The Germans left nothing to chance. Way was taken off both vessels. A boat was manned and lowered from the _Pelikan_ and rowed towards the entrance, soundings being taken methodically and frequently.
Having found the deepest water the officers in the boat signalled to the _Myra_, and at half speed the captured tramp crept towards the narrow pa.s.sage.
Between the foam-swept barriers she made her way, until she lay quietly upon the peaceful waters of the lagoon.
The _Pelikan_ prepared to follow.
"Ten to one she"ll b.u.mp," exclaimed Captain Pennington. "There you are! I said so," he added, as the raider touched the bottom with a dull grinding sound. Still she carried way. Sc.r.a.ping along for nearly her own length she slid into deep water.
"Hope she"s stove in her bottom," said O"Hara. "See, they"re using her bilge pumps."
A signal was hoisted on the raider. What it meant the British officers were unable to say, but it was evident from the expression of the face of Unter-leutnant Klick that the damage to the _Pelikan_ was but slight.
By this time the mist was rising. The mainland could now be discerned, low-lying ground densely covered with mangroves and backed by rugged hills at a distance of about ten miles from the coast.
The lagoon was quite three miles in breadth and extended in a northerly direction beyond the range of vision. Southward it gradually converged towards the coast, apparently joining it at a distance of five miles from where the ships lay.
"An anchorage big enough to take the whole of the British Navy,"
declared Denbigh. "It"s the bar that spoils the place, apart from the pestilential swamps. Do you see that peculiar isolated tree? It"s a casuarina. It marks the princ.i.p.al entrance to the Mohoro--or did when I was here last, but these African rivers have a peculiar knack of altering their course entirely in a night."
"I suppose we are going straight up," remarked O"Hara. "There"s depth enough for us."
"Goodness knows," replied his chum. "At all events the _Pelikan_ can"t."
Apparently the Germans had a good knowledge of the lagoon, for boldly closing with the land, the _Pelikan_ dropped anchor within three hundred yards of the highest part of the sh.o.r.e, where a cliff rose abruptly to the height of thirty or forty feet. On the summit the ground shelved gently. There were several native huts to be seen in the clearing between the mangroves, while farther back was a galvanized-iron shed with a whitewashed roof.
Acting under von Riesser"s instructions the _Myra"s_ anchor was let go, the tramp bringing up at a cable"s length from her captor, and so close to the sh.o.r.e that when she swung her stern was within forty yards of the cliff. The water here was ten fathoms deep, the sh.o.r.e being steep-to, but in spite of the depth the bottom could be clearly seen.
"Suppose you vant to go "sh.o.r.e, hein?" asked Unter-leutnant Klick. "No tricks. Plenty of shark about."
The German was right. Already the surface of the lagoon in the vicinity of the two ships was furrowed with diverging lines of ripples as the black dorsal fins of numerous tigers of the deep cleft the water.
"No, I don"t think I want to bathe, lieutenant," remarked Captain Pennington. "It hardly looks tempting."
Kaspar Klick laughed boisterously.
"You see even der shark is der ally of Zhermany," he said.
"The information does not astonish me one little bit," rejoined the master of the _Myra_.
"Vot you mean?" demanded the under-leutnant, instinctively guessing that he had made a verbal blunder.
At that moment, when the German was beginning to exhibit signs of anger, another signal was made from the _Pelikan_, ordering the _Myra_ to ship as much additional cargo from her captor as she could carry.
Until sunset the work progressed. Under threats from their captors the British crew were turned up from below and compelled to a.s.sist in handing and stowing the gear, for it was von Riesser"s intention to lighten his vessel as much as possible, so as to attempt the inner bar at least a couple of days before the new moon.
Night put an end to the day"s work, for not a light that could be visible from seaward was shown.
The two subs slept badly. Their cabin accommodation was indifferent compared with that on board the _Pelikan_, for Unter-leutnant Klick had appropriated the skipper"s quarters, and Pennington and his chief engineer were obliged to share the small s.p.a.ce that had been the mate"s cabin, while that officer was told to occupy the same cabin in which Denbigh and O"Hara were placed.
They lacked the ventilating fan and the liberal air s.p.a.ce. The cabin was low and stuffy. It had no direct communication with the outside air, as it opened into the state-room, where in normal times the _Myra"s_ officers used to have their meals. At present that limited s.p.a.ce was still further restricted by the huge cases of military stores removed from the _Pelikan_. These had been struck down the hatchway and carried aft, where they remained under the charge of an armed sentry.
