Exit the "Zug"
"What's that made fast to the shot-line, old man?" inquired Beverley,
as Villiers, divested of his helmet and diving-dress, sat in the
stern-sheets of the boat that von Giespert had unwittingly given over
to the _Titania's_ people.
"That?" replied Villiers. "I dunno. Ballast, I expect. There are tons
of it down there. Wonder if it's lead?"
"If so, it's a fortune for anyone who can get it back to England,"
observed Harborough, unclasping his knife and digging the point into
the block of metal.
"Tough for lead," he commented, "and yet too soft for iron, unless
the stuff's badly corroded. By Jove! Villiers! I believe--yes, I'm
sure--it's silver."
"Regular Tom Tiddler's ground then," remarked Jack. "When we left
England silver was soaring. Wonder what it's worth now?"
"At any rate, we won't fly in the face of Providence," declared
Harborough. "A few days more won't matter very much. When we've
finished with the _Fusi Yama_, we'll lift some of this stuff."
"There's enough to sink the _Titania_," declared Villiers. "The hold
of that ship must have been chock-full of silver. Rum sort of
ballast."
"Probably a Spanish treasure-ship or a buccaneering craft that sunk
with her booty," suggested Claverhouse. "They did that sort of thing
once, I believe."
"Then that's settled," declared Harborough briskly. "Finish with the
_Fusi Yama_, and then carry on with the silver that friend von
Giespert, by the hand of pal Strauss, kindly discovered for us. How's
the glass, by the by? I forgot to look this morning."
"It rose a point and a half after eight," reported Villiers, "and now
it is dropping rather too rapidly."
"H'm!" exclaimed Harborough. "That's bad. It may interfere with our
work, and we can't afford to lose much more plant. We'll work double
shifts, and keep our weather-eye lifting."
By sunset the task of clearing the _Fusi Yama's_ strong-room was
accomplished, and an hour later the last of the gold was safely on
board the _Titania_--an event that was signalized by three hearty
cheers and splicing the "mainbrace" with discreet tots of champagne.
The while the glass was falling rapidly, although not so low as on
the occasion of the devastating hurricane. Nevertheless, every
possible precaution was taken. The boats were hoisted in and lashed
down, awnings and side-curtains stowed, and additional cable veered
out. The engine-room stood by ready to start the heavy oil-engines,
and thus ease the strain on the anchor-chains should occasion arise.
All hands were on board, preferring to face the storm in a staunch
craft anchored in a fairly-sheltered lagoon to risking a wet and
uncomfortable, if not dangerous, night ashore.
At midnight it was blowing a gale, but, in contrast to the preceding
storm, there was no preliminary rain--simply a terrific blast of
wind that heralded an almost uninterrupted blow.
It started from the nor'-nor'-east, or obliquely to the coast-line
off which the _Titania_ lay at anchor. Although the noise of the
breakers on the reef was like that of a continual roar of thunder,
the lagoon itself was only slightly agitated.
But when, at about 3 a.m., the wind veered four points to the
east'ard, the beach became a dead lee shore. Huge billows, crashing
madly upon the coral reef, swept in masses of white foam across the
lagoon and churned themselves upon the beach, until in the pale
moonlight the palm groves appeared to be growing from an undulating
field of white water.
Pounding and thudding, quivering under the terrific pressure of the
wind, the _Titania_ held grimly to her cables. At one moment full
fifty feet of chain, stretched taut and obliquely like an iron bar,
would be visible; the next the yacht would lurch forward as a giant
roller passed her by, and would threaten to overrun her anchors,
until she "snubbed" with a sickening jerk that almost tore the stout
mooring bits from the deck.
"It won't last long," declared Villiers, as a hissing shower of rain
mingled with the driving spindrift. "Wind before rain, you know.
It'll ease down by dawn."
He was right. By sunrise, although the wind was still high, its force
had moderated considerably, and the sun rose in a grey sky,
betokening fine weather before many hours had passed.
"Vessel making for the island, sir," suddenly announced Merridew,
pointing dead to windward.
"By Jove! It's the _Zug_!" exclaimed Harborough.
"No doubt about it, sir," agreed Villiers, after a lengthy survey
through his binoculars. "Wonder what she's doing here?"
The _Zug_ was steering due south, and, therefore, on a slightly
diverging course from the eastern side of the island; but when
immediately abeam of the entrance to the lagoon, she ported helm as
if to approach the narrow gap in the coral reef.
"Either von Giespert's mad or he doesn't know the risk he's running,"
said Harborough. "Make him a signal, Villiers. Say 'bar unsafe'."
"He's flying some sort of signal, sir," reported Jack. "Can't make
out the flags; they're dead to windward."
"If we can't see his, he can't see ours," observed Harborough. "But
we'll risk it, and give him a chance."
"I've got it, sir," declared Beverley. "It signifies short of
provisions '."
Harborough shrugged his shoulders.
"What's wrong with the pigs and the bread-fruit trees at Ni Telang?"
he remarked pointedly. "If I were von Giespert, I would tighten my
belt a notch before I'd tackle the entrance to the lagoon. There's
one thing, the wind's moderating, but look at the broken water on the
bar."
"It doesn't look so bad from seaward," said Merridew. "He'll feel
sorry for himself when he's in the thick of it, I fancy."
With a following wind, the _Zug_ was rolling heavily and frequently
obscured from view by the thick cloud of smoke from her funnel. When
quite a mile from the reef, she suddenly fell off her course, vast
quantities of steam issuing from her engine-room. She lost way, and
was now rolling excessively in the trough of the seas.
"Looks like a boiler-explosion," exclaimed Harborough, glancing over
the side at the still tumultuous water within the reef. "We'll have
to get the boats ready for lowering, Mr. Villiers. They'll be wanted
pretty badly, I expect."
The _Zug_ was doomed. Von Giespert had again overreached himself,
although the crew of the _Titania_ had no suspicion of his desperate
move. Von Giespert's orders to his chief engineer had been carried
out only too well. The main steam-pipe, unable to withstand the
abnormal internal pressure, had burst, the explosion killing everyone
in the boiler-room, while the escaping steam had severely injured the
chief engineer and his assistants.
Helpless in the trough of the seas, the _Zug_ was now drifting
rapidly on to the reef. Von Giespert, after bellowing incoherencies,
ordered a storm trysail to be set in the hope that the vessel's head
would pay off. But the moment the canvas was hoisted it blew to
atoms.
As a last resource both anchors were let go. Owing to the depth of
water outside the reef, it was a long time before they obtained a
grip. When they did, the _Zug_ was within two hundred yards of the
coral barrier.
Momentarily she swung to her cables, then with a vicious snub both
chains parted simultaneously. Seven minutes later, with a crash that
was audible above the roar of the breakers, the _Zug_ ended her
career upon the outer reef of Nua Leha.