Settling Accounts
Harborough had not waited for the doomed vessel to strike. Already
the _Titania's_ two boats--the only serviceable ones--had been
lowered, and were pulling towards the leeside of the reef.
Villiers was in charge of the cutter that had formerly belonged to
the _Zug_. Beverley was in command of the gig. Both crews were
wearing life-belts.
It was as well they did, for barely had the gig gone fifty yards from
the _Titania_ when she shipped a heavy sea and filled completely.
Luckily all hands managed to gain the yacht by means of ropes thrown
them from the _Titania's_ bows.
Satisfying himself that his comrades late of the gig were safe,
Villiers held on, encouraging the crew by word and gesture, and
skilfully handling the boat to meet every dangerously-crested wave.
It was grim, desperate work. Sometimes the boat would lose ground in
spite of the efforts of the rowers, who, with cracking sinews and
aching backs, stuck gamely to their task. More than once the stroke
had to boat his oar and bale out the water, for, in spite of her
weatherly qualities, the cutter was shipping dangerous quantities of
spray.
As they approached the lee side of the reef, which afforded very
little shelter as the breakers were thundering right over it,
Villiers could hardly see the wreck owing to the volume of spindrift.
The _Zug_ was breaking up fast. Already her after-part, unable to
withstand the terrific hammering, had broken off and had disappeared
in deep water. On her bows, that were momentarily in danger of being
smashed to pieces, were five or six of her crew, swept by the waves,
and hanging on tenaciously to the heavier fittings. The rest of her
crew had disappeared, having been swept overboard on the impact.
For the present Villiers could do nothing but keep the boat's head on
to the seas and wait. A hundred feet of coral reef, showing in the
trough of every breaker that swept over it, lay between him and the
wreck. To attempt to get alongside the _Zug_ would be hopeless. Had
there been a ghost of a chance, he would have taken it in his efforts
to save life, but there was none. All he could do was to stand by and
wait, trusting that some of the luckless Germans might be swept over
the reef into the smoother water inside the lagoon. At length one of
the _Zug's_ crew took a desperate step and plunged into the sea.
Caught by a crested breaker, he was hurled for a full fifty yards
before he disappeared from view.
"Watch for him!" shouted Villiers. "He's over the reef."
A few seconds later the man reappeared, feebly striking out. He was
in danger of being swept past the cutter before he was seen. To
attempt to turn meant the boat being caught broadside on and swamped.
"Back all," ordered Villiers, gripping the tiller to prevent the
rudder broaching to as the boat gathered sternway.
The cutter backed almost half-way across the lagoon before Villiers
gave the order to "give way". Then, gradually edging towards the
swimmer, the boat, ably handled, came within an oar's length of the
exhausted man.
A few seconds of breathless suspense, then:
"Got him!" yelled Swaine the bowman.
At a cost of enough water to fill the cutter to the thwarts, the
German was hauled into at least temporary safety, and while two men
kept the boat head to wind and sea the others baled desperately,
using canvas bucket and baler until most of the water was ejected.
Once more the cutter approached the reef, the rowers straining
desperately at their oars to recover the lost distance.
"There's another of 'em off," shouted Jack, bawling to make himself
heard above the roar of the breakers and the rush of the wind.
A stout German, wearing a pair of canvas trousers only, cast off the
ropes that secured him to the deck and leapt into the foaming water.
In vain the cutter's crew looked for his reappearance. He was never
seen again.
The remaining four, deterred by the fate of their luckless comrade,
held on. The _Titania's_ men, rowing frantically the while to keep
the boat from being driven to leeward, watched them over their
shoulders. Villiers realized that his crew were now almost played
out. It looked as if it were a case of the triumph of matter over
mind. The men were grimly determined to "stick it", but the ceaseless
labour for the last hour at the oars was wearing them out. It was not
straightforward rowing, but a constant tussle in confused breaking
water and against a furious wind.
The while the bow portion of the _Zug_ was breaking up fast. Alive to
the latest danger, the four men, abandoning their position, took to
the water. Three of these were picked up, the last not before the
cutter had been backed to within half a cable's length of the beach.
Then, with rescued and rescuers almost in the last stage of physical
exhaustion, Villiers succeeded in running under the _Titania's_
quarter.
"Only four saved, sir," reported Jack.
"More than I expected," replied Harborough. "Get them below. Dry
clothes and hot drinks are what they want. Right-o, Villiers, you
turn in; you're in need of a rest, I'm sure."
Jack was. Although he had not had the actual manual labour at the
oars, he had been badly knocked about by the buffeting of the boat.
One side was black and blue, owing to the tiller thumping his ribs,
while his left hand, which was still unhealed of its injuries
received during the submarine encounter with the poisonous fish, was
now raw and smarting horribly owing to the action of the salt water.
