that torpedoes had been attached to three Peruvian vessels, and, in any
case, he did not expect them to explode for at least an hour; when, just
as the _Janequeo_ had got about fifty yards past the _Manco Capac_,
there was a most appalling explosion from the stern of the latter craft;
and Jim, turning round, saw that the air was full of blazing fragments
of wreckage, and that, even as he gazed, the great monitor was beginning
to settle by the stern. At the moment when the mine exploded, the
monitor was just about to fire her 15-inch bow gun; but the catastrophe
of course threw everything into confusion, and the weapon, flung from
its trunnions in the very act of firing, discharged its deadly missile
high into the air, where it exploded, sending out a blaze of flame like
a miniature firework display.
"One of them done for, at any rate!" soliloquised Jim through his set
teeth, as he bent over the deck-telegraph of the flying boat to ring for
yet more speed. "But now they will surely find the other torpedoes and
cut them adrift before they have time to explode. Confound those fuses!
The wretched things must have perished badly, or perhaps they have been
wrongly timed in the manufactory."
The young man had no opportunity, however, for further reflection, for
they were now dashing along toward the _Union_ and the other two ships;
and after the first shock of terror at the destruction of the monitor,
the Peruvians had returned to the guns, and were quite ready to send the
_Janequeo_ to the bottom.
"God help us!" murmured the young Englishman; "we shall never get
through that tempest of fire; but I am going to try!"
Nearer and nearer they swept, until the torpedo-boat was only a hundred
yards away, and then the _Union_ fired her first gun, a large 8-inch
rifled weapon, loaded with a shell which screamed horridly as it swept
past and plunged into the water just astern. The riflemen raised their
pieces, levelled them over the corvette's high sides, and, at the word
of command, which all aboard the torpedo-boat could hear, they sent
their volleys hurtling aboard that devoted craft. Jim felt a sharp
twinge in his left shoulder, and knew that he was hit; two other men
fell to the deck, limp as empty suits of clothes. The _Janequeo_ was
now abreast the _Union_, and, as she drew level, the latter ship
discharged every gun that she could bring to bear.
It was simply impossible that she could miss. There was a ripping and
tearing of iron as the shower of steel struck the torpedo-boat. Both
her funnels were blown completely out of her, and the hissing roar of
escaping steam, followed by the screams of the scalded stokers down
below, told all too plainly that a boiler had been pierced. The
quartermaster at the wheel let go the spokes and collapsed on deck, and
Jim staggered to the helm just in time to prevent the _Janequeo_ from
crashing into the mole. Then, still floating, and with smoke, steam,
and flame billowing along her decks and blinding her gallant skipper,
the maimed little vessel staggered forward. But escape was not for her.
The _Union_ had a smart man for captain, and he did not intend the
little Chilian hornet to go clear. The forward 8-inch gun bellowed out,
and its shell struck the Chilian fair and square on her stern, exploding
as it passed into her hull, and literally blowing the after-part of her
away.
Her stern plunged downward; she rolled heavily once or twice, and then
turned right over, throwing Jim, in a state of semi-unconsciousness,
into the water of the harbour. Then she sank, and the bottom blew out
of her as she plunged beneath the surface. At this precise moment, to
Jim's fast-failing senses there came the roar of a terrific explosion,
followed almost instantly by a second, and he knew that, though his own
ship was lost, he had done his duty and succeeded in destroying three of
the enemy.
Just as he was on the point of sinking, however, for the last time, a
hand shot out, grasped his collar, and hauled him roughly into a boat,
while a voice growled out in Spanish, "This is the only one afloat,
senor; the rest are down among the sharks, who will not go hungry to-
night." Then darkness closed down over Jim's senses, though not before
he had realised that he was a prisoner in the hands of his enemies, the
Peruvians.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
IN THE FACE OF DEATH.
