IN DIRE PERIL.
When Lieutenant Taylor saw the _Sylph's_ launch turn and head for the
little vessel without waiting for him, an expression of great surprise
came over his face, followed by one of anxiety. He raised a shout, and,
when he saw that Frank paid no heed to him, although he knew his shout
had been heard, his suspicions were aroused.
Quickly he drew from his pocket the message Lord Hastings had ordered
him to give to Captain Johnson, and tore it in little pieces. These he
dropped into the water, and then made his way toward the captain, who
stood awaiting his approach.
The captain greeted him pleasantly.
"You have a message for me, sir?" he asked.
"I have, sir; and it is a most disagreeable one."
"Disagreeable? Has some disaster occurred?"
"No, sir. It is even worse, if possible."
"Explain yourself."
"Very well, sir. I am commanded to charge the young lady who has just
come aboard with being a German spy!"
"A spy! Lord Hastings has not informed me of this, and I have been in
communication with him."
"Very true, sir, but with good reason. There are others aboard the
_Sylph_ whom he did not wish to overhear such a communication. She was
seen to steal a message relating to the movements of the fleet from the
wireless room. Also she is a German. Lord Hastings requests that she be
tried at once!"
"Very good, sir," replied Captain Johnson.
He called his first officer.
"Have Miss Beulow summoned here at once," he commanded.
A moment later, the young girl, smiling, stood before them.
"Miss Beulow," said the captain, "I have an unpleasant duty to perform.
You are accused of being a German spy!"
The girl staggered back.
"Who makes this absurd charge?" she demanded, after she had to some
degree regained her composure.
Lieutenant Taylor stepped forward.
"I do, at Lord Hastings' command," he replied.
The girl stared at him with the greatest contempt. Then she turned to
the captain.
"I am innocent of this charge," she said; "but this man," and she
pointed an accusing finger at the lieutenant, "I know to be a spy. He is
accusing me to save himself."
Lieutenant Taylor smiled sneeringly.
"A very natural reply," he said. "Captain, she was seen to put the
message I spoke of in her purse. Perhaps she still has it there. Will
you see for yourself?"
"Your purse, if you please," said Captain Johnson, extending his hand,
and speaking in a harsh voice, for he had no reason to doubt the truth
of Lieutenant Taylor's words.
The girl's face turned white. For the first time she realized the full
seriousness of her situation. For a moment she held her purse even
closer to her.
"But, captain," she began, "I----"
"Your purse, if you please," interrupted the captain.
Slowly the girl extended it to him. Quickly he opened it, and a moment
later withdrew a little piece of paper, which he opened and read. It was
the message containing the supposed plans of the British fleet.
After a hasty perusal, the captain turned to Lieutenant Berkeley, his
first officer.
"Arrest her," he said.
"But, captain," exclaimed the girl in terror, "a message to Lord
Hastings will confirm the truth of my story."
"I shall communicate with Lord Hastings at once," was the reply, "but I
am convinced that no answer he can make will exonerate you."
"The case is perfectly plain," agreed Lieutenant Taylor.
"Have this young woman confined to her cabin," commanded Captain Johnson
to Lieutenant Berkeley, "and have a court-martial summoned to sit at 8
o'clock in the morning. That is all. Take her away. Now you, sir," he
continued, turning to Lieutenant Taylor, "I suppose are to stay here to
make the charge?"
"Exactly, sir," replied the lieutenant; "such was Lord Hastings'
command."
"Very well. Lieutenant Berkeley will provide you with quarters."
The captain made his way to the wireless room, where he had the operator
pick up the _Sylph_. First he sent a message, simply saying that Miss
Beulow had been arrested on the charge of being a spy, the accusation
having been preferred by Lieutenant Taylor. Then he asked further
details. But there came no reply. In vain did the operator again try to
pick up the _Sylph_. At length he gave up the attempt.
"It is very plain," said the captain to himself. "It is just as
Lieutenant Taylor told me. Evidently they do not answer because they
fear someone will overhear the message."
But at that moment the wireless came to life, and the captain waited.
"From the _Sylph_?" he questioned.
"No," was the reply, "from Admiral Jellicoe. Instead of continuing to
Copenhagen, we are ordered to cruise about in these waters, that in case
a German vessel succeeds in running the blockade, we may be able to
intercept her."
"All right," was the reply, and the commander made his way to his own
cabin.
