"There"s a bit of a dust-up on board, sir," reported Sub-lieutenant Devereux of Submarine E--, as the British craft steadily overhauled the _Kondor_, whose engines had already been stopped in response to the peremptory signal. "Fellows sc.r.a.pping like billy-ho. I can just see their heads at intervals above the taffrail."
"They can sc.r.a.p as much as they like while they have the chance,"
remarked Lieutenant-Commander Huxtable grimly. "You know your instructions, Mr. Devereux? Any rumpus, then signal us, and we"ll give them our last torpedo."
A canvas collapsible boat had been brought up from below, and in this the boarding-officer and five seamen, all armed, took their places.
Both the _Kondor_ and the submarine were almost without way, lying at two cables"-lengths apart, E--"s two quick-firers covering the prize as the boat made for the German vessel.
Devereux was received with well-feigned affability by the soi-disant Swedish skipper, a politeness that the sub thought fit to reciprocate, at least for the present.
But when Devereux had examined the supposed _Gefle"s_ papers his manner underwent a change.
"Thanks for letting me see them, Herr Kapitan," he remarked, "but now I must ask you to order your crew below and consider yourself a prisoner of war. I warn you that at any attempt at resistance your ship will be sent to the bottom."
"But----," began the astonished Hun. "I--I do not understand. This Swedish merchant-ship. You mistake make."
"Perhaps," drawled the sub. "If I have, I"ll take full responsibility.
If you can satisfactorily explain to the British naval authorities why you were surrounded by Hun submarines yesterday, why you supplied them with munitions of war, why you were then His Imperial Majesty"s ship _Kondor_, and why you are now the s.s. _Gefle_----."
"Donnerwetter!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the German skipper furiously, then, before Devereux could interpose, he dashed out of the chart-house and shouted to one of the officers stationed aft.
Almost immediately a m.u.f.fled explosion was heard, and the _Kondor_, giving a violent shudder, began to settle by the stern. Rather than surrender, their captain had given orders for a bomb to be exploded in the after hold.
"We have cheated you, Englishman!" he exclaimed in a shrill falsetto.
There was a wild rush for the boats. Hastily those in davits were lowered, with the result that one was capsized, while in the confusion a German seaman leapt headlong into the submarine"s collapsible boat and overturned it.
To do him credit, the kapitan made no attempt to quit the bridge.
Regarding the British officer with a leer of triumph, he waited while the panic-stricken men got clear of the doomed ship.
Meanwhile, having witnessed the swamping of her dinghy, E--had approached with the intention of taking off her boarding-party.
"What"s that?" exclaimed Devereux, as, during a temporary lull in the clamour, the sound of a voice appealing for help was borne to his ears.
The words were shouted in unmistakable English.
"Someone cooped up down below, sir," declared one of the submarine"s crew.
Devereux looked enquiringly at the German skipper of the _Kondor_. The latter too had heard the shout. The self-a.s.surance and air of contemptuous indifference faded instantly.
"You murderous swine!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the sub. "What dirty game have you been up to? Come along down below with me."
The Hun, trembling violently, clung desperately to the bridge rail. The risk of going below and being taken down by the sinking ship was nothing compared with the fear of a just retribution.
It was not a suitable occasion for arguing the point. Devereux, a huge, loose-limbed fellow, was a giant beside the little, podgy Hun.
Wrenching the kapitan"s hand from the rail, Devereux dropped him to the deck like a sack of flour, then, skipping down the bridge ladder, he picked him up and carried him, screaming and struggling, down the companion.
Guided by the sounds, the sub bore his captive for"ard, two of the submarine"s crew following their youthful officer.
Already the stern of the _Kondor_ was almost level with the water, while her decks inclined at a steep angle. Above the noise of the inrushing water and the hiss of escaping steam, could be heard the now frantic appeal for help.
At the door of the cell Devereux was confronted by a grave problem. The place was locked, and the kapitan, a.s.serting truthfully that he did not possess a key, was clamouring incoherently that the mistake in overlooking the fact that there were prisoners below was not his, but that of some of his subordinates.
"Stand aside there!" shouted Devereux to the inmates of the cell.
Whipping out his revolver he sent a bullet crashing through the lock, then, heedless of the cry of agony that came from the German skipper, he charged the splintered door with his shoulder.
In the half light he was dimly aware that two people were scrambling between the debris.
"Any more?" he asked.
"No," was the reply, as the two rescued men, a.s.sisted by the sailors, reeled along the sloping alley-way to the ladder.
Having seen the would-be victims of German _Kultur_ safely on their way to the upper deck, Devereux realized that it was quite time to make good his own escape, for the water was beginning to surge for"ard along the sombre orlop deck. As he turned to make his way aft he became aware that the kapitan, moaning dismally, was staggering in the opposite direction, whence there was no outlet.
"Where are you off to, you blithering idiot?" shouted the young officer.
In a couple of strides he overtook the Hun, gripped him round the waist, and carried him on deck. Then, to his surprise, Devereux found that the kapitan"s face was streaming with blood. A sliver of lead from the bullet that had demolished the lock of the cell had struck him in the right eye, completely destroying the optic nerve.
"Can"t say I feel sorry for you," thought the sub-lieutenant, recollections of the cold-blooded cruelty of the Hun vividly in his mind. Nevertheless, still holding the injured skipper, he leapt overboard, whither the rest of the boarding-party had preceded him.
Strong as he was, Devereux had a hard tussle to swim to the submarine.
Caught by vicious eddies, swirled to and fro like a straw on the surface of a mountain torrent, he was almost exhausted when hauled into safety.
Giving a glance over his shoulder as he was a.s.sisted to the deck of his own craft, Devereux saw that the _Kondor_ was making her last plunge.
Throwing her bluff bows high in the air, she disappeared in a smother of foam and a pall of black smoke mingled with steam.
Then, to his surprise, upon going aft to report to his commanding officer, Devereux found Huxtable shaking, like a pump-handle, the hand of one of the men he had rescued.
"By Jove!" exclaimed the astonished Devereux. "Blest if we haven"t----!
Why, it"s Sefton!"
"Guilty, m"lud!" replied that worthy.
"And Crosthwaite--he wasn"t on that hooker?" asked Devereux anxiously.
"No, thank heaven," replied Sefton fervently. "He"s still in hospital.
This is my young brother. I"ve got to blame him for this business, the young rascal. It was a narrow squeak for the pair of us."
"It was," a.s.sented Huxtable gravely. "We spotted the _Kondor_ yesterday and kept her under observation."
"Then you bagged that Hun battleship?" enquired Sefton.
"No, worse luck," replied the lieutenant-commander of E--. "She altered helm just as we were having a shot at her, and some other fellows did the trick. Mustn"t complain, though. We are all members of the same co-operative society in the trade. The _Kondor"s_ crew? A few hours in the boats won"t hurt them, and I"ll wireless our destroyers. They are too villainous a crew to slip out of our hands. Come below, old man, and we"ll rig the pair of you out in dry kit. With luck, you ought to be in Pompey again within twenty-four hours."
Pacing the diminutive quarter-deck of H.M.T.B.D. _Boanerges_, as she swung to the first of the flood-tide, were two naval officers. It was too dark to distinguish their features, even in the red glow of their cigarettes.