When Jim recovered consciousness, it was to find himself in a small dark
cell, whether on board a ship or on land he could not tell, for there
was no window in his prison, and there was not a particle of that motion
which he knew there would have been had he been at sea; but he presently
came to the conclusion that he must be in one of the "punishment cells"
aboard some ship lying in the harbour, for he thought that, now and
again, he could hear the faint plash and gurgle of water close at hand,
a sound similar to that which he had often heard when down about the
bilges of the _Blanco Encalada_, far below the water-line. He also very
soon realised that, in addition to being in prison, he had chains upon
his legs, and further, that those chains were fastened to a ring, or
staple, set into the wall of the chamber. The poor lad was consumed by
a raging thirst, too; while the wound in his shoulder, inflicted either
by a bullet or a piece of flying shell, was occasioning him very great
pain. If he only had a light, he reflected, things would not be quite
so bad, and he rummaged among his pockets in the endeavour to find a box
of matches which he knew had been in his pocket when he was thrown
overboard off the _Janequeo_. They were in a tin box, so that it was
just possible that the water would not have had time to get to them
during the short period of his immersion; and, in any case, as his
clothing was very nearly dry again, it was more than likely that the
matches would be the same.
After trying several pockets, and discovering that they had already been
gone through, and that all articles of any value, including his watch
and chain, had been taken from him, he found the box for which he was
searching in the hip-pocket of his trousers; and, to his great delight,
the wet had not reached its contents. He therefore struck a light, and
the first thing his eyes rested upon was a large pitcher of water, and a
plate containing a piece of black bread and several slices of pemmican
or dried meat. These had been placed close beside him, and he was
thankful that he had not accidentally capsized the water-jug in the
darkness. He seized and drank at it eagerly, and when he had half-
finished the contents he discovered that he was famished with hunger.
He therefore struck another match and, by its light, possessed himself
of the food, which he proceeded to devour ravenously, and finished off
the entire supply before his hunger was satisfied. Having made a good
meal, he felt very much better, and then by the light of a tiny fire,
made of match-stalks, scraps of straw, and similar odds and ends, he
managed, with some difficulty, to strip off his coat and shirt, and to
attend, in some small degree, to the wound in his shoulder.
It presented a somewhat inflamed appearance, so he improvised a pad and
bandage by tearing strips off his shirt. These he soaked in the
precious remainder of his drinking water and wrapped them round the
injured part, binding the whole tightly in place with a strip of linen
wound right round his body. This having been done, he felt so much more
comfortable that he began to think a little natural sleep would do him
no harm, and he accordingly composed himself to slumber upon the heap of
straw which had been thrown down in one corner of the cell.
How long, he wondered, had he been in this miserable hole? It must
certainly have been a good many hours, or he would not have felt so
intensely hungry and thirsty; and he also wondered in what ship, if any,
he was, and how the Peruvians would treat the man who had blown up three
of their finest ships, leaving them only the bare skeleton of a navy.
He did not think very long, however; for he was fatigued to the point of
exhaustion, and soon sank into a state of complete oblivion. How long
he had slept he could not tell, but he was awakened by the noise of a
door opening, and the shining of a bright light full upon his face.
Before he could fully collect his faculties the bearer of the lamp, a
burly Peruvian seaman with the name _Union_ on the front of his cap,
bade him in a rough tone of voice stand up, at the same time producing a
key from among a number which hung at his belt and unlocking the young
Englishman's irons. As they fell away from his limbs Jim heaved a sigh
of relief, which the seaman heard; and hearing, remarked: "You need not
be so glad to get them off, you young whipper-snapper; you will be free
for only a few minutes, while the captain sees you, and after he has
done with you, you will probably be shot--or worse! So you need not
look so pleased."
Needless to say, after the communication of this item of information Jim
did not feel exactly jubilant; but the fellow, he considered, might only
have been speaking thus to vent his ill-will; and in any case Jim was
not going to let him see that what he had said affected him in the
least. He therefore merely answered: "We shall see what we shall see;
fate is fate, and nobody can alter that."
The fellow made no reply in words, but, uttering a raucous laugh, bade
Jim precede him out of the cell, and mind that he played no tricks or he
would get a bullet through him. Then the seaman locked the door,
pocketed the key, and placing his rifle with its fixed bayonet at the
"charge," ordered the prisoner to walk on in front, which Jim did;
keeping his eyes very wide open, meanwhile, so as to make a note of the
position of the cell and its surroundings for possible use on some
future occasion.
