"You may have noticed," said Captain Restronguet, "that I hinted that I had had a quarrel with the Admiralty. First let me tell you my real name is not Restronguet. What it is is outside the question."
"The name is French, I believe?"
"No, Cornish. Had you been well acquainted with the district around Falmouth you would have recognized the names of Restronguet, Kenwyn, Devoran and the rest of my crew as those of places in what I consider the foremost county in England. Of course that is a matter of opinion, but that opinion is shared by every Cornishman.
"Some years back my father owned several copper mines, or wheals as we call them, in the neighbourhood of Redruth, and as, in time, I would have control of them, had articled me to an electrical engineer in order that I might get an insight into that branch before I took over the mining supervision. Hardly was my apprenticeship complete when the wheals failed and my father was a ruined man. He died shortly afterwards and I was thrown utterly on my own resources, and although I was very sore about it at the time I have since realized that misfortune is often the purifying fire of a man"s strength of mind.
"Just about that time the South African War broke out. I volunteered for the front, and was accepted. There I saw enough of war--although supposed to be conducted under the most humane principles--to make me hate it. You may look astonished, Mr. Hythe, but I mean what I say. War might be a necessary evil, but all the same it must be avoided if possible. You do not know how thankful I am that the present crisis between Great Britain and Germany is over. It may sound paradoxical, but with this powerful instrument of destruction under my control I hope to be a deterrent to any Power that attempts to dispute the supremacy of the sea with the country that is mine by birth.
"But to proceed. On my return to England I was down on my luck, and as a final resource I joined the electrical department of Devonport Dockyard as a fitter. It was not long before I saw that there was little chance of bettering myself. I had ability and energy, but no influence. Profiting by the experience gained in my apprenticeship I devised an improved method of electrical welding. It saved hundreds, possibly thousands of pounds, and I was rewarded with a paltry bonus of forty shillings.
"Needless to say I was very sick about it. Then an opportunity came.
The copper boom revived the Cornish mining industry. The "wheals" that my father had left me became prosperous, and I was able to throw up my employment with an unsympathetic State Employer. Arguing that a wave of failure might once more return over the mining industry I sold those under my control to a Company; took all my best workmen and one or two of my special friends--Devoran and Kenwyn amongst them--and bought a concession in the Island of Sumatra.
"Sumatra is a Dutch colony, as you doubtless know. The Dutch officials lack the energy of their fellow-countrymen at home and the consequence is that the whole of the Dutch East Indies stagnates. For years past the Germans have had an eye on those islands, but my belief is that j.a.pan will be the future master of them. Possibly that accounts for numbers of Germans who settle in Sumatra and Java.
"Personally I rather like the German, when free from the excessive officialdom that pervades in the German Empire. They are good colonists, hard-working and law-abiding, in every foreign possession save their own, for in the latter the blighting effect of the be-uniformed official is fatal to individual success. We got on very well with our neighbours on the adjoining concessions, with one exception. That exception was a German named Karl von Harburg."
Captain Restronguet paused as if he feared that the growing excitability would overmaster him. He was evidently labouring under a strong recollection of bygone insults. Hythe had the sense to keep silence, he realized that the listener is the one who hears most.
"But before I say anything more about Karl von Harburg," continued the Captain, "I must mention another incident. The concession I had acquired paid beyond all expectations, for not only were copper and tin found in abundance but also gold. We were all rich men. Some of my workmen went back to Redruth; others, having no home ties, and liking the free open life, stayed on. Since I was naturally fond of electrical engineering and the allied sciences, I spent a great deal of my time experimenting. One day, almost by accident, I discovered an alloy--as light as aluminium, absolutely showing no traces of corrosion when exposed to the action of salt water, as proof against acids as pure gold, and possessing the strength and resilience of steel. It was also as non-porous as a metal can possibly be. Under pressure that would cause water to "weep" through a steel vessel, a cylinder made of this metal showed no sign of moisture. I realized that I had made a discovery that would prove of inestimable value in the construction of air-ships, and as at that time the Admiralty were "tied up in knots"
over the utter failure of the naval airship "Mayfly," I sent a sheet of the metal to a trusted agent in London with instructions to submit it to My Lords.
