The Lagoon
Almost in an instant Denbigh decided how to act. He could have crept
along the alley-way and surprised the sentry; but stunning the man
would be of little use. Nor could he hope to bluff the fellow, since
there was too much light to attempt to pass himself off as one of the
_Pelikan's_ officers. To retreat was impracticable, for someone, he
knew, was on deck in the immediate vicinity of the companion.
Without hesitation the sub opened the door of the cabin adjoining his
and entered quickly and silently. The place was in darkness. Whether
it was tenanted or not he was unable to ascertain. Closing the door he
stood stock-still and listened. He could hear no sound of a person
breathing. For five minutes he waited, then began to grope until he
found the edge of one of the bunks. The sleeping-place was empty.
There were not even blankets and bedding. This looked promising.
He continued his exploration, testing the remaining bunks in turn,
until he was able to come to the happy decision that by sheer good luck
he had lighted upon an empty cabin.
The glass scuttle in the port-hole was closed, but there was no
dead-light in position over the opening. In that case it would be too
risky to switch on the light, until he had taken due precautions.
The dead-light squeaked shrilly on its hinges as he drew it to. He
wondered whether the watch on deck heard the sound. He waited again.
There were many footsteps descending the companion. He could detect
von Langer's guttural tones, discussing some matter with one of the
other officers.
"Dash it all!" ejaculated Denbigh, a cold perspiration standing out on
his forehead. "What if I'm in that fellow's cabin?"
The men stopped outside the cabin. They were evidently indulging in
horse-play, for once a heavy body struck the wall with a thud, followed
by a chorus of boisterous laughter.
Then, to Denbigh's intense relief, the officers went along the passage.
Once again he had been lucky.
Reassured he switched on the light. The cabin was bare of furniture.
In one corner lay a pile of books and a couple of sea-stained
portmanteaux. Hanging from a coat-hook was an officer's sword-belt.
It was mildewed; the stitching of the holster had burst, the buckle was
green with verdigris. Attached to the belt was a small, circular
leather case secured by a strap.
Denbigh handled it gingerly. There was something hard inside.
Curiosity prompted him to unbuckle the strap and open the case. Within
was a pocket-compass. What was more, it was a spirit one and seemingly
in good order. Without compunction the sub abstracted the compass and
slipped it into his pocket.
As he did so he was startled to hear a deep groan. It seemed to sound
close to his ear. He wheeled abruptly and shot a glance in the
direction of one of the bunks, thinking that he had made a mistake in
deeming it untenanted.
There was no one there. Again the groan was repeated. This time the
sound seemed to come from the adjoining cabin--the one occupied by Pat
O'Hara.
A hole in the bulkhead attracted Denbigh's notice. It was the aperture
drilled by the Germans when they made their ineffectual attempt to
chloroform the three British officers.
Through it Denbigh could see but a very small portion of the next
cabin, but sufficient to observe O'Hara lying on his back in his bunk.
He was writhing and groaning. His eyes were wide open and rolling in a
horrifying manner.
Outside all was quiet once more.
"I say, old man," whispered Denbigh. "What's wrong?"
At the sound of his voice O'Hara raised himself. He tried to speak,
but could not. With an effort he rolled out of his bunk and stood
clinging to the edge for support.
"Open the door," said Denbigh peremptorily. "I cannot get in."
"If he's not able to it's the last straw," he soliloquized. "I'll have
to give myself up and get assistance."
With a great effort the Irishman lurched across the floor and removed
the chair which had been wedged against the lock. Then, unable to
regain his bunk, he pitched inertly upon his face.
Denbigh waited no longer. He darted into the alley-way, not even
waiting to see if everything were clear. The door opened easily. He
entered, and lifting O'Hara as easily as a child placed him on his bunk.
"Felt jolly rotten almost as soon as you cleared out," muttered the
Irishman. "Sorry, but I couldn't help it."
"I don't suppose you could," replied Denbigh, for O'Hara's regret was
genuine. "I'll ring for assistance."
He touched the electric bell. Then, and only then, he remembered that
he had to replace a portion of the lock. Grasping the screw-driver he
set to work, and had just driven home the last screw when the locked
turned, and a petty officer entered.
The man hurried off for the ship's surgeon. It was nearly a quarter of
an hour before the doctor arrived. He came prepared to deal with a
trifling case, but when he saw the Irishman he looked grave.
Without expressing his opinion the surgeon went out. Nor did he again
put in an appearance. He sent, however, some quinine and written
directions as to treatment.
For the rest of the night Denbigh sat up with his comrade. As day
broke O'Hara seemed easier. The internal pains passed off. His
temperature fell. He was able to talk rationally. By noon he was
practically well again. The attack had been sharp and rapid, but once
over it seemed to leave no ill-effects.
