He was a taciturn fellow. Perhaps it was because he understood no word of English, and was unaware of the fact that Denbigh spoke German. He had, however, a habit of conversing with himself during the performance of his duties, and more than once Denbigh picked up information from the fellow"s unguarded babbling.
This time Fritz was silent. Setting down a jug of hot water, he unlocked and opened the port-hole.
Having washed, shaved, and dressed, Denbigh and O"Hara made their way to the cabin in which was served their meals. Covers for three lay on the table. The steward was standing by in his customary manner.
Without a word the subs seated themselves. Presently Fritz came in to deliver a message from one of the ship"s officers.
"Where"s the third Englander?" asked the steward.
Apparently Fritz was fond of a joke at the messman"s expense. Without a word he stooped and looked under the table; then drawing himself up, he replied:
"I cannot see him."
"Fool!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the steward. "Don"t try to be an idiot; you are one already. Where is the schwein-hund?"
"Too lazy to get up and have his breakfast, I suppose," replied Fritz indifferently. "He was fast asleep when I went in."
Having asked in broken English if the subs required anything further, and receiving a negative reply, the steward went out.
"Deucedly strange," said Denbigh in a low voice. "Those fellows know nothing. I wonder if von Riesser and his cheerful ober-leutnant have been up to mischief."
It was not until one bell in the forenoon watch that Stirling"s absence was discovered. Denbigh and O"Hara were immediately sent for and closely questioned.
The interview was unsatisfactory, the British officers affecting ignorance of the time of their comrade"s disappearance; while von Riesser, rightly guessing that Denbigh and O"Hara imagined he was responsible and was trying to cloak suspicion, was so emphatic in his a.s.surances that he knew nothing of Stirling"s whereabouts that his very earnestness caused the subs to misjudge him.
A thorough search was inst.i.tuted, but, naturally, without the hoped-for result. Reluctantly, Denbigh and O"Hara came to the conclusion that their chum had either fallen in or had been thrown overboard.
Kapitan von Riesser was genuinely perturbed, not on account of the loss of the British officer, but for the additional complication that might ensue if the _Pelikan_ should be captured. The idea of being taken prisoner obsessed the German commander. It loomed up in front of him like a gaunt spectre day and night. It spoke volumes for the fact that Great Britain was Mistress of the Seas.
He showed little or no elation at having evaded the cruiser that had doggedly held in pursuit until long after midnight. His pessimism was beginning to become infectious. Officers and men were downcast.
Several times on the lower deck remarks were heard to the effect that it was an unlucky day when the _Pelikan_ escaped from her nominal state of internment.
For the next three days Denbigh and O"Hara were "off colour". The mystery of Stirling"s disappearance affected them deeply; but on the fourth day they cheered up considerably, for the _Pelikan_ had intercepted a wireless message from a British cruiser. The message was in code, but one word occurred that shed a different light upon the mystery. The word was "Stirling". Von Riesser lost no time in informing the two British officers, and although the latter were unable to decipher the message it was evident that Stirling had been picked up by one of our patrols.
Shortly after daybreak on the fifth day of Stirling"s absence, the _Pelikan_ overhauled a large collier, outward bound from Penarth to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, with a valuable cargo of steam coal.
It was evident that the skipper of the collier had received no warning that a German raider was at large, for he allowed the _Pelikan_ to get within three cables" length without exciting any suspicion.
When the latter peremptorily ordered the collier to heave-to and surrender, however, the stalwart old merchant captain showed the stuff he was made of, for without complying, he suddenly ported helm and bore down upon the liner, which had now hoisted German colours.
It was a forlorn hope, for the _Pelikan_ could steam twice as fast as the collier and was much quicker on her helm.
"By Jove! that fellow has some pluck," exclaimed O"Hara admiringly, for, antic.i.p.ating no resistance on the part of the would-be prize, Kapitan von Riesser had not ordered the British officers below. "But he"s asking for trouble."
"Yes, poor chap, he"s put himself out of court," agreed Denbigh.
Manoeuvring so that the _Pelikan"s_ guns could be brought to bear upon the collier without danger of carrying away her masts, von Riesser gave the order to fire. Two sh.e.l.ls did the mischief. Both burst amidships, sweeping away the bridge and chart-house, and with them the rash and gallant skipper and three of the crew.
