
+
+As an additional precaution, therefore, two or three aeroplanes were
+sent out nightly to scout along the coast from Fife Ness to St. Abb's
+Head. The aviators so employed found it a monotonous, unexciting task in
+which, so it seemed, neither glory nor promotion was to be earned.
+
+And this particular night's scouting proved as tame and uneventful as
+the rest. Under normal conditions, a night flight above the Firth of
+Forth as far west as Linlithgow would have afforded a most picturesque
+spectacle with the lighted towns and cities beneath. But now Edinburgh,
+Linlithgow, and Dundee, and even the small towns and villages, were
+practically in darkness, since nearly all the public lights, besides
+those of the great emporiums and factories, were either unlit or else
+shielded from observation above. And out at sea only merchant vessels
+showed lights, those carried by warships, large and small, being masked.
+
+"Even the passenger flights at Hendon were more exciting than this!"
+growled the Lieutenant to himself as, just before dawn, he steered a
+homeward course in the direction of the Forth.
+
+He little thought as he uttered his complaint that within twenty-four
+hours he would have had enough excitement to last him a lifetime.
+
+The machine had reached the Forth and was crossing it just above the
+bridge, when Mike, who sat immediately behind the Lieutenant, uttered an
+exclamation:
+
+"Are me eyes desaving me, or have the hivins turned topsy-turvy?"
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Lawless, for the patent wind-screen with
+which the machine was fitted made conversation possible even when
+travelling at a high speed.
+
+"Thim stars below us, sorr. Sure now, is it upside down we're flying?"
+
+Lawless looked below, and saw what at first seemed to justify Mike's
+anxiety as to the position of the heavens. Immediately beneath the
+machine was a cluster of luminous specks for all the world like distant
+stars, shining up instead of down upon them. They were certainly not
+lamps of any sort, and the dull glow they gave out seemed as if it might
+be the reflection of some distant lights. Yet there was no moon, nor, so
+far as Lawless could discover, anything which could account for this
+extraordinary effect of reflected light.
+
+He circled over the bridge two or three times, hoping to discover the
+cause of this mystery, but without success. While he was doing this a
+train rumbled across the bridge, and during its passage Lawless noted
+that the luminous specks disappeared. They were again observable as soon
+as the train had passed, however, and the Lieutenant concluded from this
+that they were situated on the railway track itself.
+
+"Deuced queer business!" he muttered.
+
+But there was no time to make further investigations that night, so he
+continued his flight to Montrose, still pondering over the mystery.
+
+"By the way, Mike," he said, when they had alighted opposite the hangar,
+"don't say anything about those lights we saw on the bridge. I'm going
+to investigate the matter myself."
+
+Mike readily promised, and Lawless was strolling away when a thought
+suddenly struck him.
+
+"By Jove!" he ejaculated aloud. "I believe I've got it!"
+
+His memory had flashed back to the notice he had read, offering a reward
+in connection with certain paint marks on the Forth Bridge. No doubt the
+misguided "person or persons" who had daubed the bridge had used
+luminous paint. This, of course, would explain the phosphorescent glow
+which had so puzzled him.
+
+The question now was, had it been done merely as a joke or for some
+specific object? If for a joke, it was difficult to see where the humour
+came in; if for an object, it was equally difficult to see what purpose
+it could serve.
+
+"I'll have a closer look at the bridge when I've rested a bit," he told
+himself.
+
+That afternoon the Lieutenant took a train to Queensferry. He then set
+out to walk back over the bridge along the railway track. The paint
+daubs were clearly visible, though not, of course, phosphorescent in the
+daylight. It struck him as peculiar that these marks had a definite
+shape, or rather two definite shapes. One took the form of a St.
+Andrew's Cross, the other the form of a star--that is, instead of two
+intersecting lines of the same length, there were four.
+
+But that was not all. A careful examination showed that these stars were
+placed at the weakest part of the bridge; in other words the parts which
+would be easiest to destroy by means of dynamite. Finally, the marks
+could only be seen from above the bridge, not from below it.
+
+Lawless whistled softly when he had made these discoveries.
+
+He returned to the depot, and went at once to his commanding officer and
+told him of the discoveries he had made. He also explained at some
+length his own theory concerning them. The commanding officer listened
+patiently at first because he was a good-natured fellow and liked to see
+his officers exercise initiative and resource. But his interest in the
+story soon flagged, and when Lawless began to state his deductions it
+wilted entirely. An expression of resigned boredom appeared on the
+officer's face and remained there till the interview came to an end.
+
+"So you see," concluded the Lieutenant eagerly, "it requires no great
+effort of imagination to realise what the German plans are."
+
+But it required more imagination than the commanding officer was capable
+of exercising. Indeed, he was not an imaginative man and prided himself
+upon the fact. He didn't regard imagination as consistent with the
+duties of a soldier; consequently, he made no effort to encourage it in
+those under his command.
+
+"It's a very ingenious theory, very!" he said; "but unfortunately the
+grounds upon which you base it appear to me to be entirely
+unsatisfactory."
+
+And for the time being that settled the matter so far as the commanding
+officer was concerned.
+
+That evening, when the Lieutenant arrived at the hangar preparatory to
+setting out on the nightly scouting expedition, he brought with him a
+curious looking implement. It consisted of a stout spar about ten feet
+long, at the end of which was attached a long, curved knife, not unlike
+a billhook in appearance.
+
+It was not difficult to fix the spar securely to the machine so that the
+business end protruded about six feet beyond the driver's seat, somewhat
+after the manner of a steel-pointed ram. This done, and it being time to
+set off, the machine was taken out of the hangar and a few minutes later
+Lawless and Mike were high above the flight station.
+
+Lawless now steered straight for the Forth Bridge, as he wanted to find
+out first of all whether the luminous marks were still visible. Having
+satisfied himself that they showed up as vividly as ever, he swept round
+in an easterly direction, making straight for the open sea.
+
+They had just passed above the Bass Rock, when the Lieutenant, who had
+been gazing expectantly into the darkness ahead, shouted a question to
+Mike:
+
+"Do you see anything in front of us?"
+
+The Irishman, who possessed remarkably keen eyes, raised himself a
+little and peered over the Lieutenant's shoulder.
+
+"B the powers, if 'tis not a dirigible, 'tis the ghost av wan!" he
+exclaimed.
+
+"I thought so," replied Lawless in a tone of grim satisfaction. "And,
+what's more," he added under his breath, "she's making straight for the
+Forth."
+
+Both the aeroplane and the airship must have been travelling at a very
+considerable speed, for even as the Lieutenant spoke the dirigible
+changed from a blurred outline into a well-defined shape. There was no
+mistaking her now--a gigantic Zeppelin, armed, no doubt, with bombs and
+machine guns.
+
+"Now we'll have a chance of testing this little invention of mine,"
+murmured the Lieutenant, almost with a chuckle; and he gave a glance of
+satisfaction at the weird apparatus attached to the machine.
+
+As a preliminary to the duel the Lieutenant rose in the air, circled
+above the dirigible, and then swooped down and passed abreast of the
+car, so close that the crew could be distinctly seen.
+
+"That's the challenge!" he shouted gleefully. "Now for it!"
+
+Making a wide sweep, he steered full-tilt at the airship's tremendous
+gas vessel in such manner as to rip it up with the hooked knife attached
+to the spar. That was his sole weapon of offence, and he hoped, by
+repeated attacks, to destroy completely the gas-bag and thus cause the
+vessel to sink.
+
+The task was harder, even, than it looked, for the Zeppelin, like all
+dirigibles, was provided with a number of separate gas compartments, so
+that a leakage in one would not materially affect the stability of the
+whole structure, which would only collapse after several gas chambers
+had been ripped open.
+
+A strange thrill passed through both men as their little machine rushed
+against the tremendous bulk of the airship, much as a swordfish might
+attack a whale. Suddenly there was a tearing, ripping sound; the
+monoplane quivered from nose to tail with the shock of the impact and
+then passed right across the top of the gas vessel, the knife rending
+the fabric as it went.
+
+"Well, that's lost them some gas, anyhow," murmured Lawless as he
+brought the head of the machine round, ready to swoop down a second
+time.
+
+As they approached again they could hear shouts from the airship, and
+the next moment a small projectile whistled past them.
+
+"They're using a pneumatic gun," ejaculated the Lieutenant.
+
+Before another shot could reach them, the knife attached to the
+aeroplane was again tearing its way through the fabric of the balloon,
+making a tremendous slit right across the upper part of one side. As
+Lawless brought the machine round once more he saw the airship heel, and
+judged from this that she must have lost a considerable quantity of gas,
+several compartments having probably been ripped open.
+
+"Three or four more attacks like the last, and she'll collapse," he
+said.
+
+He steered as before straight at the swaying bulk of the airship, which,
+after the first attack, had reduced her speed to about twenty miles an
+hour. Then, as the knife thrust itself into the gas vessel, there was a
+sharp, cracking sound. The aeroplane seemed to stop with a terrific
+jerk, tilting forward to such an extent that both pilot and mechanic
+were nearly flung from their seats. Then, recovering its balance with
+equal suddenness, it darted forward and passed the dirigible.
+
+"Saints preserve us!" ejaculated Mike. "Wus it a cyclone or a church
+staple that struck us, yer honour?"
+
+As a matter of fact the knife had struck one of the aluminium girders
+which formed the framework of the balloon structure, and snapped off.
+
+"Be ready to take the steering wheel!" shouted Lawless.
+
+He bent forward, and, picking up a long sheath-knife which formed part
+of the aeroplane's equipment, placed it in the belt of his leather
+jacket. Then, turning the machine, he wheeled round once more, rose
+above the dirigible, and then descended until only a few feet separated
+the aeroplane from the gigantic gas-bag immediately beneath it.
+
+"Take the wheel now!" he cried, and then, to Mike's amazement and
+horror, stood up and leapt out of the monoplane, alighting on the broad
+surface of the airship's gas envelope.
+
+Finding himself safe, he drew his knife and started to rip and hack at
+the skin of the balloon. He had known, before making his perilous leap,
+that he was courting almost certain death, for, should he succeed in
+deflating the gas vessel, he himself would share in the disaster which
+must follow.
+
+Yet he knew that if the dirigible reached the Forth Bridge her crew
+would be able to drop explosives without serious interruption. There
+were no anti-aircraft guns in the neighbourhood at that time, while an
+attempt to beat off the aerial monster with rifle fire would be
+hopeless. He alone could avert the threatened disaster.
+
+The monoplane, now in charge of Mike, had disappeared in the darkness,
+and Lawless supposed that the mechanic had gone off to give the alarm.
+
+While the Lieutenant was still hacking away at the balloon fabric, a
+man's head appeared above the rounded edge of the gas vessel. Lawless
+did not notice him at first, but when the portion of fabric upon which
+he was kneeling suddenly grew taut under the climber's weight he looked
+up.
+
+"The devil!" he muttered.
+
+He gripped his knife tightly and drew back a little. He had an idea that
+he might be able to spring upon his antagonist before the latter had
+time to assume the offensive. Just as he was about to do this a second
+head appeared above the edge of the balloon, but on the opposite side
+and Lawless realised that his first plan was now hopeless. There was
+nothing for it but to await the attack. Yet even then he could not
+restrain a grim smile at the thought of his extraordinary position.
+There had been many strange combats in many strange places; but surely
+never before had there been a fight on the top of a huge airship five or
+six hundred feet above the sea.
+
+Nearer and nearer crept the men, one on each side of the Lieutenant, and
+the latter braced his muscles for the coming struggle. Then, as if
+acting upon a given signal, the two Germans simultaneously levelled
+revolvers at him, at the same time shouting something he could not
+understand.
+
+To have attempted resistance when covered by two revolvers would simply
+have been courting a useless death, and so Lawless, guessing what they
+wanted, threw his knife away and made a sign that he surrendered. After
+all, he reflected, he might do more as a live prisoner than as a dead
+hero.
+
+The men crawled up to him, and one, who had the end of a rope round his
+waist, slipped it off and placed the noose beneath the aviator's
+shoulders, then, both holding the line, they lowered their prisoner down
+through a sort of hatch, and eventually he found himself standing upon
+the deck of the airship.
+
+"Who are you?" asked a voice in excellent English; and, turning, the
+Lieutenant saw that his questioner was an officer, evidently the
+commander of the Zeppelin.
+
+"Flight-Lieutenant Lawless. Who are you?"
+
+The officer stared at the Englishman for a moment. Then, without
+deigning to answer what, under the circumstances, must have seemed an
+impudent question, he turned to give an order to his men.
+
+The great airship lurched forward, and Lawless knew by the rush of wind
+that she was travelling at full speed again towards her destination.
+Meanwhile a couple of men bent a rope round his wrists and ankles and
+then lashed him to one of the elastic steel girders which encircled the
+car. Ten minutes later the Lieutenant caught sight of a dull glow in the
+sky to westward, and knew that they were fast approaching Edinburgh--and
+the Forth Bridge.
+
+Lawless was at the fore-end of the car, and almost in total darkness,
+for not only were the lights on deck masked, but the crew worked with
+electric torches which threw out only momentary gleams of light. Taking
+advantage of this, he began to work the cord which bound his wrists up
+and down against the sharp edges of the girder till at last he frayed
+the rope sufficiently to break it.
+
+This done, to remove the cords from his ankles was but the work of a
+moment, and then he stood free to act once more. For a time, however, he
+did not move, but stood as though still fettered, in order not to
+attract the attention of the crew till he had decided what to do.
+
+All at once everybody on board the dirigible was startled by the sound
+of guns in the distance, and next moment the sky was illuminated by
+searchlights which swept the horizon like tremendous phosphorescent
+antennæ.
+
+Mike had given the alarm!
+
+Several minutes elapsed before the searchlights found the airship and
+focused themselves upon it, and then everything on board was illuminated
+by the dazzling rays. A few seconds later the sound of firing increased,
+and Lawless guessed that a battery of howitzers was being trained on the
+dirigible. But as yet the distance was too great for the gunners to get
+the range, and he knew that, even when they did so, the guns fired at
+too low an angle to hit an object so high above them.
+
+Thanks to the brilliant illumination of the searchlights, he was able to
+see everything as though it were broad daylight, and, among other
+things, he noticed hand grenades placed at various points around the
+car. They were evidently provided for dropping on small objects or
+groups of men, where the use of a bomb would be unnecessary and
+wasteful. In a flash he had determined what to do.
+
+The dirigible was now within a mile of the Forth Bridge and about five
+hundred feet in the air. If the present speed were maintained, it would
+be directly over the bridge in less than five minutes. The howitzers had
+by now been supplemented by small groups of sharpshooters, but with the
+exception of a few stray bullets which occasionally whistled past the
+small-arm fire was likely to do as little damage as the heavier guns.
+It was clear that, unless some unforeseen accident occurred, the airship
+would accomplish her purpose.
+
+As they drew nearer a fresh burst of firing, this time from the bridge
+itself, showed that two guns had been dragged on to the railway track to
+command a better range of the approaching airship. But this attempt,
+like the rest, was in vain, for the shells flew harmlessly below the
+car, and, even had they been able to reach it, an ascent of fifty feet
+or so more would have placed the dirigible but of danger again. Only an
+anti-aircraft gun, firing at right angles to its base, could hit the
+terrible war machine above.
+
+All this time Lawless was waiting for his opportunity--and at last it
+came. Springing forward, he seized one of the hand grenades and flung it
+with all his strength at the gas-bag above his head, hoping that it
+would explode and ignite the gas. Unfortunately, it struck a girder
+below the balloon, but in doing so ignited some of the cordage, which,
+being creosoted, began to burn furiously.
+
+The commander, realising the danger--for the cordage passed over the gas
+envelope and must soon ignite it--gave some orders, and while several of
+the crew climbed up in order to try and put out the burning ropes others
+rushed upon Lawless.
+
+The latter, however, had managed to seize another grenade, and, holding
+it high above his head, threatened to hurl it amongst them if they
+advanced another step. While they stood hesitating, and the commander
+himself seemed uncertain what to do, there came a wild cry from the men
+who had climbed into the airship's rigging.
+
+Looking up, the Lieutenant saw that, in spite of all efforts, the ropes
+were still burning. In a few seconds the fire must spread to the
+balloon, and that meant annihilation.
+
+The commander sprang to a lever, pulled it, and next moment the
+dirigible began to descend. He had opened the gas valve in the wild hope
+that the airship might sink to the water safely before the threatened
+explosion took place. It was their one chance of escape from a terrible
+death.
+
+Slowly, very slowly, the monster dirigible descended. Everybody had
+forgotten Lawless in the horror of the threatened calamity, and all eyes
+were turned towards the smouldering cords, which occasionally burst into
+flame in the upward rush of wind caused by the airship's descent.
+
+Would they reach the water before the explosion took place? That was the
+question each man asked himself.
+
+Cork life-belts were hurriedly served out to the crew, who stood by the
+rails of the car ready to spring out as soon as the distance rendered
+it moderately safe. Yet all the time the little wisps of flame rose
+faster and faster, sometimes disappearing, only to be fanned into life
+again by the draught of air. Masses of charred and smouldering rope fell
+on the deck from time to time and were promptly flung overboard.
+
+Nearer and nearer to the water sank the airship, and nearer and nearer
+to the gas holder reached the flames. Now they were not more than a
+hundred feet above the water; a few more moments would decide their
+fate. It was a race between the sinking dirigible and the flames, the
+odds in favour of the flames.
+
+The firing had ceased for some minutes, for all who saw the airship knew
+that she was going to her own destruction. Boats approached in readiness
+to rescue the survivors should there be any, but stood off again when it
+was seen that a tremendous explosion was imminent.
+
+For some seconds Lawless had been watching a small piece of burning
+cordage nearer to the gas envelope than the rest, and which, apparently,
+had not been noticed by the crew. Suddenly it flamed up, and he saw it
+ignite the fabric of the balloon. With a cry of warning he sprang
+overboard, but even as he did so there was a blinding flash of light, a
+terrific explosion, and then--darkness.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Lawless again opened his eyes it was to find himself on a little
+bed in what appeared to be a hospital ward. His head, he discovered, was
+bandaged, and when he attempted to raise himself such an agonising pain
+shot through his left leg that he fell back gasping.
+
+When he looked up again a nurse was bending over him with a cup in her
+hand.
+
+"Where am I?" he asked in a dazed voice.
+
+"In hospital," replied the nurse gently. "Drink this," she added,
+holding the cup to his lips.
+
+The Lieutenant obeyed, though he was all anxiety to hear what had been
+the ultimate fate of the Zeppelin. When the nurse had withdrawn the cup
+from his lips he begged her to tell him what had happened.
+
+"The papers say it exploded about fifty feet above the water and that
+everyone on board except yourself was killed," she answered.
+
+He was left to himself for a little while after that, and then the
+surgeon came to dress his injuries, which consisted of a broken leg and
+some burns due to the explosion. Shortly afterwards he received a visit
+from his commanding officer. The latter was in great fettle at the
+honour and glory which the heroic action of Lawless had earned for the
+Montrose corps. If he remembered the interview of the previous day, when
+he had pooh-poohed the Lieutenant's arguments, he made no reference to
+it. He was not a man to bear malice.
+
+After he had heard the story of the extraordinary battle in mid-air he
+rose to go.
+
+"By the way," he said, "you'll be pleased to hear that you have been
+recommended for the V.C. And, by Jove, I'll say this, you've earned it!"
+
+But it was reserved for Mike Cassidy to bring to the invalid a newspaper
+containing the official notice that the Victoria Cross had actually been
+conferred upon Flight-Lieutenant Lawless.
+
+"'Tis meself that's afther wishing ye miny happy returns av the day,
+sorr," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE DERELICT
+
+
+The destruction of the Zeppelin, apart from the dramatic circumstances
+attendant upon it, naturally created a great sensation, particularly in
+Scotland, it being the first enemy airship ever brought down north of
+the Tweed. Lawless was, of course, the hero of the moment, and the
+illustrated papers overflowed with photographs of him taken before and
+after the great air duel: in hospital, convalescent, eating, drinking,
+sleeping, in uniform and out of uniform. Hitherto forgotten episodes in
+his naval career were raked up and presented to an eagerly absorbent
+public, which refused to read, discuss or hear about anything but
+Flight-Lieutenant Lawless and his combat with the Zeppelin. He was the
+most talked of man in the world for nearly a week.
+
+"It's simply been beastly sickening," remarked Lawless. "I'm fed up."
+
+His old ship, the _Knat_, had put into Leith, and Sub-Lieutenant Trent
+had seized the opportunity to visit his old commander in the hospital.
+
+"You see," went on the latter almost apologetically, "I was practically
+defenceless against all those newspaper chaps with their note-books and
+cameras; I was surrounded and outnumbered. It's true I flung a pot of
+beef tea at one interviewer's head and made good practice with some
+medicine bottles among the photographers, but, though the enemy suffered
+several casualties, reinforcements were continually arriving."
+
+Trent nodded sympathetically.
+
+"'Tisn't as if they were good photographs either," he remarked. "They
+are absolutely like you."
+
+Lawless shot a suspicious glance at his one-time subordinate.
+
+"One chap," he said thoughtfully, "snapped me before I'd shaved. I'm
+going to drop a bomb on his office as soon as I get back to work."
+
+As it turned out, honour and glory were not the only results the
+Lieutenant achieved by bringing down the Zeppelin; he unwittingly
+incurred a tremendous responsibility. News of this was broken to him by
+his uncle, a retired major, with whom he spent the last few days of his
+convalescence. Animated by a delicacy which his nephew fully understood
+and appreciated, the major for a time refrained from discussing the
+Zeppelin affair. But on the day before Lawless was due to report himself
+at headquarters he somewhat diffidently broached the subject.
+
+"By the way," he said, as though it were a matter which had hitherto
+escaped his memory, "I wanted to speak about that last little adventure
+of yours."
+
+"Yes?" remarked the Lieutenant unencouragingly.
+
+"It's likely to cost me a thousand pounds."
+
+"Eh!" ejaculated Lawless, sitting up.
+
+"It's my own fault," continued the major gloomily, "but I was, so to
+speak, rushed into it. You see, the day after you'd brought down that
+'Zep.' I strolled into the club smoking-room and found everyone talking
+of your exploit. I kept out of it as long as I could, naturally, but
+when Sir John Carver started in to declare that it was nothing more than
+an accident, a mere stroke of luck, I got angry. Sir John, though he's
+as rich as Croesus, knows no more about aviation than I do about
+soap-boiling, which, I believe, was his profession at one time. So I
+took up the challenge, and for a time we argued the matter up and down.
+
+"He couldn't refute my professional knowledge, of course; so at last,
+finding he was getting the worst of it, he stuck his thumbs in the
+armholes of his waistcoat in that detestable manner of his and said,
+'I'll bet you a thousand pounds that your nephew doesn't bring down
+another Zeppelin within a year.' On the impulse of the moment I, like a
+fool, said 'Done!' and the bet was clinched there and then."
+
+The major stopped, and there was a long and constrained pause.
+
+"Well, uncle," said Lawless presently, "you certainly were a mug."
+
+"It was all due," answered the major, "to arguing with a man who is not
+a gentleman."
+
+They both relapsed into silence again. The major was not exactly a poor
+man, but a thousand pounds, especially in wartime, is--well, a thousand
+pounds, and the old gentleman, as Lawless was well aware, could not
+afford to lose such a sum.