They first passed along a passage flanked with other cells, similar to
Jim's, that in which he had been confined being the last of a row, and
then they came to an iron-studded door, which the prisoner was commanded
to open. It opened at his touch, and the Englishman and his guard
passed through it, finding themselves immediately upon the _Union's_
lower deck. As the Peruvian marine guided Jim through the ship, with
the point of his fixed bayonet, the young Englishman took the
opportunity to satisfy his curiosity regarding this famous craft--a
curiosity which was perfectly natural in view of the fact that he had
himself fought an action with her, and chased her while he was in the
_Angamos_. He smiled as his eyes fell upon one of the beams supporting
the main deck, for in it were embedded several pieces of shell which the
Peruvians had not seen fit to remove; and he knew that they were the
fragments of a missile, fired by his own cruiser, which had entered one
of the _Union's_ open gun-ports that day of the battle in the Second
Narrows.
But his examination of the interior of the corvette was necessarily only
a very cursory one, for he was hurried forward by a prod from the
sentry's bayonet whenever he showed a disposition to loiter. They
presently mounted a ladder leading from the lower to the main deck,
walked along the latter toward the stern, and presently Jim found
himself outside the door of a cabin in the extreme after-end of the
ship, which he shrewdly surmised belonged to the skipper.
The sentry then grounded his rifle, knocked upon the door, opened it
slightly, and announced in gruff tones: "The prisoner, sir!"
There was a short pause, broken only by the rustling of papers, and then
a low, carefully modulated voice replied: "Bring the fellow in, then,
sentry"; and Jim was ushered into the presence of Captain Villavicencio,
the famous captain of the Peruvian corvette.
Entering, Douglas found himself in a large and airy cabin, situated in
the extreme after-end of the ship, opening on to a narrow gallery
running round the stern of the ship, from quarter to quarter. Two tall
and narrow doors which gave exit on to this gallery, and which now stood
open, disclosed a view of Callao harbour, with the water shimmering in
the rays of the newly risen sun, for it was early morning. In the
centre of the cabin, which was most luxuriously furnished, stood a
magnificent mahogany writing-table, at which sat the man whose name was
still ringing through a whole continent. He was an extremely handsome
individual, and his enormous proportions were well set off by the dark
blue and gold of his naval uniform. He had jet-black curly hair, and a
short, pointed beard; while the dark eyes which looked out from beneath
thick, overhanging brows, seemed to pierce through and through the
individual toward whom his glance was directed. Jim saw at once that
this was a man among a thousand, one who would make a name for himself,
and come to the front in spite of all opposition. But there was a
certain subtle something about the Peruvian which inspired in the young
man a feeling almost akin to terror. The eyes, for instance, had a
distinctly tigerish look about them, and the man's whole personality was
strongly suggestive of a feline nature. Those deep-set dark eyes, Jim
knew instinctively, could, at times, flash forth lightnings deadly in
their intensity; while that low, purring voice could also take on a note
of such deadly menace as would make the hearer's blood curdle. The
steel-pointed claw beneath the velvet glove was all too apparent to the
young Englishman, and he looked forward to the coming interview with
feelings that were anything but pleasant. He felt as though he were in
the power of some gigantic cat which might play with him until it was
tired of that amusement, and would then turn and rend him. No wonder,
he thought to himself, that the Chilians feared this man, and spared no
pains in their endeavours to destroy him and his ship.
In response to a wave of Villavicencio's hand, Jim took up a position on
the side of the table opposite to that occupied by the skipper, while
the sentry posted himself close alongside the prisoner. Then the
Peruvian busied himself with some papers for a few minutes, apparently
oblivious of Jim's presence. At length, having found that for which he
was searching, he glanced up, and his gaze flickered over Jim like
summer lightning, inspiring in the young man so strong a feeling of
repulsion that it almost amounted to nausea. There was something
horribly magnetic in the look, and Jim felt that this man possessed some
strange occult power which was lacking in most human beings.
After looking at the young man for a few seconds, Villavicencio turned
to the sentry and remarked, "I shall not need your presence, I think,
Jacinto. You may leave the room, but post yourself outside my cabin
door, and see that we are not interrupted."