Without being sighted by any of the British patrol vessels the
_Pelikan_ and her prize arrived off the entrance to the Mohoro River.
Here the two ships slowed down until there was sufficient water for
them to cross the outer bar.
During the interval Denbigh and O'Hara were peremptorily ordered to
leave the _Pelikan_ and take up their quarters on the _Myra_, the
reason being that von Riesser was terribly afraid of illness, and in
spite of the doctor's assurances he had a firm belief that O'Hara was
suffering from yellow fever, malaria, black-water fever, and every
tropical disease under the sun.
"Let him jolly well think so," said the Irishman joyfully. "I feel as
fit as a fiddle now; and I'm not sorry for the change."
All the same O'Hara acted the invalid to perfection as he was rowed
from the raider to her prize. Denbigh accompanied him, taking good
care to bring all their scanty personal property that they had been
permitted to save from the _Nichi Maru_, excepting the gold that von
Riesser had ordered to be confiscated.
The _Myra_ was in charge of Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick and fifteen
men. There were also the skipper, officers, and crew of the tramp,
numbering thirty-two persons. The officers were given a fair amount of
liberty, but the men were kept under hatches, to their no small
discomfort in the tropical heat.
"Sorry I'm not able to make your acquaintance under more favourable
auspices," was the greeting of Captain Pennington, the master of the
captured _Myra_, when the two subs introduced themselves. "But I hope
before many hours that we will be set at liberty."
"We've been hoping that for weeks," said Denbigh. "The luck those
fellows get is astonishing."
"So I should imagine," agreed Captain Pennington. "I learnt at Cape
Town that the _Pelikan_ was given up as lost, as some wreckage and one
of her boats were picked up in the South Atlantic. That is why our
cruisers relaxed their patrol, and were ordered to rendezvous at
Zanzibar. There'll be a dozen or more on their way up."
"And any monitors?" asked O'Hara.
"Four, as far as I know," replied the _Myra's_ skipper. "One was
detained for repairs at Simon's Bay. The others must be at Zanzibar by
this time. They will be invaluable for work inside the coral reefs."
"And the _Pelikan_--or _Zwaan_, as we are accustomed to call her--hopes
to ascend the Mohoro River. Her draught is about twenty-two feet, and
she may be able to lighten to eighteen."
"She won't do it," declared Pennington decisively. "It will be as much
as she can manage to cross the outer bar. She'll be nabbed before she
does that."
"When's high water?" enquired Denbigh.
"Let me see. New moon's on Friday. To-day's Saturday. High water,
full and change, is at 4 p.m. I take it that it's the top of the tide
to-day at eleven or thereabouts. They'll have to be pretty sharp about
it to arrive off the entrance to the lagoon by that time."
As a matter of fact von Riesser signalled for the prize to steam full
speed ahead, the _Pelikan_ following at four cables' lengths astern.
By 8.30 the _Myra_ slowed down off the entrance to the Mohoro River.
There was a considerable amount of mist about, for the land breeze had
not commenced to make its influence felt.
All that could be seen was a long, irregular line of coral reefs
against which the ground-swell broke with a sullen roar into masses of
milk-white foam. There were nearly a dozen visible gaps in the reef,
the largest, bearing directly ahead, being marked by a couple of
coco-nut palms.
At this point an island was in course of formation, there being a few
feet of soil accumulated upon the coral. These trees marked the
entrance to the lagoon, into which the Mohoro River made its way by
means of three separate estuaries.
The Germans left nothing to chance. Way was taken off both vessels. A
boat was manned and lowered from the _Pelikan_ and rowed towards the
entrance, soundings being taken methodically and frequently.
Having found the deepest water the officers in the boat signalled to
the _Myra_, and at half speed the captured tramp crept towards the
narrow passage.
Between the foam-swept barriers she made her way, until she lay quietly
upon the peaceful waters of the lagoon.
The _Pelikan_ prepared to follow.
"Ten to one she'll bump," exclaimed Captain Pennington. "There you
are! I said so," he added, as the raider touched the bottom with a
dull grinding sound. Still she carried way. Scraping along for nearly
her own length she slid into deep water.
"Hope she's stove in her bottom," said O'Hara. "See, they're using her
bilge pumps."
A signal was hoisted on the raider. What it meant the British officers
were unable to say, but it was evident from the expression of the face
of Unter-leutnant Klick that the damage to the _Pelikan_ was but slight.
By this time the mist was rising. The mainland could now be discerned,
low-lying ground densely covered with mangroves and backed by rugged
hills at a distance of about ten miles from the coast.
