The "Fusi Yama"
"At this stage of the proceedings, gentlemen," began Sir Hugh. "I
think it time to reveal all I know concerning the _Fusi Yama_ and her
cargo of sunken gold."
It was the first time that the whole of the members of the Salvage
Syndicate had assembled at Thalassa Towers, and what might be termed
a meeting of the Board was in progress.
The scene was the smoking-room, in which a roaring fire was blazing
on the hearth, for the autumn morning was decidedly chilly. On the
oaken table, and held down by four leaden weights, was an Admiralty
Chart of a portion of the Pacific.
"The _Fusi Yama_, a vessel of 4500 tons, was, you may remember,"
continued the baronet, "sold by a Japanese firm to a British shipping
concern at Shanghai. There was rather a fuss made about it at the
time, because in shipping circles it was regarded as somewhat
significant that Japan had entered into commercial maritime
competition to such an extent that she could build and engine vessels
and sell them to a nation that hitherto held the palm for
ship-construction.
"This was just before the war, and the _Fusi Yama's_ first voyage
under the British flag was from Chi-fu to Liverpool--but the voyage
was never completed in the manner intended. Her cargo consisted of
cotton and silk and specie and bullion to the value of a million and
a half.
"Strictly speaking, the bullion and specie ought to have been sent by
a regular mail-steamer, but rumours were in the air of trouble with
Germany, and the consigners decided that a steamer running off the
recognized route stood a better chance of getting clear of the
Pacific than a liner, for there was then a powerful German
cruiser-squadron based at Kiao Chau.
"However, the _Fusi Yama_ and her cargo were fully insured, she was
classed A1 at Lloyd's, had an experienced and capable skipper, so the
underwriters thought they'd struck oil, so to speak.
"On the 2nd August, 1914, the _Fusi Yama_ left Chi-fu; on the 9th she
was captured by the German cruiser _Nürnburg_, but not before her
masts were knocked away by shell-fire. You fellows know perfectly
well how frequently the Hun got to know of our movements, so, looking
back, it was not surprising to learn that the _Fusi Yama_ had been
shadowed from the moment she left port. Nor is it when I tell you
that I have good reason to believe that the Huns are after that gold
too."
A murmur of suppressed excitement ran round the room. Interest in the
scheme, already keen, rose to fever-heat. There was a chance, then,
of "coming up against Fritz" again, not with steel or bullet but in a
contest of wits and skill, and with the almost certainty of a lavish
display of low-down trickery on the side of their opponents.
"Then," continued Harborough, "the officers and crew of the captured
vessel were transferred to the _Nürnburg_, a prize-crew was placed on
board the _Fusi Yama_, and the two vessels steamed eastwards. Three
days afterwards they fell in with a three-masted Yankee schooner
bound from Singapore to 'Frisco. Arrangements were made with the
skipper to take off the _Fusi Yama's_ crew. In those days the Huns in
the Pacific treated their prisoners well. I'll give them the benefit
of the doubt to say that they were fairly straight as Huns go, but it
may have been that they knew they were in a tight corner, and until
they were out of it they had to behave decently.
"Shortly after that the _Nürnburg_ joined the rest of von Spee's
squadron, but without the _Fusi Yama_. It was naturally concluded
that the Huns had removed her valuable cargo and, finding her slow
speed a hindrance, had scuttled her.
"At any rate the million and a half had vanished. The under-writers
paid up as cheerfully as they could, and wrote off the _Fusi Yama_ as
a total constructive loss.
"Now this is where the affair has a personal note. Here let me remark
that I bind no one to secrecy over the matter, nor do I make any
attempt to do so; but I would like to point out that not only your
own but your comrades' interests will be at stake if, even
incautiously, you discuss the matter with outside friends or
strangers.
"There was on board the _Fusi Yama_ a man named Williams, whom I knew
when I was down on my luck in Manitoba. There was a bit of a scrap in
camp, and he said I'd done him a good turn. Incidentally, his home in
England--or birthplace rather--was close to mine.
