light showing anywhere on board her. The men had even been forbidden to
smoke; and the stokers down below put coal on as carefully as though the
furnaces were a lady's drawing-room fire, so that there might be no
flicker of flame hovering over the top of the funnel, or even so much as
a spark to betray their whereabouts. In a little less than half an hour
after leaving the _Blanco Encalada_ the _Janequeo_ sneaked round the
south-east corner of San Lorenzo Island, being very careful not to
collide with the big buoys which marked each Chilian vessel's moorings.
These passed, she slid in between San Lorenzo and Fronton, and entered
the Boqueron Passage, coming in sight of the small lighthouse which was,
strangely enough, still allowed to show its light at the back of the Dos
de Mayo battery. Luckily for the daring little vessel searchlights had
not yet come into vogue, or she could scarcely have hoped to escape
discovery, for when she crossed the Camotal Bank, previous to turning to
starboard in order to run up Callao Bay, she was so close inshore that
her crew could plainly hear the shouts of the Peruvian soldiers who
occupied the Mayo battery, and who were evidently holding a high
carousal. For this circumstance Jim thanked his lucky stars, for there
was the less likelihood of any men being on watch; while the noise they
were making would prevent them from hearing, as a careful listener might
have done, the throbbing of the _Janequeo's_ engines and the churning of
her propeller.
Just as they had rounded the point, however, and the boat had turned her
nose north-east, the bacchanalian sounds from the battery suddenly
ceased, and lights began to flicker among the earthworks. Jim felt his
heart stand still, for discovery now would mean the utter ruin of his
project, to say nothing of the death of all of them; for a shot from one
of those enormous 20-inch guns would send the frail _Janequeo_ to the
bottom like a stone, if it chanced to hit her. And evidently the
Peruvians in that particular battery had taken alarm at something; for a
tiny point of light appeared on the ramparts, and then quickly flared up
into a bright blaze. A beacon-fire had been lighted, and at any moment
now its glare might reveal the presence of the torpedo-boat to the
Peruvians.
Jim immediately passed the word down to the engine-room for all the
steam she could carry, and the little vessel's speed at once increased
by a knot or two. They were nearly in safety now, being about five
hundred yards beyond the point, and a few minutes more would take them
under the shadow of the higher ground upon which the Pierola battery was
placed, when the glare from the beacon would be unable to reach them.
But Jim's great fear now was lest the other batteries also might take
the alarm and light their beacons; in which case he could not possibly
escape discovery.
By a happy chance, however, the _Janequeo_ glided into the deep shadow,
unobserved; and Jim now ordered the speed to be reduced so that the boat
should not make so much "fuss" in going through the water, when she
stole along at a speed of about ten knots, fifteen being her maximum, of
which she was quite capable, as she was a perfectly new boat. The men
in Pierola, being half a mile away from the Mayo battery, had evidently
not noticed the beacon light, nor were their suspicions aroused, for all
was perfectly quiet as the _Janequeo_ crept safely past, with not a
light gleaming anywhere in the battery to show that anybody was awake.
This battery and the two lying next to it, to the north, had, as it
happened, borne the brunt of the fighting that day, and presumably the
men were overcome by fatigue. Next, the Torre del Merced and Fort Santa
Rosa were safely passed, and the lights of Callao itself swung in sight;
the railway station, which lay close to the waterside, was particularly
brilliantly lighted, while the sounds proceeding therefrom seemed to
indicate that troops were either arriving at, or were being dispatched
from, the place.
They were now only about a quarter of a mile from the southern end of
the mole, and Douglas passed the word round for his crew to hold
themselves in readiness, although the entrance to the harbour where the
ships were lying was still half a mile distant, the mole being nearly
five hundred yards in length. The queer-shaped bombs were then got up
on deck, and Jim busied himself upon the task of attaching the fuses to
them. He was obliged to work by the sense of touch alone, as he dared
not, of course, use a light of any description. By the time that he had
finished his preparations the _Janequeo_ had almost reached the northern
end of the mole, and the moment was at hand for the great attempt to be
made. Douglas now lessened speed still further, for he did not quite
know what shape the defences to the harbour would take. He anticipated
that there would almost certainly be a number of floating mines to pass
through; and it was more than likely that a patrol of the place might be
maintained by launches steaming with their lights out.
