Nua Leha
Twenty minutes later, conned by Swaine from the fore cross-trees, the
_Titania_ followed her duped rival into the lagoon. It was as yet too
early to pretend to abandon the enterprise. The deception had to be
maintained until von Giespert was fully convinced that he was on the
right track.
A cast of the lead gave fifteen fathoms.
"Let go!" ordered Harborough. "Fifteen fathoms will give those
fellows plenty to do to search for an imaginary wreck. Give her fifty
fathoms of cable, Mr. Villiers; then we'll pipe all hands to
breakfast."
Meals on board the _Titania_ were always plenteous repasts, for
Harborough realized that a well-fed crew meant efficiency and
capacity for work; but upon this occasion the breakfast was a
sumptuous one. There was no hurry; the primary object of the night's
vigil had been accomplished, and the _Zug_ had been enticed a full
fifty miles away from the golden cargo of the sunken _Fusi Yama_. So
all hands breakfasted in style, after which the watch below turned in
and the duty watch began the customary routine.
Harborough was enjoying a cigar in the after-cabin when he heard a
hail from on deck, "Boat ahoy!"
"Thought the blighter couldn't resist the temptation to try and pull
my leg," he soliloquized, as he glanced into a mirror to assure
himself that his appearance was fitting as captain of a British
yacht.
"Boat from the _Zug_, sir," reported Merridew.
Harborough went on deck to receive his uninvited guests.
The _Zug's_ gig was already alongside, manned by four hands in
white-canvas suits. In the stern sheets sat von Giespert and Captain
Strauss.
Von Giespert raised his cap as he came over the side. Harborough
punctiliously returned the salute, but feigned to overlook the
proffered hand.
"Sir Hugh Harborough, I presume," said the German.
"Mr. Borgen," rejoined Harborough.
The Hun shrugged his shoulders.
"Perhaps it would be better if I introduced myself as Herr Kaspar von
Giespert," he said.
Harborough showed no surprise at the announcement.
"That is not really necessary, Herr von Giespert," he remarked. "But
I thought that perhaps you preferred to continue to sail under your
false colours."
Von Giespert waved a podgy hand deprecatingly.
"I think we understand one another," he declared, with mock humility.
"The war is over, and peace is an established fact. You Englishmen
were ever generous to a beaten foe, and I feel certain that you will
be willing to shake hands and forget the regrettable happenings of
the past four and a half years."
"Speaking for my fellow-countrymen," replied Harborough, "and I think
I'm voicing their opinions, I am in accord with what you say up to a
certain point. Generosity to the vanquished has always been a
Briton's strong point, but, unfortunately for Germany, her
utterly-vile conduct during the war, until she knew the game was up,
is sufficient to put her outside the pale for the next generation.
However, I don't suppose you came here to be lectured upon the
conduct of your compatriots. Suppose you get straight to the point
and state your business."
"We are both here on the same quest," said von Giespert suavely. "In
England there is a proverb: 'First come, first served'."
"Quite so," agreed Harborough gravely. "There is also another: 'A
fair field and no favour'. However, you haven't made yourself clear.
Pray continue."
"Being first upon the scene," continued the German, "I claim a right
to conduct uninterrupted operations. My vessel lies almost over the
wreck, therefore I object to your working within a couple of cables
of her. That, I think, is a fair and reasonable request."
"Have you always been fair and reasonable in your transactions, Herr
von Giespert?" inquired Harborough.
"Certainly," replied von Giespert in a tone of virtuous indignation.
"You would not, for instance," continued the baronet in firm, even
tones, "you would not lower yourself to the extent of kidnapping one
of my officers (possibly under the mistaken impression that it was
I), hoping to throw my plans out of gear?"
"Your insinuation surprises me," exclaimed von Giespert. "I cannot
understand why you should voice it."
"Supposing I am in a position to prove that you would do such a
thing," resumed Harborough, "would you be willing to abandon your
claim to the treasure?"
"I would," answered the German hastily, somewhat to Harborough's
surprise.
"Villiers!" he called out. "Come here a minute."