For Alice Beulow, confined to her cabin, and in full realization of her
perilous situation, the day passed slowly. Food was brought to her, but
she was not allowed to go on deck.
All night she paced up and down in her cabin, and the first gleams of
sunlight, streaming through the window, found her pale and hollow-eyed.
Sleep had been impossible.
But eight o'clock came at last, and she was conducted to Captain
Johnson's cabin, where around a long table sat the men who were to try
her on the charge of being a spy--the court-martial--composed of Captain
Johnson, First Lieutenant Berkeley, Second Lieutenant Palmer, Third
Lieutenant Emery and Fourth Lieutenant Arthur. Lieutenant Taylor was
also present.
Captain Johnson arose as Miss Beulow entered the cabin.
"Miss Beulow," he said sternly, "you are accused of being a German spy.
Are you innocent or guilty?"
"I am innocent," replied the girl quietly.
Captain Johnson motioned her to a seat, then turned to Lieutenant
Taylor.
"You may state your case, sir," he said.
Lieutenant Taylor arose and bowed to the members of the court-martial.
Then he faced the young girl, a slight sneer on his face.
Now, lying was not the least of the lieutenant's accomplishments, and he
told a plausible story to the officers who sat as judges. He told of how
Lord Hastings had learned, through great good fortune, that there were
German spies on board the _Sylph_, and how, after being saved from a
watery grave, Miss Beulow had repaid her saviours by joining in the
conspiracy against them.
He related how Lord Hastings had set a trap for the plotters, and how
Miss Beulow had been caught red-handed stealing a message from the
wireless room. She had not been arrested then, he explained, because the
identity of the other conspirators had not been learned, and it was
feared that her arrest would make them more wary.
It was indeed a plausible story, and the judges were plainly impressed
with it. Not a doubt of the lieutenant's honesty and veracity had
entered the mind of a single member of the court-martial.
At length the lieutenant finished and resumed his seat; and the accused
girl arose to face her judges, whom, she was now certain, would also be
her executioners.
"Do you wish to make a statement?" she was asked.
"I do," was her reply, as she stood trembling and on the verge of tears,
and she continued: "I solemnly swear I am innocent of this grave charge.
It is true my father is a German, but that does not prove I am a spy. I
accuse that man there," and she pointed a trembling finger at Lieutenant
Taylor, "of conspiring to destroy the British fleet!"
Lieutenant Taylor sprang to his feet angrily.
"Absurd!" he cried, and sat down again.
"Is it not true?" continued the young girl, facing him steadily, "that
you are not an Englishman? Is it not true that you are an American?"
"And what of that?" exclaimed the lieutenant. "I am nevertheless an
officer in the British navy."
The girl turned from him and faced her judges again.
"Gentlemen," she said, "that man came to me two nights ago and declared
to me that he was a captain in the German army, and that he was plotting
the destruction of the English fleet off Helgoland. He thought that
because I am a German, and because I had ignored him, that he could gain
my sympathy by disclosing his reason for being with the English. He told
me his plans. He, not I, is the traitor!"
Captain Johnson rose to his feet.
"How," he asked, "do you account for the paper I found in your
possession?"
"Lieutenant Taylor showed it to me," replied the girl. "He said it was
the message that meant the destruction of the British fleet. He gave it
to me and I kept it. That is all."
"I deny it!" exclaimed Lieutenant Taylor, springing to his feet
Captain Johnson waved him aside.
"Have you anything else to say. Miss Beulow?" he asked.
"Nothing," replied the girl, "except that I am innocent."
"You may return to your cabin, Miss Beulow," said Captain Johnson. "You
shall know our verdict as soon as we have reached it."
Haltingly the girl was escorted back to her cabin. Here, at length, she
gave way to her feelings and burst into tears. When, finally, she was
again summoned before the court-martial, she had regained her composure,
and, dry-eyed, and standing firmly erect, she once more calmly faced her
judges, to learn from them whether she was to live or die.
The captain and all other members of the court-martial arose from their
seats.
"Miss Beulow," said Captain Johnson, in a gruff voice, "we have found
you, after due deliberation, to be guilty of the charge against you."
Alice Beulow staggered back, and the captain stopped speaking. The
British commander cleared his voice of a huskiness that had crept into
it, pulled himself together, and continued firmly:
"And the sentence of this court-martial is that you be shot to-morrow
morning at eight o'clock!"