+
+"So," remarked the Lieutenant after a while, "it's up to me to see that
+you don't lose that thou., uncle?"
+
+"I don't say that, my boy, but if you could--er--manage to bring down a
+Zeppelin within the year it would be--er--a great convenience to me."
+
+Lawless, in spite of the serious responsibility which had been thrust
+upon him, laughed.
+
+"I hope this'll be a warning to you against an over-indulgence in family
+pride," he said.
+
+"It was all my own fault, of course," answered the major sadly. "But
+remember," he added, brightening up, "the thousand pounds is yours if
+you get that airship. I wouldn't touch a penny of Sir John's money."
+
+"I'm not so fastidious, uncle. So, if I do bring down a 'Zep'--which
+isn't at all likely, I'm afraid--I'll have much pleasure in taking
+charge of the cash."
+
+In due course Lawless reported himself at headquarters, confident that
+now he would at once be sent to the Front. In this, however, he was
+again doomed to disappointment; for, much to his chagrin, he was sent
+with his mechanic to test a new type of seaplane off the Irish coast.
+
+"I've a good mind to chuck the Service altogether," he growled at the
+thought of that thousand pounds becoming more visionary than ever.
+Certainly there was not much chance of encountering a Zeppelin off the
+coast of Munster, which was where the tests were to take place.
+
+It was a warm, misty dawn and the moisture-laden atmosphere was like
+that of a damp hothouse when Lawless arrived to start the trials. These
+occupied the whole morning, and at noon the Lieutenant decided on a
+"stand-easy" so that Cassidy might partake of the lunch he had brought
+with him. The Lieutenant had intended to share the repast, but that last
+volplane had been too much for him, and he had succumbed to his new
+enemy--air-sickness.
+
+While Cassidy, whose stomach was as strong as a ship's boiler, consumed
+his lunch Lawless pondered over his very problematical chance of ever
+bringing down another Zeppelin. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted
+by the flickering of the needle attached to the wireless apparatus.
+Bending over the instrument, he realised that it was recording an urgent
+message for help for some vessel in distress.
+
+"S--S--S--S. Steamer _Nimrod_ attacked by submarine," he read. Then
+followed the latitude and longitude of the ship's position, ending up
+with emergency call "S--S--S."
+
+"Great Scot!" ejaculated the Lieutenant.
+
+"Did ye speak, sorr?" asked Cassidy, with his mouth full of bread and
+cheese.
+
+"Finish your grub, Mike; we've got a long flight in front of us,"
+answered Lawless.
+
+He had made up his mind to go to the assistance of the distressed
+vessel. At a rough calculation she was about fifty or sixty miles away
+in a south-westerly direction, and, as the seaplane had a speed of a
+hundred miles an hour under favourable conditions, the Lieutenant hoped
+to reach her in a little over half an hour. A glance at the petrol
+gauges showed that the supply was running low and that there was only
+enough left to carry the machine seventy or eighty miles, which would
+mean about twenty miles short of the return journey. But Lawless, with
+his usual disregard for consequences, decided to deal with that problem
+when it arose, nor did he stop to ask himself what practical assistance
+he could render the _Nimrod_ when he arrived.
+
+Shouting some instructions to Cassidy, he started the engines. The great
+propeller began to revolve, and the seaplane, after skimming along the
+surface of the water for fifty yards or so, rose gracefully in the air.
+The conditions, apart from the haze, were excellent for flying, and,
+after a flight of twenty-five minutes, Lawless made out what looked like
+a cloud of black smoke rising vertically above the mist. A few moments
+afterwards he could see the hull of a large steamer with a heavy list to
+starboard and so low down at the bows that her propellers were raised
+above the water. The Lieutenant at once volplaned to the surface, hoping
+that he might catch sight of some of the ship's boats, which, no doubt,
+had been launched as soon as the vessel was struck by the torpedo. But
+the low-lying mist, much thicker here than near the coast, prevented his
+seeing anything outside a very narrow radius.
+
+The derelict was on fire aft, and, judging by the boatless derricks and
+loosely hanging falls, all the boats had got safely away. But, in spite
+of the deserted appearance of the ship, Lawless determined to board her
+and make a hasty search in case some sick or helpless person had been
+overlooked at the last moment--such things had occurred before to his
+knowledge. A few turns of the seaplane's propeller brought her
+alongside, and, catching hold of one of the falls, he hauled himself on
+to the port taffrail.
+
+"Mike," he shouted back to his mechanic, "stand by till I return. This
+packet isn't going to keep afloat much longer."
+
+"And what'll yer honour be doing aboard that floatin' coffin, begging
+yer pardon, sorr?" asked Cassidy.
+
+"I'm going to make sure that nobody's left aboard."
+
+"Then if yer going into that smouldering hell, it's meself that's coming
+wid ye, sorr," said the Irishman, in defiance of all the rules of
+discipline.
+
+"All right, come on then," answered Lawless, thinking the man might
+possibly be of some assistance.
+
+The mechanic made the seaplane fast to one of the falls and then joined
+the Lieutenant. Owing to the angle at which the vessel had canted over,
+it was difficult to maintain an upright position on the deck, and so
+they slid, rather than walked, towards the main staircase. Descending
+this, they reached a vestibule, giving access to a magnificent saloon
+and also to a couple of long, narrow alleyways upon which the cabins
+opened. These alleyways, extending aft from amidships, were separated
+by the engine-room bulkheads, so that between them there was a large
+shaft which served to ventilate the engine-room by means of the top
+grating.
+
+"Cassidy, you look in the cabins on the port side and I'll take those on
+the starboard," said the Lieutenant.
+
+They separated, and Lawless proceeded along the starboard alleyway,
+glancing into each cabin to make sure that it was unoccupied. Everywhere
+there were signs of hurry and disorder, showing that the passengers had
+only had sufficient time to collect a few necessary articles before
+taking to the boats. All the starboard cabins proved to be empty, and,
+having reached the end of the alleyway, the Lieutenant crossed to the
+other side, where he expected to meet Cassidy. The latter was nowhere to
+be seen, however, and it was not till Lawless had made his presence
+known by a shout that he heard the mechanic's voice.
+
+"Mr. Lawless, sorr, come quick! I've----"
+
+The rest was drowned in a deafening crash, and the Lieutenant stepped
+back only just in time to escape being buried beneath tons of burning
+wreckage which had suddenly descended into the alleyway, followed by one
+of the huge iron girders that supported the deck above. He was thus cut
+off by a wall of blazing _débris_ unless the starboard alleyway,
+through which he had just passed, was still open. Realising that there
+was not a moment to be lost, he dashed back, only to find his way barred
+by a portion of the engine-room bulkhead which had collapsed right
+across the passage.
+
+Rushing back to the port alleyway, he was again stopped by the flaming
+barrier which lay across it. At first sight it seemed utterly impossible
+to get past it, but after a moment Lawless noticed a small, tunnel-like
+cavity beneath the wreckage where it was held up by the fallen girder,
+one end of which rested on the framework of the deck above. If he could
+only crawl through that and right underneath the smouldering furnace he
+might succeed in reaching the other side. So, dropping on all fours, he
+started to crawl into the opening, well aware that at any moment the
+girder might wholly collapse and crush him beneath its weight. If that
+happened he would be either mercifully killed outright or else pinned
+down and slowly roasted to death.
+
+Almost suffocated by the smoke, he succeeded in forcing his way through
+and at last emerged safely on the other side. For a moment or two he was
+blinded by the smoke and could see nothing, but as he staggered to his
+feet a hand clutched his arm.
+
+"Be the powers, 'tis yerself, sorr, the saints be praised!" cried the
+voice of Cassidy. "Are ye hurt, now?"
+
+"No, no; but have you found anyone?"
+
+"Shure I have that. There's a poor divil pinned down in his bunk yonder,
+and, though I've thried wid all me moight, I can't raise him."
+
+"Then I'll lend you a hand, Mike. There's no time to lose, for this
+packet's settling fast," replied Lawless.
+
+Cassidy led the way into one of the cabins, where a man lay in the lower
+berth, held down by the upper one, which had collapsed and fallen upon
+him. He was unconscious, evidently having been stunned by the falling
+mass. Between them they managed to remove enough of the wreckage to
+admit of his being dragged out of the berth. As they carried him from
+the cabin there came a thunderous crash, and Lawless saw the end of the
+great girder under which he had crawled give way and bring down with it
+the burning mass it had supported. Now, both fore and aft, they were
+imprisoned by a wall of flaming wreckage that made escape seem hopeless.
+
+"'Tis the end av us, sorr," groaned Cassidy.
+
+They laid their unconscious burden down in the alleyway, and while the
+mechanic set up a lugubrious wail Lawless started to rip up the matting
+with which the alleyway was covered.
+
+"Here we are!" he exclaimed.
+
+He pointed triumphantly to a circular iron plate let into the deck, and
+Cassidy, looking down after Lawless had removed this, beheld a dark
+cavity which emitted an odour of stagnant water.
+
+"We can drop into the hold through there," said the Lieutenant, "and
+possibly we may reach the for'a'd deck. At any rate, it's our only
+chance. I'll go down first, and when you hear me shout lower that fellow
+down to me."
+
+He gripped the end of the manhole, lowered himself through it, and then
+let go. There was a splash followed by a shout.
+
+"Are ye all roight, sorr?" called Cassidy anxiously.
+
+"Aye, aye, lower away," came the reply from the apparently bottomless
+depths.
+
+Cassidy thereupon lowered the unconscious man through the hole, and held
+on till he felt the weight removed from his arms. Then he squeezed
+through the aperture, and, letting go, found himself nearly waist-deep
+in water and in almost utter darkness.
+
+"The divil!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Now you carry this man, and I'll lead the way," said Lawless, and
+Cassidy, catching hold of the limp body, slung it across his shoulder
+like a sack.
+
+The Lieutenant slowly felt his way through the darkness towards the bows
+of the ship, guided only by the downward slope, for he could not see an
+inch in front of him. As they advanced the water became deeper, and he
+began to fear that it would cut off their retreat as effectively as had
+the fire.
+
+"Damn!" he ejaculated abruptly. "It's all right," he added to Cassidy,
+who was close behind. "I bumped against an iron ladder. There must be a
+hatchway of some sort at the top; so you'd better wait here till I find
+it."
+
+He ascended the ladder till he could go no farther, and then, after some
+trouble, managed to force open a small hatch. Climbing through, he found
+himself on the for'a'd well-deck and drew a deep breath of pure air
+which came as a life-giving tonic after the foul atmosphere from which
+he had emerged.
+
+"Wait a moment," he shouted back. "I'll lower a rope for you to fasten
+round that chap's body. We can get him up quicker that way."
+
+There was plenty of loose tackle strewn about the deck, and, selecting a
+piece, he made a running noose at the end and then lowered it through
+the hatch.
+
+"All ready," came Cassidy's voice a moment later. "If ye'll just hold on
+for a minute, sorr, I'll come up and help haul."
+
+In a few seconds the Irishman's head appeared above the hatch, and,
+stepping on to the deck, he helped Lawless haul the man up.
+
+"Now fetch the machine for'a'd, Mike, while I try and bring this chap to
+his senses," said the Lieutenant.
+
+Cassidy promptly climbed on to the taffrail and made his way amidships
+to the spot where the seaplane had been made fast. Meanwhile Lawless did
+his best to revive the unconscious man by splashing sea-water over him
+and trying artificial respiration. In a few moments the passenger
+uttered a faint moan and opened his eyes.
+
+"Feeling better?" asked the Lieutenant cheerily.
+
+The other stared at him with lack-lustre eyes and made no answer.
+
+"You must try and get on your pins," said Lawless encouragingly. "Come
+on, now, I'll help you."
+
+The man seemed to make a feeble attempt to use his limbs, and with a
+great effort Lawless managed to prop him against the taffrail. By this
+time Cassidy had brought up the seaplane, and together they succeeded in
+transferring their charge to it and placing him in the rear seat. This
+done, they cast off from the derelict and the Lieutenant started the
+engines. As he did so he gave a backward glance at the ship.
+
+"She's going!" he cried, and as the seaplane started to rise there came
+a roar from behind, and the _Nimrod_, parting amidships, disappeared
+beneath the waves in a dense cloud of smoke and steam.
+
+"That is the narrowest squeak I've ever had," he murmured.
+
+He glanced at the petrol gauges, and saw that the tanks were nearly
+empty. There might be enough left to carry them another ten miles, but
+certainly not more. And, sure enough, in a few minutes the engines began
+to slow down, and there was nothing for it but to volplane to the
+surface. Their sole chance of rescue now lay in being picked up by some
+passing steamer, for, though the wireless apparatus could receive
+messages, there was no power to transmit them.
+
+"Keep a bright look-out, Mike," said Lawless. "The sooner we're picked
+up the better, for I sniff bad weather coming."
+
+By now the fog had almost disappeared before a freshening sou'-westerly
+wind, and the sea, so smooth and oily a short while ago, was now whipped
+into choppy, foam-crested waves.
+
+It was not long before the Lieutenant's prophecy of coming bad weather
+began to be fulfilled. Afternoon had now given place to evening, and a
+hazy moon, frequently obscured by black, threatening clouds, hung in the
+sky. Before darkness had quite set in they were in the midst of a gale
+which became more and more violent every minute.
+
+Then commenced a wild struggle, a fight against the devastating seas.
+The frail machine was tossed from crest to crest of each on-coming wave
+or else buried in the trough of the sea, whose towering walls of livid
+green water on every side threatened to crush it to atoms. Yet its very
+flimsiness helped to keep it afloat, for, having no hull or other
+substantial surface, it offered little or no resistance to the force of
+the waves. As a cork will float on the most terrific sea when a boat
+would be dashed to pieces, so the light seaplane, held together by its
+steel wires and guys, successfully resisted the onslaught of the
+Atlantic billows.
+
+But the plight of its occupants was terrible. Lashed to the yielding
+structure by cords, they were alternately flung violently upwards and
+then cast down to be swamped, choked and half-stunned by the falling
+mountains of water. As for the rescued man, who had also been lashed to
+the machine, it was impossible to tell whether he was dead or alive, and
+to Lawless, who expected every moment to be their last, it didn't seem
+to matter much either way.
+
+So the night passed and dawn--cold, cheerless and desolate--began to
+break at last upon that wild waste of storm-tossed waters; a running sea
+of dull, greenish-grey with great ridges of seething foam rushing upon
+one another in serried ranks like the battalions of a devouring army.
+And amidst that roaring, pitiless flood there floated the battered wreck
+of the seaplane. Both Lawless and Cassidy, as well as their passenger,
+were unconscious, and, but for the fact that they were lashed to the
+machine, would have been swallowed up in the boiling seas long ago.
+
+In this condition they were seen and picked up by the gunboat _Panther_,
+which had been sent out to search for the survivors of the _Nimrod_. All
+three were still unconscious when, after great difficulty owing to the
+heavy seas, they were conveyed on board the warship.
+
+When Lawless at last opened his eyes he found himself lying in an
+unfamiliar cabin, and it was some minutes before he realised what must
+have happened. He was struggling to recall the terrible events preceding
+his lapse into unconsciousness, when the cabin door opened and a young
+man in the uniform of a naval surgeon entered.
+
+"Well, how do you feel?" asked the latter, seeing that Lawless was
+looking about him.
+
+"Don't quite know," answered the Lieutenant. "I'm still a bit foggy in
+my mind."
+
+"I don't wonder at it, judging from what your mechanic has told me. He's
+a tough customer and no mistake; came to in less than an hour after you
+were all rescued."
+
+"Then how long have I been unconscious?" asked the Lieutenant.
+
+"Ever since you were picked up, and that's nearly four hours ago. We
+shall reach Plymouth about midday, I expect."
+
+In due course the _Panther_ arrived at Plymouth, and, just as Lawless
+was about to board the steam pinnace that was to take him ashore, the
+man he had rescued came up.
+
+"This is the first opportunity I have had, sir, of thanking you," he
+said. "You have saved----"
+
+"Oh, never mind about that," interrupted the Lieutenant. "Are you coming
+ashore?"
+
+"Yes----" The man hesitated a minute, and went on a little awkwardly.
+"The fact is, I'm in rather a hole. All my money and papers went down in
+the _Nimrod_, and I haven't a cent to bless myself with. I hate to ask
+you such a thing, but if you could lend me a fiver I should be deeply
+grateful. Here is my card."
+
+He handed Lawless a visiting card on which was inscribed "John H.
+Smythe, Seattle."
+
+"I shall be staying at the Savoy," he added, "and if you'll give me your
+address I'll wire you the money. The American Ambassador is a friend of
+mine, and will lend me sufficient till I can cable my bank."
+
+The Lieutenant hesitated for a moment, not because he had any reason to
+doubt the speaker, but because he was almost penniless himself at the
+moment. Still, he could not help feeling sorry for the man in this
+unfortunate predicament, and decided to borrow the money from the
+captain of the _Panther_.
+
+"Might be in a mess like this myself some day," he reflected, as,
+telling Smythe to wait a moment, he hurried away to interview the
+skipper.
+
+The latter promptly lent him five pounds, and, as Lawless was about to
+leave, called him back.
+
+"By the way, what about that fellow you found on the _Nimrod_?" he said.
+"He has no papers and nothing whatever to prove his identity. I have
+orders to proceed at once to Portsmouth, or I'd hand him over to the
+authorities for them to make investigations."
+
+"I was going to take him ashore myself," answered the Lieutenant.
+
+"Oh, then, that's all right."
+
+The two men shook hands, and Lawless returned to Smythe, who was waiting
+for him at the gangway.
+
+"All serene," he said, thrusting five one pound notes into the man's
+hand. "Now we'd better get ashore."
+
+They were landed at the Great Western jetty, and Smythe told Lawless he
+wanted to catch the first train to London. At Millbay Station they shook
+hands and said "Good-bye," after which the Lieutenant went on to
+Devonport to report himself.
+
+On the following morning, when he was preparing to depart for Dundee, a
+telegram arrived ordering him to proceed to the Admiralty. He reached
+London in the afternoon, and duly presented himself at the particular
+room mentioned in his instructions. On entering he found a group of
+officers seated at a table in a manner unpleasantly reminiscent of a
+court-martial.
+
+He was asked for and gave a brief account of his adventures after flying
+to the assistance of the _Nimrod_, and then one of the officers handed
+him a photograph.
+
+"Do you recognise this person?" he asked.
+
+"Why, yes," replied the Lieutenant. "It's the man named Smythe, whom I
+found unconscious in his bunk."
+
+The officers exchanged significant glances, and the one who had produced
+the photograph turned once more to the Lieutenant.
+
+"We understand from the Captain of the _Panther_ that the man went
+ashore with you at Plymouth," he said.
+
+"Yes, and I lent him a fiver to get to London with. Here's his card,"
+and Lawless produced the visiting card which the rescued passenger had
+given him.
+
+"You have not heard from him since?" asked the officer, after glancing
+at the card.
+
+"No, sir," answered the Lieutenant innocently. "It's quite possible he
+hasn't been able to see the Ambassador yet."
+
+"Quite," said the other drily. "This man who gave his name as Smythe is
+really Reichster, the notorious German-American spy for whose capture a
+reward of £500 has been offered."
+
+There was a long pause. At last Lawless pulled himself together and
+realised that life still had to be lived.
+
+"I think, sir, if it could be managed, I should like to transfer back to
+the Sea Service," he said. "The Flying Corps is a bit too risky for
+me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE DECOY
+
+
+Whether it was due to the fact that, in addition to having smashed up
+two monoplanes, Lawless had lost the new seaplane which he had been
+ordered to test, was never made clear to him, but certain it is that,
+soon after the latter incident, his request to be transferred back to
+the Sea Service was granted. That was why, in accordance with his
+instructions, he found himself at Devonport awaiting orders. In due
+course these arrived, and were to the effect that he must report himself
+on board the patrol boat _O47_, at Falmouth, where he would enjoy
+temporary rank as Lieutenant.
+
+"Holy smoke!" ejaculated Lawless when he received the order, "this takes
+me down a peg. Why, I was Lieutenant-Commander----"
+
+"Don't worry," interposed the Port Admiral encouragingly. "You'll be
+back where you started from before long. I'll do my best to get you your
+old ship, the _Knat_."
+
+"Thank you, sir," answered Lawless gratefully.
+
+On arriving at Falmouth he found the _O47_ a grimy, unpicturesque, and
+weather-beaten trawler, whose prescribed beat, he was informed, lay
+"somewhere" west of Start Point. The skipper, a gruff, taciturn old
+salt, received him without enthusiasm, and grumbled audibly at having to
+"dry-nurse green-horns." Obviously he had never heard of the
+Lieutenant's exploits when in command of the _Knat_, and Lawless was
+careful not to undeceive him.
+
+"I'll have a lark with the old buffer," he told himself, and felt so
+pleased at this idea that he forgot his indignation at having been
+assigned to such a wretched old tub and with inferior rank.
+
+The _O47_ left Falmouth Harbour on the following morning, and was soon
+stubbing her way westward, rolling as only a North Sea trawler can roll.
+
+There was a stiff, sou'-westerly breeze blowing, and as the day waned it
+showed signs of developing into a first-class hurricane. The sea, which
+had been merely choppy to begin with, had risen until the great
+foam-crested billows charged down upon each other, flinging high their
+white manes of wind-driven spume. The sky had turned from blue to a
+cold, steely grey, with low-lying clouds like banks of soiled snow on
+the western horizon. A pale crescent moon already showed dimly in the
+half-light.
+
+In the little wheelhouse, perched high up in front of the funnel,
+Skipper Chard clung to a handrail and peered through the rime-frosted
+glass across the endless grey vista of tossing, white-capped seas.
+
+Chard growled as the trawler, struck amidships by an extra large wave,
+heeled till her port taffrail was under water.
+
+When she had righted herself, Lawless, clad in oilskins and a
+sou'-wester, swarmed up the little iron ladder to the wheelhouse, and,
+waiting a favourable opportunity, opened the door and staggered in.
+
+"Phew!" he ejaculated. "This is weather and no mistake!"
+
+"Weather!" echoed the skipper with a sour smile. "Wait till we get it
+really rough!"
+
+The quartermaster at the wheel suppressed a smile, while the Lieutenant
+did his best to look apprehensive.
+
+"I thought this was pretty rough," he said apologetically.
+
+"Oh, it's a bit choppy, I'll allow. But rough----" The skipper smiled a
+smile, more eloquent than words, that expressed all the scorn which a
+seasoned salt feels for a greenhorn who has still to learn the ways of
+the sea.
+
+"It'll be my watch in five minutes," said Lawless. "I expect you will be
+glad to go below."
+
+The skipper grunted. No one but a raw amateur would have turned out for
+his watch before being called; it was the brand of inexperience.
+
+"Keep her as near west by south as may be," said the skipper, jerking
+his head towards the binnacle. "Send for me if you sight anything."
+
+While he was speaking, eight bells struck, and as the sound died away a
+seaman came up the iron ladder to relieve the quartermaster at the
+wheel. As the off-duty man stumbled out of the wheelhouse, the skipper
+also turned to leave.
+
+"You'll need to keep a bright look-out," he remarked grimly. "As like as
+not----"
+
+He paused abruptly, then snatched a pair of binoculars out of the box
+attached to the handrail, and focused them on a small object, barely
+discernible to the naked eye. He remained thus for more than a minute,
+with legs stretched wide apart, swinging back and forth automatically
+with the motion of the vessel.