"Williams was a dare-devil sort of fellow, and when the crew of the
_Fusi Yama_ were placed on board the _Nürnburg_ he had the audacity
to disguise himself as a Chinaman, with the result that he was
retained by the Huns as a servant. I expect he played up to that, but
it was a risky thing to do, although he certainly had features of a
Mongolian type. He wore a false pigtail, which might have been fatal
to him had Fritz taken it into his head to pull that. They did the
next best thing; they cut it off, which saved Williams from further
anxiety on that score.
"All the time he was keeping his eye on the bullion, so to speak.
"Then a Jap squadron got on von Spee's track and hustled him along.
The _Nürnburg_ had taken her prize into an unfrequented lagoon in
the Marshall Archipelago, and was preparing to transfer the gold when
von Spee heard that not only the Jap squadron but the Australian
warships were converging on him.
"So the _Fusi Yama_ was hurriedly scuttled in the lagoon in about
fifteen fathoms, with the bullion and specie in her strong-room.
Williams was the only human being, except the _Nürnburg's_ crew, who
saw the deed done, and he made good use of his eyes and wits.
"Having found out what he wanted, Williams looked out for an
opportunity to part company. It was no easy matter, and not until
14th September, when von Spee's squadron was lying in Talcahuano
Harbour, did the supposed Chink succeed in getting ashore.
"On 1st November von Spee's vessels sunk the _Good Hope_ and
_Monmouth_ in action off the Chilian coast, and about six weeks later
the German squadron was destroyed off the Falklands, so had the gold
been placed on board the _Nürnburg_ we should not be sitting in this
room to-day. In my opinion Sturdee's action and the Zeebrugge
business were the two smartest bits of work the British Navy ever did
during the war."
"I saw von Spee's squadron," remarked Merridew. "I was only
seventeen then, and our home was at Port Stanley. A fellow couldn't
help feeling sorry for von Spee, even though he was a Hun. His ships
came up quite unsuspectingly to find the old battle-ship _Canopus_
lobbing 12-inch shells at them over the arm of the harbour. Von Spee
knew his guns could outrange hers, so he held on. Then he had the
shock of his life when he saw tripod masts coming round the corner.
He legged it, but it was like a rat trying to get away from a
terrier. There were survivors from the _Nürnburg_."
"Yes," agreed the baronet, "there were. We'll hear about some of
them, I fancy. But to get back to friend Williams. Apparently he had
a sticky time in Chile, for he was eleven months in hospital at
Valparaiso. Then he worked his passage in a Yankee barque to 'Frisco,
made his way across the States, and arrived in New York just about
the time when the Huns started their unrestricted U-boat campaign.
Signing on on board a British tramp, Williams found that once more
his luck was out, for three hundred and fifty miles west of the Irish
coast the tramp was torpedoed, and the survivors spent sixty hours in
an open boat in heavy seas before being rescued.
"By a curious coincidence I was patrolling-officer at Falmouth when
Williams was brought ashore from a 'P-boat'. I didn't recognize him
at first, and no wonder; but he spotted me all right. That was soon
after my brother's death, so when Williams was able to be moved I
sent him here, but I knew he was done for.
"I saw him again when I was on leave, and it was then that he told me
the story of the _Fusi Yama's_ gold, and a week later he died. He
left me certain papers and a rough chart showing the lagoon and the
approaches. These I kept in the attaché-case which was stolen three
days ago."
"Will that affect the expedition?" asked Beverley.
"Only to this extent, I believe," replied Sir Hugh. "We'll have to
hurry up and get a move on. This brings me to speak of the opposition
show. At present I'm rather hazy concerning the head of the rival
party, but I have no hesitation in saying that we are up against a
tough proposition. To the best of my belief the directing spirit is a
fellow called Kristian Borgen."
"A Hun?" asked Claverhouse eagerly.