Later in the day it was discovered that five others of the _Zug's_
crew had succeeded in escaping with their lives. By some strange
freak on the part of a wave, they had been swept through the entrance
to the lagoon, and unobserved by anyone on board the _Titania_, were
washed up on Nua Leha.
When the wind moderated and a landing was possible, they were brought
off to the _Titania_, almost dead by reason of their terrible
struggle to gain the beach. Amongst them was the _Zug's_ carpenter,
but Kaspar von Giespert did not figure in the list of survivors.
Jack Villiers, protesting that his injuries did not much matter, was
on deck at the second dog watch. After dinner Harborough called him
aside.
"I think we'll cut the silver stunt, Villiers," he said. Then he
paused to watch the effect of the announcement.
"Very well, sir," replied Jack.
"We've wrestled with Fortune and won, where other men have failed,"
continued the baronet. "I'm sorry that lives have been lost over the
business; but we've this to be thankful for: we've come through it,
if not with whole skins, without a single D.D. on the muster-book. I
propose making for Sydney, transferring the gold to a liner, and
taking passage home in her."
"Quite a good scheme," agreed Jack.
"We can sell the old _Titania_ at a good figure," resumed Harborough,
"and no doubt get a round sum for the secret of the silver. Let some
other fellows have a run for their money; personally, I don't believe
in playing Dame Fortune too hard. This gale is blowing itself out, so
to-morrow we'll fill up the water-tanks, lay in such provisions as
the island supplies, and say good-bye to Nua Leha."
On the following day all available hands, including the two Germans
who had been under arrest, but were now released from their cells,
went ashore to complete the preparations for the voyage, and by
nightfall the _Titania_ was revictualled and had water-tanks
replenished.
At daybreak she sailed, her crew watching, with a certain amount of
regret, the triple peaks of the island sinking lower and lower behind
the horizon. Not only had the arduous work been successful, but the
varied experiences had cemented a band of life-long comradeship
between the members of the expedition.
After an uneventful run the _Titania_ arrived at Sydney, where
Harborough put his plans into execution.
To him came Swaine.
"If you've no objection, sir," he began, "I'd like to make an offer
for the _Titania_ and the right to exploit the silver stunt."
"What!" exclaimed Harborough. "You're a sticker, Swaine. You haven't
had enough treasure-hunting, eh?"
"Must do something to keep me out of mischief," replied Swaine. "Even
with pots of money a fellow is at a loose end when he's got nothing
to occupy his mind. I reckon I've more than enough of my share of the
_Fusi Yama_ gold to pay for the yacht and float a company here for
the recovery of the silver."
"I'm quite agreeable," assented Harborough. "But I'll have to arrange
with the others concerning the value of the yacht and the other
matter."
When the idea was put before the now-dissolving syndicate, not only
did they agree to let Swaine have the _Titania_ at a reasonable sum,
but O'Loghlin and Fontayne offered to join in the new venture.
Claverhouse and Trevear expressed their intention of remaining at
Sydney, prior to taking up farming in New Zealand. To them Harborough
advanced a sum sufficient to carry them on, pending the realization
of the gold in London. Griffiths and Bell, inseparable chums, decided
to try their luck at fruit-growing in Tasmania.
Pete, with a pocketful of notes that represented to him a small
fortune, departed for the West Indies via Panama. He went with
genuine regret, followed by the good wishes of the erstwhile crew of
the _Titania_, who regarded him as a cheerful hard-working cook who
looked after their inward needs with the utmost fidelity.
The rest of the _Titania's_ party accompanied Harborough to England.
Villiers and Bobby Beverley, acting upon Swaine's principle, formed a
coastal shipping company, which not only kept them busy but gave a
good return for their outlay. Within six months of his return home
Dick Beverley gained tenth place in the entrance examination to
Sandhurst.
Sir Hugh Harborough, rich and contented both in mind and body, was
able to run Thalassa Towers in a manner that bid fair to make it one
of the choicest country seats in Hampshire. He entertained lavishly,
but of his numerous guests none were more welcome than his former
comrades of the good ship _Titania_.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
_By Blackie & Son, Limited, Glasgow_
[Transcriber's Notes:
This book contains a number of misprints.
The following misprints have been corrected:
["It's like this," resumed Billy] ->
["It's like this," resumed Bobby]
There is no Billy in this book.
This should be Bobby.
[messenger to Thelassa Towers] ->
[messenger to Thalassa Towers]
[Straus had tried] ->
[Strauss had tried]
[the compact air-craft begin to] ->
[the compact air-craft began to]
[the still tumultous water] ->
[the still tumultuous water]
Two illustrations were missing in the paper version
used for producing this digitised text. These are:
'A SUBMARINE DUEL' and 'UNMASKED HE WAS NO LONGER AN
AMIABLE SWEDE'. They are marked with "(missing from book)"
in the Illustrations-list and at the place where the image
would have been.
A few cases of punctuation errors were corrected, but are
not mentioned here.
]