+
+"Have a squint," and he handed the glasses to the Lieutenant.
+
+The latter focused the binoculars on the strange vessel ahead. She was a
+steamer of about fifteen hundred tons, with the word _Gelderland_
+painted in huge white letters on her hull amidships, together with the
+Dutch colours.
+
+"A Dutchman," he observed, handing back the glasses.
+
+"A private of marines could tell that," snorted the skipper. "Question
+is, what's she doing right away west here?"
+
+The Lieutenant made no answer; which was wise, since none was expected.
+Chard shouted an order to the quartermaster, who echoed it, and began to
+turn the heavy wheel.
+
+"Signal the Dutchman to stop," commanded the skipper.
+
+It being too dark to use flags or semaphore, Lawless picked up the
+signal lamp and flashed the message across the intervening space. He
+waited for an answer, and, none coming, called up once more.
+
+"Can't get a reply," he said after the second attempt.
+
+"I'll get one, though," muttered the skipper; and, sliding back one of
+the windows, he leant out.
+
+"Stubbs, put a shot across that hooker's bows!" he shouted.
+
+"Aye, aye, sir!" answered the gunner, and bent over a small quick-firer
+that was mounted on the well-deck forward.
+
+Next moment there was a bright yellow flash and a reverberating boom.
+The shell was seen to strike the water some twenty yards in front of the
+Dutchman's bows, sending up a small pillar of foaming water. But the
+stranger, instead of stopping, suddenly altered her course, and a cloud
+of black smoke which began to pour out of her funnel showed that she was
+firing up.
+
+"All right!" ejaculated the skipper. "But we'll cop her yet. Looks
+suspicious, her cuttin' away like that. Climb on the fo'c'sle and signal
+that if she don't stop we'll sink her!"
+
+Lawless descended the ladder, staggered across the slippery, reeling
+deck, and mounted the fo'c'sle head. Crooking one arm round a stay to
+steady himself, he jerked out the signal in a somewhat uneven succession
+of dots and dashes. Still the stranger made no answering signal, and at
+last he climbed down.
+
+"Put a shot through her funnel!" yelled Chard.
+
+The gunner breathed hard as he adjusted the sights and waited till the
+_O47_ swung up for a second on an even keel.
+
+Bang!
+
+The shell sped true, for where the Dutchman's funnel had stood there was
+now only a jagged stump of metal, with columns of smoke issuing out of
+it. Also her captain had seen fit to slow down at last.
+
+"Mr. Lawless, I'm going alongside," shouted the skipper from the
+wheelhouse. "Serve out cutlasses and revolvers, in case the Dutchmen
+start to play monkey-tricks."
+
+The Lieutenant served out the weapons, after which he climbed on the
+fo'c'sle head to help bring the trawler alongside her quarry. It needed
+no little skill and judgment to accomplish this in such weather and with
+darkness coming on.
+
+The high bows of the _O47_, towering above the low decks of the
+_Gelderland_ as the trawler came racing up, threatened to crash right
+into the Dutchman and cut her in twain amidships, but the trawler's
+engines were reversed in the nick of time, and her stern slewed round so
+that the two vessels lay alongside each other.
+
+Skipper Chard dropped on the _Gelderland's_ deck just as the Captain--a
+short, stout man--came puffing down from his bridge in a violent temper.
+
+"Vat for you do that?" he demanded, pointing to the smashed funnel.
+
+"Why didn't you stop when I ordered you?"
+
+"Because I saw not any signal. The first thing I know is--plump!--and
+then vat you call the chiminey is proken."
+
+"You mean to say you didn't know I sent a shot over your bows?" demanded
+Chard incredulously.
+
+"I see noddings," answered the Captain. "But you haff done big damages,
+and I will make you pay."
+
+"Oh! will you, my son?" replied the other. "We'll see about that, but
+in the meantime I must see your papers."
+
+The Captain promptly led the way to the chart-room and produced his
+papers with an alacrity that was calculated to disarm the most
+suspicious investigator. According to them, the _Gelderland_ had cleared
+at Amsterdam for Boston with general cargo.
+
+"H'm!" grunted Chard, as he looked at the papers. "How long have you
+been coming up the Channel?"
+
+"Four or five days. I was hung up by fog."
+
+"Well, the sooner you get out of it the better," answered Chard, turning
+to go. The ship's papers were in order, and therefore he had no right to
+detain the vessel further. As he was about to pass through the door his
+glance fell on a chart fastened to the table with drawing-pins. He
+paused for a moment and bent over it.
+
+"Here!" he said in a different tone. "Come here!"
+
+His forefinger was resting on the apex formed by two diagonal lines
+which had been ruled across the chart. This apex was just opposite Start
+Point, and the lines formed two sides of a triangle--one running
+parallel to the English coast as far as the Lizard, the other running
+south-west to a point just north of Ushant.
+
+"Vell?" inquired the Captain, but there was a slight tremor in his
+voice.
+
+"You'd better scuttle that Amsterdam yarn," replied Chard quietly. He
+laid his finger once more on the chart. "If this means anything," he
+went on, "it means that you've been cruising around between Start Point,
+Ushant and the Lizard, and that the clearance papers you showed me are
+just fakes. It's pretty certain that----No, you don't!" as the Captain
+made a swift movement with his right hand. "Keep your eye on this, my
+son," and Chard levelled an automatic pistol at the other's head.
+
+Then, still covering the Captain with his pistol, he hailed the _O47_
+through the open door of the chart-room.
+
+"Mr. Lawless!"
+
+"Aye, aye!" came the answer.
+
+"Train the gun on this packet, and sweep her decks if the men show
+trouble. Then lower a couple of boats and come aboard for prisoners."
+
+The Lieutenant gave the necessary orders to the gunner, after which he
+saw to the lowering of the boats. In the darkness and with a heavy sea
+running this last was a difficult and dangerous task, but it was
+accomplished safely. Meanwhile, Chard had insisted on some of the
+hatches being removed from the _Gelderland's_ hold in order that he
+might judge of the contents. They consisted chiefly of cases, crates and
+barrels, some of which, on being opened, proved to contain earthenware.
+
+"Vell, does that satisfy you?" asked the Captain triumphantly.
+
+"Not by a damn sight," answered Chard bluntly. "There's a clear space at
+the bottom of the hold. Open one of the cases down there."
+
+The Captain protested, but the other was adamant, and eventually a
+couple of men were despatched to carry out his demand. The first case
+was opened, and found to be packed with cans of petrol. Chard smiled
+grimly and ordered another to be opened; it contained a small
+quick-firer in pieces.
+
+"A proper little arsenal, this," remarked Chard, with a grin. "Let's try
+another of your surprise packets."
+
+A third case was broken open, displaying rows of neatly packed shells.
+
+"I see; if any _U_ boat happened to have damaged a gun or run short of
+ammunition, you can supply the goods," said Chard. "It's a fine idea."
+
+The boats from the _O47_ had come alongside, and the Lieutenant swung
+himself aboard. In a few words Chard explained the situation and told
+him that, as soon as the prisoners had been put aboard the trawler, he
+would be placed in charge of the _Gelderland_ with a prize crew. This
+was carried out speedily, the Germans, as they really were, offering no
+resistance in view of the fact that the trawler's gun was kept trained
+on them all the time.
+
+Half a dozen men from the _O47_ were placed on board the _Gelderland_ as
+a prize crew, and Chard, before leaving, advised Lawless to make
+straight for Plymouth. Then he returned to the trawler and the two
+vessels slowly drew apart and were lost to each other in the darkness.
+
+"Keep her nose to the west," Lawless told the quartermaster, and then
+dived into the chart-room to lay out his course for Plymouth. This done,
+he stepped out on to the bridge again and peered into the darkness. The
+Eddystone Light was not visible yet, and he was about to return, when
+there came a shout from the look-out on the fo'c'sle head.
+
+"Light on the port bow, sir!"
+
+The Lieutenant leaned over the bridge-rail and stared into the night,
+but could see nothing. He was about to hail the look-out man, when he
+saw a faint yellow glimmer appear for a second, and vanish, but this
+time it was on the starboard side.
+
+"Queer," he murmured.
+
+He started towards the other end of the bridge, and accidentally knocked
+his foot against something. Stooping down, he found it was a
+signal-lamp, but different to the one he had been used to handling.
+Thoughtlessly, he picked it up and tried the shutter; a beam of yellow
+light flashed out and was gone. Then, as if in answer to it, the
+mysterious light to starboard flicked twice and disappeared again.
+
+"Oh-h!" murmured Lawless.
+
+It had come upon him that the light was a signal from a submarine, and
+that, in moving the shutter of the signal-lamp, he had unwittingly
+answered it. Here, indeed, was a chance of recovering his reputation,
+for there could be no doubt that the submarine was a _U_ boat. If only
+it could be captured or sunk!
+
+He crossed to the bridge telegraph and rang down "Stop!" to the
+engine-room. The machinery ceased throbbing, and the _Gelderland_,
+losing way, began to roll in a nasty fashion. Then, out of the darkness,
+a voice hailed her in German. The Lieutenant shouted back some
+meaningless gibberish, trusting to the wind to make his voice
+indistinct. This done, he hurried on to the deck, flung a rope ladder
+over the taffrail, and whispered some instructions to the bos'n.
+
+Leaning over the bulwarks, he saw the shadowy outline of a large
+submarine alongside, her deck awash, and with a man standing on the
+hatch-cover, clinging to an inadequate handrail. The man flung out a
+rope with a hook at the end, caught one of the rungs of the rope
+ladder, and drew it towards him. Clutching it, he allowed himself to
+swing off the hatch, and next moment was clambering over the bulwarks.
+Then, as he reached the deck, a couple of seamen sprang out of the
+shadows and bore him down before he could utter a cry.
+
+"Well?" remarked the Lieutenant interrogatively, as the prisoner, with a
+sailor on each side of him, stood in the Captain's cabin.
+
+The man from the submarine growled something beneath his breath.
+Evidently he had not yet recovered from his astonishment.
+
+"Well?" repeated Lawless almost genially.
+
+"This boat, is it not the _Gelderland_?" asked the prisoner in passable
+English.
+
+"It is."
+
+"Then why----"
+
+"Take him aft to the wheelhouse and lock him in," interrupted the
+Lieutenant. The prisoner made an abrupt movement, which was checked at
+sight of a revolver which one of the seamen was holding. Then he was
+marched off.
+
+It was not till then that Lawless realised the difficulties of the
+situation. He had no gun mounted wherewith to sink the enemy submarine;
+obviously he could not board her so that----
+
+"I'll ram her!" he ejaculated aloud.
+
+He returned to the bridge and saw that the huge whale-like form of the
+_U_ boat was still alongside. Grabbing the telegraph, he rang down "Full
+speed ahead!" and then, thrusting the quartermaster aside, took the
+wheel and swung the vessel round so that she was bows-on to the
+submarine. At the same moment the latter's hatch opened and a man
+stepped out, evidently to try and find out what kept the other so long.
+But before he could realise what was happening, the _Gelderland_ drove
+right into the low-lying hull; there was a terrific shock, and, as the
+steamer reeled under the force of the impact, a stifled cry from out of
+the blackness--and then silence.
+
+Considerably elated, Lawless picked up the Eddystone light about an hour
+later. Then, having taken his bearings, he left Plymouth far away to
+starboard and headed down Channel, while, in obedience to his
+instructions, the quick-firer was taken out of the hold and mounted on
+deck and the damaged funnel repaired.
+
+He had been the recipient of a brilliant inspiration.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"The young fool's been and got himself torpedoed, that's what he's
+done," said Skipper Chard in a tone of conviction.
+
+He was seated with other patrol-boat skippers in the bar-parlour of a
+certain hostelry, and the conversation had turned on the mysterious
+disappearance of the _Gelderland_ with her prize crew. A full week had
+elapsed since her capture by the _O47_, yet she had not been reported at
+Plymouth or any of the other western seaports.
+
+"Skipper Trevail do say he saw she west of Lizard," remarked an old
+Cornishman.
+
+Chard shook his head impatiently. He absolutely refused to credit the
+strange stories which, during the last few days, had been rife in the
+west. Patrol skippers had solemnly assured him that they had seen the
+_Gelderland_ off the Cornish coast. One declared that, not knowing what
+she was, he had boarded her and seen her captain, a young man who could
+not speak a word of English; but, as her papers were in order, he had
+let her proceed without troubling to search her cargo. As day after day
+passed these stories were added to, or varied, until the _Gelderland_
+began to be regarded as a phantom ship, and was spoken of, not without
+awe, as the _Flying Dutchman_. The skipper of the _O47_ alone maintained
+a sceptical attitude, and reiterated his belief that she had been either
+torpedoed or mined.
+
+At last the Admiralty, awaking to the fact that a captured ship had
+disappeared, sent wireless instructions to the officers in command of
+the patrols to make a systematic search for the vessel. And so, from
+Start Point to the Lizard, cruiser, destroyer, and patrol-boat swept the
+seas.
+
+On the afternoon of the very day that these instructions were sent out,
+Skipper Chard stood in the wheelhouse of the _O47_ and swept the horizon
+with his glasses. Suddenly he uttered a cry, for just visible against
+the skyline was the _Gelderland_.
+
+"Whack her up all you can!" he yelled through the voice-pipe. "We've
+sighted her!"
+
+The engineer did his best, and the deck-plates of the _O47_ vibrated
+with the ponderous thumping of the machinery below. Chard leaned out of
+the wheelhouse with his binoculars glued to the missing prize, calling
+down maledictions upon himself and all his kin if he failed to lay her
+by the heels. But the _Gelderland_ was making off as fast as her engines
+would carry her, and there ensued a long and stern chase which lasted
+until the _O47_ was near enough to send a shot crashing through the
+_Gelderland's_ chart-room. Then, and not till then, the _Gelderland_
+hove to.
+
+"You'll be hanged for this, you ravin' lunatic!" shouted Chard as he
+boarded the recaptured prize; and then, as the Lieutenant, descending
+from the bridge, smiled in a sickly sort of fashion, he added: "You've
+been guilty of barratry, piracy, mutiny, and heaven knows what!"
+
+Lawless was told to regard himself as a prisoner, and then the skipper,
+pursuing his investigations, was amazed to find some score of Germans in
+the hold, all of them belonging to the submarine service.
+
+"Why--why, what the deuce does this mean?" he demanded.
+
+"I had to sling some of the cargo overboard," answered the other
+apologetically, "or there wouldn't have been room for these chaps."
+
+"But how the blazes did they get here?"
+
+Then Lawless related his adventures since the stormy night when he was
+placed in charge of the _Gelderland_. He had argued that, if one enemy
+submarine had been deceived by the supply vessel, others might also be
+lured to destruction in the same way, and his argument had proved
+correct.
+
+"I suppose I've been guilty of disobedience," he concluded, "but I've
+bagged four _U_ boats, ramming one and sinking three with the gun we
+found in the hold. Most of the men in the submarines foundered with
+them, but we've managed to save about twenty. At first I wondered how
+they managed to identify the _Gelderland_ in the dark, but I tumbled to
+it the first night. The masthead light, instead of being on the
+foremast, was hung on the aftermast, and this, I suppose, was a
+pre-arranged signal. At any rate, I didn't alter it, and the scheme
+seemed to work."
+
+"If you're not shot, you'll be made a blessed admiral!" the skipper
+remarked.
+
+The court-martial which followed absolved the Lieutenant from the formal
+charges with which he had been indicted, and a few days later he was
+informed that, the _Knat_ having arrived at Devonport, he was to return
+to her with rank of Lieutenant-Commander. And that evening Lawless, in
+the gladness of his heart, took from its case a battered banjo, and,
+lifting up his voice in song, declared in inharmonious accents that
+"Somewhere the sun is shining."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A BOLT FROM THE BLUE
+
+
+"I feel," said Lawless, addressing himself to Sub-lieutenant Trent as
+they stood together on the deck of the _Knat_, "as pleased as a pig with
+two tails."
+
+He glanced around him appreciatively, lingering over each
+well-remembered object, from the quick-firer on the "bandstand" aft to
+the battered ventilating cowls each side of the for'a'd funnel.
+
+"Even the old shipboard stink is fragrant in my nostrils," he went on,
+"and the awful profanity issuing from the galley yonder is like sweet
+music unto my ears."
+
+"H'm," grunted Trent, "you don't seem to have been very happy in the air
+service."
+
+The look of joyful appreciation faded from the Lieutenant's eyes.
+
+"I've lost one thousand five hundred and five pounds since I left the
+_Knat_," he answered. "Or as good as lost it."
+
+"Eh!" ejaculated the junior officer.
+
+Whereupon Lawless confided to him the story of his uncle's unfortunate
+bet and the sad episode of the German spy who, after being rescued from
+the derelict steamer, had borrowed five pounds.
+
+"When you've stopped braying, you jackass, I'll get below," snapped the
+Lieutenant, and, Trent having mastered his mirth, Lawless departed to
+his cabin.
+
+The _Knat_ was on her way to the Clyde, where, with two other
+destroyers, the _Arrow_ and the _Kite_, she was to escort the recently
+launched battleship _Mars_ round to Portsmouth. It was evening when the
+_Knat_ arrived in the Clyde and took up moorings near the leviathan
+battleship, the existence of which was supposed to be known only to the
+Admiralty and those who had been engaged in her construction. As she was
+not to leave till noon on the following day, Lawless decided to take the
+opportunity of a run ashore, and accordingly, having arrayed himself in
+mufti, stepped into the boat and waved farewell to his envious junior
+officer.
+
+Now, on its way to the shore, the boat had to pass close by a very dirty
+coal-tramp, bearing on her stern the legend, "_Black Diamond_,
+Newcastle-on-Tyne." As they pulled near the stern in order to reach the
+quay, Lawless heard a certain order which made him prick up his ears and
+indulge in a few moments' very earnest thought. After a little
+reflection, however, he smiled at his suspicions, and dismissed the
+subject from his mind.
+
+It was somewhat late when, after a visit to the only music-hall which
+the district boasted, the Lieutenant made his way down a side street to
+a certain little Continental restaurant which used to be patronised
+almost exclusively by foreigners.
+
+His attention was attracted by two men attired in the uniform of
+Mercantile Marine officers who sat at a table opposite. They excited his
+curiosity, for, although they appeared to speak English perfectly, they
+were in uniform, and a British sea officer, like his naval confrère,
+hates above all things to be seen ashore in "regimentals."
+
+So impressed was Lawless that when the two officers left the restaurant
+he followed at a respectful distance till they reached the quay
+alongside which the _Black Diamond_ was lying. Here another thing struck
+him as being decidedly peculiar; for, instead of having an aged and
+rheumatic watchman aboard, as is the usual custom of British ships when
+in a home port, there was a man walking up and down in front of the
+gangway as if on sentry go. Then, more astonishing still, as the two
+officers went on board this man saluted them--an unheard-of ceremony on
+a British merchant vessel.
+
+With a growing uneasiness concerning the real character of the _Black
+Diamond_, Lawless hailed a picket-boat, and was taken aboard the _Knat_.
+Here he detailed his adventures and expounded his suspicions to Trent,
+who, however, was not inclined to treat them very seriously.
+
+"If you feel nervous about them, why don't you report to the captain of
+the _Mars_?" he asked.
+
+"And probably be regarded as a lunatic for my pains!" retorted Lawless.
+
+He remained in thought for some moments, then rose.
+
+"P'r'aps you're right," he remarked drowsily. "Very likely they're only
+harmless Dagos after all. I'm going to turn in, so clear out!"
+
+And a few moments later Lieutenant Lawless was sleeping.
+
+On the following morning Lawless noticed that the _Black Diamond_ left
+her berth and steamed down the river about an hour before the _Mars_ and
+her escort were due to leave.
+
+"Well, your nightmare's ship's gone now," remarked Trent. "One of the
+port officials told me she had cleared for Valencia with coals."
+
+"Coals!" echoed Lawless. "Rum sort of place to ship coals for the
+Mediterranean! They could get it cheaper and quicker at Cardiff and
+Newport, besides saving about four days on the double trip."
+
+Soon afterwards came the signal to get under way. The _Mars_ was to
+proceed at about ten knots, with the _Arrow_ and _Kite_ astern on each
+side, and the _Knat_ in front to act as scout and clear the way for her.
+
+Slowly and majestically the marine monster--the latest triumph of
+death-dealing mechanism--swung down the river, her convoy of destroyers
+looking no larger than midges against her huge bulk. Evening was drawing
+in as they came abreast of the white light on Cambrae Island, and,
+although he had been keeping a careful look-out all the afternoon,
+Lawless had seen nothing of the mysterious _Black Diamond_.
+
+"It's strange!" he mused. "I can't understand it."
+
+An hour or two later, when darkness had set in, Lawless left Trent in
+charge and went below to snatch a little rest. He had hardly been in his
+bunk ten minutes, when a messenger knocked at the cabin door and
+informed him that he was wanted on the bridge.
+
+"What's the trouble?" asked the Lieutenant, as he reached the bridge.
+
+Trent withdrew his head from the hood-screen on the port side, and
+pointed to a couple of vertical red lights some distance ahead.
+
+"Steamer broken down," he said; "thought it might be your bogey ship."
+
+Lawless picked up the night glasses and gazed through them for some
+moments.
+
+"It's the _Black Diamond_, right enough," he said. "Queer she should
+have a mishap right in our course, though!"
+
+Trent laughed scornfully.
+
+"I don't suppose they're hanging about there for fun," he observed. "If
+they were really up to any games, they wouldn't show the warning
+lights."
+
+"That's just it," replied Lawless. "They know it would at once excite
+suspicion if they didn't show them." And he again studied the vessel
+through his glasses.
+
+"Trent," he exclaimed suddenly, "did you see anything?"
+
+The junior officer, although he had been gazing in the same direction as
+Lawless, had seen nothing of a startling character.
+
+"No," he replied. "What was it?"
+
+"I'll swear I saw something slipped overboard," said Lawless; "but it's
+so dark I couldn't see what it was even with these glasses. Look here,"
+he added, with unusual gravity, "there's some mischief going on. I'm
+certain of it."
+
+"Then we'd better have the searchlight on her," replied Trent; and was
+about to give an order when the Lieutenant stopped him.
+
+"No," he said decisively, "that would only serve to warn them if they
+are up to any artful dodges."
+
+"They wouldn't have lowered a mine, if that's what you're thinking
+about, because they know we should alter our course as soon as we saw a
+disabled steamer ahead."
+
+"No, it was nothing of that sort. It looked more like a sort of cage as
+far as I could make out."
+
+"Perhaps they're fishing for crabs," suggested Trent with a laugh. For
+the life of him he could not understand what Lawless was worrying about,
+since even the best-regulated steamers are apt to break down.
+
+"Look here," said Lawless suddenly, "I'm not going to run the risk of
+being made a fool of by signalling to the _Mars_. I'm going to
+investigate this matter for myself." And, turning to a seaman, he told
+him to get one of the Berthon boats lowered alongside.
+
+"But if you intend to pull out to her, we shall leave you behind," said
+Trent. "Besides, what can you do on your own?"
+
+"I shall see," replied Lawless. "As to the rest, if you can't pick me
+up, I can pull back to the _Kite_, which by that time will be nearly
+abreast of me. I know her skipper, and he won't give me away."