Further resistance being out of the question the collier struck her flag. Splendidly handled the _Pelikan_ ranged up alongside, and without delay the work of transferring the cargo commenced. Although the st.u.r.dy Britons who formed the collier"s crew refused to lift as much as a little finger to help there were plenty of hands available from the _Pelikan_. The steam winches were manned, skips and whips brought into play, and sacks and sacks of badly wanted fuel were toppled down the liner"s chutes.
"Stand by there, you men!" shouted Kapitan von Riesser, observing that the crew of the collier were provisioning and swinging out their boats.
"I haven"t said I was going to sink your ship. Come and bear a hand and we"ll let you go."
Somewhere from the vicinity of the wrecked bridge came a hoa.r.s.e voice:
"We want no favours from strafed Germans. Get your coal yourself if you want it. You"ll have to jolly well look sharp, for the hooker"ll be on her way to Davy Jones in half an hour."
"Himmel!" gasped the astonished kapitan, completely taken aback by the bull-dog audacity of the collier"s men. "Quick, Herr Klick. Sound the well."
Accompanied by a couple of armed seamen the unter-leutnant hurried below. In a few minutes he reappeared.
"They"ve opened the valves, sir," he reported. "The sea is rushing in like a sluice. It is already up to the floor of the engine-room."
Von Riesser leant over the bridge rail and surveyed the deck of the collier forty feet below.
"Unless you close those valves I"ll smash every boat you have!" he shouted.
A chorus of gibes was the only reply. The engine-room staff alone knew the position of the valves. It would take a stranger a couple of hours to locate them, and the men knew it.
"Smash away," they replied derisively. "Smashing private property is the only thing you Germans can do properly."
For a full minute Kapitan von Riesser lost all control of himself. He stormed and raved, cursing both in German and English, until he realized that during that minute the collier had sunk deeper in the water.
There was a rush on the part of the _Pelikan"s_ men who were loading the sacks in the vessel"s holds, so fierce was the influx of the sea.
Above their shouts of anger and surprise arose the ceaseless taunts of the British crew. Having fully made up their minds that no quarter would be given the stalwart men decided to die game, and in their opinion the spirit of independence was best shown in heaping sarcasm upon the baffled Teutons.
Already the hawsers and springs holding the two vessels were straining almost to breaking point. Reluctantly von Riesser gave the order to cast off, at the same time telegraphing to the engine-room for half-speed ahead.
Somewhat to the surprise of the collier"s crew no attempt was made by the _Pelikan_ to interfere with them. Taking to the boats they hoisted sail and in twenty minutes the little flotilla was lost to sight.
It was a long time before von Riesser got over his fit of bad temper.
Precious time had been all but wasted, for the only result of the enterprise was the addition of roughly seventy tons of coal to the _Pelikan"s_ sorely-depleted bunkers.
"By Jove! that was a nasty knock," remarked O"Hara to his chum. "It"s a wonder old von Riesser hadn"t ordered those boats to be stove-in.
The lip those fellows gave him was enough to make a British admiral commit an act of frightfulness."
"The old chap"s frightened about something," replied Denbigh. "He"s literally on toast. You see, what with Stirling"s escape--for I feel confident that code message referred to his rescue--he"s got to mind his p"s and q"s until he"s through the cordon. Then, if he does, I guess he"ll make it mighty hot for us."
Denbigh was right in his surmise, for as soon as Stirling had been taken on board H.M.S. _Actaeon_ and had made a report to the captain, the cruiser communicated with each of her consorts, giving the position of the _Pelikan_ when last seen and the probable course.
Following this message another was transmitted to the Admiralty announcing the safety of Sub-lieutenant Charles Stirling, captured while on a pa.s.sage home in the j.a.panese liner _Nichi Maru_.
Instructions were asked as to the "disposal" of that officer.
Promptly came the reply temporarily appointing Stirling to H.M.S.
_Actaeon_ as supernumerary, since it was recognized that his knowledge of the elusive raider might be of great a.s.sistance to the pursuing ship.
Within two hours of the _Actaeon"s_ wireless message additional small cruisers, armed auxiliaries, and destroyers left Table Bay, while others were ordered from the Pacific Station to proceed to the vicinity of Cape Horn and guard both the pa.s.sage to the southward of that place and also the intricate Straits of Magellan.