"Probably," replied Harborough. "Although just now he pretends he's a
Swede. From guarded inquiries that I made at the Foreign Office I
find that his papers are in order and that he's a native of
Stockholm. If he isn't a Hun, he's probably a pro-German. Most Swedes
are or were, because their country is practically contiguous to
Germany and also because of the Huns' propaganda in Sweden during the
war. Fear of her old enemy, Russia, also made her inclined towards
Germany. But if Kristian Borgen is a Swede, he's plenty of Hun pals,
amongst them some of the survivors of the _Nürnburg_."
"Where is the man?" asked Villiers.
"Here, in England," replied the baronet. "Actually in Southampton and
taking steps to fit out a rival expedition. Of course as a Swede he
is quite at liberty to do so; it is only if he can be proved to be a
Hun that we can take action. Personally I like rivalry. It gives a
zest to things, provided it is fair and above board, but there's
something in the other organization that isn't, as we say in the
Service, jonnick."
"Meaning that scrap on the Downs?" remarked Beverley.
"Yes, and the loss of the attaché-case," replied Harborough. "That
alone is sufficient to let us know that Kristian Borgen--if my
surmise is correct--means business."
"Sufficient, I think, to justify the case being reported to the
police," said Claverhouse.
Sir Hugh shook his head.
"I wouldn't have people say that I brought in the police for the
purpose of obtaining a free hand in the _Fusi Yama_ treasure-hunt,"
declared Harborough. "In fact, the least we say about the _Fusi Yama_
for the present the better."
"But why does the fellow come to England to fit out an expedition?"
inquired Swaine.
"I rather wondered why he did," replied Sir Hugh. "You know that
Scandinavia has been buying hundreds of vessels of various tonnage
from us, and Borgen is admittedly an agent for their disposal. He
thinks, probably, that he can equip a ship here at less cost and
without exciting suspicion. At the same time he can keep an eye on
us. Of course I may be totally wrong in my surmise, but this I know:
there's dirty work going on, and we'll have to keep our weather eye
lifting. So much for that. Now comes another point: the question of a
vessel and her equipment."
"Steam or petrol?" asked Fontayne, who in pre-war days had been
articled to a marine engineer.
"Neither," replied Harborough. "Coal nowadays is scarce and
expensive, especially abroad. Petrol is dangerous: any of you fellows
who served on M.L.'s will endorse that statement. No, I'm pinning my
faith on heavy oil-engines with hot bulb ignition. They are
economical, reliable and fairly simple. I'm also looking for a vessel
that has a moderate sail-plan. Now, what do you think of these?"
From a drawer of a pedestal desk the baronet produced a bundle of
plans and specifications and placed them on the table.
"Genuine tramp steamers are out of the question," he observed. "The
present-day price is much too stiff. Here is a selection of yachts,
some returned from Government service, others placed on the
sale-list by their owners, who find that the pastime is too expensive
for them and must needs leave them to the New Rich. Now, here's the
_Titania_, auxiliary schooner, 260 tons registered and 409 tons
Thames measurement, two six-cylinder engines giving her an
approximate speed of twelve knots."
"That's not much of a speed," said Villiers.
"No, not compared with the type of vessel that you and I have been
accustomed to," agreed Harborough. "Still twelve knots is not to be
sneezed at. It is an economical speed. For every additional knot you
would require horse-power rising by leaps and bounds and consequently
more fuel-space than we can afford. And, of course, with high-speed
engines the risk of mechanical breakdowns is higher than with
slow-running motors, and, after all, the main object is to get to the
Pacific with the least delay. Hence reliability is the thing. The
vessel, according to the agent's glowing account, has cruised
extensively, including voyages to the West Indies and the
Mediterranean."
"Have you seen her?" asked O'Loghlin.
"No, but I propose doing so to-morrow," replied Harborough. "She's
lying at Southampton in one of the yards on the Itchen. By the by,
does any one here understand heavy oil-engines?"
"I do a bit," replied O'Loghlin. "I had a theoretical course, and
during the war I put in three months on the kite-balloon barges. That
was in the old R.N.A.S. days."
"All right," concluded Harborough. "That's settled. You, Villiers,
had better come along too. Three are quite enough for the selection
board."