Villiers' Return
The yacht _Titania_ lay at anchor about three hundred yards west of
the Old Mole at Gibraltar. The first stage of her long voyage was
accomplished, not without difficulties and dangers, for she had
encountered bad weather in the Bay, which had continued until she
passed Cape St. Vincent. In a way the gale was a blessing in
disguise, for it enabled Harborough to put his crew to a severe test
in seamanship, and to their credit they came out of the ordeal in
quite a praiseworthy manner. The yacht had been able to hold on her
course under close-reefed canvas, and had made a fairly-quick passage
without having been compelled to use her engines when once clear of
the Needles.
Beyond the necessity of having to replenish fresh water, provisions,
and consumable stores, the _Titania_ was fully equipped. Each member
of the crew responsible for his particular department had carried out
his duties thoroughly. Everything necessary for salvage operations
was on board--patent, self-contained diving-dresses which enabled
their wearers to work independently of air-tubes and pumps,
demolition charges, pneumatic drills, tools of various sorts, and
chains, ropes, shackles, and blocks, ample for the work, were
methodically stored in the holds. The two dwarf seaplanes, which,
when packed for transport, took up very little room, had been stowed
away under the charge of Claverhouse and Trevear. Griffiths and Bell,
the only ex-army men, were responsible for the provisioning of the
ship; O'Loghlin and Vivian for the engines, each man working "watch
and watch" with an assistant. The rest of the crew formed the amateur
deck-hands, Harborough heading the starboard and Beverley the port
watch.
Once at sea all hands followed sea routine. A state of discipline
prevailed while on duty, although in the "watch below" every man was
Tom, Dick, and Harry to his comrades. The system worked well. Every
member of the crew had been in a position of more or less authority
during the war, and each realized the absolute necessity of
discipline. They knew the value of initiative; but initiative,
important though it is, must ever be subservient to discipline if
success is to be attained.
Harborough was certainly a "tough nut". On duty he was autocratic.
His idea was: "I'm in charge; carry out my orders and I'll do my
level best in your interests. If anything goes wrong, then I take all
the responsibility." Off duty he was affability personified, and was
always ready and even eager to listen to suggestions, and should
Beverley be in charge of the deck he would never interfere.
Originally it had been the intention to place Villiers in charge of
one watch, while Harborough, except for actual navigation duties,
acted as general supervisor; but Villiers' mysterious disappearance
had altered that plan, and Harborough did not appoint a substitute.
He shared a belief with Beverley that Jack Villiers would put in an
appearance before the _Titania_ reached Singapore, and so firm was
his conviction that he had the missing officer's kit on board instead
of placing it ashore when the yacht left Southampton.
"Bit of a change from the good old North Sea," remarked Merridew,
gazing at the towering Rock, bathed in the rosy tints of the setting
sun. "This time last year we were perambulating bales of wool: three
sweaters, a muffler, monkey-jacket, pilot-coat, and two pairs of
thick trousers, and none too warm at that. Now, here we are feeling
quite warm in flannels."
"And I'm on anchor watch," added Fontayne. "I'm rather looking
forward to it, 'cause it's full moon to-night, and the Rock will look
splendid in the moonlight. I remember when I was an A.B. in the
R.N.V.R. keeping middle watch when we were lying just inside
Inchkeith. It was New Year's night, and there was a buzz going round
that a Fritz was nosing about just outside the boom. Sleeting,
snowing, and blowing like billy-ho. Absolute fact; I had to go below
and thaw before I could get my clothes off. Hallo, there's a boat
pulling off."
[Illustration: UNMASKED HE WAS NO LONGER AN AMIABLE SWEDE
(missing from book)]
The boat, manned by a couple of "Rock Scorps" ran alongside the
gangway, and presently the crew of the _Titania_ were bargaining for
quantities of luscious fruit at a price that, although affording a
handsome profit to the vendors, was so ridiculously cheap that the
purchasers could hardly believe it.
Then another boat ran alongside, and others, until the _Titania_
looked like a swan surrounded by her cygnets. There were bumboatmen,
ship's store-dealers, washermen, butchers, purveyors of insipid
rain-water--Spaniards, Genoese, Moors, and representatives of every
country bordering on the Mediterranean--all clamouring to do business
with the newly-arrived vessel.