+
+Trent merely shrugged his shoulders. If his commander had a bee in his
+bonnet it was not his place, as a junior officer, to argue; so he held
+his peace and thought the more. The Berthon having been launched,
+Lawless dropped in and started to pull towards the apparently disabled
+steamer with powerful, noiseless strokes, having taken the precaution of
+muffling the oars. The distance between the _Knat_ and the steamer
+having been considerably lessened by this time, it was not long before
+the Lieutenant reached her. He had rowed in a direct line with her
+stern, that he might not be observed by any possible look-out aboard,
+and at length he rested on his oars and turned round to make
+observations.
+
+"Phew!" he whistled softly.
+
+Floating on the water alongside the steamer, and screened by her hull
+from the observation of those on the war vessels, was a large
+waterplane. As far as he could make out, it had accommodation for two
+men, but what attracted his attention most was a machine, in appearance
+not unlike a very small inverted howitzer, and evidently designed for
+aiming bombs. There was no one in the waterplane, and for a moment
+Lawless thought of rowing with all speed to the _Mars_ and warning her
+captain; but a moment's reflection told him that it was more than likely
+that she would have passed him before he could get near, and, in any
+case, the warning might by that time be too late.
+
+"I'll have to trust to luck, that's all," he muttered.
+
+How he was going to prevent the airmen from carrying out their plans,
+the nature of which he had very little difficulty in guessing, Lawless
+had no very clear idea; but, after a moment's consideration, he shipped
+his paddles, and slipped noiselessly into the water. A few strokes
+brought him alongside the steamer, and then, keeping well under the
+shadow of her hull, he continued swimming until he was able to reach one
+of the wire stays on the floating machine. So far he had escaped notice.
+
+He had no sooner secured a firm hold on the waterplane than a man,
+suspended by a rope from one of the steamer's derricks, swung outboard
+and gently lowered himself into the seat of the machine. Then another
+man followed, and, after an interchange of remarks in a language which
+Lawless had no difficulty in recognising, the two airmen took their
+seats, and the engines were set going. A second or two afterwards the
+waterplane began to glide off, and the Lieutenant found himself being
+dragged through the water.
+
+The weight of his body, in addition to the resistance of the water,
+caused the thin steel wire to cut into his hands; and, in order to get a
+firmer and less painful grip, he threw his arms over the narrow end of
+the car. As he did so, the waterplane rose in the air, with the result
+that it dipped and swerved so violently owing to the sudden shifting of
+his weight that Lawless thought it was going to capsize. The pilot,
+however, righted it with wonderful skill, but at the same time his
+companion caught sight of the Lieutenant hanging on.
+
+For a moment he stared in blank astonishment at the dark figure dangling
+beneath him, and then, evidently under the impression that it was one of
+his compatriots who had somehow contrived to get into this awkward
+position, he leant over and extended his hand. Lawless gripped it, and,
+with a tremendous effort, managed to lift himself up and throw his legs
+over the canoe-shaped body, so that he sat astride facing his unknown
+helper.
+
+"Look here----" he began thoughtlessly, and then stopped. It occurred to
+him, too late, that his speech had betrayed his nationality, and
+therefore his motives.
+
+The other seemed to grasp the situation in a flash, and, before he had
+time to consider what to do next, Lawless found himself looking straight
+into the barrel of a revolver. But the sight of the weapon had the same
+effect upon him as a douche of cold water has upon a swooning man. It
+restored his presence of mind, and his brain worked with lightning-like
+rapidity.
+
+In the face of death no man could be calmer than the reckless
+Lieutenant. For a moment they stared at each other, the airman raised
+his pistol, and then, to his amazement, the Englishman laughed.
+
+In all probability, it was this cynical laugh which saved his life, but
+defeated his immediate object. Lawless had realised that if the man
+fired at him it must inevitably attract the attention of those on board
+the _Mars_--for revolver shots in mid-air would be hardly likely to pass
+unnoticed--and they would at once open fire with the anti-aircraft guns.
+But the same thought had evidently occurred to the other, for, instead
+of firing, he slipped the revolver back into his pocket.
+
+Lawless braced himself for the coming struggle, and twisted his legs
+round some wire guys to secure a firmer grip of the machine and leave
+his arms free. Giving a quick glance below, he saw the lights of the
+_Mars_ and her attendant destroyers standing out like tiny specks in a
+gulf of unfathomable blackness. The two red lights of the _Black
+Diamond_ were no longer visible, and he concluded that, having launched
+the waterplane, she had proceeded on her way. To the left he could see a
+searchlight, which he assumed to be operated from the _Knat_, rapidly
+sweeping the horizon in great semi-circles.
+
+The whole panorama passed before his eyes like a flash, and a moment
+later he had come to grips with his antagonist.
+
+With arms enlocked and faces almost touching, the combatants swayed
+gently to and fro, as though testing each other's strength. Then,
+loosening their hold, and drawing a little apart for a second, they
+closed again, and this time they wound their arms about each other like
+bands of steel, till the terrible pressure made their veins stand up
+like whipcord, and their breath came in short, choking gasps. But
+neither could get sufficient advantage over his adversary to swing him
+off, and more than once it seemed as if both of them must tumble into
+the sea beneath.
+
+Had the pilot been able to come to the assistance of his companion,
+Lawless would not have stood a dog's chance; but, fortunately for him,
+the man had all he could do to maintain control of the machine and
+prevent it from capsizing under the constantly shifting weight of the
+opponents as they swayed dangerously from side to side.
+
+Suddenly, from a point seemingly immediately beneath them, came a faint
+bellowing sound, which Lawless at once recognised as the _Mars_' syren.
+
+Apparently his antagonist recognised it also, for, throwing caution to
+the winds, he flung his body forward, carrying the Lieutenant with him
+so that they both nearly went over the side with the sudden impetus.
+
+Lawless was now underneath, his back resting on the narrow deck of the
+car, while the airman struggled to get a grip of his throat. Uppermost
+in the mind of each was the desire to kill. Hate gleamed from their
+bloodshot eyes, and they ground their teeth savagely. Having the
+advantage of position, the airman at last managed to get his fingers
+round the Lieutenant's throat, and the latter, in a desperate endeavour
+to free himself from the choking grip, relaxed his hold, and was swung
+over the side of the car. For a moment he remained head downwards,
+suspended only by the steel wires into which he had twisted his legs.
+Then he began to slip, and a second later disappeared from sight into
+the yawning abyss beneath.
+
+Quick as thought the airman leaned back, and, reaching the lever which
+operated the bomb-throwing machine, pulled it; but, as he did so, the
+waterplane gave a terrific lurch, and the bomb, instead of dropping on
+the _Mars_, which at that moment was directly underneath, fell into the
+water and exploded some distance astern of her. The cause of this
+failure was due to Lawless gripping in his fall one of the stays which
+held the rudder, and his weight, operating on the extreme end of the
+machine, had destroyed its balance, and therefore altered the course of
+the bomb.
+
+Instantly the night was illuminated with the beams of searchlights,
+which, like huge phosphorescent feelers, swept the sky, until at last
+they were focussed on the waterplane. Then came a cracking sound from
+beneath, and shot after shot whizzed upwards from the anti-aircraft guns
+of the _Mars_, striking the car, smashing and splintering the slender
+wooden spars which supported the planes, and occasionally snapping a
+steel guy.
+
+By a miracle Lawless had managed to retain his hold of the wire, though
+it cut through his flesh, and he knew that he must drop before many
+seconds elapsed, even if he was not struck by one of the shots from
+below. He was on the point of letting go through sheer pain and
+exhaustion, when the machine suddenly tilted, turned right over, and
+then swooped downwards with a velocity that made his brain reel.
+
+The terrible sensation of falling from a tremendous height terminated
+abruptly, and next moment the Lieutenant felt the water close above his
+head, and he was sinking down, down, fathoms deep, it seemed to him,
+into the sea. Then came a feeling of agonising suffocation, a terrible
+pressure on his chest, a sensation as though his lungs were about to
+burst, and he rose to the surface, to find himself near some floating
+remnants of the wrecked waterplane.
+
+Catching hold of one of the floats, Lawless endeavoured to draw himself
+up, but fell back in the water as a numbing pain shot through his left
+arm. He rose to the surface again in a semi-dazed condition, and made
+another feeble attempt to get on the floats; but his strength was
+exhausted, and he was suffering agonies from the injured arm. At this
+moment there came the sound of men's voices and the click of oars as
+they swung in the rowlocks; strong arms lifted him out of the water, and
+then he lost consciousness.
+
+When Lawless came to himself, he was lying in his bunk on board the
+_Knat_, and the absence of any movement told him that she must be at
+anchor in harbour. In a dreamy fashion he fell to wondering why he was
+lying there, with the sunlight streaming through the port-holes; he even
+made an effort to rise, but fell back as a pain shot from his left elbow
+to his shoulder.
+
+That set him thinking, and gradually the events of the previous
+night--he supposed it was the previous night--came back to him.
+Recollections of the mysterious steamer, the fight in mid-air, his fall
+into the sea--all passed through his brain in a fragmentary, disjointed
+manner, like the confused memories of a dream. Then, as he was trying to
+sort them out, the cabin door opened, and Sub-Lieutenant Trent entered.
+
+"Hallo! So you've come to at last!" he exclaimed. "How do you feel?"
+
+"As if I'd had a beastly nightmare," answered Lawless. "Where are we?"
+
+"In Portsmouth Harbour," replied Trent, as he seated himself on a locker
+beside the bunk and started to fill his pipe.
+
+"I'm beginning to remember things a bit more clearly now," said the
+Lieutenant. "Tell me what happened after I left the _Knat_."
+
+"There's not much to tell, so far as I'm concerned," answered Trent as
+he lit his pipe. "We kept our course, and just as we came abreast of
+your bogey ship she hauled down her signal lights and steamed away.
+Then----"
+
+"Ah, that must have been immediately after the waterplane rose,"
+interrupted Lawless. "I thought there wasn't much wrong with her
+machinery."
+
+"Well, as I was saying, as soon as she steamed off I turned the
+searchlight on her, but could discover nothing of a suspicious nature,"
+continued Trent. "Neither, for that matter, could I see anything of you,
+though we caught sight of the empty boat drifting. Nothing fresh
+happened till I heard a terrific explosion astern, and turned round just
+in time to see a ball of flame sink into the water near the _Mars_. I
+couldn't imagine what it was for a moment; but the _Mars_ people got
+their searchlight going in less than a jiffy, and then we spotted an
+aeroplane directly overhead.
+
+"That settled the mystery of the explosion, and the _Mars_ began to pot
+at her with the vertical guns, though at first it was impossible to tell
+whether any hits were made. But after a few shots, all doubts were set
+at rest, for she came tumbling down like a winged partridge. As soon as
+she struck the water, boats were lowered, and they rowed to the floating
+wreckage, where they found you and also the body of a man who had
+evidently been killed by one of the shots. As the heavier parts of the
+machine had sunk, we could not tell what sort of weapons she carried, or
+the number of the crew.
+
+"After that, I went aboard the _Mars_ and reported to the skipper what
+you had told me about your suspicions concerning the _Black Diamond_. He
+was precious ratty at not having been told before, and I got orders to
+chase the steamer and search her. We overhauled her in less than half an
+hour. She's now safely anchored near the Hard, and her crew are
+prisoners."
+
+"It's pretty clear that the waterplane was carried aboard the steamer in
+sections," said Lawless after a pause. "No doubt they were put together
+after she left the quay. The whole thing was wonderfully engineered, I
+must say."
+
+"But what about you?" asked Trent. "I imagine you must have had a rather
+exciting time."
+
+"Exciting!" ejaculated the Lieutenant grimly, and then proceeded to
+relate all that had happened to him after he left the _Knat_.
+
+"Well," said Trent at the conclusion, "you scored that time, anyway."
+
+"I s'pose so," answered the other, with a sigh. "But if it had only been
+a Zep and I'd brought it down, there'd have been a cool thou.' waiting
+for me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE HOAX
+
+
+A thin grey mist lay upon the waters, giving the impression of a silvery
+veil of gauze stretched from sea to sky. The evening was calm, with not
+a breath of wind stirring, and the sea was ruffled by long, undulating
+furrows that pursued their way across the surface like great ripples,
+with never a "cat's paw" nor a speck of foam to break the monotony of
+their green-grey hue.
+
+Looking strangely impalpable and ghostlike by reason of the mist, the
+destroyer _Knat_ slipped swiftly through the water, heaving gently to
+the ground-swell. Upon the bridge Lieutenant-Commander Lawless stood
+smoking a pipe, and near him Sub-Lieutenant Trent reclined against the
+searchlight, likewise absorbing tobacco smoke and ozone. No other vessel
+was in sight and the only sound to be heard was the soft whirr of the
+turbines.
+
+"This is what I call balmy and peaceful," remarked Lawless, taking the
+pipe from his mouth and knocking it against the handrail. "One could
+almost sing 'A Life on the Ocean Wave.'"
+
+"Huh!" grunted Trent; "then it would be balmy without being peaceful."
+
+As Lawless made no reply, he looked up to see the Lieutenant staring
+hard through the mist at a vague, shapeless something which might have
+been a ship, or a cliff, viewed through the murky atmosphere.
+
+"Something ahead of us on the starboard bow," he said.
+
+Both officers riveted their gaze upon the nebulous object which, as the
+destroyer overhauled it, assumed the shape and appearance of a large
+steamer, while their ears caught the steady throb of engines.
+
+"I'll give her a hail," said Lawless, picking up the megaphone.
+
+But before he had time to raise it to his mouth the fog was split by a
+yellow streak of fire and a shell came whizzing over the _Knat's_ bows.
+
+"By the Lord, an enemy ship!" ejaculated the Lieutenant, and passed the
+word to open fire with the machine guns. The quick-firer just below the
+bridge led off, but before the other guns had a chance to follow suit a
+heavy bank of fog rolled up and obliterated the steamer as completely as
+though a curtain had been lowered. Although invisible, the vessel's
+engines could still be heard and, guided by the sound, the _Knat_ was
+kept on her trail, Lawless waiting only for the fog to lift in order to
+open fire again. While he was still expecting this to happen there came
+the notes of a bugle and at the sound the Lieutenant nearly tumbled down
+the bridge ladder in astonishment. For it was the dinner call as given
+on British ships:
+
+    "Officers' wives eat puddings and pies,
+    But soldiers' wives eat skilly."
+
+"What the dickens does it mean?" he murmured, and then, raising his
+voice, hailed the mysterious steamer.
+
+"Ahoy there, ahoy! Where away?" came the answer.
+
+"On your port quarter."
+
+"What ship is that?"
+
+"British destroyer, _Knat_."
+
+The fog lifted again, and this time Lawless could see the decks thronged
+with anxious passengers and the captain leaning over the port
+bridge-rail.
+
+"What ship are you?" he shouted.
+
+"The _Cotswold_, for Hull. Just sighted an enemy submarine and opened
+fire on her," came the answer.
+
+"A submarine! How long ago?"
+
+"About ten minutes. She was using her machine-gun."
+
+"Why don't you provide your look-outs with spectacles?" answered Lawless
+wrathfully. "It was me you sighted, not a submarine!"
+
+"I saw her periscope," answered the skipper of the _Cotswold_.
+
+"Saw your grandmother! You opened fire on me and I replied."
+
+"Then it was your business to hail me. Pity you haven't something better
+to do than take pot shots at passenger boats," answered the merchant
+skipper with some heat.
+
+The latter was obviously in the wrong, but, as a matter of fact, during
+his voyage across the Atlantic he had been chased by two enemy
+submarines and only by skilful seamanship and unceasing vigilance had
+succeeded in eluding them and saving his ship. He was, therefore, a
+trifle "nervy" and apt to suspect every indistinguishable floating
+object he met of being a submarine. Possibly, seen dimly through the
+fog, the _Knat_ looked something like a submarine awash and the captain
+of the _Cotswold_ had been justified in opening fire on her. Lawless,
+however, was ignorant of this, and the skipper's last taunt made him
+almost dance with rage. Fortunately, perhaps, another fog bank rolled up
+at this moment and the two vessels were again hidden from each other.
+
+For some moments Lawless growled to himself things which, had the
+captain of the _Cotswold_ heard them, might have produced a resumption
+of hostilities. Suddenly he gave vent to an exclamation:
+
+"I've got it!"
+
+"Got what?" inquired Trent.
+
+"An idea."
+
+"Extraordinary phenomenon; I'll have to make a note of it in the log.
+'Seven p.m. Commanding Officer seized----'"
+
+"Don't try and be funny, it's too pathetic. What I'm going to do is to
+give that skipper the biggest shaking up he's ever had. If I don't get
+even with him you can call me Von Tirpitz and I'll turn the other
+cheek."
+
+"It sounds exciting."
+
+"You'll see," answered Lawless, and, leaving Trent in charge of the
+bridge, he disappeared down the companion ladder.
+
+A few minutes later a sound of hammering reached the Sub-Lieutenant's
+ears, and this went on, at intervals, for nearly a quarter of an hour.
+Presently Lawless emerged upon the after-deck, followed by two seamen
+carrying a barrel with what looked like a piece of stove-pipe protruding
+from it.
+
+"There," said Lawless, mounting the bridge again. "Isn't it a daisy?"
+
+"What is it--a patent incubator?" inquired Trent.
+
+"Pah! You've no imagination. That, my son, is an _idea_."
+
+"H'm! I always thought your ideas were pretty heavy, but----"
+
+"Shut up or I'll report you for insubordination."
+
+"Sorry, but I don't quite follow the drift of this ponderous idea of
+yours."
+
+"That's because yours is a stodgy, matter-of-fact, unromantic mind. But
+listen and I'll expound in words suitable to your infantine
+understanding. In the first place, I must tell you that one end of that
+barrel is weighted in such a manner that, when submerged in a suitable
+fluid, such as sea-water, it will float just below the surface.
+Secondly," continued Lawless, in the manner of one giving a lecture, "I
+would call your attention to a cylindrical object which, viewed at close
+range, somewhat resembles a drain-pipe. Nevertheless, my child, it is
+not a drain-pipe, but an invention of mine own constructed by the worthy
+artificer, yclept Bates. Lastly, a thin line of about six fathoms
+length, to the end of which is suspended a goodly lump of lead, is
+attached to the side of the said barrel."
+
+Lawless stopped and waited for the applause.
+
+"A very pretty conjuring trick," remarked Trent, as one humouring an
+amiable lunatic. "And what do you do now? Make it disappear up your
+sleeve or change it into a live rabbit?"
+
+"Oh, you blithering ass!" exclaimed the Lieutenant impatiently. "Can't
+you see? This is the means I've devised for revenging myself on that
+wretched skipper."
+
+"You're going to fill it with dynamite and explode it under his stern?"
+
+"No, my child, I'm not. Instead, I'm going to fix that line to the
+stanchions against his rudder-post so that the steamer will tow this
+barrel, which, being weighted, will be submerged and show only the pipe
+in a vertical position above the surface. Furthermore, the worthy Bates
+having fashioned the top thereof in the likeness of a periscope, the
+victim will think he's being chased by an enemy submarine and have
+divers fits and spasms in consequence. Do you grasp the idea _now_?"
+
+"It's pretty feeble, but I think I follow you," answered Trent. "Only
+you seem to have forgotten one thing, which is that as soon as the fog
+lifts and the skipper spots your barrel he'll pot it with his
+quick-firer. Then we shall read a hair-raising account of how the
+captain of the _Cotswold_ sank a _U_ boat which had been following her
+all night."
+
+"Not a bit of it, my son. They won't be able to hit that barrel in a
+month of Sundays, especially if we get a choppy sea by the morning."
+
+Trent shrugged his shoulders, but made no further comment.
+
+"And now," went on Lawless cheerfully, "it's time the plot thickened, so
+we'll proceed to drop the bean in the soup. Stand by the telegraph, for
+if we run our nose against the other fellow's counter the joke'll be on
+us."
+
+He leant over the bridge-rail and peered through the fog for the
+steamer, but, though he could hear the latter's engines, the vessel
+herself was invisible. The manoeuvre he proposed carrying out was, to
+put it mildly, risky, and no one but the feckless Lieutenant would have
+contemplated such a thing, much less have attempted to put it into
+execution. But no fear of possible consequences ruffled his serenity as,
+little by little, the _Knat_ cautiously overhauled the _Cotswold_, the
+noise of whose machinery completely drowned the hum of the destroyer's
+turbines.
+
+Some ten minutes elapsed, and then Lawless was able to make out the
+vessel's stern towering, dim and shadowy, above him. Then, taking the
+wheel from the hands of the quartermaster, he brought the _Knat's_ bows
+right under the steamer's counter.
+
+"Let her go," he said in a hoarse whisper.
+
+The bos'n, who was balancing himself on the companion-ladder, sprang to
+the deck and, picking up the line attached to the barrel, ran with it on
+to the fo'c'sle head. Leaning as far over as he could he pitched the
+lump of lead, to which the other end of the line was fastened, against
+the _Cotswold's_ stern-post in such a manner that it would fall over one
+of the iron supports extending from beneath the counter to the
+rudder-post. There was, of course, the danger of its being caught in the
+propellers, but he had to risk that. As it happened, the cast was
+successful, whereupon the bos'n called softly to a sailor, who at once
+flung the barrel into the sea, together with the slack line.
+
+"All clear, sir," the bos'n reported to Lawless.
+
+The latter rang down "half-speed astern," the _Knat_ backed away into
+the fog, and the steamer was blotted out.
+
+"There," murmured the Lieutenant, with a sigh of satisfaction, "when the
+skipper spots that in his wake he'll have about fifty fits right away.
+Now we'd better try and get back on our beat."
+
+The _Knat_ was supposed to be searching a certain prescribed area for an
+enemy mine-sower which had been active for several days past in this
+particular portion of the North Sea. Lawless, so far, had not had any
+luck; a fact which made him all the keener to meet with the enemy ship
+before she succeeded in getting safely back to port.
+
+"I'm going below for a spell," he said to Trent. "Call me if anything
+happens."
+
+About a couple of hours later, the Lieutenant was awakened by a
+bridge-messenger, who told him the fog was lifting and that a vessel had
+just been sighted.
+
+"Looks to be the packet we picked up a little while back, sir," he said.
+
+Lawless proceeded to the bridge and, catching sight of the steamer
+dimly visible ahead, chuckled softly.
+
+"The fun'll start before long," he remarked to Trent. "Oh, to see the
+old man's face when the officer of the watch reports a submarine
+astern!"
+
+"I've calculated that your precious joke's taken us about four miles out
+of our course," answered the junior officer gloomily.
+
+"You'll meet with an early death, like all good young people, if you're
+not careful," retorted Lawless. "Virtue has its disadvantages remember."
+
+A mild breeze had sprung up and was dissipating the fog rapidly while
+churning the water into cat's paws. Presently Trent, who had been
+watching the steamer through the night glasses, thrust them into the
+Lieutenant's hands.
+
+"Take a squint at that packet," he said in a tone of suppressed
+excitement.
+
+Lawless did so, and remained staring at the vessel ahead for such a long
+time that Trent became impatient.
+
+"Well, what do you make of her?" he asked.
+
+"She's not the _Cotswold_."
+
+"No; and why is she steaming without lights?"
+
+"We'll soon see," answered Lawless, and rang down full speed ahead.