A few minutes later the adventurers arrived abreast the northern end of
the mole, and were made aware of the fact by a slight diminution of the
pitchy blackness caused by the wall of the mole being left on their
starboard quarter. The light on the pierhead was, of course,
extinguished while hostilities were in progress; for the Peruvians were
much too sensible to leave any beacon by which an enemy might easily
make the mouth of the harbour. Jim could now see the forest of spars
belonging to the ships which he had come to destroy outlined against the
luminous haze formed by the lights of the town, although his own little
craft was shrouded in dense blackness; and he ordered the man at the
wheel to port his helm a few spokes, upon which the _Janequeo_ turned
gradually to starboard until she came abreast of the harbour entrance,
which was only about two hundred feet in width. He then stopped his
engines altogether, and, when the torpedo-boat had come to a standstill,
he proceeded to listen with all intentness for suspicious sounds. But
everything was as still as the grave, and Douglas began to hug to
himself the conviction that events seemed to be turning out fortunately.
He could hear no sounds aboard the Peruvian warships; and there was no
sign of any patrol launches being about. Having, therefore, taken all
the precautions in his power, he started his engines once more and went
ahead, dead slow, turning to starboard until the _Janequeo's_ bows
pointed straight for the harbour entrance. Nearer and nearer she stole,
while her crew waited in readiness for action, every muscle tense and
quivering with anticipation and excitement. The bombs had been ranged
in two lines of six each, one on the port and one on the starboard side,
so that there would be no need to carry them far, whichever side the
torpedo-boat presented to the enemy.
She was gliding through the water at a speed of about five knots when,
suddenly, there was a slight grating sound, the _Janequeo's_ bows lifted
out of the water, and the boat came to a dead stop, with her screw still
slowly churning up the water astern. The shock caused some of the men
on deck to lose their footing, and the whole row of bombs on the port
side splashed overboard as the _Janequeo_ heeled in that direction. In
a second Jim was on his feet and, rushing to the engine-room, bade the
man in charge to stop his engines. Then he dashed on deck again, half
expecting to hear the crash of guns opening fire upon him, while he
listened intently in order to ascertain whether his presence had been
betrayed by the disturbance.
There was no sound of alarm, however; and Douglas presently realised
that, strange as it appeared, the _Janequeo_ was still undiscovered.
Then, silently, he and his men set about the task of discovering what
had caused the obstruction, and they were not long in finding that a
stout chain had been stretched across the entrance evidently to prevent
just such an attack as this, and that the _Janequeo_ had run in upon
this chain where it "sagged" in the middle, her momentum carrying her
right up on to it, for her fore-foot was nearly out of the water. Thus
they were in a particularly perilous predicament, for if they were
discovered now no power on earth could save them; but Jim was thankful
beyond measure that he had not been running in at full speed, otherwise
the _Janequeo_ would most certainly have broken her back and sunk on the
instant. The loss of half the bombs was very serious too, but he still
had six of them left, and if he could sink a ship with each he would not
have done so badly on the whole.
The question now, however, was, how were they going to get clear of the
chain, and, once clear, how were they going to surmount the obstacle and
get into the harbour? But, "one thing at a time," thought Douglas. Let
them get off the chain first of all; and that without breaking the
torpedo-boat in half or alarming the enemy. He listened again intently
for any sound which would indicate that the Peruvians were stirring, and
then, hearing nothing, he sent his engines astern at full speed, with
the concentrated energy of a quarter of an hour's pent-up steam. The
water frothed and boiled under the boat's counter, making, in the
intense stillness of the night, such a disturbance that Jim thought it
must be heard all over the town; but, although the boat rocked from side
to side under the strain, grinding her keel and bilges against the
chain, she remained immovably fixed; and Jim ordered the engines to be
stopped, feeling that so violent a disturbance of the water must
speedily lead to their detection.