Both von Giespert and Strauss turned a sickly yellow hue when Jack
Villiers, cool and unperturbed, stepped briskly out of the
chart-house. The Huns had up to that moment imagined that he had been
drowned after he took his flying leap from the deck of the _Zug_.
"You've lost, Herr Giespert," said Harborough. "A charge of attempted
murder would land you in a very tight corner. That, however, is Mr.
Villiers' affair."
"No harm done," declared Villiers. "We'll call it a case of mistaken
identity when you sand-bagged me, Herr Strauss. It was an episode--an
experience that will come in useful if ever I take to literature. I
might call it an asset, so we'll wipe off that account."
The Germans were dumbfounded. They failed utterly to grasp the young
Englishman's attitude. Von Giespert, desperate, even when losing,
tried to bargain.
"Suppose, Sir Hugh," he resumed, "suppose we work in partnership--on
equal shares? Surely, after all the expense to which we have been
put, you will not deprive us of a chance of recovering our losses?"
Harborough was on the point of declaring bluntly that he wanted no
truck with a Hun, when he remembered the main thread of his scheme.
"I'm dead off partnerships," he replied. "You've lost, and you must
accept my terms. I think if it came to a question of force I'd still
hold the whip-hand. However, that issue rests with you. You claim
priority. I'll admit that. You can just carry on in your own sweet
way for a month. It's up to you to slog in like blue blazes and get
the stuff before the expiration of the time-limit. Got that? Good
enough; good morning."
The still-bewildered Huns backed away to the gangway and descended to
their boat. On the face of it they could hardly credit their good
fortune. Their rivals had unaccountably retired from the contest,
leaving them in uninterrupted possession of the lagoon for a whole
month. With reasonable luck the wreck ought to be located and the
gold transferred to the _Zug_ in a fortnight.
Half an hour later in the stateroom of each ship an almost identical
performance was in progress. On board the _Titania_ Harborough was
receiving the congratulations of his fellow-adventurers on his
successful strategy; on the _Zug_ von Giespert and Strauss were
shaking hands with each other and drinking with the rest of the
ship's officers to the success of the next month's labours.
At noon the _Titania_ weighed. It was a calm day with not enough air
to give the yacht steerage-way. Under power she slipped through the
entrance to the broad lagoon, and shaped a course that was certainly
not in the direction of Nua Leha.
"She's dipping, sir!" announced Merridew, indicating the German
vessel.
The _Zug_ dipped her red, white, and black ensign thrice, a hollow
compliment that the _Titania_ duly returned. Both crews, being firmly
under the impression that they had scored heavily, could well afford
these courtesies.
Upon passing beyond the ten-fathom line--which, owing to the fact
that the reef was steep-to, was but a couple of hundred yards beyond
the foam-lashed barrier--the _Titania's_ helm was ported and she
shaped a southerly course. This she held until the high peaks of Ni
Telang were almost hidden by the skyline, then altering course she
made for her goal.
There was now a steady following breeze which, although not so
favourable as one broad on the beam, enabled her to keep up a fair
speed without having recourse to the motors, and at one bell in the
first dog watch she crossed the bar of Nua Leha. It was exactly at
dead-low water, yet there were at least five feet under the yacht's
keel. That meant that, unless there were a nasty breaking sea on a
bar, the entrance was available at any state of the tide, which even
at spring never ranged more than four feet six inches.
[Illustration: THE GERMANS WERE DUMFOUNDED]
The _Titania_ moored in nine fathoms, with her main anchor laid out
in the direction of the reef, at about two hundred and fifty yards
from the sandy shore of a small bay. At its northern extremity the
bold headland of the bay almost touched the reef, there being a
passage of about fifty yards leading to the next section of the
lagoon.
"A south-easter is the only wind likely to trouble us," observed
Villiers. "The reef will keep a lot of the sea down, but it's so low
that there's bound to be a fairly-heavy tumble."
"What sort of bottom have we?" asked Harborough.