+
+In a few minutes the destroyer was broadside on to the strange vessel
+and Lawless shouted a demand to know what ship she was. A pause ensued,
+and then, by way of an answer, a tongue of flame leapt from the
+stranger's port side and a shell crashed into the _Knat's_ funnel, just
+abaft the bridge. In a second the destroyer had swung round so as to
+present only her bows to the enemy and her machine-guns were hammering
+away as fast as they could be loaded. The duel lasted nearly ten
+minutes, the _Knat_ trying to manoeuvre into such a position that she
+could torpedo her adversary, the latter doing her utmost to frustrate
+this design. And all this time the two vessels were pounding away at
+each other with their machine-guns, circling around like two wrestlers
+before they come to grips. The enemy had the advantage in guns, which
+were far heavier than those carried by the destroyer, but the latter
+made up for this in speed and, being so small, proved an extraordinarily
+difficult target to hit.
+
+At last Lawless saw his chance to launch a torpedo and gave the word.
+The glistening, fish-like weapon leapt from its tube and, at the same
+moment, the enemy vessel started to swing round in order to avoid the
+fast approaching engine of death. But the manoeuvre had been carried
+out too late; the torpedo struck her just underneath the stern and there
+was a terrific explosion. The steamer heeled over on her starboard
+side, her bows lifted above the water, and then, with a roar of
+escaping steam, she dived stern foremost beneath the surface, and so to
+the bottom, fifty fathoms deep or more.
+
+The _Knat's_ boats had been launched immediately after the mine-sower
+was struck, and they at once proceeded to the spot where she had
+disappeared. But so swift had been the steamer's fate that not more than
+half a dozen survivors were picked up and, after pulling around for a
+while, the boats returned to the _Knat_.
+
+Early in the afternoon of the following day the _Knat_ put into Hull,
+and Lawless, having handed over his prisoners and written an official
+report of the engagement, went ashore with Trent.
+
+"By the way," said the latter, as they made their way towards a certain
+hostelry much favoured by naval and merchant service officers, "did you
+notice the _Cotswold_ moored just off the landing stage?"
+
+"No, I was below making out my report."
+
+His face expanded into a broad grin.
+
+"Then the chances are ten to one that we meet her skipper before the
+day's out. And if I don't pull his blessed leg you can strafe me for a
+Hun."
+
+As it happened they did meet this particular skipper, and in the very
+hostelry to which they were bound. He was in the smoking-room and, of
+course, did not recognise Lawless when he and Trent entered because, on
+the occasion of their exchanging courtesies, it had been too dark and
+foggy for either of them to identify the other. The Lieutenant, however,
+knew him at once by his voice, which was of a peculiarly hoarse quality.
+
+"It's a fact," he was saying to a small group of interested auditors,
+"that infernal _U_ boat was no farther from my stern than I am from that
+piano yonder. Well, I started steering a zig-zag course, at the same
+time opening fire on the submarine with my machine-gun. One of the first
+shots knocked her periscope to smithereens and then----"
+
+He was interrupted by a burst of laughter, and, turning round, the
+narrator of this thrilling episode beheld a couple of officers almost
+doubled up with mirth.
+
+"Oh, tell us some more, skipper!" cried Lawless, as soon as he could
+speak.
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir," said the other, his face scarlet with
+indignation.
+
+"Then we'll say no more about it," answered the Lieutenant. "But surely
+you remember me? We met in the fog last night."
+
+"What! Are you the blackguard who fired on me?"
+
+"Well, you started shooting first, remember. But about that submarine
+yarn of yours, it's such a good one that I really haven't the heart to
+spoil it; so, if you'll stand drinks round, mum's the word as far as I'm
+concerned."
+
+"Will you be good enough to tell me what the devil you're driving at?"
+inquired the skipper, glaring fiercely at Lawless.
+
+"Then you won't accept my offer?"
+
+"Sir, I'll see you in Hades first."
+
+"Very well then, here goes," and Lawless proceeded to recount the trick
+he had played on the skipper with the aid of a barrel and a tin
+cylinder. He was interrupted several times by bursts of uproarious mirth
+from the audience, but the victim himself neither smiled nor uttered a
+word until the Lieutenant had finished his story.
+
+Then he spoke.
+
+"So you claim that I haven't sunk an enemy submarine at all?" he asked,
+turning to Lawless.
+
+"I'll wager a month's salary to a pinch of snuff that you never even saw
+one from the time we parted till you reached port."
+
+"I accept the wager," answered the skipper, to everybody's surprise.
+"You see," he went on, addressing the company generally, "one reason why
+I collared that _U_ boat so easily was that something fouled her
+propeller and she could neither get away nor attack me. This morning,
+when we put in here, the bos'n found a length of rope with a piece of
+lead attached, fastened to the vessel's stern. How the deuce it got
+there we couldn't make out, but now, thanks to this gentleman, we know.
+What's more, it must have been that rope and the old barrel at the end
+of it which fouled the German's propeller and did him in. As for
+proof"--he turned to an elderly gentleman seated in a corner--"there is
+Captain Barter, who took charge of the prisoners when they were landed,
+and he can tell you whether my story's true or not."
+
+All eyes were turned inquiringly upon the unobtrusive gentleman with the
+four gold rings round his sleeves.
+
+"Yes," he said quietly, "it's perfectly true. The three German officers
+of the submarine are now on their way to Donnington Hall and the men are
+in the temporary prison hulk moored up the river."
+
+Before he returned to the _Knat_ Lawless gloomily wrote a "chit" wherein
+he assigned to the skipper of the _Cotswold_ his entire salary for the
+ensuing month.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+PRISONER OF WAR
+
+
+One bright and cheerful summer morning Lawless sat in his favourite
+attitude on the bridge-rail of the _Knat_ contemplating the distant
+coast-line with a far-away expression in his eyes. Despite the official
+regulations concerning the uniform to be worn by naval officers when on
+duty, his present attire left much to be desired. It consisted chiefly
+of blue serge trousers, a battered shooting cap, and a pink-striped
+pyjama jacket.
+
+"I wonder," murmured the Lieutenant dreamily, "whether I could get short
+leave of absence. I'm just spoiling for a spell ashore and a mild
+bust-up."
+
+Sub-Lieutenant Trent, who was standing near, volunteered no comment.
+
+"I haven't been feeling very well lately," continued Lawless, "and I
+think I need a change."
+
+"Rot!" ejaculated Trent rudely. "I never saw a man look in better health
+in my life. You're as fit as a fiddle."
+
+Lawless slowly shook his head.
+
+"I've been suffering from internal pains," he said gloomily. "Very
+likely you haven't noticed, but it's a fact all the same."
+
+"Internal humbug," grumbled the unsympathetic junior. "And if you have,"
+he added, "what can you expect after eating tinned lobster, Welsh
+rarebit, and cold pork for supper?"
+
+"That," replied Lawless decisively, "wouldn't upset an infant. No, I
+shall put in an application for sick leave."
+
+That same afternoon Lawless sat down in his little cabin and prepared to
+concoct a letter setting forth his ailments and the imperative necessity
+for a holiday in consequence. It took about two hours and a tremendous
+expenditure of ink and paper to write, and when finished was calculated
+to impress the reader with the belief that the unfortunate officer was
+suffering from every fatal malady known to medical science. He had just
+concluded this literary effort and was re-reading it carefully in order
+to dot the i's, cross the t's, and make needed repairs to the spelling,
+when the door opened and Trent's head appeared in the aperture.
+
+"Hullo!" he exclaimed, "still at it?"
+
+"Do you spell 'conscious' with a _t_?" asked Lawless, ignoring the
+ironic inquiry.
+
+"No, you ass, of course not."
+
+"I'm afraid it's a bit smudgy," observed the author as he folded up the
+letter, "but I've explained that it was written in a choppy sea."
+
+"When they look at the spelling I expect they'll think it was written in
+a hurricane," said the junior officer grimly.
+
+Lawless took no notice of the jibe.
+
+"That's done," he murmured with a sigh of relief. "If there's such a
+thing as humanity in the world, I shall get my leave."
+
+For the first few days after the despatch of the epistle Lawless
+alternated between hope and despondency, but when a week passed and he
+received no reply, he made up his mind that the authorities had declined
+to consider his application. However, ten days later, when he was
+breakfasting with Trent, there arrived an official letter with the
+Admiralty stamp upon it.
+
+"It's come!" cried the Lieutenant after he had hurriedly glanced through
+the contents. "I knew it would."
+
+Trent's reply was such as no respectable printer would set up in type.
+He had been in the act of raising a cup of coffee to his lips when
+Lawless gave vent to his exultant shout, and it had so startled the
+Sub-Lieutenant that he let fall the cup and received the boiling
+contents down the front of his clothes.
+
+"Why don't you look cheerful?" demanded Lawless. "What's a little coffee
+at a time like this?"
+
+"Go to the devil!" retorted the other, vainly endeavouring to sop up the
+coffee from his waistcoat with a silk handkerchief. "It's your holiday,
+not mine. And, any way, you've got it under false pretences."
+
+"Sub-Lieutenant Trent, are you aware of the fact that you're speaking
+disrespectfully to your superior officer?" asked Lawless in a gently
+chiding tone.
+
+"Holy Jerusalem!" suddenly yelled Trent, springing to his feet. He had
+just discovered from an abrupt rise in temperature about his person that
+the coffee had soaked through his shirt.
+
+"I've a good mind to report you for insubordination and--and cheek,"
+observed the Lieutenant, taking no pains to conceal his enjoyment of the
+other's misfortune.
+
+"And I'll sue you for a new suit of duds, Lawless, you dismal idiot.
+It's all through you that I'm soaked to the skin with this confounded
+coffee."
+
+A week later Lieutenant-Commander Lawless, bound for Cork _via_
+Plymouth, was reclining at his ease in the comfortable little
+smoking-room of the _Lake Killarney_, one of the miniature liners which
+carry passengers to and from Ireland. Lawless had decided to spend his
+holiday on the west coast of the Emerald Isle, and had provided himself
+with golf clubs, fishing rods, and other implements of innocent sport
+wherewith to while away his leisure. The only thing which troubled him
+was his customary want of cash, and when he thought of the thousand
+pounds waiting to be earned, he heaved a sigh of deep regret. If only he
+could have brought down another Zeppelin....
+
+Now, Lawless, as those who have followed his turbulent career are aware,
+was one of those hapless individuals who seem to be marked out as the
+sport of destiny. On this particular occasion the mischievous planet
+under which the Lieutenant had first seen the light must have twinkled
+with more than its usual malignity, for, within twelve hours of setting
+forth on his pleasure trip, he was a prisoner in the hands of the
+Germans.
+
+It came about in this manner. The _Lake Killarney_ had barely left the
+Seven Stones Light on her port quarter when, not more than fifty yards
+away on her starboard bow, there arose the conning tower of a large
+German submarine. Before the captain of the steamer was aware of this
+unwelcome visitor the latter had sent a couple of shots across his bows
+as a peremptory signal to stop. The _Lake Killarney_, being a slow boat
+and unarmed withal, there was nothing for it but to obey, and
+accordingly she was hove-to.
+
+The shots had awakened Lawless, at the time peacefully asleep in his
+bunk, and scrambling into his trousers he rushed upon deck to see what
+all the noise was about. Other passengers, in even lighter attire, also
+hastened on deck, where the crew, in obedience to orders, were lowering
+the lifeboats. Lawless at once proceeded to help the women and children
+into them, and then, with the captain, got into the last one to leave
+the ship. As the boat pulled away from the _Lake Killarney_ the German
+commander ordered her to come alongside the submarine; an order which,
+in view of the machine-gun on her for'a'd platform, it would have been
+unwise to ignore. Then the German officer proceeded to put the Captain
+through a pretty severe cross-examination concerning the whereabouts of
+various portions of the British Fleet and other matters which he desired
+to know. The Captain, however, was able to profess ignorance in nearly
+every case, and where he could not, lied like a Trojan.
+
+"We've been trying to get at your wonderful fleet for the last eighteen
+months," said the German, "but it's managed to elude us so far. Still,
+we'll drag it out of its hiding place before long, and then _Guten Tag_
+to the British Navy."
+
+"What's the good of unloading that piffling swank," exclaimed Lawless,
+unable to contain himself any longer. "We taught you a lesson at
+Heligoland, and when we do meet your High Canal Fleet there'll be
+another island in the North Sea--made of German scrap-iron."
+
+"_Himmel!_ I'll put a bullet through you, insolent English pig!" cried
+the German, at the same time producing an automatic pistol. "Who is this
+man?" he added, turning to the Captain.
+
+"Lieut.-Commander Lawless, I believe," answered the latter unthinkingly.
+
+"Ah, I have heard of you, Herr Lieutenant," said the German. "As a
+British Naval officer I shall take you prisoner. Be good enough to step
+aboard."
+
+"You've done for me, skipper," said Lawless bitterly as he mounted the
+submarine's platform.
+
+The Captain of the _Lake Killarney_ realised his mistake only too well,
+but the mischief was done now.
+
+"Cast off," said the Commander, "I am going to sink your vessel."
+
+Half-a-dozen shots beneath the water-line sufficed to sink the steamer,
+and then the commander, with Lawless and the men on the gun platform,
+went below, the conning-tower hatch was closed and the boat dived
+beneath the surface.
+
+Two days later Lawless was taken ashore at a certain German port under
+an armed escort. He was domiciled temporarily in the local prison, and
+on the following morning an escort took him to another part of the
+building and ushered him into a sort of office where various uniformed
+individuals were gathered. There a careful record was made of his name,
+professional rank, place of birth, and many other private details of his
+life and habits. Then he was photographed.
+
+This done, a sergeant stepped forward and, gripping the prisoner by the
+shoulders, began, with the assistance of a private, to feel in his
+trouser pockets. At this the Lieutenant's patience vanished and, before
+the sergeant had time to guess what was coming, he had been pitched head
+first into a large wastepaper basket and the private had taken a header
+into the coal scuttle. But before Lawless could perform any further
+athletic feats, he was seized by three soldiers and forced against the
+wall.
+
+Then the search recommenced, and various articles, including a note from
+a tailor threatening legal proceedings unless he received a "remittance
+forthwith," were brought to light.
+
+"Ach, what is this?" asked an officer looking at a crumpled piece of
+paper which the sergeant had handed to him with an air of triumph.
+
+He carefully smoothed it out, and then, exhibiting it to the prisoner,
+repeated the question.
+
+Lawless glanced at it, and then, despite the gravity of his position,
+burst into a hearty laugh, whereat the officer, the sergeant and the
+privates all scowled at him reprovingly. On one side of the paper were
+scrawled the following incriminating words:
+
+    "Conshus,
+    Contitious,
+    Concious."
+
+On the other side were a number of strange-looking figures bearing some
+resemblance to a capital L.
+
+"Why," said Lawless when he had recovered from his hilarity, "I was
+trying some days ago to spell 'conscious' and, not being quite sure
+about it, wrote it down different ways to see which looked right. Of
+course," he added confidently, "it was the last one."
+
+"And these?" queried the officer, pointing to the straggling
+hieroglyphics.
+
+"Oh, I was uncertain how to write a capital _q_--I don't often write
+that letter as a capital--and I experimented. Those are the
+experiments."
+
+"They are a secret code," said the officer accusingly.
+
+"Secret fiddlesticks!" ejaculated Lawless.
+
+"You refuse to decipher it?"
+
+"Confound it all, there's nothing to decipher."
+
+"Very well," said the officer, making a note in a little book. He then
+waved his hand to indicate that the examination was at an end, and a
+couple of soldiers, with side-arms drawn, marched the prisoner back to
+the little room he occupied in the prison and there left him.
+
+On the following morning he was again brought before his examiner and
+again declared that the scribble had nothing to do with any code.
+
+"You will be sent to the fortress of Glatz," said the officer.
+
+Now, Lawless had heard quite enough about that terrible fortress in
+Prussian Silesia to make it, in his opinion, a most undesirable
+residence, and he determined to make a bold effort at escape before he
+got there. Unhappily, there was no prospect of his getting the ghost of
+a chance to escape, for he was conducted to the railway station in
+charge of two privates, a corporal, and a commissioned officer. For some
+reason they did not travel by the direct route _via_ Frankfurt, but went
+a roundabout way through Stettin, Damm and Posen. At the last-named
+station they had to change trains and Lawless hoped for an opportunity
+to escape, but his guards never relaxed their vigilance and it was
+useless to try.
+
+While they were standing on the platform waiting for the train, the
+Lieutenant caught sight of a man whose face seemed familiar to him. But
+for the life of him he could not recall where or when he had seen the
+owner of the face, though he cudgelled his brains all the way to
+Breslau. It was dark when they reached this town, and here they had to
+change into a local train for Glatz. Suddenly, while crossing a bridge
+to another platform, Lawless again caught sight of the strangely
+familiar face among the crowd of people hurrying to catch the train. It
+disappeared from view almost immediately, but a moment later the
+Lieutenant heard a voice whisper in his ear:
+
+"Take your chance and follow me."
+
+Lawless turned his head sharply and saw that the speaker was none other
+than the man whose face had been haunting him.
+
+It was all very well to say "take your chance" but, so far as Lawless
+could see, there was no chance to take. Then suddenly there was a
+commotion among the people in front of him, a wild scramble as if
+someone had dropped a purse and everybody was fighting to obtain it.
+Both the prisoner and his guards were almost swept off their feet and
+then Lawless took his chance. Diving down, he simply butted a way
+through the mob, thanking his stars that he had once been centre forward
+in a county football team. At the end of the bridge he caught sight of
+his unknown friend descending the stairs and followed him as quickly as
+he could. Behind him he could hear the shouts of his guards and the
+angry expostulations of the people whom they were thrusting aside in
+their endeavour to catch the runaway. Fortunately he was wearing a
+civilian great-coat--one given him when he had been brought ashore from
+the submarine--and so there was nothing in his appearance to distinguish
+him from the other people with whom he mingled.
+
+The man he was following passed through a door leading from the platform
+and Lawless, entering after him, found himself in a small office,
+evidently used by some of the railway officials. The stranger locked the
+door and then faced the Lieutenant.
+
+"So we meet again," he said. "Last time it was in mid-ocean and now----"
+he shrugged his shoulders.
+
+In a flash, Lawless remembered who the man was. He was the
+German-American spy who, with Cassidy's assistance, he had rescued from
+the torpedoed _Nimrod_ and afterwards unwittingly allowed to escape with
+a loan of five pounds.
+
+"You saved my life and gave me my liberty," went on the man, "though had
+you known who I was the result might have been different. However, the
+fact remains and now I am going to do my best to repay the debt. I----"
+
+He was interrupted by a knocking at the door and voices without shouted
+something Lawless could not understand. His rescuer replied, the
+knocking ceased and he turned once more to the Lieutenant.
+
+"That has put them off the track for a little while, at any rate," he
+said. "Now you see that window? Well, outside it is a large siding for
+goods trains. One is loading now for Stettin, and, if you are
+careful--and lucky--you can creep under a tarpaulin on one of the trucks
+and remain there till the train reaches its destination. There your real
+difficulties will begin, for you'll have to smuggle yourself aboard a
+Norwegian or Swedish steamer and get to a neutral port. I have done as
+much as lies in my power."
+
+Lawless abruptly held out his hand.
+
+"You're a white man," he said. "By Jove, I never expected it from a
+Hun!"
+
+"And now you must get off before those fellows come buzzing round here
+again." He crossed to the window and opened it. "There's your road," he
+said, and at the same time pressed a wad of paper money into the
+Lieutenant's hand.
+
+Lawless climbed over the sill and dropped gently to the ground, only a
+few feet below. Then the window above him was closed and he started to
+creep along under the shadow of the wall, for the yard was lit up by
+electric arc lamps. Then a new dilemma faced him. Instead of one goods
+train there were three, and, of course, he had no means of finding out
+which of them was bound for Stettin.
+
+"Well, here goes," he murmured desperately, and selected the longest
+train as the one most likely to be bound for the Baltic port.
+
+So, creeping under trucks, stealthily crossing lines and avoiding all
+brightly illuminated spots, he at last reached the train he had selected
+without attracting the attention of the workpeople, many of whom were
+women. Climbing into a truck, he drew the tarpaulin over his head and
+settled down on the edge of a packing case.
+
+"Any way, I'm not going to Glatz this trip," he thought.
+
+He must have been crouching there for about half an hour and was
+beginning to drop off into an uneasy doze, when there was a terrific
+jolt and his head came into contact with a cask. Then, as the jolts
+continued, gradually becoming less violent, he knew that the train was
+starting on its journey.
+
+From speculating as to his probable destination, Lawless gradually
+dropped off to sleep, and was only awakened by another series of jolts
+and jerks. Cautiously lifting his head from under the tarpaulin he saw
+that the train had come to a standstill on some sidings and that it was
+nearly daylight. Realising that if he did not want to be discovered
+there was no time to lose in getting away, he clambered out of the truck
+and slipped across the sidings to a low fence, over which he climbed.
+
+"Now where the devil am I?" he muttered.
+
+He was standing on a narrow footpath situated, apparently, on the
+outskirts of a town, the lights of which he could see in the distance.
+The air was chill and he shivered, becoming aware at the same time that
+he was ravenously hungry. Then, from a field about half a mile away, he
+saw a column of smoke rising, and noticed what seemed to be two or three
+caravans drawn up in line. It occurred to him that this must be the
+temporary encampment of some nomad family who, in all probability, were
+preparing their morning meal before proceeding on their way. The idea
+held him.
+
+"I've got to raise some grub somehow," he told himself.
+
+He carefully considered the matter, and came to the conclusion that he
+would stand less chance of being betrayed by such wanderers as
+these--almost outlaws themselves--than by more virtuous and respectable
+folk. He thereupon proceeded towards the encampment and, as he
+approached, an appetising smell assailed his nostrils and made him feel
+still hungrier. Vaulting over a hedge, Lawless came upon a very dirty
+but very picturesque ruffian, attired in the manner of a musical-comedy
+bandit, who was engaged in taking a captured rabbit from a wire noose.
+At sight of the stranger, he sprang to his feet, but Lawless made
+pacific gesticulations and intimated, by the simple means of pointing
+first to his mouth and then to his stomach, that he was hungry.
+Thereupon the bandit person grinned affably, and made a sign indicating
+that his new acquaintance was to follow him.
+
+On arriving at the camp Lawless discovered that the aroma which had so
+tickled his nostrils emanated from a large iron pot suspended over the
+fire. Round this were several ragged children heaping on sticks, and
+near the caravans a group of men and women putting the finishing touches
+to an extremely primitive _toilette_. The Lieutenant's guide went up to
+them, and for some moments they all talked at once in an
+uncomprehensible jargon, at the same time casting inquisitive and
+half-suspicious glances at the uninvited guest.
+
+Eventually they seemed to accept him, and, seating themselves round the
+fire, signed the Lieutenant to do the same. These people, as a matter of
+fact, were Silesian gipsies and hereditary foes to law and order,
+wherefore perhaps they felt a certain sympathy towards the dishevelled
+and hungry stranger who was almost as dirty as themselves.
+
+A few moments later Lawless was eating ravenously of a savoury mess out
+of a tin plate with his fingers--knives and forks, apparently, were
+regarded by these people as among the superfluities of life. When he had
+eaten his fill Lawless speculated as to where he was. There was no sign
+of any docks or shipping, and he began to doubt whether he had reached
+Stettin after all. He decided to try, by means of signs and
+gesticulations, to make these people understand that he wanted to know
+where he was.