Douglas's face became drawn, and his eyes took on a very strained look,
as he realised what it would mean if he could not get the _Janequeo_
off; the Peruvians would give very short shrift to a body of men who had
been caught in the attempt to torpedo their fleet. Moreover, he had
heard certain gruesome stories from the Chilian seamen to the effect
that some of the half-caste troops which the Peruvians had with them
were rather addicted to the pastime of torturing any prisoners who might
be unlucky enough to fall into their hands--a relic, undoubtedly, of the
customs of their Indian ancestors.
After the engines had been stopped, Jim called a hasty council of the
crew, consulting with them as to what was best to be done. They could
not possibly force the boat over the chain, because, even were the
engines powerful enough, the _Janequeo_ would break her back in the
process.
"If only we had a couple of good strong files we might manage even yet,"
whispered Douglas, leaning over the side and feeling at the chain. "The
links are not more than half an inch thick, and we could soon cut them.
Does anybody know whether there are any good stout files aboard?"
As he ceased speaking a man dived down through the tiny engine-room
hatch, and presently reappeared, bearing in his hands two large files.
"We have these, senor," he whispered excitedly to Jim; "they were
brought on board this morning from the _Blanco_, when I was doing some
repairs to the engines, and I forgot to take them back before we
started. How will they do?"
Douglas eagerly seized the tools and ran his thumb along the edges.
They were very rough and coarse, being hardly worn at all, and were just
what was wanted for the purpose. Given sufficient time, and immunity
from detection, the work of getting clear of the chain by filing it
through would be easy.
"That's the very thing, El Lobo," ejaculated Douglas in a low voice.
"Now, start on the job at once. Let one man cut the upper side of the
link, and one the lower, and we shall be free in next to no time. Who
will take first spell with me?"
Every man silently held out his hand for the other file, and Jim
selected a fellow of herculean proportions to take first turn with him.
In a few seconds the low rasping sound of the rapidly moving files broke
the stillness of the night, and seemed preternaturally loud by
comparison with that stillness. The remaining members of the crew
concentrated all their powers in the act of listening, so that they
might give instant warning to the workers, should the noise appear to
attract any attention from the shore.
Jim and his fellow-labourer were soon bathed in sweat, while Douglas's
hands, unaccustomed to such toil, grew red and raw and blistered under
the friction; for the files, as is quite usual in engineering
departments, were unprovided with wooden handles over the rat-tail
shank. Moreover, the task threatened to be long and difficult, in
consequence of the awkwardness of the conditions. Jim's spell of work
came to an end after a quarter of an hour, however, and another couple
of men took their places at the chain. But they had not been working
more than five minutes when there was a heavy splash, followed by a cry
of disappointment from both men.
It appeared that, while working, the two files had suddenly met in the
middle of a stroke, with the result that one of them had been knocked
out of its user's hand and had gone overboard. This was a serious loss,
indeed, and one that might cost the whole of them their lives; but, as
Jim said, it was no use crying over spilt milk, the file was gone, and
there was an end of it. The other man must work doubly hard, that was
all. Meanwhile, he went down into the engine-room and prowled round to
see whether, by some lucky chance, there might not be another file lying
about. He was successful in finding a small one, but it was very much
worn, and not likely to be of much use; nevertheless, in the hands of a
strong man it might still be made to cut a little. He immediately took
it up on deck and gave it to one of the crew. To his great relief, he
found that one part of the chain was nearly severed. By the time that
it was entirely cut through, the lower part of the link was half-
severed; and then it was but a short job to completely cut it with the
large file.
At length it was done. There was a final rasp of the file, a little
snapping noise, a sudden splash as the chain fell into two halves and
disappeared below the surface, and the _Janequeo_ dropped back in the
water with a loud "squelching" noise.
But they were free! Free at last; though every man on board was
trembling like a leaf in the wind under the stress that they had
undergone. There was no time for delay, however. Many precious minutes
had been lost, and there were all too few left in which to complete the
work that had to be done. Jim passed the word once more for steam for
five knots, the screw began to revolve, and the _Janequeo_ stole forward
again on her errand of destruction. Jim feared that there might be a
second chain across the harbour, a little higher up, but the Peruvians
had evidently considered the single barrier sufficient, for there were
no more booms.
Now he could see the towering spars of two school hulks, and in a few
minutes he passed slowly and silently by them, but without stopping.