The sentry gravely presented arms, and walked out of the cabin, closing
the door softly behind him. When he had gone the skipper took up a
blank sheet of paper and a pencil, wrote down a few lines on the paper,
and then looking at his prisoner, said in a low, purring tone--
"You are the young Chilian naval officer who was in charge of the
torpedo-boat which destroyed three of our ships the night before last,
are you not?"
Jim replied that he was.
"Well," resumed Villavicencio, "you will be sorry, I am sure, to hear
that all your comrades were drowned when the _Janequeo_--that was the
name of the boat, I believe--went down. You are the sole survivor. By
the way, how many men had you with you?"
"There were eighteen of us altogether," replied Douglas.
The skipper made a brief note on the paper before him and then remarked
softly, "H'm, it is a pity that they were all drowned. I should have
much liked to have saved a few more of them."
Although there was absolutely no fault to be found with the sentiment
expressed by the captain, Jim felt instinctively that the words
possessed a double meaning, and he shivered in spite of the heat of the
morning, which was already becoming excessive.
"What is your name, young man?" was the next question, and upon Jim
answering, his reply was noted down by his interrogator upon the paper
before him. Just as he had finished writing a thought seemed to strike
him suddenly and he looked up quickly from the sheet.
"Were you ever on board the Chilian cruiser _Angamos_?" he inquired,
still in the same low and even tones, but with a curious new thrill in
his voice.
"Yes," replied Jim, looking him straight in the face, "I had the honour
to command that ship upon the occasion when she encountered the _Union_
in the Straits of Magellan. If I remember rightly, the _Union_ did not
stay to finish our little encounter."
"Ah-h-h," breathed Villavicencio, through his teeth, "so you _were_ the
man in command of the cruiser. I thought you might be when I heard your
name, but you struck me as being rather young for the post. By the way,
how old are you?"
Jim told him, not without a certain curious sinking sensation about his
heart.
"So young as that? Dear me, dear me! it certainly _does_ seem a pity,
but it cannot be helped," said the captain. "Your name does not sound
like a Chilian one, however. Of what nationality are you, if I may
ask?"
"I am an Englishman," replied Jim, "and proud of the fact," he
immediately added.
Villavicencio appeared to be sunk in thought for a few seconds, during
which he ejaculated "_Caramba_!" and "_Carrajo_!" several times. The
last item of information seemed to be both unexpected and unpleasant.
Presently, however, he muttered to himself, "Well, I don't suppose it
matters very much. People are liable to accidents here as well as
elsewhere, and if inquiries should be made I can easily plead ignorance.
Only, I shall have to alter the method of it. My first idea _might_
possibly attract too much attention. However--I shall see." Aloud, he
went on, "Have you any relations in this part of the world, Senor
Douglas?"
Inconsequent as the question appeared to be, Jim felt an uncanny, creepy
sensation about the roots of his hair, but his voice did not shake as he
replied, "No, I have no relations either in Chili or in any other part
of the world. I am absolutely alone."
Villavicencio's face at once brightened, and he rubbed his hands,
remarking, "Ah! then so much the better, Senor Douglas, for in that case
they will not miss you." Then his whole appearance changed, and his
voice dropped to a harsh, hissing note as he resumed, "It is a great
pity, though, that you are an Englishman, and so well known in the
Chilian navy, for that fact prevents me from dealing as I had intended
with the miscreant who destroyed two of our ships and seriously damaged
a third. But though I cannot punish you as I should have liked, I can
and _will_ have you shot, and that immediately, on the deck of my ship,
the _Union_, the vessel which, you so pleasantly remarked just now, ran
away from your cruiser and her consort in the Straits."
"But," exclaimed Douglas, in astonishment, "I am a prisoner of war, and
I demand to be treated as such. I have done nothing but my duty,
nothing to merit death at your hands; and even if I had, I have yet to
learn that one man only, even though he be the captain of a corvette,
can sit in judgment upon a prisoner and sentence him to death. I am at
least entitled to a proper court-martial, if I am to be tried for my
life."
Villavicencio laughed. "What you say, my dear young man, is no doubt
technically correct; but _here_ might is right, and I will deal with you
as I please, as you shall very soon see. Sentry!" he called, suddenly
raising his voice and smiling evilly into Jim's face.