+
+It proved a long, wearisome, and almost hopeless task, but at last he
+succeeded.
+
+"Glatz," said the man upon whom he had been experimenting.
+
+"Glatz!"
+
+The man nodded.
+
+"Well, I'm jiggered!" exclaimed Lawless under his breath.
+
+He had contrived to escape from his guards, elude recapture, stow
+himself away on a train--only to find himself in the very place he had
+risked so much to avoid.
+
+"Damn!" he remarked aloud.
+
+Then, realising that it might be dangerous to hang about in the open
+fields, he rose to his feet. Possibly he might come across some empty
+barn or building where he could lie concealed till nightfall. At any
+rate, since he had made his escape at Breslau, it was there that the
+authorities would concentrate their search; certainly they would not
+suspect that he had gone on to Glatz. And then the question arose, how
+was he to reach Stettin?
+
+He put his hand in his pocket, pulled out the notes which his mysterious
+friend had given him and handed one to the gipsy. Its equivalent in
+English currency was a little less than a pound, and his benefactor
+stared in open-mouthed astonishment, first at the note and then at him.
+For a minute Lawless thought that he had unwittingly insulted the man,
+but he was wrong there; neither pride nor sensitiveness are among the
+failings of the Silesian gipsies. The man merely thought that his guest
+was a benevolent lunatic.
+
+So, after shaking hands and exchanging grins all round, Lawless departed
+and, taking chance as his guide, hurried off in the opposite direction
+to the town, carefully avoiding all footpaths. At last he came to a
+deserted windmill and, going inside, prepared to wait there till it was
+dark enough to make further investigations.
+
+Throughout the whole of the day, which seemed like an eternity, Lawless
+did not see a single soul, though he frequently surveyed the landscape
+through the numerous apertures in his hiding-place. Long before it
+became dark he grew hungry again, and cursed his want of forethought in
+not having demanded some bread and cheese in exchange for the note he
+had handed over. Eventually, pressed by his inward pangs, he stealthily
+crept out of the ruin, and, foraging in the immediate neighbourhood,
+discovered a field of turnips. He pulled up several and returned with
+them to the mill; they were better than nothing, after all.
+
+At last twilight came, and following that the night, dark and starless.
+Then the Lieutenant emerged from his hiding-place, and, standing in the
+middle of the field, wondered what direction he should take. He had no
+compass, of course, and the country around was an uncharted sea to him.
+Presently he noticed in the far distance a bright light shining, and,
+for no particular reason, set off in that direction. As he advanced the
+light suddenly disappeared nor did it blaze out again during the rest of
+his tramp.
+
+"Funny," he murmured. "It wasn't a searchlight, and it couldn't very
+well be a signal."
+
+After about an hour's walk, he found himself near a large enclosure with
+a long shed in the centre surrounded by a number of small huts. Also he
+caught sight of a dim figure pacing mechanically to and fro some
+distance in front of him and outside the enclosure--obviously a sentry.
+At first he thought it must be a prison encampment and was about to move
+stealthily away again, when the bright light which had first attracted
+his attention, suddenly lit up the enclosure. It came from a large
+arc-lamp suspended from a high wooden erection, and in the glare Lawless
+recognised the shed as an aeroplane hangar. Evidently, therefore, this
+was an aviation station, and the light served as a guide to the homeward
+bound machines. This view was confirmed a few moments later when there
+came the sound of a distant hum which gradually grew louder and more
+distinct.
+
+Lawless, impelled more by curiosity than anything else, crawled nearer
+to the enclosure and took "cover" behind a pile of wooden stakes which
+were being used in the repairing of the palisades. The sentry had ceased
+his monotonous pacing to and fro, and now stood, resting on his rifle,
+looking skywards in the direction of the approaching aeroplane. At last
+it came into view, flying rather low, and then the pilot volplaned to
+the ground, alighting within the enclosure and bringing his machine to
+a standstill not twenty yards from the spot where the Lieutenant was
+concealed. The aviator sprang out, followed by the observer, and they
+both hurried towards one of the huts, leaving the machine where it
+stood.
+
+It was at this moment that a brilliant idea occurred to Lawless. Why
+shouldn't he commandeer the machine and make his escape that way? With
+him, to think was to act, so, not waiting to weigh the chances, he crept
+from his hiding-place, darted across the grass while the sentry's back
+was towards him, and climbed into the machine. He started the engines,
+the machine began to move with increasing speed along the level, and
+then rose into the air. So far he did not appear to have attracted the
+attention of the sentry, who, not having seen him get into the
+aeroplane, no doubt supposed that the pilot was off on another flight.
+But, as the machine rose, Lawless caught sight of the pilot emerging
+from the hut; nothing happened for fully a minute and then he heard the
+crack of a rifle. By this time, however, he was out of danger, and,
+though a searchlight waved frantically skywards it never once focussed
+itself upon him.
+
+The distance from Glatz to Stettin is about two hundred miles as the
+crow flies, and, with the aid of the chart and compass he found in the
+machine, Lawless hoped to steer a fairly accurate course. He knew that
+machines would set off in pursuit, but their pilots had first to find
+and then to overtake him--and he already possessed a pretty good start.
+His chief anxiety now was that the petrol supply would run out before
+Stettin was reached, for the gauges were running low.
+
+About an hour later he passed over a brilliantly lighted town, which he
+took to be Leignitz, and, later on, another one which, according to the
+chart, should be Frankfurt-on-Oder. Then, when he was close upon
+Stettin, the petrol began to give out and there was nothing for it but
+to come down--an extremely difficult task to accomplish safely on a dark
+night and in an unknown tract of country.
+
+At last he thought he could see a stretch of land free from obstructions
+and, deciding to venture, he made a volplane downwards. But as ill-luck
+would have it the machine collided with a tree and, turning turtle,
+pitched the daring aviator out. His fall, however, was broken by the
+branches, and he scrambled to his feet little the worse except for a few
+bruises and scratches. On the ground, a few yards away, lay the
+aeroplane a hopeless wreck.
+
+"Rather a pity," he murmured as he glanced at the débris, "but it was
+smashed in a good cause."
+
+He was about to move away in order to seek some place of
+concealment--for a light streak in the eastern sky warned him of
+approaching dawn--when his foot struck something. Stooping down he saw
+that it was a leather wallet, and concluded it must have formed part of
+the aeroplane's equipment. Thinking it might contain a map of the
+surrounding country, he picked it up and stuffed it in his pocket.
+
+It was barely light when, by devious routes, he reached the docks and
+saw, among other vessels, a small steamer flying the Danish flag.
+Thinking that money might be useful at this juncture, he put his hand in
+his pocket expecting to find the remaining notes. But, to his
+astonishment, they were not there, nor could he find them on any other
+part of his person. The only possible conclusion was, that the
+hospitable gipsy, to whom he had given one of the notes, had picked his
+pocket of the remainder almost immediately afterwards. However, it was
+no use worrying now, and he decided to chance his luck. He succeeded in
+boarding the Danish steamer without attracting attention, and at once
+sought an interview with the skipper. The latter, happily for him, had
+served in the British Mercantile Marine and was a pronounced
+anti-German, so it did not take very long to settle matters to the
+satisfaction of both parties. In due course, therefore, Lawless reached
+Copenhagen, where, by the good offices of the friendly skipper, he was
+transferred to another vessel bound for London.
+
+It was just a week after his capture that Lawless landed at the wharf
+just below London Bridge. Though he looked and felt more like a tramp
+than an officer of the British Navy, he made straight for Whitehall and,
+after a short but sharp altercation with some minor officials, found
+himself in the presence of a certain admiral whose name is anathema to
+the whole German nation.
+
+With extreme brevity the Lieutenant described his adventures since his
+capture by the submarine, and then laid before the admiral the contents
+of the wallet which had fallen out of the wrecked aeroplane. To the
+uninitiated the papers Lawless produced would have been meaningless, but
+to the admiral they were of the utmost value, containing, as they did,
+secret information concerning the enemy's naval plans.
+
+A few days later Lawless, who had been ordered to rejoin the _Knat_
+pending further instructions, received an official communication from
+the Admiralty.
+
+"This," he said complacently as he opened the envelope, "means
+promotion."
+
+The letter, after the usual coldly-polite preliminaries, went on as
+follows:
+
+"The Admiralty desire to commend Lieut.-Commander Lawless for having
+obtained the information duly placed before them. They cannot, however,
+grant any extension of leave under present conditions. Enclosed is a
+cheque for three shillings and sixpence (3s. 6d.), being the sum
+expended by him on victuals while in possession of the information above
+referred to, and, therefore, on Government service."
+
+"Well, if that doesn't absolutely take the bun!" ejaculated Lawless, and
+passed the epistle on to Trent.
+
+"H'm!" grunted the latter when he had perused it.
+
+"They're not even going to make good the kit I lost when the _Lake
+Killarney_ went down!"
+
+"Still," said the sub-lieutenant, "virtue is its own reward, you know."
+
+"Damn," said Lawless, and pitched the missive through the open port
+hole.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE RIDING LIGHT
+
+
+The manners and customs of the Powers that Be may puzzle the ordinary
+man, but those whose duty it is to serve the said Powers know that their
+inconsistency is consistent--which is really not such a paradox as it
+sounds. Because of this and of the water-tight compartments into which
+the administrative body is divided, a number of destroyers was
+patrolling Irish waters at the same time that the High Olympians were,
+to all appearances, blandly unconscious of the German intrigue with
+certain Irish malcontents. Among this flotilla was the _Knat_, and her
+orders were to keep a sharp look-out for gun-runners, who, if rumour did
+not lie, were extremely busy about this time.
+
+Nevertheless, although Lawless had been on duty for over a fortnight,
+not the ghost of a gun-runner had he, or any of his crew, seen, and the
+monotony of the work was becoming extremely irksome to all. One
+afternoon Lawless left Sub-Lieutenant Trent in charge of the bridge,
+and, going below, solaced himself with music and song till the bass
+string of his banjo snapped. It was at this moment that a
+bridge-messenger appeared with a "Beg parding, sir, but you're wanted on
+the bridge."
+
+With a sigh of resignation, the Lieutenant flung his banjo on the settee
+and made his way to the bridge.
+
+"Thought you'd like to have a squint at that Norwegian packet over
+there," said Trent, indicating a cargo steamer some distance off on the
+port bow with the Norwegian colours painted conspicuously on her hull
+amidships.
+
+Lawless picked up the glasses and examined the approaching vessel.
+
+"Signal her to stop," he said. "I'll board her myself and have a peep
+round; it'll be something to do."
+
+The signal was made and the steamer immediately hove-to. Then a boat was
+lowered from the _Knat_, and, with Lawless in the stern-sheets, pulled
+towards the stranger.
+
+"What ship are you?" called out the Lieutenant, as the boat came
+alongside.
+
+"_Krajero_, Boston for Stavanger, with wheat," answered the officer on
+the bridge.
+
+"I'm going to board you," said Lawless, whereupon the skipper of the
+_Krajero_ obligingly lowered an accommodation-ladder over the side for
+the convenience of his visitor.
+
+Upon examination, the ship's papers proved to be in order, but Lawless,
+determined to leave nothing to chance, ordered the hatch-covers to be
+removed. The captain complied, and the Lieutenant was permitted to look
+into the holds, both of which had loose grain up to the combings.
+
+"You can proceed, Captain," said Lawless.
+
+"Tanks, ver goot," answered the skipper, and, as soon as the Lieutenant
+had regained his boat, resumed his course.
+
+"Nothin' doing," said Lawless, when he returned to the _Knat_. "Business
+is dull, Trent."
+
+The junior officer agreed. He had hoped that the Norwegian might prove
+to be a gun-runner or a disguised German commerce destroyer, or
+anything, in fact, that might have afforded a little excitement and a
+chance for a run ashore.
+
+"I s'pose we'll just keep on footling about here till the blooming war's
+over," he growled. "Then someone'll wake up suddenly and discover that
+there's an obsolete destroyer with a crew of greybeards beating about
+the Irish coast."
+
+But he was wrong there, as events soon proved. A couple of hours after
+Lawless had boarded the Norwegian steamer, a wireless message was
+received from the Captain of the cruiser-scout, _Trojon_, inquiring if
+a vessel called the _Krajero_ had been sighted.
+
+"Tell him 'yes,' and that, after examining her papers and cargo, I
+allowed her to proceed," said Lawless to the operator.
+
+The message was duly transmitted, and a few minutes later a reply came:
+
+"Captain of _Trojon_ to Commander of _Knat_. Have stopped steamer
+_Krajero_, and, on examination, found that beneath her cargo of grain
+was a large number of mines, which she intended sowing in the Channel."
+
+"Well, I'm damned!" ejaculated Lawless when he had read the message.
+
+"No promotion this trip," commented Trent grimly.
+
+Lawless, who was almost dancing with rage, tore the paper into shreds
+and cast them to the four winds of heaven.
+
+"It'll be the talk of the Fleet!" he cried. "Every mother's son from the
+stokers to the Admiral will be sniggering over it, curse them. It shan't
+happen again, though! I'll search every boat I meet, from a dinghy to a
+liner. Lord, to think I've been bamboozled by a swab of a make-believe
+Norwegian skipper with a six-inch grin across his mug!"
+
+He continued in the same strain for some time, vowing vengeance on all
+skippers who should henceforth attempt to deceive him in any manner
+whatsoever. Trent had much ado to keep from laughing, but as he was of
+a smaller stature than Lawless he deemed it safer to maintain a serious
+aspect.
+
+But worse was to follow. Other ships had picked up the _Trojon's_
+message, and their captains took advantage of this to send ironic
+messages of congratulation to the luckless commander of the _Knat_. For
+some time the wireless operator was kept busy receiving and transcribing
+such messages as:
+
+"Well done, _Knat_!"
+
+"Is it true that you've been promoted?"
+
+"What is the difference between a bushel of wheat and a contact-mine,
+and if not why not?"
+
+At last Lawless could stand it no longer and, almost foaming at the
+mouth, hurried to the operator's room.
+
+"Look here!" he shouted, "if you take down any more of those infernal
+messages I'll have you put in irons. Understand?"
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the operator meekly.
+
+The Lieutenant savagely stamped down the little iron ladder and gazed
+wrathfully around to see if any of the men had the suspicion of a grin
+on his face. But the men's countenances were almost preternaturally
+serious as they busied themselves with little odd jobs about the deck.
+
+"What's the matter with the men, bos'n?" he growled. "They look like a
+company of funeral mutes."
+
+"Oh, they're quite cheerful, sir," answered the bos'n apologetically. "I
+think the weather's a bit oppressive, sir."
+
+Lawless went back to his cabin and found Trent on the settee, doubled up
+with laughter.
+
+"Hullo, what's the matter with you?" he snapped.
+
+"Read this," answered the Sub-Lieutenant, handing him a piece of paper;
+"it came just as you went on deck."
+
+Lawless took the paper and read:
+
+"_Kite_ to _Knat_. When is a mine most to be feared? Answer: when it
+goes against the grain."
+
+"Trent, I'll----," began the victim, but the junior officer had bolted
+on deck before the threat was finished.
+
+To complete the Lieutenant's discomfiture, a message was received that
+night from the officer commanding the flotilla censuring Lawless for
+allowing the _Krajero_ to proceed on her way without having thoroughly
+overhauled her cargo.
+
+"That puts the lid on it," groaned the unhappy Lieutenant as he
+turned-in to try and forget his sorrows in sleep.
+
+The result of all this was that, during the next few days, Lawless
+became the best-hated man in those waters. Not a ship came within sight
+but she was stopped and her cargo examined with irritating minuteness
+while the skipper stood by, helpless, but vowing to deluge the Admiralty
+with complaints. In his zeal Lawless as good as accused quite innocent
+passengers of being disguised Germans, much to the indignation of the
+parties concerned, who promised that the authorities should hear about
+his "unwarrantable officiousness and insulting behaviour," with much
+more to the same effect. And the worst of it was that he never once came
+across a trace of contraband for all his trouble.
+
+But one evening, about a week after the _Krajero_ episode, something did
+occur to break the monotony of searching harmless vessels and listening
+to the deep-throated profanities of outraged skippers. Lawless, being on
+the bridge scanning the horizon with his glasses, caught sight of a
+large motor fishing smack in the distance and, close alongside her,
+something which looked remarkably like the conning tower of a submarine.
+In another moment he had altered the course and was bearing down on her
+at full speed, the men standing by their guns, delighted at the prospect
+of a "scrap."
+
+"It's a _U_ boat sure enough," said Lawless, handing the binoculars to
+Trent.
+
+"Yes, and she's holding up that fishing boat; trying to get information,
+I suppose."
+
+Unfortunately, the submarine was well under the lee of the smack, and a
+shot at that distance was as likely to hit one as the other.
+
+"Better hold your fire till you get a bit nearer, Trent," said Lawless
+reluctantly.
+
+As the distance lessened, a puff of smoke issued from the vicinity of
+the submarine and a shell whistled over the _Knat's_ bridge.
+
+"Plant one in her conning tower," shouted Lawless to the chief gunner,
+who stood by the quick-firer just below the bridge. If the smack were
+hit it couldn't be helped; the risk must be taken.
+
+There was a deafening report and, when the smoke cleared away the
+submarine had entirely disappeared. The inference was that she had
+submerged without suffering injury, for had the shot struck her she
+would certainly not have sunk as rapidly as all that.
+
+"She's given us the slip all right," muttered the Lieutenant bitterly,
+and the gunner below the bridge echoed his remark in more pungent terms.
+
+As the destroyer came up, a man on the smack's deck--obviously the
+skipper--hailed her.
+
+"Can ye give us a tow?" he shouted.
+
+"Cast a line aboard as we pass you," answered Lawless, for he knew
+better than to stop and parley while an enemy submarine was around
+waiting for a chance to discharge a torpedo.
+
+Accordingly, a line attached to a towing rope was thrown from the smack
+to the destroyer as the latter surged past, and a minute or two later
+the fishing boat was heeling along in her wake. The skipper, standing in
+the bows, yelled the information that he had been held up by the
+submarine while trying to repair a defect in his engines. The _U_ boat
+commander, after seizing his small stock of petrol, was questioning him
+concerning the whereabouts of a British cruiser known to be in these
+waters, when the _Knat_ appeared. At sight of her the German officer
+jumped back on board his boat and, after firing one shot, closed the
+conning tower hatch. He, the skipper of the smack, could not say whether
+the destroyer's shot had taken effect, but was inclined to think that it
+had not.
+
+With the derelict boat still in tow, Lawless put into the harbour of a
+small fishing village between Clonakilty and Castle-townsend, just as it
+was getting dark. There the tow rope was cast off and the skipper was
+told to come aboard the _Knat_ as soon as he had dropped anchor some
+thirty yards or so distant.
+
+The order having been carried out, the skipper duly came aboard and was
+invited into the cabin. Here he proceeded to give a fuller version of
+his encounter with the submarine. The German commander, he said, had
+given him and his crew three minutes in which to leave the smack, and
+they were about to get their boat out when the _Knat_ arrived on the
+scene and saved the situation.
+
+"Well, skipper, you'd better stay and have some dinner with us," said
+Lawless, when the skipper had finished his story.
+
+"'Tis meself that'll be delighted to do that same, ye'r honour,"
+answered the fisherman--an elderly man with twinkling grey eyes.
+
+He proved to be a most interesting, if somewhat unpolished, guest, and
+kept the two officers in an almost continual state of mirth with his
+quaint anecdotes and stories. Not only that, but he was amazingly frank
+and cheerfully confessed that, in the early days of the National
+Volunteer movement, he had been profitably engaged in smuggling arms
+into Munster.
+
+"And now?" queried Lawless.
+
+The old man shook his head knowingly.
+
+"Shure, you fellows have spoilt the game entoirely," he answered. "The
+risk is too great and, be the same token, I'm getting too old for that
+business."
+
+"But you know something about it," suggested the Lieutenant.
+
+The skipper winked.
+
+"Now look here," went on Lawless, "I don't ask you to betray your
+friends, but just give me a hint--you understand?--and if it leads to
+anything I'll see that you lose nothing by it."
+
+"Is it afther timpting me ye'd be, sorr?" asked the skipper with seeming
+indignation.
+
+"I'm merely suggesting you should give me a hint."
+
+"An' phwat 'ud become of me if the bhoys got wind of it, will ye tell
+me?"
+
+"There's no reason why they should. You may be sure I shall never
+breathe a word."
+
+After a few moments' reflection the skipper looked cautiously round the
+cabin and then leant over the table to Lawless.
+
+"Have ye iver heard tell av Mike Mahoney, sorr?" he asked in a whisper.
+
+"Rather! He's supposed to be the cleverest gun-runner in the south of
+Ireland."
+
+"Ye may say so, an' he's a black-hearted son av Satan; he is that. He's
+owed me three pounds since St. Patrick's Day two years gone, and it's
+meself that's niver loikely to see the colour av it. Now I'd be glad to
+have ye take a rise out of that blackguard."
+
+"Tell me where he's to be found."
+
+"Has ye'r honour heard tell av a little fishing village be the name av
+Ballyoon betwixt here and Mizzen Head?"
+
+"No, but I'll soon find it."
+
+"Then it's there that Mahoney--may the divil get his sowl--has his
+headquarters. Many's the noight that he's crept up past Sherkin Island
+an' into Roaringwather Bay wid a cargo of rifles and ammunition."
+
+"Then it's his regular port of call, so to speak?"
+
+"Indade it is. Divil a wan, save the bhoys, suspect it, least av all the
+Rivinue people, and it's a nice little fortune Mike's been piling up for
+himself, so it is. More'n wance he's said to me, 'Pat Rossan,' he's
+said, 'ye're an old hand at the game. Phwy don't ye jine in wid me and
+the rist av the bhoys?' But I'm too old for that now, as I tould him,
+and I don't want to ind me days wid me back against a wall."
+
+"Thanks very much, Mr. Rossan," said Lawless. "I'll see that you lose
+nothing by this."
+
+"Indade I shall be glad av any little hilp ye can give me, sorr, for
+phwat wid submarines and restrictions there's moighty little profit to
+be got out of the fishing these days."
+
+As the skipper was about to leave, Trent drew Lawless aside.
+
+"I'd keep an eye on that old buffer if I were you," he whispered. "Ten
+to one he'll try to creep out to-night and warn this same Mike
+Mahoney."
+
+"Good idea," answered the Lieutenant, and turned to his visitor.
+
+"I must ask you to hoist a riding-light when you get aboard your hooker,
+Mr. Rossan, and keep it burning all night," he said.
+
+"To be sure if ye'r honour wishes it," replied the skipper, and then,
+after shaking hands with both officers, slipped into his dinghy
+alongside and pulled back to his smack.
+
+As soon as he had gone Lawless gave orders that a constant watch was to
+be kept on the smack's riding-light throughout the night. If it was
+extinguished or was seen to move towards the harbour mouth the fact was
+to be reported to him immediately.
+
+It was between three and four o'clock on the following morning when the
+Lieutenant was wakened from a sound sleep by Trent.
+
+"Hullo, what's the row?" he asked, drowsily.
+
+"That blessed smack has skedaddled during the night."
+
+"What!" ejaculated the Lieutenant, now fully awake.
+
+"It's a fact."
+
+Lawless sprang out of his bunk and began hurriedly to pull on his
+garments.
+
+"I gave strict orders that she was to be watched all night," he said.
+"How is it they've been disobeyed?"