They were old and practically worthless hulks; he would destroy them
after he had annihilated the ironclad monsters which were capable of
doing efficient work.
With carelessness that amounted to fatuity there seemed to be no watch
kept on board the ships, and there were no lights visible. All was as
still and silent as the grave. The _Union_ was the next craft in line;
she was a gunboat, and had already shewn herself capable of stinging
pretty severely, but he promised himself to attend to her on the return
journey, and pushed on still farther up the harbour. The ships were
apparently all lying on the _Janequeo's_ port side, so it became
necessary to shift the bombs over. By the time that this was done Jim
saw a dark, shapeless mass looming up in front of him, crowned by one
short, squat funnel and one mast; and he knew that he was approaching
either the _Atahualpa_ or the _Manco Capac_, the two monitors which had
done so much damage to the Chilian fleet.
Here at last was a foe worthy of attention, and Jim stopped his engines
altogether, allowing the _Janequeo_ to slide along through the water by
her own momentum. It was a fortunate thing that he did so, for when the
torpedo-boat was within twenty feet of the monitor she suddenly collided
with a floating wooden boom which had been placed round the ironclad.
The impact was very slight, however, and Jim presently had his little
craft securely moored alongside. He then got overboard on to the boom,
with half a dozen men, and, carrying the bomb gingerly in his arms, and
followed by his men bearing one of the torpedo-spars, made his way round
to that portion of the timber which floated opposite the ironclad's
stern. Jim meant to affix his torpedo to the ship's stern-post, so
that, if it did not actually sink her, it might at least blow away both
rudder and propeller, and so render the ship useless.
Arrived at the stern, he saw that she was his old enemy, the _Manco
Capac_, and he at once set to work. The men laid the spar down on the
boom and pushed it out until one end was touching the _Manco Capac's_
stern-post, the other remaining on the boom. They then lashed the boom-
end securely, and Jim, having slung the bomb round his shoulders,
started to crawl out along the spar, while the Chilians sat on the other
end to make it still more steady.
It would have been a perilous enough journey at any time, but in the
dark and with a heavy weight slung round the shoulders it was trebly
difficult. Furthermore, the place fairly swarmed with sharks, and
Douglas knew what his fate would be should he lose his hold and fall
into the water, even if he did not happen to be dragged to the bottom at
once by the weight round his neck. Several times his knees or his hands
slipped, making the spar quiver ominously, but, fortunately, he retained
his hold on the pole, and at last, after many a narrow escape, arrived
under the ironclad's overhanging counter.
Here the worst part of his task was over, for he could now support
himself by clinging to the rudder, and he soon found a large nut, close
to the water's edge, from which he could suspend the deadly torpedo. He
quickly unslung it from round his shoulders, and presently had it lashed
firmly in position against the curve of the _Manco Capac's_ counter, the
lower edge of the bomb being just about a couple of inches clear of the
water. He then fixed the fuse alongside the rudder-post, and after
listening to hear whether any one was about, he struck a match and
applied it to the loose end.
This being the first torpedo, he had cut a length of fuse to burn for
two hours, so that he would have time to do all his work and get away
before the first explosion occurred, but when the fuse was lighted it
seemed to fizz away with alarming rapidity, and Jim was so startled that
he nearly fell into the water.
"That fuse will never burn for two hours," he told himself; "there must
be something wrong with it, for at that rate it will not last thirty
minutes." He therefore made his second journey along the pole at the
best speed of which he was capable, and in a couple of minutes was
standing on the boom once more. The seven of them made short work of
unlashing the spar and getting it back to the torpedo-boat, and the
_Janequeo_ was soon under way again and stealing up the harbour once
more.
The _Atahualpa_ was the next ship they came to, and to their unbounded
satisfaction they found that she was unprotected by a boom. The
Peruvians probably thought that a hostile craft would never get so far
without being discovered. The _Janequeo_ was therefore run right under
her stem, and the torpedo was affixed without any difficulty, a fuse
timed for an hour and a half being lighted. This fuse, too, Jim
noticed, seemed to be burning away much faster than it ought, but there
was no time to watch it, and the torpedo-boat swung off once more on her
mission of destruction.