For a brief moment Douglas was on the point of leaping across the table
and endeavouring to strangle the Peruvian where he sat, and neither the
man's sword at his side nor his huge proportions would have intimidated
him, but there was that curious look in Villavicencio's eyes which
seemed to hypnotise and chain poor Jim to the spot on which he stood.
The next second the sentry entered, and it was too late to think about
resistance.
"Sentry," said the skipper, "take the prisoner back to his cell, and see
that he does not attempt to escape on the way; he looks desperate. When
you have locked him up in safety, send Lieutenant Rodriguez to me at
once."
Like a man in a dream, Jim marched to the door, scarcely hearing the
skipper's sauve voice remarking: "_Hasta la vista, Senor Douglas_; I
will not say _adios_, for we shall meet again--once more."
The cabin door then closed, and Jim was conducted back to his cell,
followed by the curious glances of the men who were assembled about the
decks. Once back in his prison, he seemed able to think more
connectedly, and he began to wonder whether or not there might be some
means of escape from this semi-human creature's clutches. He had done
absolutely nothing to merit this threatened summary execution, and he
felt convinced that his sentence was simply due to the skipper's own
desire for personal vengeance on the man who had made him turn and fly
upon that memorable day at the Second Narrows. If it really was so,
there was nothing to be hoped, Jim felt, from the man's clemency; for he
clearly knew no more of the meaning of the word "mercy" than does an
untamed tiger.
Thus thinking, Douglas fell into a deep and gloomy reverie, from which
he was aroused by the sounds of footsteps clattering about above his
head, accompanied by the occasional clank of arms, and several short,
crisp words of command. It sounded as though a body of men had been
formed up on the deck above him, and had then been marched off to some
other place. In a moment the horrible truth struck him; it was the
firing-party which had been told off for his own execution!
That he was right was proved by the fact that he almost immediately
afterwards heard footsteps approaching the door and echoing along the
passage. There was a rattle of keys, and he was confronted, this time,
by two armed seamen, who roughly bade him get on his feet and accompany
them. The poor lad was too thunderstruck to move for a few moments, so
one of the men prodded him roughly with his bayonet, and again bade him
rise. Jim then got on his legs, with the blood streaming from the
thrust which had been inflicted in his thigh, and between the two guards
he again made his way to the main deck. This time, however, he was not
taken so far aft as before, but was conducted up the main companion
stairs on to the upper deck.
Having arrived there, the intense light from the brilliant sun nearly
blinded him after his imprisonment in the pitchy blackness of his cell;
but as soon as he could see clearly he at once perceived, drawn up in
single line across the quarter-deck, a body of men armed with rifles,
and he knew that this was indeed the firing-party which Villavicencio
had promised him. The skipper was nowhere in sight; but the lieutenant,
Rodriguez, stood at the end of the firing-line with his drawn sword in
his hand. Jim was piloted by his guards past the end of the firing-
party and placed with his back against a number of stout planks reared
on end, which were there for the purpose of stopping the bullets after
they had passed through the young man's body. It was only when the
lieutenant came up to him and began to bandage his eyes that Jim
recovered from the state of semi-coma into which he had been thrown by
the news of his impending execution; but the touch of the Peruvian's
hands recalled him to his senses and, flinging the man's fingers aside,
he protested vigorously against the gross injustice and inhumanity of
the proceeding.
The only answer was a short word of command from Rodriguez, in reply to
which the two guards seized Douglas by the arms and pinioned him so that
further struggles were impossible. The bandage was then adjusted, and
Jim was forced back against the planks. The guards then stood aside;
but, Jim's arms being now bound behind him, resistance was useless and
escape impossible. Rather, therefore, than engage in a useless and
undignified struggle, he determined to put a bold face on the matter,
and meet his fate like a man. Accordingly, he stood still, waiting for
the end.
He heard the sharp command to load, then to present; and he was nerving
himself to hear the fatal word "Fire!" when the voice of Villavicencio
broke the intense stillness. What he said Jim did not know, but the
command to fire did not come. Instead, the rifles were grounded with a
clash, and Douglas heard somebody walking toward him.
Then the Peruvian skipper's voice broke the intense silence. "Take off
that bandage," he commanded; and the handkerchief being stripped from
Jim's eyes he found himself looking into those of Villavicencio.