"Ha, ha," chuckled the professor; "if her Ladyship can only accomplish what I have told her to do, her troubles, and ours, will soon be over!"
And carefully placing the telephone in the stern-sheets of the boat, he vigorously resumed his work of relieving the boat he was in of her burden of pearl-oysters.
"What is it, Professor; what is your plan?" demanded Sir Reginald, who was similarly busy in his own boat.
"My plan," replied the professor, "refers to a little arrangement that I made, when designing the ship, for just such a contingency as the present. But the matter slipped my memory; and I believe I never showed it to any of you. It was important that, in designing such a ship as the _Flying Fish_, every possible mishap should be foreseen and provided against; and while considering this matter it occurred to me that, either by means of treachery, or otherwise, undesirable persons might possibly succeed in gaining possession of the pilot-house, when the ship and all in her would be practically at the mercy of those persons. I therefore included in the design an arrangement, whereby the simple movement of a lever would cause a plate to slide out from an interstice in the wall of the pilot-house, and thus completely shut off that structure from the rest of the ship, making prisoners of any who might happen to be in it. This is what I have just dir--"
At this juncture the bell of the telephone again began to tinkle, and, without stopping to finish his remarks, the professor seized the instrument and, adjusting it for use, spoke into it the single word--"Yes?"
"I have done as you directed me," came Lady Olivia"s voice, "and, as you said would be the case, the man is now shut up in the pilot-house. But he heard the sound made by the closing of the slide, and at once descended to see what it meant. He is raging horribly, in there, cursing like a madman, and uttering the most dreadful threats of what he will do when he breaks through."
"Ah! do not let that trouble you," replied von Schalckenberg. "He cannot break through; he is safely caged, and within the next three hours, please G.o.d, we shall all be with you again. Now, please listen, for there is something more that I wish you to do; but this time it is quite easy. You know your way down to the engine-room. Please go down there, taking your telephone with you. When you are there I will tell you what to do."
There was a pause of about a minute, and then Lady Olivia again spoke.
"Yes, Professor," she said, "here I am. What am I to do?"
"How are you standing?" asked von Schalckenberg.
"Just inside the engine-room, with my back to the door," came the answer.
"Good!" remarked the professor. "Then the machinery is all in front of you. There is a large pipe--as thick as--well, nine inches in diameter at your feet, running across the room from left to right; you cannot mistake it."
"Yes," said Lady Olivia. "There is but one of that size near at hand.
This one is, as you say, close to my feet."
"Now look along that pipe toward your left," directed the professor.
"Do you see a small horizontal wheel standing on it, with the spindle running down into the pipe?"
"Yes," answered her ladyship.
"Then please go to that wheel," said the German. "Grasp it on its right and left with your two hands; pull with your right hand, and push with your left until you cannot turn the wheel any further. Then tell me what happens."
A pause of about half a minute ensued, and then Lady Elphinstone spoke again.
"I have done as you directed me," she said, "and the engines have stopped!"
"Aha!" remarked the professor, with a chuckle of satisfaction. "Yes, that is all right. Now we shall soon overtake you. You need do no more just now, my lady. You can go to your cabin, or where you please. But keep the telephone about you, please, lest we should wish to speak to you again. Courage, madame; you are now quite safe."
"Well, Professor, what is the result of your long yarn with Lady Olivia?" demanded Sir Reginald, as he received back his instrument.
"Simply that our friend Barker is shut up in the pilot-house, from which he cannot now escape, and Lady Olivia has just cut off the flow of vapour at the generator; in consequence of which the engines have stopped, for one thing, and, for another, Barker may now play as much as he pleases with the levers and valves in the pilot-house without doing any mischief," answered von Schalckenberg.
The two boats were by this time off the southern extremity of the reef, with the last oyster of their cargoes gone overboard; they were therefore running light and buoyant over the long swell and sea with which they had to contend, and two minutes later, Mildmay gave the word for them to shift their helms and haul up to their new course of east-north-east. As he did so, he pulled out his watch and noted the time.
"Exactly eight bells--four o"clock," he remarked. "We must drive these little hookers through it for all they are worth, or we shall have the darkness upon us before we sight the ship," and he flung a somewhat anxious glance aloft at the heavy and rather threatening aspect of the sky. For within the last half-hour the sky had thickened somewhat, and ragged patches of scud were sweeping swiftly along overhead, with a dark and lowering bank of clouds behind them to windward, while the breeze had freshened very perceptibly. The sea was increasing, and the boats were already drenching their occupants with the heavy showers of spray that they flung aft, as they met and drove headlong into and through the head-sea. The boats were magnificent little craft, for their size, but Mildmay knew that matters might easily become very awkward indeed for them, even in the short s.p.a.ce of an hour or two, out there in the broad Pacific, should it come on to blow at all heavily. Moreover, there was no moon now, and the night promised to be dark. What if they should fail to find the ship!
The boats, however, were doing their work splendidly, despite the wind and the sea; and although the tendency of the weather was undoubtedly to grow worse rather than better, the change was so gradual at first as to be scarcely perceptible. But the sunset that night was wild--a sunset of smoky scarlet and fiery orange in the midst of a stormy flare of greenish-purple clouds; and when the sun disappeared the boats still had very nearly half an hour to run before reaching the point at which Mildmay estimated that they ought to shift their helms again to get into the track of the ship. Taking into consideration the r.e.t.a.r.dation of the boats by the adverse influence upon them of the wind and sea, he allowed them an extra ten minutes, and then gave the order to haul up to north-east-by-east, by which time it was pitch dark, starless, and blowing strong, with a very awkward amount of sea running for such small boats to battle with. Fortunately, Mildmay and the professor had with them their diving-dresses and the electric lamps which formed part of their equipment; they thus possessed the means of lighting up the cards of the boat compa.s.ses, and so ensuring that they were steering the correct course.