These two craft were, with the exception, perhaps, of the _Union_, which
was a fast ship, the most formidable in the Peruvian fleet, and Jim
experienced a thrill of satisfaction at the thought that the _Manco
Capac_ and _Atahualpa_ would, at any rate, not trouble the Chilians
again. There was another ship lying close at hand, which Douglas judged
to be the fast transport _Oroya_, because of her paddle wheels, and he
made up his mind to attend to her before running back to blow up the
_Union_. He selected her paddle-box as the best place to which to
attach the torpedo, and as she, too, was unprotected by any boom, he
soon had the bomb fixed in position and the fuse lighted.
"Now, men," he whispered excitedly to his delighted crew, "we will run
down and attend to the only other ship of theirs which is of any use--
the _Union_. Hard over with your helm, quartermaster, and we will get
down the harbour again."
The wheel spun round in Pedro's sinewy grasp, and the _Janequeo's_ nose
was presently pointing down the harbour.
"Full speed ahead," Douglas whispered down the tube, "we haven't much
time to lose." And the little engines began to throb more rapidly,
while the screw thrashed the water up astern. They soon passed the
_Atahualpa_ again, and Jim could plainly make out the jumping sparks
which came from the fuse and hissed into the water, but the sight was
hidden from any one up above by the overhang of the ship's counter, and
he felt fairly certain that it could not possibly be discovered before
the bomb had exploded and done its deadly work. As they slipped past
the doomed monitor Douglas's eye suddenly caught sight of a dark figure
with a rifle over its shoulder silhouetted against the luminous haze
thrown off by the lights of Callao, and his heart gave a great bound,
for the figure had not been there when the torpedo-boat passed up, and
she could now hardly hope to avoid detection.
Jim's fears were only too well founded, for the sentry saw the
_Janequeo_ as quickly as Jim saw the sentry, and in a second the fellow
roared a hoarse challenge across the water, discharging his rifle at the
boat as she swept past, without waiting for any reply. And indeed there
was no need for him to expect an answer to his hail, for he knew that no
boat ought to be cruising about there if she were a Peruvian; while, if
she were a Chilian--
The rifle-shot was the signal for an immediate uproar; it seemed as
though every man must have been asleep at his post, for the
_Atahualpa's_ decks suddenly became literally alive with figures, and
rifles began to flash about her in scores, while the bullets pattered
round and into the torpedo-boat with most unpleasant accuracy of aim.
"There is no time to destroy the _Union_ now," hissed Douglas between
his teeth; "we shall have to be satisfied with what we have already
done, and, _caramba_! we shall be fortunate if we get away with whole
skins. Look out, all people with thin skulls; the _Manco's_ people are
training her big guns on us! Full speed ahead, below there," he roared,
there being no more need now for secrecy; "give her all the steam she
can carry, or they will have us for certain."
The screw was already turning at its utmost speed, however, and not
another knot could be got out of the flying little steamer; indeed, she
was already doing sixteen, or one knot more than they had any right to
expect. Just as Jim spoke, a red rocket leaped up into the still night
air with a whistling roar, bursting high up in the sky with a shower of
brilliant red stars.
"A signal to the patrols in the bay!" cried Jim; and at the same moment
the huge 15-inch gun on board the _Manco Capac_ roared out its vengeful
message. "We shall have to hurry to get clear now, and no mistake."
The flash of the great gun, fired at such close quarters, nearly blinded
the _Janequeo's_ crew, while they were dazed by the hurtling roar of the
shell as it sped past, a few feet only above their heads. But the
torpedo-boat was now moving very rapidly, and the _Manco's_ crew would
not be able to load and fire their stern gun again before she was out of
its range; but there was still her bow gun to be feared, and the
gauntlet of the _Union_ and the two school hulks had to be run before
they could get clear. It looked as if the _Janequeo_ was in for a bad
ten minutes; for, after the alarm had been given, it seemed as though
every ship in the harbour had lighted her beacon-fire; and Jim could
see, by the glare of those which had sprung up aboard the _Union_ and
her consorts, that guns, both big and small, had been run out ready to
fire into the intruder as she passed; while every vessel's side was
literally black with riflemen, all waiting to pour a volley into the
daring _Janequeo_.