Foiled by a Collier
For the rest of the night Denbigh and O'Hara awaited in vain for their
comrade's return. They had no idea of the flight of time since, during
the chase, the ship's bell had not been struck. In the screened cabin
they sat, with the electric light switched on, for after their
interview with Kapitan von Riesser on the subject of the attempted
chloroforming, the current was not cut off after ten o'clock as was
formerly the case.
"Faith! I'll go and see what he's up to," exclaimed O'Hara, removing
the chair from the door. It was the only way to keep the door closed,
since the replacing of the staple of the lock would have barred
Stirling's return.
"Better not," objected Denbigh. "Either he's all right or he's all
wrong. In the former case it wouldn't do to meddle with his business.
Two stand double the risk of detection that one fellow runs. In the
latter case, our going to look for him won't help matters in the least,
because if they've collared him they will be on the look-out for us."
"S'pose you're right," grudgingly assented Pat. "We must stick it."
The chums "stuck it" for another two hours, then the sound of six bells
(7 a.m.) announced the fact that it was daylight, and that precautions
in the matter of noise were no longer necessary.
"The flunky will be here presently to open the port-hole," remarked
Denbigh. "I think we had better screw on that chunk of metal.
Stirling won't be coming now."
"Then what has happened to him?"
"Goodness only knows. Look here; we won't open the ball. Let's see if
they know anything about his disappearance."
"The man will notice that the moment he comes into the cabin," objected
O'Hara.
For answer, Denbigh crossed over to Stirling's cot, placed the bolster
longwise and covered it with the blankets. Then, partly drawing the
curtains, he stood back and surveyed the result of his handiwork.
"Dash it all!" he exclaimed. "It would take a lynx-eyed detective to
spot the game, especially when the port-hole is opened, because the
bunk is dead against the light. Let's turn in. Old Fritz will smell a
rat if he finds us up and dressed."
The two subs had barely settled themselves in their bunks and had
switched off the light, when a key clicked in the lock and the German
sailor deputed to attend to them stumbled in.
He was a taciturn fellow. Perhaps it was because he understood no word
of English, and was unaware of the fact that Denbigh spoke German. He
had, however, a habit of conversing with himself during the performance
of his duties, and more than once Denbigh picked up information from
the fellow's unguarded babbling.
This time Fritz was silent. Setting down a jug of hot water, he
unlocked and opened the port-hole.
Having washed, shaved, and dressed, Denbigh and O'Hara made their way
to the cabin in which was served their meals. Covers for three lay on
the table. The steward was standing by in his customary manner.
Without a word the subs seated themselves. Presently Fritz came in to
deliver a message from one of the ship's officers.
"Where's the third Englander?" asked the steward.
Apparently Fritz was fond of a joke at the messman's expense. Without
a word he stooped and looked under the table; then drawing himself up,
he replied:
"I cannot see him."
"Fool!" ejaculated the steward. "Don't try to be an idiot; you are one
already. Where is the schwein-hund?"
"Too lazy to get up and have his breakfast, I suppose," replied Fritz
indifferently. "He was fast asleep when I went in."
Having asked in broken English if the subs required anything further,
and receiving a negative reply, the steward went out.
"Deucedly strange," said Denbigh in a low voice. "Those fellows know
nothing. I wonder if von Riesser and his cheerful ober-leutnant have
been up to mischief."
It was not until one bell in the forenoon watch that Stirling's absence
was discovered. Denbigh and O'Hara were immediately sent for and
closely questioned.
The interview was unsatisfactory, the British officers affecting
ignorance of the time of their comrade's disappearance; while von
Riesser, rightly guessing that Denbigh and O'Hara imagined he was
responsible and was trying to cloak suspicion, was so emphatic in his
assurances that he knew nothing of Stirling's whereabouts that his very
earnestness caused the subs to misjudge him.
A thorough search was instituted, but, naturally, without the hoped-for
result. Reluctantly, Denbigh and O'Hara came to the conclusion that
their chum had either fallen in or had been thrown overboard.
Kapitan von Riesser was genuinely perturbed, not on account of the loss
of the British officer, but for the additional complication that might
ensue if the _Pelikan_ should be captured. The idea of being taken
prisoner obsessed the German commander. It loomed up in front of him
like a gaunt spectre day and night. It spoke volumes for the fact that
Great Britain was Mistress of the Seas.
He showed little or no elation at having evaded the cruiser that had
doggedly held in pursuit until long after midnight. His pessimism was
beginning to become infectious. Officers and men were downcast.
Several times on the lower deck remarks were heard to the effect that
it was an unlucky day when the _Pelikan_ escaped from her nominal state
of internment.
For the next three days Denbigh and O'Hara were "off colour". The
mystery of Stirling's disappearance affected them deeply; but on the
fourth day they cheered up considerably, for the _Pelikan_ had
intercepted a wireless message from a British cruiser. The message was
in code, but one word occurred that shed a different light upon the
mystery. The word was "Stirling". Von Riesser lost no time in
informing the two British officers, and although the latter were unable
to decipher the message it was evident that Stirling had been picked up
by one of our patrols.
Shortly after daybreak on the fifth day of Stirling's absence, the
_Pelikan_ overhauled a large collier, outward bound from Penarth to
Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, with a valuable cargo of steam
coal.
It was evident that the skipper of the collier had received no warning
that a German raider was at large, for he allowed the _Pelikan_ to get
within three cables' length without exciting any suspicion.
When the latter peremptorily ordered the collier to heave-to and
surrender, however, the stalwart old merchant captain showed the stuff
he was made of, for without complying, he suddenly ported helm and bore
down upon the liner, which had now hoisted German colours.
