"Reginald! Reginald! are you there, and can you hear me?"
"Yes, dear, I am here; and can hear you quite distinctly," answered Sir
Reginald. "What is the matter? Nothing wrong with Barker, I hope. Is
he any worse?"
"Worse!" echoed Lady Olivia's voice, in accents of intense indignation.
"There is nothing the matter with him--the wretch--except that he has
stolen the _Flying Fish_, and is making off with her--and us."
"_What_!" ejaculated Sir Reginald, in a tone of such profound
consternation that those in the other boat heard him, and von
Schalckenberg, sheering in close alongside, demanded to know what was
wrong. Sir Reginald, still listening at his telephone, held up his hand
for silence. Lady Olivia was still speaking.
"Yes, it is quite true," she continued. "You had scarcely been gone an
hour, this morning, when he suddenly presented himself in the
music-room, where Feodorovna and I were sitting, and called Mlle.
Sziszkinski out of the room. Suspecting nothing, the poor girl at once
went, and a few minutes later he returned, alone, and, presenting a
revolver at my head, ordered me to follow him, warning me at the same
time that if I raised the slightest outcry of any kind, he would shoot
me dead."
"The scoundrel! The consummate blackguard!" ejaculated Sir Reginald
through his set teeth. "Yes, dear; go on. I am listening," he added.
"Of course I went; for there was nothing else to do," continued Lady
Olivia. "And he looked so fierce, so determined, in such deadly
earnest, that I felt sure he would carry out his threat if I disobeyed
him. He led me up to the pilot-house; and there I found poor little
Ida--whom I had believed to be out on deck, playing or reading--bound
hand and foot, with a gag in her mouth."
Sir Reginald drew in his breath sharply, but said nothing.
"The moment that I entered the pilot-house he closed the door, and
placing his back against it, pointed to Ida, saying, `You see, ma'am,
there is your child; and if you will look closely at her you will see
that I have lashed her up so tightly that, if she could speak, she would
tell you that she is mighty uncomfortable!' And indeed, I could see
that the brute was only speaking the truth--much less than the truth, in
fact, for it was clear that the poor darling was suffering torment. Oh,
Reggie, I tried to get to her to release her, but that brute raised his
pistol and pointed it at her, saying, `If you offer to touch her, I'll
blow her brains out! If you want to gain her release, tell me what you
know about the working of this ship, and as soon as we are outside the
reef you may release the child.'
"What could I do, Reggie? I simply could _not_ stand there and see my
darling suffering, so I asked him what he wanted to know. He said that
the first thing he wished to know was how to raise the anchor, and I
showed him. Then he asked how the engines were worked, and I showed him
that, taking care, however, only to show him how they worked at their
lowest speed. He kept me there with him until the ship had passed
through the passage in the reef, and then he told me that I might take
my `brat' and go. I needed no second bidding, you may be sure, but
snatched up the poor little thing and took her straight down into her
own cabin, where--excepting for the few moments necessary to release
Feodorovna from confinement in her cabin--nurse and I have been busy
ever since, chafing her poor limbs and soothing her as well as we could.
She suffered agonies at first, but is better now, and has gone to
sleep."
"Good!" responded Sir Reginald. "I am now going to consult with the
rest as to what is best to be done. But do not yet put your telephone
away; I may wish to speak with you again."
Then Sir Reginald, in as few words as possible, repeated Lady Olivia's
story to the others, ending by asking Mildmay, as an experienced seaman,
what he would advise.
"The first thing to be done is to heave these oysters overboard as
quickly as we can get rid of them. The next, of course, is to go full
speed ahead in chase of the ship. It will be a desperately long chase,
however, for these boats can only run twelve knots, while the ship, even
at her slowest, will be going quite ten."
"Precisely," assented the baronet. "Then, there is the question of how
we are going to find the ship. For of course she is far out of sight of
the atoll by this time."
"True," assented Mildmay; "I am thinking about that, too. Ask Lady
Olivia what she can tell us about the course, or courses, that the
fellow has been steering."
"Better take the telephone yourself, old chap, and ask your questions
first-hand," said Sir Reginald, handing over the instrument to the
skipper.
Mildmay took it, and, inserting the small tube in his ear, spoke into
the mouthpiece.
"Are you still there, Lady Olivia?"
"Yes," came the instant reply. "What now, Captain?"
"I want you to tell me what you can about the course that this fellow
Barker is steering. Did you notice it?"
"Yes," answered Lady Olivia; "fortunately I thought of that. He was
steering due east when he released me; and so soon as I got down into
Ida's cabin I took the little aneroid with the compass at its back that
hangs there and set it on the table, so that I could watch it. It was
just eleven o'clock, by the clock in the pilot-house, when we passed out
through the reef; and at twelve o'clock he altered his course to
north-east-by-east, which is the course that he is steering at present."
"Thanks, very much. That will do excellently. Please keep an eye on
that compass, and let us know if he makes any further alterations," said
Mildmay; and when he had received Lady Olivia's answer, he handed back
the telephone to Sir Reginald and, drawing a pencil from one pocket, and
his watch from the other, made a brief note on one of his cuffs.
"Has either of you fellows a decent-sized bit of paper about you?" he
asked.
Lethbridge drew his pocket-book from his pocket. "Will a leaf--or the
whole book--be of any use to you?" he asked.
"A couple of leaves will do. Thanks," he replied, as Lethbridge tore
out two and handed them to him. With one of these he constructed a kind
of scale; then, with its aid, he drew a diagram on the other.
"So far as I can make out," he said, "with the help of this rough
diagram, the ship is at this moment twenty-eight and three-quarter miles
east-north-east of us--there, or thereabouts. We will therefore run on
that course for the next two hours and twenty-five minutes--by which
means we shall cut off a few miles--and then we must haul up on the same
course as herself, and make a dead run after her."
Then von Schalckenberg spoke up. "May I be permitted to have a word or
two with Lady Elphinstone?" he asked, addressing Sir Reginald.
"By all means, my dear fellow," answered the baronet. "Here you are."
And he passed over the telephone.
Taking the instrument, the professor adjusted it for use, pressed the
black knob, and the bell began to ring. Almost immediately it ceased
again, however; whereupon the designer of the _Flying Fish_ spoke.
"Are you there, my Lady?" he asked.
"Yes, Professor," came the reply. "I am listening."
"Where are you now, Madame?" asked von Schalckenberg.
"I am still in Ida's cabin," answered her Ladyship.
"Good!" remarked the professor. "Now, please listen very attentively to
what I am about to say. But, tell me first, is Barker still in the
pilot-house?"
"Yes; he is steering the ship, and--I think--trying to find out the use
of all the levers and wheels and things that he sees there."
"Ah!" exclaimed the German, in alarm; "he must be stopped, quick, or
heaven only knows what may happen. Now, please listen. Have you the
courage to steal very quietly up to the foot of the pilot-house
staircase, and do a very simple thing, quickly, before he knows that you
are there, and what you are doing?"
"I have the courage; but I may not have the ability," answered Lady
Olivia. "What is it that you wish me to do?"
"I want you," said von Schalckenberg, "to go to the place I have named,
and stand between the staircase and the bulkhead, or wall, with your
back turned to the stairs. Then, in the bulkhead, immediately in front
of you, you will observe what appears to be the door of a small
cupboard. Open this, and you will see just inside a lever sloping
upward to the right. Grasp the handle, and push the lever as far as you
can over toward your _left_--it should move quite easily--and you will
have effectually shut Barker into the pilot-house, from which he cannot
then get out to interfere with you. Let me know when you have done
this, and I will then tell you what next to do."
"Right," came the answer. "I will do it, if it is to be done."