+
+"They haven't; come on deck and see for yourself," answered Trent.
+
+On reaching the deck Lawless saw at a glance how he had been outwitted.
+On the spot where the smack had been anchored floated a barrel with a
+tall spar stuck in it and, at the top of this, glowing dimly in the
+morning light, was a lantern.
+
+"I see," he murmured.
+
+Taking advantage of the darkness--for there had been no moon--the
+skipper of the smack had fixed up this dummy riding-light in order to
+deceive the watchers aboard the destroyer and then extinguished the real
+one. This done, he must have got a row-boat with muffled oars to tow him
+out of the harbour, thus obviating the necessity for using the engines
+and so warning the _Knat's_ men of his manoeuvres. It was an ingenious
+trick, cleverly carried out.
+
+"We must get under way at once," said Lawless. "We may catch up with the
+rascal and collar his pal Mahoney before he has time to warn him.
+Evidently that's his dodge."
+
+Half an hour later the _Knat_ was steaming in a westerly direction with
+the Lieutenant on the bridge, scanning the coast-line through his
+glasses. Presently a smudge was seen against the horizon and this
+gradually resolved itself into a destroyer steaming at full speed
+towards them. As she approached the _Knat_ a signal hoist broke at her
+masthead, and when within hailing distance the two vessels slowed down.
+The newcomer was the _Kite_ and her commander stood on the bridge with a
+megaphone in his hands.
+
+"D'you happen to have sighted a fishing smack, ketch-rigged?" he
+inquired.
+
+"Seen a whole fleet of them," answered Lawless.
+
+"The one I'm after had her number painted out and when last seen was
+using a brown mainsail and a staysail half brown and half white."
+
+"Phew!" whistled Trent softly and added in a whisper to Lawless, "it's
+the hooker that slipped her cable last night."
+
+The Lieutenant nodded.
+
+"What about her?" he asked, addressing the commander of the _Kite_.
+
+"Why she's a gun-runner skippered by a ruffian called Mike Mahoney.
+We've just learnt that she took on a cargo of guns and ammunition from a
+German submarine yesterday and landed them early this morning in some
+creek near Galley Head."
+
+"And got clear away?" asked Lawless in well-simulated astonishment.
+
+"Yes; that chap's the most slippery cuss in all Ireland."
+
+"I'll keep a look-out for her," answered Lawless. "Wish you luck."
+
+And, waving his hand in farewell to the _Kite_, the Lieutenant rang
+down "full-speed" and was off before the other could ask any more
+inconvenient questions.
+
+"Thank the Lord he suspected nothing," said Lawless as the _Kite_ faded
+away in the distance. "If it came out that I'd actually towed that
+Mahoney blackguard and his cargo of contraband into harbour and then let
+him go, there'd be the very deuce to pay."
+
+"And to think," chuckled Trent, "that you entertained Mr. Mahoney
+_alias_ Rossan to dinner! I'll bet he chortled when--"
+
+"Mr. Trent, attend to your duties," snapped Lawless and left the
+bridge.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE BELL BUOY
+
+
+Above the inky surface of the North Sea, battalion after battalion of
+low-lying, black clouds rolled across the moonless sky, driven by a
+southerly wind that frequently lashed itself into gusts and squalls of
+short-lived violence. Like a shadow riding the white-capped rollers, the
+long, low form of the _Knat_ plunged and reeled southwards in the teeth
+of the rising gale, her high bows throwing up cascades of ghostly white
+foam each time she met the full force of an on-coming wave. Upon the
+quivering bridge towering above the narrow, sea-washed decks stood
+Lawless wrapped in a hooded "lammy" suit, which had once been white but
+was now the colour of a coal-sack. In front of him a quartermaster,
+similarly attired, gripped the little steering-wheel and gazed
+alternately at the illuminated compass and the tiny light at the bows
+that showed which way the vessel was heading.
+
+"Ease her a couple of points," said the Lieutenant, recovering his
+balance after a sudden lurch which had thrown him against the
+searchlight apparatus.
+
+The quartermaster gave the wheel a twist, but his answering call was
+driven back in his teeth by a gust of rain which swept down upon the
+sea.
+
+"'Ell!" he muttered, and again fixed his smarting eyes upon the tossing,
+swaying, illusive glimmer of light on the bows.
+
+Lawless glanced over the man's shoulder at the compass-card and then
+started to walk--or rather stagger--up and down the bridge in order to
+exercise his cramped muscles. Each time he reached the end of the bridge
+he grasped the rail and tried to pierce the surrounding blackness for
+any sign of a vessel, friendly or otherwise, but without success,
+because it was impossible to see more than a few yards ahead even
+between the rain squalls. Presently he bent down, glanced at the
+illuminated dial of his wrist-watch, and swore softly. There was still
+another half hour before his junior officer was due to relieve him on
+the bridge.
+
+But at last there came the sound of a bell, and before it had died away
+a muffled figure crawled up through a hatchway aft and proceeded to
+stumble and slither along the deck in the direction of the bridge. Its
+progress was slow and precarious, and the remarks which emerged from
+beneath the hood were such as will not be found in a dictionary of
+nautical terms. Eventually it reached the perpendicular iron ladder
+leading to the bridge and, mounting it, was assisted on to the platform
+by an unexpected lurch which landed it somewhere in the vicinity of the
+quartermaster's sea-boots.
+
+"That you, Trent?" inquired the Lieutenant, gazing down upon the
+recumbent bundle of clothes within which was concealed the person of
+Sub-Lieutenant Trent.
+
+The figure slowly scrambled into an upright position, but without
+ceasing to emit curses upon the universe in general and the weather in
+particular.
+
+"When you've quite finished offering up praise for having been born a
+sailor bold I'll leave you in charge," said Lawless. "Keep a southerly
+course and look out for submarines."
+
+"Submarines!" snorted the junior officer. "Why not aeroplanes as well?
+It'd be as easy to see one as the other a night like this."
+
+"Well, keep a bright look-out."
+
+"A bright look-out----" the Sub-Lieutenant's reply was drowned by
+another squall, and Lawless, with a sigh of relief, descended to the
+deck. Seeing the door of the galley open, he stepped in and demanded of
+the cook a mug of hot cocoa. With this between his hands the Lieutenant
+perched himself upon the locker and, in defiance of the rules of
+conduct towards subordinates as laid down by my Lords of the Admiralty,
+swapped weather anecdotes with the cook. Then, having finished his
+cocoa, he slid off the locker and started to scramble aft towards the
+hatch which gave entrance to his cabin. But he had not covered more than
+half the distance when out of the darkness came the sound of a shot.
+
+The Lieutenant swung round, and as he did so the white beam of the
+_Knat's_ searchlight suddenly flashed out and, after waving about like
+some gigantic feeler, finally came to rest at a point about fifty yards
+astern. Beneath its glare could be seen a small patrol steamer and
+alongside her with platform awash, a German submarine with _U77_ painted
+on her conning tower.
+
+Forgetting all about his much-needed rest, Lawless hastened back to the
+bridge. From the fact that the submarine had not torpedoed the patrol
+boat, he concluded that the German commander had boarded her in the hope
+of obtaining some information from the skipper concerning the movements
+of the fleet. The conning tower hatch was open and a machine-gun on the
+for'ard platform was trained on the boat.
+
+As he reached the bridge, the Lieutenant leant over the rail towards the
+gunner in charge of the quick-firer on the forecastle.
+
+"Blot her out!" he yelled.
+
+The long muzzle of the machine-gun swung round, tilted up and down once
+or twice, and then emitted a yellow flame followed by a deep boom.
+
+"Damn!" ejaculated Lawless, and his comment was fervently echoed by the
+gunner. The shot, aimed a trifle too low, had struck the water some ten
+yards in front of the submarine, an inaccuracy pardonable enough
+considering how the destroyer was pitching.
+
+Before the gunner could elevate his weapon and while the machine-gun on
+the "bandstand" aft was opening fire, three men were seen to scramble
+over the patrol boat's bulwarks and drop on to the platform of the
+submarine. But thinking, probably, that the loss of three men was better
+than the loss of the whole crew, the commander had closed the hatch and
+the submarine disappeared beneath the surface as the sailors alighted on
+her platform. Next moment they disappeared also, dragged down by the
+suction of the submerging vessel.
+
+"To think we might have bagged that swine!" growled Lawless as he
+proceeded to leave the bridge once more. "Just my infernal rotten luck."
+
+His comment was echoed in varied terms by the Sub-Lieutenant, the gunner
+and other members of the _Knat's_ crew. It was, to say the very least,
+extremely annoying.
+
+"Stand by with life-buoys!" shouted Lawless, as he reached the deck. He
+wanted to rescue the Germans if possible, partly from humanitarian
+motives and partly because he hoped to glean some information from them.
+
+While Trent was bringing the destroyer round to the patrol boat, the
+gunner still stood behind his quick-firer, cursing his luck and calling
+upon all the gods to witness that he would have sunk "the blighter"
+(_i.e._, the submarine) with his next shot, and Lawless leant over the
+deck-rail trying to catch a glimpse of the men who had vainly
+endeavoured to regain the submarine before she sank. He was still trying
+to penetrate the gloom, when a shadowy figure was swept towards him and,
+leaning over the rail, he made a grab at it. In doing so he overbalanced
+and next moment found himself amidst the dark swirl of waters striking
+out with one hand while with the other he clutched the jacket of the man
+whose life he had attempted to save.
+
+The German, he soon discovered, was not a strong swimmer, but with a
+vague idea that he was rightfully his prisoner and must not be allowed
+to escape, Lawless still retained his hold on the fellow's jacket. He
+soon found that his efforts to keep afloat and assist the other to do
+the same were taxing his strength to the utmost. Had he abandoned the
+German to his fate, the Lieutenant would have stood an infinitely
+better chance, but such a thought never entered his mind even when he
+began to realise that his strength was almost spent. The patrol boat and
+the destroyer had disappeared from view, and not even the searchlight
+was visible, from which Lawless deduced that he and his companion must
+have been carried astern in a very strong current, which still further
+minimised their chances of being picked up.
+
+At last, when it appeared hopeless to struggle any longer and he had
+almost resigned himself to his fate, Lawless thought he heard a harsh,
+gutteral voice hailing him through the darkness. With his last remaining
+strength he struck out in the direction from which the voice had seemed
+to come, and a moment later he and his companion were dragged out of the
+water and over a curved, slippery surface.
+
+"_Gott im Himmel!_" exclaimed someone, and Lawless, raising his head,
+found himself sprawling upon the platform of a large submarine--the same
+one, he felt sure, which he had recently attempted to sink. Then the man
+who had given vent to the ejaculation, asked him something in German.
+
+"Don't understand your lingo," answered the Lieutenant, dragging himself
+into a sitting posture and observing that his questioner was a tall man
+clad in oilskins and sea-boots.
+
+"Who are you?" demanded the other, this time in fairly good English.
+
+"Lieutenant-Commander Lawless of the British destroyer _Knat_. Who are
+you?"
+
+"Commander Carl von Ranheim of the German Navy," answered the man, and
+added, somewhat unnecessarily, "you are my prisoner."
+
+Lawless, now somewhat recovered, gripped a handrail and dragged himself
+upon his feet. Two sailors, he observed, were assisting the man for whom
+he had risked his life through the conning tower hatch. Then, looking
+over his shoulder, he saw the distant beam of the _Knat's_ searchlight
+still focussed upon the patrol boat; evidently no one had seen him fall
+overboard nor had he yet been missed.
+
+"Well," he remarked turning to the Commander of the submarine, "what are
+you going to do with me?"
+
+"I have a good mind to send you back where you came from," answered the
+German officer, jerking his head in the direction of the water.
+
+"As a reward for saving one of your men, I suppose," replied Lawless.
+"Well, as you seem to be afraid of even one Englishman, perhaps it is
+the best thing you can do."
+
+"Afraid!" repeated the other. "_Ach!_ but suppose I take you down below
+you learn our secrets, eh?"
+
+"We've captured so many of your boats that I don't think there are many
+secrets left for us to learn."
+
+"_Schweinehunden_----" began the German angrily, but was interrupted by
+another man, presumably an officer also, who emerged from the hatch. The
+two remained in conversation for some moments, and then the Commander
+again addressed his prisoner.
+
+"I shall put you where, for a time at least, you can do no harm," he
+said. "The rest will depend on yourself."
+
+A moment later Lawless felt the throb of the submarine's oil-engines and
+the vessel, still awash, started to plunge forward. Soaked to the skin
+and shivering, for the water was cold despite the fact of its being a
+very warm night, he hoped that the commander would offer him something
+hot if nothing else, but the German appeared to have no such intention.
+He had mounted the platform on the conning tower, where, apparently, he
+was giving orders to the steersman. The fact that the English officer
+was clinging to the handrail on the for'ard deck and almost waist-deep
+in water, did not seem to trouble him in the least.
+
+The vessel surged along through the darkness, and presently Lawless
+became aware of a familiar sound--the weird and melancholy clang of a
+bell-buoy. He now knew that the submarine was heading towards the coast,
+and was amazed at the German Commander's temerity in venturing so near
+when, at any moment, the searchlight of a passing warship or patrol boat
+might suddenly flash out upon him. And now the mournful clang of the
+bell-buoy grew louder, and a fanciful idea occurred to Lawless that it
+was tolling for the hundreds of men who had perished in the North Sea by
+mine and submarine. The _U_ boat passed within twenty-five yards of it,
+then slowed down and came alongside a cage-buoy, round whose iron pillar
+one of the German sailors cast the bight of a rope.
+
+"Now," said the Commander from his platform, "you can disembark."
+
+"What?" inquired the Lieutenant, not quite grasping the situation.
+
+"You must get on that buoy," answered the German. "If you're not washed
+off before morning you'll probably be rescued by one of your own ships."
+
+Lawless, as he gazed at the plunging buoy, felt his heart sink. Tired
+out as he was, he strongly doubted his ability to cling on to the buoy
+for an hour, let alone a whole night.
+
+"Look here," he said, "you'd much better have chucked me overboard and
+done with it."
+
+"Oh no, we Germans don't murder our prisoners," replied the other
+sardonically. "If you get washed away, that's not my fault. As you
+English say, 'It's up to you.'"
+
+"Hanged if I'll ever try to save the life of a German again," said
+Lawless bitterly.
+
+"Come now, Herr Lieutenant, I can't stay here all night!" cried the
+Commander.
+
+There was nothing for it but to obey, and so Lawless, with the aid of
+the rope, managed to reach the small, oscillating platform and grip the
+iron stanchion which supported the spherical cage. Then a man on the
+submarine gave the rope a jerk, it slipped off the buoy, and the _U_
+boat stole away in the darkness.
+
+It did not take Lawless very long to realise the full gravity of his
+position. He calculated that at least six hours must elapse before it
+became light enough for him to see, or be seen by, passing ships, and by
+that time he would probably be dead. As for making signals in the
+darkness, that was impossible, for he had nothing to make them with--not
+even a revolver. There was, of course, a faint chance that the _Knat_
+might make a search for him and perhaps discover him before it was too
+late, but it was far more likely that, assuming he had been drowned,
+Trent would proceed southwards.
+
+Still, although he felt almost hopeless, the Lieutenant clung with grim
+tenacity to the iron standard, but for which he would have been washed
+off the slippery platform in a few moments, while across the wild waste
+of black waters came the dismal knell of the bell-buoy. The sound did
+not cheer him--in fact, it struck him as being unpleasantly prophetic.
+
+"I wish," he murmured, "I could silence that damned thing."
+
+Then he had an inspiration. If he could manage to swim to the bell-buoy
+and muffle the clapper some of the patrol boats in the neighbourhood
+would be bound to notice its silence and proceed to investigate the
+cause. The sound of the bell was of such importance to navigation in
+these waters that it would be missed almost immediately.
+
+"Blowed if I don't try it," thought Lawless.
+
+The chances of rescue by such a device might not be very brilliant, but
+it seemed the only thing left for him to do unless he were content to
+remain passively on the cage-buoy till he had to release his hold
+through sheer exhaustion.
+
+The bell-buoy, he knew, was about a hundred yards distant, and in the
+daylight with a calm sea the swim would have amounted to nothing at all.
+But now the conditions were very different; he could not see the buoy
+and would have to guide himself entirely by the sound of the bell--added
+to which, the sea was rough, and he was still feeling exhausted from his
+recent struggle in the water. But, having decided that this was his sole
+remaining chance, Lawless did not hesitate and, first divesting himself
+of his heavy "lammys," slid into the water. The current dragged him
+right under the buoy, but after a struggle he managed to swim clear of
+it, and then struck out in the direction whence came the sound of the
+bell. At first he had little difficulty in making headway despite the
+choppy sea, but presently his stroke grew weaker, the muscles of his
+shoulders seemed as if they were on the point of cracking, and he found
+himself swallowing mouthfuls of salt water. A feeling akin to panic
+seized him, and he began to "dog-paddle" furiously, conscious only of a
+frantic desire to keep his head above the inky waves which descended
+upon him in an unending succession. For a moment or two he experienced
+all the horrors of approaching death by suffocation, and then, with a
+gigantic effort of will, threw off the numbing horror and struck out
+again with slow but steady strokes.
+
+At last he caught sight of a dim, towering mass from whence came a harsh
+clang. He swam round it, and was lucky enough to encounter a large iron
+ring in the base, with the assistance of which he succeeded in dragging
+himself upon the narrow platform of the buoy. Here he remained for some
+moments lying on his chest, too exhausted to move. After a while,
+however, he recovered somewhat, though almost deafened by the clangour
+of the huge bell above his head. Tearing the woollen comforter from
+round his neck he climbed up to the bell and managed to wrap it round
+the clapper, thus effectually muffling it. This done, he slid down again
+and prepared to await whatever might happen.
+
+It seemed to him that he had sat there for hours interminable, drenched
+by the waves and in peril of being washed off every moment, when he
+became aware of something grinding against his boots. He could not see
+what it was, but bending down felt with one hand and discovered a chain,
+which appeared to be attached to one of the ring-bolts round the base of
+the buoy.
+
+"Now what the dickens is this for?" he asked himself.
+
+A buoy, as he knew, is moored by chains attached to the bottom and not
+to the side, which would cause it to float askew. Besides, the chain
+grating against his boots was much too light to hold in position a mass
+weighing several tons and in weather such as this would have snapped
+like a thread. Therefore it was certainly not a mooring chain.
+
+At the risk of slipping off the platform, Lawless twisted his legs round
+the pillar supporting the bell and, leaning forward, caught hold of the
+chain and tugged at it with both hands. It came in quite easily at
+first, and then stopped with an abruptness that nearly jerked the
+Lieutenant into the sea. He could see nothing, but passing one hand down
+the chain he felt something at the end--something large and buoyant,
+with sharp square edges like a box or a tank. Also he knew by the feel
+that it was metal.
+
+Lawless forgot his own sufferings in contemplation of this puzzling
+discovery. What on earth, he asked himself, was the object of having a
+floating or submerged tank attached to this buoy? What did it contain?
+He pondered the matter for some minutes, and then, for the second time
+that night, had an inspiration.
+
+It must be a secret petrol tank for the use of German submarines!
+
+In a flash he divined the whole scheme. The bell-buoy, being such a
+well-known navigating mark, could not be mistaken for any other buoy in
+its vicinity. It was close to the English coast, and the tank attached
+to it could be replenished either by submarine petrol boats or by secret
+agents ashore--probably the former. On a dark night, such as this for
+instance, an enemy submarine could easily take on a fresh supply of
+petrol from the tank, while the latter, being submerged several feet
+below the surface, would not be seen in daylight. Doubtless, also, it
+was provided with an automatic arrangement whereby, when emptied of
+petrol, it became filled with sea-water, thus preventing it from
+floating on the surface and becoming visible. It was a most ingenious
+device, quite simple and, no doubt, an inestimable boon to belated enemy
+submarines which were running out of petrol. But the point was, having
+discovered this, how could he make use of it to the best advantage?
+
+Lawless was so engrossed by this problem that he forgot to wonder
+whether his scheme of muffling the bell would lead to his rescue until
+the sound of engines in the darkness aroused him from his
+contemplations. Then, realising that a boat of some sort was at hand, he
+shouted as loud as he could. There came an answering hail out of the
+darkness, and next moment the Lieutenant was momentarily blinded by the
+dazzling rays of a searchlight turned full upon him.
+
+"Ship ahoy!" he shouted.
+
+"Hullo there!" came the answer. "What the devil are you doing?"
+
+He recognised the voice of Sub-Lieutenant Trent and knew that it was the
+_Knat's_ searchlight which was dazzling him. Then, as the destroyer
+drew nearer, Trent, in his turn, recognised the soaked and huddled-up
+figure clinging to the platform of the buoy as that of his senior
+officer.
+
+"Stand by to jump aboard!" he yelled.
+
+With considerable skill he brought the destroyer round the buoy so close
+that her side grated against it, and Lawless, clutching at the
+deck-rail, swung himself on board.
+
+"Trent," he said, catching his astonished junior by the arm, "come with
+me into the chart-room, but first of all tell the steward to send me up
+a cup of hot coffee and rum."
+
+When they were in the chart-room together, and Lawless was imbibing the
+stimulating beverage, he related between gulps his amazing adventures
+since falling overboard, as well as a plan for trapping submarines.
+
+"I'm almost convinced," he concluded with cheery optimism, "that
+everything happens for the best after all."
+
+"But supposing your tank theory is right," said Trent, who secretly
+doubted the accuracy of the Lieutenant's deductions, "how d'you know any
+_U_ boat will tap your tank to-night? Seems to me the best thing would
+be to wait till morning and then sink the thing."
+
+"And lose the chance of doing in at least one enemy submarine!"
+
+"Or we could tie up to the buoy and plug any _U_ boat that came up to
+the surface."
+
+"Why, you fathead!" exclaimed Lawless, "if we tied up to the buoy the
+bally submarine might come up immediately under our keel. And if she
+didn't, how are we to spot her on a pitch-black night like this? You
+might turn on the bull's eye, but they'd spot the light through their
+periscope and either torpedo us or do a bunk. No, you must stick to my
+plan."
+
+"H'm, perhaps you're right."
+
+"And there'd be no sport your way."
+
+"As to sport----" began Trent, but the Lieutenant cut him short.
+
+"You'll carry out my instructions," he said, curtly. "Now bear down on
+that buoy again."
+
+The destroyer approached the bell-buoy once more, and Lawless, having
+provided himself with a loaded revolver, prepared to resume his former
+uncomfortable post on the tiny, wave-washed platform.
+
+"Remember," he said, when about to spring on to the buoy, "you've got to
+start operations before the sound of my shot dies away, otherwise we
+draw a blank."
+
+He swung himself over the deck-rail, reached the buoy safely, and next
+moment the searchlight was switched off and the _Knat_ disappeared in
+the darkness. The first thing Lawless did was to remove his muffler
+from the bell-clapper so that the sound should serve as a guide to any
+enemy submarines that might be searching for the secret supply tank.
+This done, he settled down to wait, with what patience he could muster,
+for the arrival of his hoped-for victims.
+
+For over an hour he remained there, half-drowned, cold and nearly
+deafened by the bell. Presently he began to wonder whether, after all,
+he might not have made a mistake in his deductions concerning the tank.
