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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 *** |