Home Again
It was fifteen miles to the nor'ard of the Skaw in broad daylight.
R19 was running awash in a perfectly calm sea. Sub-Lieutenant
Fordyce, keeping a tramp under observation, turned to the
Quartermaster.
"Starboard a couple of points, Quartermaster," he ordered. "I want to
have a closer look at that ship. Dash it all," he soliloquized, "the
old tub seems strangely familiar!"
Evidently the vessel in question did not evince any desire to accept
the submarine's advances, for she, too, altered helm.
"What is it?" enquired the Lieutenant-Commander, who at that moment
emerged from the conning-tower.
"A tramp under Swedish colours, sir," reported the Sub. "Strange
thing, she has a gun mounted for'ard. Unless I'm much mistaken we've
met her before to-day."
An order from the Lieutenant-Commander brought the guns' crews on
deck. The for'ard quick-firers were raised from their "houses" and
manned, while, increasing speed, R19 was soon within hailing
distance.
"What ship is that?" enquired the Hon. Derek in English.
"_Ryan-Berg_, of Malmo," was the reply. "You our colour painted on
side see."
"I'm not blind--only sceptical," retorted the Lieutenant-Commander.
"Heave-to; I'll send a boat."
While the tramp was losing way the submarine flung about, taking up a
position on the vessel's starboard quarter, and on a parallel course.
On the bluff counter of the tramp appeared the words:
"_Ryan-Berg_--Malmo", but at a short distance it was quite evident
that the name was painted on a strip of canvas.
"That's good enough, Mr. Fordyce," remarked the Hon. Derek grimly.
"And what's more, sir," added the Sub, "she's an old friend, the
_Talisman_, of Goole. She missed us at point-blank range on one
occasion."
"I recollect," agreed the Lieutenant-Commander, "and we pumped out a
gallon of lubricating-oil just to encourage her misguided but
praiseworthy skipper. Carry on, Mr. Fordyce."
Quickly the boarding-party tumbled into the boat and rowed off to the
tramp. Revolver in hand, Fordyce gained her deck, to be greeted by
half a dozen Teutons in very motley garb.
"The game's up," exclaimed Fordyce. "We are not bluffed by fresh
paint and a canvas name-board."
The prize crew were ordered below, while the former master and a
dozen hands were released from captivity.
"You never know your luck," exclaimed the rightful skipper of the
_Talisman_, a bluff, grey-haired salt of the burly, breezy type. "I
expected to find myself in a German prison-camp within the next
thirty-six hours. A light cruiser nabbed us four miles outside
Christiansand harbour. They clapped us under hatches and put a prize
crew on board, and a rascally set they are."
"They treated you decently?"
"Not so bad," replied the "old man", "until they found I had an
Admiralty certificate for sinking a U-boat. Blew her to bits at fifty
yards. Not a doubt about it; there was oil enough to spread over a
couple of hundred yards."
"And when did that occur?" asked Fordyce.
The master of the _Talisman_ gave the date.
"The swine tore up my certificate," he added bitterly. "I suppose the
Admiralty will give me a duplicate?"
"I should imagine so," replied Fordyce. "Excuse me, but time is
precious. I must ask instructions from my commanding officer."
The Hon. Derek, upon being informed of the state of affairs, ordered
Fordyce and four seaman to remain on board the prize.
"We'll stand by you," he added. "I suppose there's enough coal left
in her bunkers to carry her home?"
"I'll enquire, sir. By the by, her master has or had a certificate
presented him by the Admiralty for having fired at us. Luckily he
missed."
"You didn't enlighten him, I hope?" asked the Hon. Derek anxiously.
"Oh no, sir!"
"That's good. Carry on--yes, certainly, take Flirt with you. And good
luck!"
* * * * *
"So that dog's turned up again," observed Mr. Fordyce, senior, when a
taxi deposited Noel, Flirt, and a portmanteau outside the Sub's
paternal home, and informal but warm greetings had been exchanged. "I
thought she was lost."
"I took her for a cruise for the benefit of her health, Pater," said
his irrepressible offspring.
"Benefit of her health indeed," re-echoed Mr. Fordyce. "And, pray, is
she better for the change? I was under the impression that she was
far too high spirited before. I hope to goodness, Noel, that there
will be no repetition of the Councillor Mindiggle business."
"I'll answer for that, Pater," replied the Sub. "She won't nip him
again."
"You seem jolly sure of it," rejoined Mr. Fordyce. "If she does
she'll have to be des----"
A dinner gong sounded, and Noel linked arms with his somewhat biased
parent and led him into the dining-room.
"I'm awfully peckish, Pater," he remarked.
"Then set to," suggested Mr. Fordyce. "Well, what have you been doing
with yourself?"
When at length Noel finished his yarn--on this occasion he was more
communicative as to his adventures than on former occasions--Mr.
Fordyce called to Flirt, who was contentedly coiled up on the
hearth-rug.
"Come here, little girl!" he exclaimed. "By Jove, you're a brick!
I'll take back all I said of you. Dash it all, I'd give you a biscuit
but for my Lord Rhondda!"
PRINTED AND BOUND IN GREAT BRITAIN
_By Blackie & Son, Limited, Glasgow_
[Transcriber's Notes:
This book contains a number of misprints.
A few cases of punctuation have been corrected, but not mentioned
here. The other misprints are reproduced as in the original.
Possible misprints are:
[It would have been a spendid] -> [It would have been a splendid]
[it's all U P with us] this might be a (strange) misprint for
[it's all up with us]
[Orloof] -> everywhere else it's: [Orloff]
[futherance] -> [furtherance]
[framents] -> [fragments]
[was mantained] -> [was maintained]
[Klostovitch] -> everywhere else it's: [Klostivitch]
[freqently] -> [frequently]
[messsage] -> [message]
[Quarter-Master] -> everywhere else it's [quartermaster]
[THE TOO FAITHFUL FLIRT] -> in the list of illustrations there's
no dash, but there is one beneath the actual image.
]
End of Project Gutenberg's A Sub and a Submarine, by Percy F. Westerman