"Believe me from that day to this, beyond a curt acknowledgment and a bald statement that the subject was under consideration, I have heard nothing further of the matter. I was angry--disgusted because the powers that be had bluntly shut their eyes to an actual discovery that would give Great Britain the command of the air.
"Since airmanship did not appeal to me I resolved to make use of my discovery in another direction. By further experiments I found that my metal "Restronium," I have been ambitious enough to call it, could be made capable of absorbing bright light, yet at close distance would act as a reflector. The result was that I devised a submarine, steel-clad, and cased with restronium. It was constructed by native workmen under the supervision of my comrades and myself.
"The craft was a success. It prompted me to attempt another on a more ambitious scale, but ere it was completed Karl von Harburg appeared on the scene.
"This fellow is as crafty as a rogue can possibly be. By his German co-colonists he was cordially hated. He had ability but was lazy. His factory did not do so well as the others; instead of working harder he sulked. In the Fatherland he had once held a high diplomatic position.
He it was who a few years back tried to force a quarrel upon Holland in order that a pretext might be found for Germany to acquire a longer coast-line on the sh.o.r.es of the North Sea. He failed, and since failure is not tolerated in Teutonic diplomatic circles, he was disgraced. He came to Sumatra, ostensibly with the idea of working a concession, but in reality looking for an opportunity of recovering his lost prestige by smoothing the way for a German annexation of the Dutch East Indies.
Again he failed--how and why I need not now mention; but rightly or wrongly he formed the idea that I had a say in the matter.
"He had his revenge. He stole the secret of my new alloy. He obtained possession of the plans of my latest submarine, the "Aphrodite," and set himself to build a vessel that would be more powerful than mine. But he had not mastered one important idea--the secret of the defensive and offensive powers of my vessel.
"It was a case of war to the knife. His idea was to take his submarine--the "Vorwartz" he named her--into British waters and deliberately do as much destruction to British ships of war and merchantmen as he possibly could; this with the idea of giving the Fatherland an advantage in the coming naval war that has been so long antic.i.p.ated and which has not yet, thank G.o.d, caused untold misery and disaster to two nations who could be rivals yet friends.
"That is where I stepped in. I sent word and told the fellow plainly that the "Aphrodite" was also bound for British waters, and that I would take the first opportunity of smashing up the "Vorwartz" should one hostile act be committed against British property. That frightened him, for at heart he is a coward. Accordingly Karl von Harburg, knowing that the "Aphrodite" had left for the Atlantic, concocted a truly diabolical plot. He deliberately navigated his "Vorwartz" to German waters and committed outrages against his own country."
"Whatever for?" asked the Sub. "It is inconceivable."
"To a Briton, yes!" a.s.sented Captain Restronguet. "But Karl von Harburg had no compunction. He had a spite against his Government, he had a grudge against me; and whatever the issue he had nothing to lose by being the means of a terrible conflict between Great Britain and Germany. Thus he impersonated me, and by committing these outrages upon the German fleet and harbours he very nearly provoked the war he wished to engineer.
"It was time for me to dissociate myself with the authorship of these acts of piracy. Although I have registered a solemn oath never to hand my "Aphrodite" over to the British Government (yet there are times when I feel tempted to perjure myself) I am still an Englishman. Should the Empire require my aid I for my part will do my best. And thus, having succeeded in demonstrating that I could not possibly be responsible for the work of destruction at Wilhelmshaven, Kiel, and elsewhere, I mean to lay in wait for the "Vorwartz" and destroy her as ruthlessly as I would a venomous reptile. For this purpose, Mr. Hythe, is the "Aphrodite" now cruising off Cape Ushant, for according to fairly reliable information the "Vorwartz," with Karl von Harburg on board, has pa.s.sed through the straits of Dover bound west."
CHAPTER XII.
THE "VORWARTZ" IS SIGHTED.
"Then there is a great possibility of a sc.r.a.p, sir?" asked Hythe, his face flushing and his eyes glistening at the prospect.
"Undoubtedly von Harburg will do his best to annihilate the "Aphrodite,"" replied Captain Restronguet. "Perhaps, after all, I ought to have landed you. It is hardly fair to expose you to danger on my account. But it is not too late. We can put you aboard one of those fishing-luggers."
"I am not afraid, sir," exclaimed Hythe, rather indignantly, for the suggestion was not one that he could bear without more than a formal protest.