The lagoon was quite three miles in breadth and extended in a northerly
direction beyond the range of vision. Southward it gradually converged
towards the coast, apparently joining it at a distance of five miles
from where the ships lay.
"An anchorage big enough to take the whole of the British Navy,"
declared Denbigh. "It's the bar that spoils the place, apart from the
pestilential swamps. Do you see that peculiar isolated tree? It's a
casuarina. It marks the principal entrance to the Mohoro--or did when
I was here last, but these African rivers have a peculiar knack of
altering their course entirely in a night."
"I suppose we are going straight up," remarked O'Hara. "There's depth
enough for us."
"Goodness knows," replied his chum. "At all events the _Pelikan_
can't."
Apparently the Germans had a good knowledge of the lagoon, for boldly
closing with the land, the _Pelikan_ dropped anchor within three
hundred yards of the highest part of the shore, where a cliff rose
abruptly to the height of thirty or forty feet. On the summit the
ground shelved gently. There were several native huts to be seen in
the clearing between the mangroves, while farther back was a
galvanized-iron shed with a whitewashed roof.
Acting under von Riesser's instructions the _Myra's_ anchor was let go,
the tramp bringing up at a cable's length from her captor, and so close
to the shore that when she swung her stern was within forty yards of
the cliff. The water here was ten fathoms deep, the shore being
steep-to, but in spite of the depth the bottom could be clearly seen.
"Suppose you vant to go 'shore, hein?" asked Unter-leutnant Klick. "No
tricks. Plenty of shark about."
The German was right. Already the surface of the lagoon in the
vicinity of the two ships was furrowed with diverging lines of ripples
as the black dorsal fins of numerous tigers of the deep cleft the water.
"No, I don't think I want to bathe, lieutenant," remarked Captain
Pennington. "It hardly looks tempting."
Kaspar Klick laughed boisterously.
"You see even der shark is der ally of Zhermany," he said.
"The information does not astonish me one little bit," rejoined the
master of the _Myra_.
"Vot you mean?" demanded the under-leutnant, instinctively guessing
that he had made a verbal blunder.
At that moment, when the German was beginning to exhibit signs of
anger, another signal was made from the _Pelikan_, ordering the _Myra_
to ship as much additional cargo from her captor as she could carry.
Until sunset the work progressed. Under threats from their captors the
British crew were turned up from below and compelled to assist in
handing and stowing the gear, for it was von Riesser's intention to
lighten his vessel as much as possible, so as to attempt the inner bar
at least a couple of days before the new moon.
Night put an end to the day's work, for not a light that could be
visible from seaward was shown.
The two subs slept badly. Their cabin accommodation was indifferent
compared with that on board the _Pelikan_, for Unter-leutnant Klick had
appropriated the skipper's quarters, and Pennington and his chief
engineer were obliged to share the small space that had been the mate's
cabin, while that officer was told to occupy the same cabin in which
Denbigh and O'Hara were placed.
They lacked the ventilating fan and the liberal air space. The cabin
was low and stuffy. It had no direct communication with the outside
air, as it opened into the state-room, where in normal times the
_Myra's_ officers used to have their meals. At present that limited
space was still further restricted by the huge cases of military stores
removed from the _Pelikan_. These had been struck down the hatchway
and carried aft, where they remained under the charge of an armed
sentry.
"Those fellows think they've got us safely under lock and key," said
the mate, a burly North-countryman of the name of Armstrong. "They
don't know that each officer of this hooker has a duplicate key to his
cabin. I took jolly good care to keep mine, and I know where to put my
hand on the key to this one. To-morrow, now I know how we're berthed,
I'll get that key."
At daybreak the work of transhipping the cargo was proceeded with
before the miasmic mists that hid the shore had dispersed. Two boats
were dispatched from the _Pelikan_ to the shore and returned laden with
tops of coco-nut trees. Before noon the foliage was stowed below out
of sight.
Just before high water the _Myra_, being loaded far below her Plimsoll
mark, prepared to weigh and ascend the river. Even in her deeply laden
condition she drew a good nine feet less than the _Pelikan_, and could
negotiate the bar without much risk.
The cable was almost "up and down" and the anchor on the point of
"breaking-out" when a warning shout came from one of the look-out men
on the _Pelikan_. A bugle call for "General Quarters" followed in
quick succession.
"Hulloa, that's great!" ejaculated Denbigh excitedly. He pointed in
the direction of the passage through the reef. Heading for it was a
small gunboat. Although the distance was too great for the British
officers on the _Myra_ to distinguish her ensign they had no doubts as
to her nationality.
"She's one of our gunboats," announced O'Hara.
His assertion was confirmed by a flash, followed by a sharp bark as the
_Pelikan_, unmasking her guns, opened fire upon the approaching vessel.