"Mud and pieces of coral rock," replied Villiers. "If the wreck's
anywhere about we'll find the water pretty muddy. But it's good
holding ground. The sandy part of the lagoon is clear enough, but I
wouldn't care to trust the fluke of an anchor in it."
"Let's hope the wreck is on a sandy bottom," rejoined Harborough.
"However, that remains to be proved. We'll breach that case of
champagne now, lads; after that it's general leave ashore. There'll
be time for a stretch before sunset."
This programme was duly carried out. The boats were lowered and armed
merely on the principle that it was wise to take precautions--and
with the exception of Merridew, who volunteered as ship-keeper, all
hands landed on the sandy beach.
"Look at that young brother of yours!" remarked Trevear, drawing
Bobby's attention to Dick's rolling gait. "The champagne's got into
his upper story."
"He didn't have any," declared Bobby; then, overtaking his
erratically-moving relative, he asked:
"What's the matter, Dick?"
"Matter?" echoed the lad. "Wish I knew, Bobby. The ground's coming up
to meet me every step I take."
"Merely the effect of being so long on board," explained Villiers.
"I've felt the same sort of thing myself. Now, Dick, I'll race you to
that tree. A coco-nut for the winner, and the loser's got to find it.
Ready? Go!"
Dick won by a yard, and breathlessly he watched the agile Villiers
swarm up a young palm until he reached the cluster of broad-leaved
foliage at the top.
"Stand away from under," he cautioned.
Down came a green nut. Dick seized upon it with avidity and proceeded
to crack it with a lump of coral.
The result rather surprised him, for all the milk had been spilt and
nothing remained but the husk.
"Why, it's empty!" he exclaimed.
"Naturally," replied Villiers, laughing, for he had now descended
from his lofty perch and was contemplating young Beverley's face with
great amusement.
"Why naturally?" demanded Dick, with the air of a fellow who has been
"had".
"What did you expect to find?" asked Jack.
"Coco-nut," replied Dick promptly.
"Then you won't find what you're looking for in a growing nut,"
replied Villiers. "It's full of liquid, nothing more. The white
substance forms with keeping. Now, you fellows, who's for rounders?"
The crew of the _Titania_ acted just like a pack of schoolboys on a
holiday. They played rounders, using a soft coco-nut for a ball,
indulged in leap-frog, leaping and jumping with all the abandon
natural to a crowd of healthy young fellows landing on an island
after weeks afloat.
Apparently Nua Leha was uninhabited. Although the roysterers made
enough noise to be heard from one end of the island to the other,
their presence was apparently unnoticed. True, wild pigs charged
frantically through the undergrowth, stolid penguins broke up their
military formation and ambled awkwardly to less noisy haunts, but no
human native gave sight or sound of his presence, nor, during their
brief visit, did the _Titania's_ people find trace of human
habitation.
"We'll start by establishing a shore-station tomorrow," decided
Harborough, as they rowed back to the yacht. "It will give us more
room on board, and save the old boat from a lot of knocking about.
You might look round to-morrow, Mr. Claverhouse, and fix up a secure
berth for the sea-planes. There ought to be a sheltered spot on the
other side of the headland."
"Very good, sir," replied Claverhouse, with a joyous look on his face
at the near prospect of "going up" once more.
"We'll have all the petrol taken ashore," continued the skipper. "You
had better see to that, Mr. Trevear. Dick!"
"Sir?"
"Any good with a rifle?"
"First-class marksman in the Cadet Corps, sir."
"Then act up to it," said Harborough, with his whimsical smile.
"You'll be on ration fatigue, which means that whenever Pete wishes
to give us pork for dinner, you've got to shoot a pig. No
indiscriminate slaughter, mind. That I most strongly object to. We
want enough for our needs and no more."
It was quite a long time before Dick got to sleep that night. He
imagined himself a mighty hunter, on whom his fellow-adventurers
depended for the filling of the flesh-pot. The one fly in the
ointment was the size of the game. Pity there weren't lions, tigers,
and orang-outangs on Nua Leha. But he was jolly lucky, he decided. It
was not the lot of most lads to have the run of a real coral island.