"I never for one moment had that idea," remarked Captain Restronguet.
"The point I raised is that it would hardly do for me to place you in a dangerous situation while you are my guest on board. It is also unfair to your employers--the Admiralty. Good, bad or indifferent though a naval officer may be he has cost the country a large sum for his professional education, and it seems inconsistent that you should be given a chance of being knocked out in a petty feud."
"From what you have just told me the business is more than a private feud," objected the sub. "In order to carry out my part and learn all I can about the vessel it is only reasonable that I should see her under every possible condition. Therein I am doing my duty to My Lords. If I am to be killed in action, well, there"s an end of it."
"A bit of a fatalist, eh?"
"In a limited sense. I believe in taking care of myself. For instance----"
A telephone bell ringing loudly interrupted Hythe"s remark. Captain Restronguet took up the receiver and held it to his ear; then without replying replaced the instrument.
"I thought we should not be mistaken," he announced. "The "Vorwartz" is bowling along in our direction. Our detectors make it appear that she"s less than ten miles off and running beneath the surface. There is no time to be lost if we want to clear for action."
So saying Captain Restronguet hastened to the fore conning-tower.
Whether he meant to take the sub with him or otherwise Hythe did not know; so pending directions he remained in the cabin.
Every officer and man of the "Aphrodite"s" crew knew exactly what had to be done. As if by magic the stanchions and rails were cleared away, the "week"s washing" bundled down the fore-hatch and placed in a compartment artificially heated. In two minutes the Upper Platform was deserted, and the water-tight hatches placed in position and properly secured.
One touch of an electric push and all the circular scuttles in the vessel"s side were simultaneously closed and covered with metal plates.
A bell tinkled in the after conning-tower, where Mr. Devoran was in charge. It was the signal that all was in readiness for diving.
"How is she lying?" asked Captain Restronguet of his chief officer by means of the telephone.
"Less than two miles due north, sir," replied Devoran, after giving a hasty glance at the electric detector that by means of two indicators automatically recorded the course of the "Vorwartz."
Captain Restronguet waited no longer. The time had arrived for the "Aphrodite" to dive and intercept Karl von Harburg"s submarine, and only by the fact that the gentle rolling of the vessel had ceased did Hythe realize that she no longer floated on the surface.
Left to himself the sub was beginning to get "jumpy." It was a feeling akin to the sensation he experienced on the occasions when he saw the submarine at Spithead and in Cawsand Bay--not fear but nervous excitability. Had he been in the conning-tower he would no doubt have been as cool as a cuc.u.mber, being able to see what the others were doing and what was going on outside, as far as the limited range of vision would permit. But to be cooped up in a cabin, utterly alone, and with the possibility of the "Aphrodite" coming off second-best in the encounter that was to ensue did not at all suit the young naval officer.
Suddenly he staggered and only saved himself by grasping a corner of the table. The "Aphrodite," running at great speed, had ported her helm.
So sensitive was she to the action of the rudder that she turned round almost on her heel, and the effect upon Hythe was similar to that of a man standing in a railway carriage when the train takes a sharp curve.
The sub braced himself together. He realized that in his opinion he ought to be taking part in the fun instead of remaining cooped up in a cabin, incapable of raising a finger to save himself should anything occur. He had no doubt as to the justifiability of his resolve; had there been only a private feud between Captain Restronguet and Karl von Harburg he would have hesitated, but the German had been guilty of international outrages. He had actually committed damage to the property of a foreign Government, and by so doing had very nearly succeeded in drawing Great Britain into a dreadful war. On that account Karl von Harburg was a pirate, a national enemy, and as such might be captured or destroyed.
Having quickly made up his mind Hythe left the cabin and hurried along the alley-way; but before he had traversed half its length a dull thud seemed to strike the port side of the submarine. The "Aphrodite"
staggered under the blow and heeled over to starboard. For some moments the vessel showed no signs of recovering, then slowly she righted and swung over to port, ere she settled in her normal position.
At first Hythe thought the "Aphrodite" had been hulled in the for"ard compartment. He expected to see the submarine settling by the bows, and it was to his surprise and relief to find that such a catastrophe had not occurred.
When he came to the after bulkhead watertight door he found it secured.