Von Giespert hears News
"Gott in Himmel!" exclaimed Kaspar von Giespert. "Don't say that
you've had no luck."
"Ach, Herr Kapitan," replied Strauss, in the tone of a man repeating
a venerable formula, "no luck at all."
For fifteen evenings almost the same exchange of words had taken
place. For fifteen days, without respite, even when the sun was
directly overhead, the crew of the _Zug_ had laboured, at first with
a remarkable display of energy, in their efforts to locate the wreck
of the _Fusi Yama_ in the lagoon of Ni Telang. Almost every square
yard of the enclosed sheet of water had been swept by means of drags,
grapnels, and bighted ropes. Divers had gone down whenever any
obstruction had given rise to the hope that the object of the quest
had been found, only to ascend with the disconcerting report that the
grapnel had fouled a lump of coral rock.
Von Giespert took very little active part in the operations. He was
content to leave the "donkey work" to Strauss, and spent most of the
day living in a hammock-chair under double awnings.
He had counted upon finding the wreck with the minimum of trouble. As
the days passed and Harborough's time-limit grew nearer, von Giespert
began to feel anxious, and anxiety soon began to give place to
feelings of desperation.
Up to a certain point the rough chart, which Harborough had purposely
allowed his rivals to filch, had proved accurate. To a certain extent
it would have served equally well for Ni Telang or Nua Leha, for in
either case there was a strong geographical resemblance between the
two lagoons, their entrances, and the islands themselves, even to the
triple peaks. The latitude and longitude of the former island as
stated on the chart agreed to a second with the results of von
Giespert's readings of the sextant and chronometer. The only flaw--a
very important one--was the fact that the wreck obstinately refused
to allow itself to be found.
Von Giespert often wondered what the "schweinhund Englander" was
doing. Self-complacently he pictured his rival going south and
putting into Brisbane or some other Australian port to kill time
until, according to the mutual agreement, Harborough would return and
claim the right to search the lagoon of Ni Telang. It was only in the
earlier stages of the operations that the German was self-satisfied.
He firmly believed that by the time the _Titania_ put in an
appearance the gold would be safe in the strong-room of the _Zug_.
Now he was not feeling so optimistic about it. On the contrary, he
was the victim of jumpiness, which did not improve his temper.
The men, too, were showing signs of unrest. Strauss was a hard
taskmaster. He drove but he could not lead; his education as a ruler
of men missed one important fact: to get men to work properly it is
essential that they should be well fed. On board the _Zug_ the
provisioning arrangements were far from good. Had von Giespert given
one tenth of the time he had lavished upon the mechanical and
scientific appliances on board the _Zug_ to the personal comfort of
the crew, much of the trouble that subsequently occurred might have
been avoided.
"What report have you to make?" asked von Giespert, in continuance of
his previous question.
"We worked northward of a line east of point G for a distance of
seven hundred metres," replied Strauss. "That practically covers the
whole of the lagoon where there is a depth of five metres or more."
"Then the lagoon has been twice examined?"
"Twice--carefully," said Strauss with conviction. "Schrang made three
descents; Woeber, two. In every case it was rock."
"But the wreck must be somewhere here," exclaimed von Giespert
petulantly, embracing the greater part of the lagoon with a swirl of
his jewelled fingers. "The men must have been careless. To-morrow let
them start it again."
It was an easy thing to say, but even Strauss foresaw difficulties in
carrying out the order.
"There is another matter, Herr Kapitan," he said. "We are getting
short of water. The only spring we have found on the island has
failed. It was but a small one. I put two hands on the task of
sinking a well, but they found no water at four metres. The
conden----"
"Yes, I know all about the condensers," interrupted von Giespert
irritably, and since it was his fault that the work of repairing them
had not been undertaken at Batavia--the last port they touched where
work of that kind could be performed--his subordinate's reference to
the faulty apparatus was unwelcome.
"I would suggest," continued Strauss, finding boldness in the fact
that he, too, was experiencing inconvenience from the shortage of
drinking-water, "that four of the hands take the whaler and run
across to the island where we lay when the English vessel discovered
us. There is water in abundance. We could get three small tanks into
the boat, and the men could fill them by means of barricoes."
"Very well," agreed von Giespert. "Pick four men who can best be
spared. How is the glass?"
"Steady, Herr Kapitan."
"I suppose there is a possibility of the numskulls missing the island
entirely? If so, we shall lose a valuable boat."
"I can give them the compass course. It is usually a favourable wind
both ways," said Strauss reassuringly. "All being well, they ought to
be back in a couple of days."
"Send them," rejoined von Giespert curtly; then in an undertone he
added: "It was a happy thought when I laid in that stock of Pilsener
at Batavia, Herr Strauss. Shall we split a bottle now?"
At daybreak the whaler set off on its voyage to Nua Leha. Barely were
the boat's sails out of sight when one of the Huns who had been
employed ashore came off with the news that he had discovered an
ample supply of water.