"Those fellows think they"ve got us safely under lock and key," said the mate, a burly North-countryman of the name of Armstrong. "They don"t know that each officer of this hooker has a duplicate key to his cabin. I took jolly good care to keep mine, and I know where to put my hand on the key to this one. To-morrow, now I know how we"re berthed, I"ll get that key."
At daybreak the work of transhipping the cargo was proceeded with before the miasmic mists that hid the sh.o.r.e had dispersed. Two boats were dispatched from the _Pelikan_ to the sh.o.r.e and returned laden with tops of coco-nut trees. Before noon the foliage was stowed below out of sight.
Just before high water the _Myra_, being loaded far below her Plimsoll mark, prepared to weigh and ascend the river. Even in her deeply laden condition she drew a good nine feet less than the _Pelikan_, and could negotiate the bar without much risk.
The cable was almost "up and down" and the anchor on the point of "breaking-out" when a warning shout came from one of the look-out men on the _Pelikan_. A bugle call for "General Quarters" followed in quick succession.
"Hulloa, that"s great!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Denbigh excitedly. He pointed in the direction of the pa.s.sage through the reef. Heading for it was a small gunboat. Although the distance was too great for the British officers on the _Myra_ to distinguish her ensign they had no doubts as to her nationality.
"She"s one of our gunboats," announced O"Hara.
His a.s.sertion was confirmed by a flash, followed by a sharp bark as the _Pelikan_, unmasking her guns, opened fire upon the approaching vessel.
CHAPTER XI
Denbigh"s Plan
At the opening of the engagement the prize crew of the _Myra_ made a simultaneous rush to the tramp"s rigging, in order to witness the destruction of the audacious but lightly-armed gunboat. Unter-leutnant Klick and another junior officer hurried to the bridge. Denbigh, O"Hara, and the officers of the _Myra_ found themselves in sole occupation of the deck.
"Idiots!" exclaimed Denbigh.
"Who?" asked Captain Pennington.
"The _Pelikan"s_ people. If they had waited another five minutes, they would have found the gunboat jammed up on the bar. As it is she has room to manoeuvre."
Even as he spoke, the gunboat let fly with her puny 4-inch bow gun--the only one capable of being trained upon the powerfully-armed raider.
Immediately a dense cloud of black smoke burst from the little craft, entirely hiding her from view.
"She"s got it properly," exclaimed Pennington.
Slowly the smoke began to disperse. Into the eddying vapour sh.e.l.l after sh.e.l.l poured from the _Pelikan_. All around the sea was lacerated by the ricochetting projectiles, which threw columns of spray high into the air, the pure whiteness of the artificial waterspouts contrasting vividly with the dark background of smoke.
The Germans were shouting madly. It was their way of cheering, but it lacked the inspiring sound of a hearty British cheer. Then, with remarkable suddenness, the uproar of voices trailed away into a silence, broken only by the desultory firing from the _Pelikan_.
Under cover of the cloud of smoke purposely emitted from the gunboat, the British craft had swung round and was steaming away at her maximum of 13 knots, apparently undamaged by the salvoes that had been directed towards her. The exultant shouts of the Germans were not renewed when they saw the small vessel turn tail. Too late they realized that they had thrown away their advantages by being too premature. The gunboat, having sea-room in which to manoeuvre, was speeding away, not in flight, but with the object of wirelessing the cruisers and destroyers.
By letting their insignificant antagonist escape the Germans were bringing a hornet"s nest about their ears.
Somewhat disconsolately, the _Myra"s_ prize crew descended the rigging and other coigns of vantage and regained the deck. They, however, knew that a loophole for escape remained. They were under orders to cross the inner bar and ascend the Mohoro River. That course was denied the _Pelikan_ for the next four or five days. A high spring-tide was an absolute necessity for her to cross the barrier, and long before that time the British blockading squadron would be off the reefs, ready to pulverize the raider into a ma.s.s of twisted sc.r.a.p-iron.
The time of high water had gone, and the tide was beginning to fall, when the _Myra_ essayed the task of crossing the inner bar. There was no surf breaking at the mouth of the river, since the coral reef enclosing the lagoon effectually sheltered the sh.o.r.e. Only a few ripples marked the spot where the down-current met the submerged barrier. In a few minutes the great volume of water pouring down the river, having time to overcome the up tidal stream, would be surging furiously over the bar.
"I wish to goodness we could crock the steering-gear," said O"Hara in a low voice. "If the old hooker grounded on the bar she would prevent the _Pelikan_ from entering."