"According to my reckoning," said Mildmay, "we ought now to be on or very near the track of the ship, and within about five miles of her, or thereabout. If it were daylight I should expect to see her by this time; as it is we must keep a look-out for her saloon lights. The professor and I have all that we can do to keep the boats running straight, so we shall have to depend upon you other fellows to look out.
Don"t confine yourselves to looking straight ahead; keep a look-out broad on each bow as well. My calculations are only approximate, you must remember."
For the next ten minutes perfect silence reigned in the boats; for the helmsmen were intently watching their compa.s.ses, while the others were straining their eyes through the darkness in the hope of catching the glimmer of light from the _Flying Fish"s_ saloon ports; and, more than once, one or another of them opened his lips to cry out that he saw them, only to realise, the next instant, that he had been deceived by the phosph.o.r.escent gleam of the head of a breaking sea.
At length, however, Lethbridge broke the tense silence with the joyous cry of--
"Light ho! right ahead," at the same instant that Sir Reginald cried out--
"I see her! there she is, straight ahead of us. Good shot, skipper!"
Yes; there she was, undoubtedly. When the boats topped a sea they could just make out the four lights shining from the dining-saloon ports; and another, somewhat farther forward, that was doubtless the light of Ida"s cabin. Sir Reginald seized his telephone, and rang up his wife to encourage her with the news that the boats were close at hand, and ten minutes later they dashed alongside.
The ship was lying broadside-on to the wind and sea, rising and falling easily over the fast gathering swell, but scarcely rolling at all. Her hull thus afforded a capital lee for the boats. Mildmay"s boat was the first to reach the foot of the gangway-ladder; and up it Sir Reginald sprang at a single bound, as it seemed, closely followed by Lethbridge.
"Take care how you go, Elphinstone," called the Colonel. "Remember that the fellow has a revolver."
"Never fear," answered the baronet. "I will look after myself."
Dashing at the pilot-house door, Sir Reginald flung it open--to find himself face to face with Barker, who was sitting composedly on the bottom step of the ladder, smoking his pipe. He started to his feet in horror and amazement at the sight of Sir Reginald.
"Well, darn my ugly--" He got no further in his exclamation; for, at the sight of him, Sir Reginald"s long pent-up anger broke loose, and exclaiming--
"You despicable coward; you ungrateful scoundrel!" he struck out, catching the man fairly under the jaw, and knocking him backward with a staggering crash upon the metal steps of the pilot-house.
"Steady, Squire, steady!" mumbled the man in a tone of remonstrance.
"There"s no call to knock me about, is there? And where in the nation did--?"
"No call to knock you about, you blackguard!" thundered the furious baronet. "If I were to break every bone in your body there would be ample excuse for it. The attempted theft of the ship is nothing; it is your brutality to my wife and child that--"
At this moment the inner door of the pilot-house slid open; for Lady Olivia had been listening expectantly, and at the sound of her husband"s voice had thrown back the lever.
"Look here," continued Sir Reginald, restraining himself with difficulty, as he pointed to the open door, "march you down there, and go straight to your cabin, or I shall do you a mischief!"
"No, no, Squire; there"s no call for that; no call at all," he mumbled soothingly, as he sidled out of the pilot-house, keeping a wary eye upon Sir Reginald, who followed him closely. "But, how in the nation did you find this darned ship?" he persisted, his insatiable curiosity gripping him hard as he proceeded along the corridor toward the cabin. "I made sure that if I could run her out of sight of the island, and then shift my helm, I should be all right. And so I should, if the darned engines hadn"t broken down!"
With a gesture Sir Reginald sped him through the door of the cabin that he had occupied, and followed him in.
"Where is that revolver, with which you threatened my wife and daughter?" demanded the baronet.
Barker drew it out of his pocket and handed it to Sir Reginald with the nearest approach to a grin that his swollen and bleeding features would permit.
"Bluff, Squire; pure bluff!" he remarked, as the baronet took it from him. "Nary a cartridge in it--couldn"t have raised one to save my life.
But it answered just the same. Say, what air you going to do with me, eh?"
Sir Reginald dropped the revolver into his pocket without a word, and pa.s.sed out of the cabin, closing and locking the door behind him. From there he went out on deck again, to find the remainder of the party busy upon the hoisting and securing of the second of the two boats. He helped them with the work; and then, with a brief word or two of heartfelt thanks to Mildmay and the others for the skill and resource by which they had all been enabled to get so cheaply out of such an ugly adventure, he retired below and joined his wife in Ida"s cabin, where mutual confidences were exchanged. The child was now awake and quite lively again; and, apart from her poor little chafed and swollen wrists and ankles, seemed little or nothing the worse for her share of the adventure. Satisfied, at length, of this, Sir Reginald retired to his cabin, discarded his saturated clothes, took a bath, and proceeded to dress for dinner.
That night, over the dinner-table, the question was raised of what should be done with the prisoner.
"Of course," said Sir Reginald, "we could take him home with us, charge him with piracy, and get him punished. But that would involve just the publicity that, for many reasons, I desire to avoid. On the other hand, I have a very strong feeling that the fellow should be punished, not so much, perhaps, for what he has actually done, as for what, apparently, he was perfectly willing to do. What sort of a scheme he had in his mind when he plotted to steal this ship, it is very difficult to say, for I think we may take it for granted that he is absolutely ignorant of her diving and flying powers; but it is clear enough that, whatever his intentions may have been, he would have--indeed, did--unhesitatingly leave five of us to perish on that barren rock, which, he knew, afforded neither food nor water. It is this brutal indifference to the consequences, to others, of his nefarious scheme, that, to my mind, calls for punishment."