"Allow no one to come on board," ordered Harborough.
"No exception?" inquired a hearty voice, and to the surprise of
everyone on deck Jack Villiers appeared from behind a pile of
fruit-cases in the stern-sheets of a whaler.
For once, at least, Harborough went back on his word. He almost went
back and down an open hatchway, for, although he was convinced that
Villiers would put in an appearance, that worthy's sudden return took
the usually cool and collected Sir Hugh by surprise.
"Good heavens, Villiers, dear old thing!" he exclaimed. "How in the
name of all that's wonderful----!"
Running up the accommodation-ladder and saluting the quarter-deck as
he came over the side, Villiers grasped his chief's extended hand.
"'Fraid I haven't much of a kit," he remarked apologetically; "but
this, I think, sir, is your property."
He held out the attaché-case. Harborough gazed at it with mingled
surprise and amusement.
"You've a yarn to spin about that," he observed. "Come below. We're
about to have dinner. You'll be able to have a word with Beverley
before he goes on watch."
"I won't say that I've nothing to tell," remarked Jack, "because I
have."
For the next three quarters of an hour he was hard at it, his
audience listening in almost unbroken silence. Following his plunge
from the deck of the _Zug_, he was in the water forty minutes before
he was picked up by a Portuguese "mulutta"--a fishing-boat whose
chief characteristic is the large number of fantastically-shaped
sails she carries. It was doubtless the presence of the fishing-boat
that deterred the _Zug's_ crew from putting about and opening fire
upon the swimmer; but Villiers had not observed the presence of his
rescuers until the tramp was hull down.
The fishermen treated him very kindly, and eventually landed him at
Figuera, a Portuguese harbour about one hundred miles north of
Lisbon. A hospitable merchant rendered him every possible assistance
and provided him with money sufficient to enable him to reach
Algeciras, which he did after a long and circuitous railway journey
which, in Villiers' opinion, embraced the greater part of Portugal
and Spain. At Algeciras he was fortunate in catching the last
ferry-boat for that day across to the Rock, and during the six-mile
passage across the Bay of Gibraltar he saw, to his unbounded delight,
the _Titania_ putting in and dropping anchor off the Old Mole.
"I'm afraid," observed Harborough, when Villiers had finished his
narrative, "that you expended a lot of unnecessary zeal over that
attaché-case."
"Oh!" exclaimed Jack doubtfully. "Why?"
"Because it was a fake," explained Harborough. "I did not mention it
at the time, because it was my secret. I intended doing so
immediately we left England. These plans and charts are false. I knew
that someone was after the real charts, and I took precautions
accordingly. I expected they would be stolen, and they were. In order
to make sure that they were stolen and not accidentally lost, you
remember, I offered a substantial reward. But they were not
returned--hence it was reasonable to assume that they were
deliberately stolen by our rivals. You have proved that such was the
case. I only hope your late host, Herr Strauss, acts upon them."
"I believe the fellow is identical with Kristian Borgen," said
Villiers. "In fact, I chucked it in his teeth."
"And he denied it?"
"He did."
"Then he told the truth," declared Harborough. "He is acting under
the fellow Borgen's orders, but Borgen was in Southampton when we
left; consequently he couldn't have been on the _Zug_ when she
sailed. And we've enough evidence now to get the _Zug_ detained and
her crew put under arrest at the first port she touches."
"Don't do that," said Villiers. "It would spoil a lot of sport. Just
fancy those fellows thinking they're doing us, and all the while
acting on faked information. Their punishment will be found in their
disappointment. Personally, I'd like to have five minutes with the
gentleman who sand-bagged me, but I'm quite content to let the rival
crush have a run for its money."
"There's something in that," agreed Harborough, who, in common with
the rest of the members of the expedition, had a strong partiality
for the element of chance and a liking for sport. "They're
interlopers, it's true, but rivalry adds a zest to life. But you must
be tired with your long journey, Villiers."
"I am," replied Jack, stifling a yawn. "I'll turn in. I suppose
there'll be time for me to nip ashore to-morrow and get a new kit."
"Plenty of time to go ashore," replied Harborough, "but I don't think
you'll need a fresh rig-out. Your kit's stowed away in the locker
under your bunk."