It was a forlorn hope, for the _Pelikan_ could steam twice as fast as
the collier and was much quicker on her helm.
"By Jove! that fellow has some pluck," exclaimed O'Hara admiringly,
for, anticipating no resistance on the part of the would-be prize,
Kapitan von Riesser had not ordered the British officers below. "But
he's asking for trouble."
"Yes, poor chap, he's put himself out of court," agreed Denbigh.
Manoeuvring so that the _Pelikan's_ guns could be brought to bear upon
the collier without danger of carrying away her masts, von Riesser gave
the order to fire. Two shells did the mischief. Both burst amidships,
sweeping away the bridge and chart-house, and with them the rash and
gallant skipper and three of the crew.
Further resistance being out of the question the collier struck her
flag. Splendidly handled the _Pelikan_ ranged up alongside, and
without delay the work of transferring the cargo commenced. Although
the sturdy Britons who formed the collier's crew refused to lift as
much as a little finger to help there were plenty of hands available
from the _Pelikan_. The steam winches were manned, skips and whips
brought into play, and sacks and sacks of badly wanted fuel were
toppled down the liner's chutes.
"Stand by there, you men!" shouted Kapitan von Riesser, observing that
the crew of the collier were provisioning and swinging out their boats.
"I haven't said I was going to sink your ship. Come and bear a hand
and we'll let you go."
Somewhere from the vicinity of the wrecked bridge came a hoarse voice:
"We want no favours from strafed Germans. Get your coal yourself if
you want it. You'll have to jolly well look sharp, for the hooker'll
be on her way to Davy Jones in half an hour."
"Himmel!" gasped the astonished kapitan, completely taken aback by the
bull-dog audacity of the collier's men. "Quick, Herr Klick. Sound the
well."
Accompanied by a couple of armed seamen the unter-leutnant hurried
below. In a few minutes he reappeared.
"They've opened the valves, sir," he reported. "The sea is rushing in
like a sluice. It is already up to the floor of the engine-room."
Von Riesser leant over the bridge rail and surveyed the deck of the
collier forty feet below.
"Unless you close those valves I'll smash every boat you have!" he
shouted.
A chorus of gibes was the only reply. The engine-room staff alone knew
the position of the valves. It would take a stranger a couple of hours
to locate them, and the men knew it.
"Smash away," they replied derisively. "Smashing private property is
the only thing you Germans can do properly."
For a full minute Kapitan von Riesser lost all control of himself. He
stormed and raved, cursing both in German and English, until he
realized that during that minute the collier had sunk deeper in the
water.
There was a rush on the part of the _Pelikan's_ men who were loading
the sacks in the vessel's holds, so fierce was the influx of the sea.
Above their shouts of anger and surprise arose the ceaseless taunts of
the British crew. Having fully made up their minds that no quarter
would be given the stalwart men decided to die game, and in their
opinion the spirit of independence was best shown in heaping sarcasm
upon the baffled Teutons.
Already the hawsers and springs holding the two vessels were straining
almost to breaking point. Reluctantly von Riesser gave the order to
cast off, at the same time telegraphing to the engine-room for
half-speed ahead.
Somewhat to the surprise of the collier's crew no attempt was made by
the _Pelikan_ to interfere with them. Taking to the boats they hoisted
sail and in twenty minutes the little flotilla was lost to sight.
It was a long time before von Riesser got over his fit of bad temper.
Precious time had been all but wasted, for the only result of the
enterprise was the addition of roughly seventy tons of coal to the
_Pelikan's_ sorely-depleted bunkers.
"By Jove! that was a nasty knock," remarked O'Hara to his chum. "It's
a wonder old von Riesser hadn't ordered those boats to be stove-in.
The lip those fellows gave him was enough to make a British admiral
commit an act of frightfulness."
"The old chap's frightened about something," replied Denbigh. "He's
literally on toast. You see, what with Stirling's escape--for I feel
confident that code message referred to his rescue--he's got to mind
his p's and q's until he's through the cordon. Then, if he does, I
guess he'll make it mighty hot for us."
Denbigh was right in his surmise, for as soon as Stirling had been
taken on board H.M.S. _Actaeon_ and had made a report to the captain,
the cruiser communicated with each of her consorts, giving the position
of the _Pelikan_ when last seen and the probable course.
Following this message another was transmitted to the Admiralty
announcing the safety of Sub-lieutenant Charles Stirling, captured
while on a passage home in the Japanese liner _Nichi Maru_.
Instructions were asked as to the "disposal" of that officer.
Promptly came the reply temporarily appointing Stirling to H.M.S.
_Actaeon_ as supernumerary, since it was recognized that his knowledge
of the elusive raider might be of great assistance to the pursuing ship.
Within two hours of the _Actaeon's_ wireless message additional small
cruisers, armed auxiliaries, and destroyers left Table Bay, while
others were ordered from the Pacific Station to proceed to the vicinity
of Cape Horn and guard both the passage to the southward of that place
and also the intricate Straits of Magellan.
In the event of the _Pelikan_ eluding the cordon in the Atlantic, and
since it was known that her desired destination was German East Africa,
the squadron operating in conjunction with the British military
expedition was warned to exercise a particularly sharp look-out, both
in the Mozambique Channel and off the East African coast between 4 deg. S.
and 11 deg. S. lat.
Four swift destroyers of the Australian Navy were also given
instructions to proceed to Mauritius and await orders. Thus the net
was being swiftly tightened around the fugitive liner that alone flew
the Black Cross ensign of Germany outside European waters.