+It also occurred to him that if this proved to be the case and he
+captured nothing but a severe attack of rheumatism, he would become the
+laughing-stock of the Fleet. He could imagine how the story would be
+passed from ship to ship with suitable elaborations. "Heard about that
+silly ass, Lawless? Spent the whole night lashed to a bell-buoy, fishing
+for German submarines with a bent pin and a petrol tank for bait!"
+
+He was still considering what steps he could take to prevent the tale of
+his adventures being spread abroad, when something very black and solid
+arose out of the water only a few yards away. Although, considering the
+darkness, it was quite unnecessary, he crawled round to the other side
+of the buoy in order to take advantage of the "cover" afforded by the
+pillar supporting the bell, for he knew that black object must be the
+conning tower of a submarine rising to the surface. Then he heard
+voices, and at the same moment the chain attached to the tank began to
+slide over his boots, showing that the Germans were hauling it alongside
+their vessel. The moment for action had come.
+
+Drawing his revolver he fired it in the air, and before the report had
+died away the buoy and the submarine were lit up by the brilliant beam
+of the _Knat's_ searchlight. The Germans, of whom there were several on
+the _U_ boat's platform, made a simultaneous rush for the open hatch,
+for all the world like startled rabbits diving into their burrows. But
+before they disappeared inside a yellow flame flashed out from the
+vicinity of the searchlight, followed by a dull roar. Another and
+another followed in quick succession; the submarine suddenly tilted up,
+gave a lurch, and then disappeared for ever beneath the waters of the
+North Sea.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Pity you plugged that petrol tank as well," remarked Lawless as he and
+Trent sat at breakfast in the _Knat's_ cabin. "We might have used it for
+bait quite a number of times."
+
+"Couldn't be helped under the circumstances. However, I suppose this'll
+mean promotion for you and paragraphs in the papers headed 'Naval
+Officer's Amazing Ruse. How a German submarine was sunk.'"
+
+"There's my official report," said the Lieutenant, handing the other a
+paper.
+
+Trent glanced through it and looked up with a puzzled expression.
+
+"You don't mention the bell-buoy," he said.
+
+"Trent, do you consider that, in a stand-up scrap, I could lick you?"
+
+The Sub-Lieutenant regarded Lawless in amazement.
+
+"Why," he answered at last, "I suppose you could. You're nearly double
+my weight, and you've got a longer reach."
+
+"Because," went on Lawless, "if you ever breathe a word about the way in
+which I collared that submarine I'll pound you so that your most devoted
+aunt won't recognise her dear sailor nephew."
+
+He rose from the table.
+
+"Sitting on a bell-buoy catching submarines with a bent pin! Why, it'd
+haunt me to my dying day," he murmured as he left the cabin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+ABANDON SHIP!
+
+
+"Ah me!" sighed Lawless as he gazed at a small heap of documents which
+lay before him on the cabin table. "It's a weary world, my masters, and
+full of creditors."
+
+"What's the matter now?" asked Trent, glancing up from a letter he was
+reading.
+
+"The same as always--viz., 'Dear Sir, We beg to call your attention to
+the fact that your account is long overdue and that, unless it is
+settled immediately, we shall be reluctantly compelled'--and so on and
+so on. What I don't like about these chaps is their infernal
+priggishness, 'it-hurts-me-more-than-it-hurts-you' tone. Their
+reluctance to summons me is nothing to my reluctance to be summonsed."
+
+"Buck up! Nelson was dunned, you remember," said Trent.
+
+"Oh, shut up," growled the Lieutenant. "If I happen to have a go of
+toothache it doesn't do me any good to reflect that Julius Cæsar
+probably had it before me."
+
+"Try a cup of coffee, it'll soothe you."
+
+"And to think," went on Lawless, ignoring the suggestion, "that there's
+a thousand pounds waiting for me if only I could pot a Zep."
+
+"Why not write to your creditors and say that as soon as you've brought
+down a Zeppelin you will settle their accounts in full? Appeal to their
+patriotism."
+
+"I shan't write at all; let 'em do their worst," answered Lawless, as he
+rose from the table. "They're a measly lot of bounders, anyway."
+
+He went on deck and, although a white mist was creeping over the sea
+from the east, gave orders to get under way. Soon the _Knat_ was
+threading her way out of the Humber towards her alloted beat "somewhere"
+in the North Sea. Later, when off Spurm Head, instructions were received
+by wireless to keep a look-out for German warships, as there was a
+report to the effect that several were steaming in a westerly direction.
+
+"All jolly well to talk about keeping a look-out, but one couldn't see a
+liner a cable's length away in this fog," grumbled the Lieutenant when
+he had perused the message.
+
+He looked anxiously into the thick white mist which was closing around
+them. The _Knat_ was steaming at half speed and in every direction
+syrens were screeching and bellowing, some close at hand, others far
+away in the distance. It was, in fact, just the sort of weather that the
+Germans love when contemplating a raid on some defenceless east-coast
+port, since they can take advantage of the mist to escape when
+threatened with the arrival of British warships
+
+"I feel I could just do with a scrap; it would be a sort of tonic," said
+Lawless as Trent joined him on the bridge. "Demands for money always
+make me hopping mad."
+
+"I know," replied the junior officer, feelingly.
+
+After several rather narrow escapes from collision with other
+vessels--which did not tend to improve the Lieutenant's temper--the
+_Knat_ drew out of the shipping track, greatly to the relief of all on
+board.
+
+"Thank heaven for a little peace and quietness," said Lawless. "Now we
+can----"
+
+He stopped abruptly as a dull boom, like a distant clap of thunder, came
+over the fog-ridden water. The Lieutenant's experienced ears told him
+that it was not thunder but the sound of heavy guns. Either there was an
+engagement taking place or else the Germans had crept up through the
+mist and were bombarding some coast town. Owing to the direction of the
+wind in relation to the sound, he inclined to the latter supposition.
+
+The dull reverberations of the guns continued and the crew of the
+_Knat_, having been piped to quarters, she steamed in the direction from
+which the firing seemed to come. Still, the wind was light and variable,
+which made it difficult to determine even approximately the locality of
+the sounds. The fog, too, was a serious handicap, for, should a warship
+be sighted, the difficulty of deciding whether she was a friend or an
+enemy would be enormously increased. War vessels, seen at a distance
+even on a clear day, look much alike, and in a thick atmosphere it is
+practically impossible even for an expert to distinguish friend from
+foe. A wireless message of inquiry, though sent in code, would, of
+course, defeat its own object should the vessel receiving it be an
+enemy. Under such circumstances as these, therefore, commanders of small
+craft like destroyers and submarines are under a grave disadvantage and
+have to proceed with the utmost caution or run the risk of making a
+ghastly error.
+
+After proceeding slowly for some little time, Lawless came to the
+conclusion that the firing was taking place somewhere to the north-west,
+and he accordingly steered in that direction. As the _Knat_ slowly felt
+her way through the fog the sound of the guns grew louder and more
+distinct, thereby confirming the Lieutenant in his decision. He was
+leaning over the bridge-rail, trying to penetrate the opaque white
+curtain in front of him, when there came a shout from the deck below.
+
+"Zep, sir, right over'ead, sir!" cried a man.
+
+Lawless looked up and saw, just above the low-lying mist, the dim
+outline of an enormous object moving slowly in the opposite direction.
+
+"A scouting Zeppelin," he muttered. "If only I had an Archie aboard I'd
+put a few plugs in her belly."
+
+But, unfortunately, the _Knat_ carried no anti-aircraft guns, and by no
+possible exercise of ingenuity could the machine-guns, mounted as they
+were, be made to fire in a vertical direction. So Lawless had to gnash
+his teeth and watch the airship floating overhead within easy range, yet
+as safe, so far as he was concerned, as though she were five miles up.
+
+"There goes my thousand quid, so close that I could almost touch her,"
+he said bitterly to Trent. "Isn't it just my luck?"
+
+"Pity we didn't think to rig up one of our Q.F's vertically," remarked
+the Sub-Lieutenant. "We could easily have done it."
+
+Lawless turned his back on him in disgust. It was quite true that they
+might have done as Trent suggested, but the idea had not previously
+occurred to him. It was too late now, for it would take at least half a
+day to accomplish, and the Zeppelin could hardly be expected to wait
+complacently while those below made ready for her destruction.
+
+Suddenly there was a loud explosion just to starboard of the destroyer,
+and a column of water arose so close that, in subsiding, it washed over
+the deck.
+
+"By Jove, she's dropping bombs!" exclaimed Lawless, at the same time
+ringing down "Full-speed" to the engine-room.
+
+However, in a few moments they had passed out of danger, and the airship
+was lost in the mist. The firing to the north-west still continued,
+though with decreasing vigour, as if fewer ships were engaged. This
+suggested to Lawless that some of the enemy vessels were drawing off, in
+which case he might possibly meet one or more on their flight back to
+the fastnesses of Heligoland.
+
+"This is where we keep our eyes skinned and stand-by for trouble," said
+the Lieutenant as he reduced speed again. "See anything, Trent?"
+
+"Not yet," answered the latter, who was straining his eyes in an
+endeavour to penetrate the fog.
+
+About ten minutes afterwards there came the heavy thud of ship's engines
+going at full speed, though as yet nothing could be seen of the ship
+itself. The situation for those on board the _Knat_ was one of infinite
+peril, for they did not know from one moment to another when, from out
+of the enveloping fog, a great towering mass might hurl itself upon
+their frail craft and send it to the bottom. Yet for obvious reasons
+Lawless dared not make any signal or betray his presence to the unknown
+monster advancing at, probably, between thirty or forty knots an hour.
+
+Suddenly the fog seemed to be thrust aside by a huge bulk, black and
+solid against the impalpable curtain of mist. For a moment it looked as
+if the destroyer must inevitably be crushed beneath the ocean Juggernaut
+advancing upon her.
+
+"Hard a port!" shouted Lawless, and instinctively gripped the
+bridge-rail as if bracing himself for a terrific shock.
+
+"Hard a port 'tis, sir," echoed the quartermaster, and sent the little
+wheel spinning round.
+
+Had the Lieutenant hesitated for the fraction of a second before giving
+the order the _Knat_ would have been cut in twain like a rotten log.
+But, as it was, the destroyer swerved to starboard in the nick of time,
+her side almost grazing the bows of the unknown ship as she passed.
+
+"A narrow squeak that," murmured Trent under his breath.
+
+"Could you make anything of her?" asked Lawless as the fog once more
+closed in on them and hid the other vessel from sight, though her
+engines could still be heard.
+
+"No," answered the junior officer; "she might be British, German or
+Dutch for all I can tell."
+
+"Then I think we'll keep on her track for a bit," said the Lieutenant.
+"Something'll give her away sooner or later."
+
+By this time the sound of firing had died away save for an occasional
+distant boom, and as it would be useless to try and locate the scene of
+action now, Lawless did the best thing possible in following the ship
+which had so nearly run him down. If she were a British cruiser no harm
+would be done; while, were she German--well, there would be some
+exciting moments in store for both.
+
+So far, however, her nationality could not be ascertained, and so
+Lawless, guided by the sound of her engines, kept abreast of her as near
+as he could judge. While the fog lasted he could not hope to identify
+her by sight, but a chance occurrence, such as a bugle call, a loud
+order given on deck, or a call on the pipe, might afford a clue.
+Meanwhile it was necessary to prevent those on board from suspecting
+the presence of a destroyer so close at hand, for, should the _Knat_ be
+sighted, the chances were a hundred to one that, friend or foe, the
+strange vessel would open fire on her without waiting to make inquiries.
+
+For nearly an hour the two vessels continued to pound along in a
+south-easterly direction, each hidden from the other by the enveloping
+fog.
+
+"Something's got to be done," said Lawless at last. "In my opinion she's
+a German, for she's certainly laying a course towards Heligoland, and if
+we're not mighty careful we'll find ourselves in a trap. Point is, how
+the devil are we to make the skipper give himself away?"
+
+"Send a wireless in English. If he's----"
+
+"No good," broke in the Lieutenant. "If he's a German he'd savvy the
+dodge and play up to us."
+
+The fog was now beginning to show signs of clearing overhead, though it
+still lay thick upon the sea. There was every prospect of its soon
+disappearing altogether, and then, perhaps, the mystery of the unknown
+vessel would be solved and her fate--or that of the _Knat_--decided.
+
+"Look!" shouted Trent abruptly, but before Lawless could follow the
+upward direction of his gaze something fell in the water just astern and
+then came the sound of a loud explosion. Others followed in quick
+succession, some of the bombs falling so close to the destroyer that the
+men standing by the torpedo tubes were drenched by the water they threw
+up. There was no need to inquire as to the cause of these unpleasant
+phenomena, they were due to a Zeppelin hovering above--probably the same
+one which had been encountered earlier in the day.
+
+"That settles it," said Lawless. "We're in company with a German cruiser
+and her guardian angel."
+
+He had only just finished speaking when there was a deafening boom on
+the port side and a volley of shells went hurtling over the destroyer,
+one of them snapping her wireless mast in two like a twig. Obviously the
+Zeppelin, having sighted the _Knat_ and notified the fact in the usual
+way with bombs, had warned her sea consort of the destroyer's proximity
+by wireless, and the cruiser had answered by firing more or less
+haphazard into the fog. In fact, she came very near sinking her unseen
+enemy and would have probably succeeded had not her guns been trained at
+too high an angle.
+
+Lawless, now that his doubts were at rest, lost no more time, all the
+men were at their stations in readiness and there was no further reason
+to delay an action. His object now was to creep up abreast of the
+cruiser until he could launch a torpedo with a fair chance of its
+getting "home." This manoeuvre, however, was not by any means easy,
+for it necessitated exposing the _Knat_ to the enemy's fire, and if only
+one shot made good it would almost certainly mean an end of the
+adventure so far as the destroyer and her crew were concerned. Moreover,
+the airship was still dropping bombs and keeping her consort informed as
+to the enemy's position.
+
+The first two attempts to torpedo the German proved unsuccessful, and in
+both cases the _Knat_ was driven off with the loss of several men killed
+and wounded, while the machine-gun aft on the bandstand had been wrecked
+by the only air-bomb which, up to the present, had struck the vessel.
+With such odds against him, Lawless would have been quite justified in
+drawing off; but to retire before a superior foe is not one of the ways
+they have in the Navy. Therefore the Lieutenant prepared for a third
+attempt, which, as the mist had begun to clear, was likely to prove the
+last whatever the issue might be.
+
+"We've got to pull it off this time or go to the bottom," he said.
+
+"Ten days' leave or good-bye all," commented Trent grimly.
+
+The _Knat_, which had fallen a little astern of her hoped-for victim,
+darted forward at full speed and, as she came up on the cruiser's
+starboard quarter, was met by a terrific fire. The two for'a'd funnels
+were reduced to the condition of sieves, the wireless room was smashed
+to splinters, and Lawless himself narrowly escaped death from a shell
+which burst just above the bridge. The quartermaster was killed on the
+spot, but as he fell Lawless sprang to the wheel and took charge of it
+himself.
+
+"Stand by!" he roared to the men at the torpedo tubes, and then as the
+_Knat_, reeling under the blast of fire, came abreast of the cruiser, he
+shouted "Fire!"
+
+The shining messenger of death leapt from the port tube and, as it did
+so, a shell struck the destroyer amidships. There was a loud explosion;
+from the engine-room gratings there issued clouds of smoke and scalding
+steam; the shrieks of wounded and scalded men arose above the din, and
+the _Knat_, struck in a vital spot, canted over on her port side and
+began to settle. She, at any rate, had fought her last fight.
+
+"Pipe all hands stand by to abandon ship!" roared the Lieutenant, and
+somewhere amid the drifting grey fog there came the sound of another
+explosion.
+
+The destroyer gave another lurch and the water came swirling over her
+decks.
+
+"Abandon ship! Every man for himself!"
+
+The men sprang into the sea, and not a moment too soon. As Lawless gave
+his last order there came the sound of another explosion in the
+engine-room and, before the steam from the shattered boilers had cleared
+away, nothing remained of the gallant little vessel but a mass of
+crumpled metal at the bottom of the North Sea and some wreckage floating
+upon the surface.
+
+Lawless, who was still at the wheel when the _Knat_ took her final
+plunge, was drawn down by the suction of the sinking vessel.
+Instinctively he struck out as soon as the waves closed above his head,
+but it seemed to him that he must be miles and miles below the surface.
+A horrible feeling of impending suffocation and an almost intolerable
+pressure on his lungs oppressed him as he struck upwards. At last, when
+his chest felt as if it were about to burst, he reached the surface and
+trod water while he sucked in deep breaths of air. Then, through the
+thin veil of mist, he caught sight of what looked like the hull of a
+vessel or, at any rate, something solid and capable of affording
+support. He started to swim towards it, hoping it might be some ship
+which had arrived on the scene since the fight, and not caring much
+whether it proved to be a friend or an enemy.
+
+In a few minutes he was alongside, and had caught hold of some tackle
+hanging from a spar. Hauling himself up, he managed to get astride the
+spar, and then realised that the vessel had a heavy list to port. Too
+dazed to draw any significant deductions from this, he worked his way
+along the spar till he found himself looking down upon a slanting deck,
+littered with wreckage and apparently deserted. Then, and not till then,
+he realised where he was.
+
+He had unwittingly climbed aboard the German cruiser, which was sinking
+and had been abandoned by her crew. Obviously, therefore, his last
+torpedo had found its billet, and the cruiser had been hit at the moment
+when victory seemed hers--it was a great consolation.
+
+The Lieutenant's first thought was to dive back into the sea, and he was
+about to do this when a noise above his head made him look up. A
+Zeppelin, no doubt the same one which had been piloting the cruiser, was
+hovering above, evidently with the object of ascertaining what had
+happened to the combatants.
+
+"Lord, if I could only bring that thing down," reflected Lawless,
+forgetting his own peril for the moment.
+
+His eye wandered over the deserted decks, and then he gave a sudden
+whoop of joy. Not twenty yards from where he stood were a couple of
+anti-aircraft guns, and, without stopping to weigh the consequences, he
+crossed to one of them, found it was loaded, and at once trained the
+muzzle on the ponderous mass hovering overhead. Then he fired.
+
+A shell went whistling up, and passing through or over the gondola--he
+could not be sure which--exploded immediately beneath the gas envelope.
+There was a flash of flame and the sound of an explosion, but before the
+smoke had cleared away Lawless had trained the second gun on the airship
+and fired again. Then, without waiting to ascertain the result of his
+shots, he took a header into the sea and, on reaching the surface, swam
+as hard as he could towards a piece of floating wreckage. He threw an
+arm over this and, thus supported, turned round to see what was
+happening.
+
+The sight which met his astonished gaze was tragic and terrible in the
+extreme. Piled upon the tilting side of the German cruiser was a great
+flaming mass sending up a cloud of smoke and sparks--all that remained
+of the great airship. Only for a second or two was Lawless able to gaze
+at this fearful spectacle of calamity heaped upon calamity to which sea
+and air had each contributed a quota, for, with a quivering lurch, the
+cruiser rolled completely over and disappeared beneath the waters,
+dragging the burning remains of the Zeppelin with it.
+
+"Congratulations! You'll be able to stand me a dinner at the Savoy now."
+
+Lawless turned his head and saw Trent a few yards away clinging to an
+empty water beaker and looking quite abnormally cheerful. But the
+Lieutenant was still oppressed by the tragedy he had witnessed, and the
+junior's flippant remark jarred upon him.
+
+"Shut up," he growled.
+
+"Oh, all right," answered Trent, in an injured tone; "but I should have
+thought that the prospect of handling that thousand quid would have made
+you more amiable."
+
+As a matter of fact it had not occurred to Lawless until that moment
+that he had won his uncle's wager and was, therefore, entitled to the
+thousand pounds. But now, strange to say, he did not feel elated in the
+least degree; the triple tragedy in which the _Knat_, the German cruiser
+and the Zeppelin had been involved, together with, probably, the loss of
+several hundred men, dwarfed everything else for the time being.
+
+"How many of our men have gone under do you think?" he asked.
+
+"Can't say, though I'm afraid we've lost between twenty and thirty. But
+that's nothing compared with the enemy's losses."
+
+As he spoke, Trent pointed to various small groups of figures swimming
+about or hanging on to pieces of wreckage. Some were survivors of the
+_Knat_, some of the German cruiser, and in several cases men who less
+than a quarter of an hour ago had been endeavouring to kill one another
+were now rendering each other mutual help--such are the uncertainties of
+war.
+
+"Even now," went on the Sub-Lieutenant, "the chances are that we shall
+all be drowned before----"
+
+He was interrupted by a shout from Lawless and, looking round, saw a
+couple of destroyers approaching at full speed, followed by several
+patrol boats.
+
+"Saved!" he ejaculated.
+
+A few minutes later the destroyers had arrived on the scene and lowered
+boats to pick up the survivors, friend and foe alike. Among the last to
+be rescued were Lawless and his junior officer, and when the boats had
+returned to the destroyers the latter made off at full speed towards the
+land, leaving nothing but a few masses of floating _débris_ as witnesses
+of that memorable fight.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"It's all right," said Lawless, looking up from a letter as he and Trent
+sat at breakfast in a certain old-fashioned hostelry off the East Coast.
+"The old boy's dubbed up."
+
+"You mean he's handed over the boodle?" asked Trent with interest.
+
+"Yes; he sent a cheque to the major yesterday, who's paid it into my
+account."
+
+"Lucky pig, you."
+
+"And that's not all," went on Lawless. "Seen to-day's paper?"
+
+"Not yet."
+
+"Well, then, look at this."
+
+The Lieutenant handed over the paper and placed his finger on "Naval
+Appointments." Trent leaned forward and read: "Lieutenant-Commander F.
+H. Lawless, H.M.S. _Knat_, promoted to Commander."
+
+"Congrats!" he cried. "You'll be an admiral some day if you are not very
+careful."
+
+"Don't mention it. If you persevere in your profession and cultivate
+habits of cleanliness and sobriety, you may become even as I, my son."
+
+"Returning to that little matter of the thousand pounds," said Trent,
+"don't you think you might pay that half-quid you've owed me for the
+last eighteen months?"
+
+"Great Scot, I thought you'd forgotten it. 'Pon my soul you have a
+tenacious memory, Trent," answered Lawless. "However," he went on
+condescendingly, "I'll see what I can do for you. What with the
+super-tax, the increased duty on motor-cars, and other drains on a
+fellow's income----"
+
+He broke off abruptly, crossed to the window and stood watching a patrol
+boat which had just come fussily into harbour. When Trent joined him
+there he was puzzled to find his senior plunged in gloom.
+
+"Well, for a fellow who's just come into money----" he remarked in
+disgust.
+
+"Do you remember," asked Lawless dreamily, "how gallantly she behaved in
+that scrap with the _Lansitz_ and her attendant destroyers?"
+
+Trent stared for a moment.
+
+"Oh, you're thinking of the old _Knat_," he said, a light breaking in on
+him.
+
+"And again in that storm off the coast of Northumberland?"
+
+Trent nodded; he, too, was sobered now.
+
+"Well," said Lawless with passion, "she had a glorious end; but do you
+think I can exult over a paltry thousand pounds when she's at the bottom
+of the sea? I wouldn't have lost her, no, not for----"
+
+The sentence remained unfinished and Lawless stared moodily out to sea
+again.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+    Printed in Great Britain by W. H. SMITH & SON, The Arden Press,
+    Stamford Street, London. S.E.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Commander Lawless V.C., by Rolf Bennett
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40511 ***