Von Giespert showed no signs of thankfulness at the intelligence.
Instead, he cursed the man for not finding the spring earlier, and
upbraided Strauss for sending away the whaler on an unnecessary
errand.
For the greater part of the day the sweeping-operations were resumed,
the men working sullenly and taking advantage of every opportunity to
skulk. About three in the afternoon one of the grapnels fouled
something, and a diver descended to examine and report upon the
nature of the obstruction.
He came to the surface with the information that the grapnel had
caught in the fluke of a large stockless anchor to which was shackled
a heavy studded chain. He had traced the latter for a distance of ten
metres, at which point it had sunk deeply into the ooze.
This was the one promising incident of the fortnight's operations.
Von Giespert, shaking off his lethargy, showed tremendous interest in
the find.
"They would, of course, have anchored the prize before they scuttled
her, Strauss," he observed, "or she might have drifted into very
shoal water. Tell that fool of a diver to go down again. What's the
use of half doing a job? If he takes a crowbar with him he can trace
the whole length of the cable, even if it is under mud."
While the diver was engaged upon his task von Giespert departed from
his usual routine by getting out of his hammock-chair and going to
the rail, from whence he could watch the operations.
When, after an interval of forty minutes, the man reappeared, von
Giespert hailed a boat to fetch him off. Into this he jumped, not
waiting until it was alongside the accommodation-ladder, and ordered
the rowers to pull their hardest.
The report was a most disappointing one. The diver had succeeded in
finding the free end of the cable. There were only four links buried
in the mud. In order to confirm his statement he had bent a rope to
the last link and had brought the line up with him.
That evening von Giespert was a prey to alternate hopes and fears. He
upbraided Strauss when the latter suggested that the anchor might
have belonged to a vessel that had put into the lagoon and had either
parted or had been compelled to slip her cable; and he raved
incoherently when Strauss hinted that the British or the Australian
Government might have already recovered the treasure and blown up the
wreck.
Ten hours after the time of her expected arrival the whaler returned
from Nua Leha, deeply laden with water obtained at considerable risk
and by dint of hard work.
"We have found the English ship, _Titania_, Herr Kapitan," reported
the man in charge of the watering-party.
"Where?" demanded von Giespert.
"At the island where we were sent to get water, Herr Kapitan."
"What is she doing there?" demanded von Giespert.
"She was lying at anchor in the lagoon, Herr Kapitan. All her boats
were out, and they had buoys placed round a certain spot."
Von Giespert uttered a round oath.
"Did they see you?" he asked.
"No, Herr Kapitan," replied the man. "We thought it best to be
prudent, so directly we sighted the vessel we rowed away and landed
on the opposite side of the island. There was water there----"
"Never mind about the water," interrupted the owner of the _Zug_. "Is
that all you saw?"
"We made our way round the island and climbed a hill overlooking the
lagoon. Max had his glasses with him. They were diving for something.
On the beach were tents and huts, and a pile of boxes. Early next
morning we went there again, but the Englishmen were ashore playing
cricket. So we did not stop, but filled up with water and set sail.
The breeze fell light on our way back----"
Von Giespert asked several more questions, then curtly dismissed the
man.
"Come to my cabin, Strauss," he said abruptly.
Behind locked doors the two Huns discussed the disconcerting news.
"Huts, tents, and diving in the lagoon," quoted von Giespert. "It's
quite certain that Harborough is not killing time there. He's tricked
us--tricked us, Strauss."
"It looks like it, Herr Kapitan," remarked his second in command. "He
must have known when he lured us here."
For once von Giespert accepted his subordinate's suggestion without
either flatly contradicting or scoffing at him.
"That cursed Englishman has been grossly deceiving me," he exclaimed.
"It is a breach of good faith, but I'll be quits with him yet."
It was a typically German and consequently one-sided view to take.
Not for one moment did von Giespert consider that he had not
hesitated to employ underhand methods beside which Harborough's ruse
was simple in the extreme. The Hun had commenced operations by
stealing what he took to be the genuine charts and plans; he had not
hesitated to employ physical force in his attempts to cripple the
British expedition, and now, like a boomerang, his villainy had come
back upon himself. His mind was filled with feelings of rage at the
fact that his rival had scored heavily.
"What do you propose to do, Herr Kapitan?" asked Strauss, after the
climax of his employer's temper had been passed.
"Do?" exclaimed von Giespert. "Something desperate. I will stick at
nothing. Listen; how will this do?"
His subordinate's eyes gleamed as he listened to the hastily-outlined
scheme.
"It is indeed colossal, Herr von Giespert," declared Strauss, his
sense of proportion swept away by the magnitude of his employer's
powers of imagination. "Carried out in its entirety it will be simply
perfection."
"It will be," agreed von Giespert grimly. "We must see to that."