"I'm all right, I tell you. Hang it all, can't a fellow know when he's
all right?"
Thus Kenyon rather resentfully resisted all efforts on the part of the
men to keep him in his bunk. He came from an indomitable stock that
never readily admits defeat, and on this occasion he steadfastly refused
to recognise the fact that his physical strength had been well-nigh
sapped.
Donning his leather coat, he made his way to the navigation-room,
staggering slightly as he passed along the narrow alley-way.
"Wireless message just received, sir," reported Jackson. "'From T.B.D.
_Zeebrugge_ to 'Golden Hind.' Am proceeding in search of you. Show
position lights. Will tranship Sir Reginald Fosterdyke and Mr. Bramsdean
as soon as possible. Make necessary arrangements.' We're steering N.
by W. 1/4 W., but we haven't sighted the destroyer yet."
"Very good," concurred Kenyon. "Carry on."
He consulted the altimeter and the speed indicator. The former showed
that the airship had descended to two thousand feet, and the speed was
two thousand revolutions, or approximately thirty miles an hour. The
"Golden Hind" had by this time retraced a good portion of her drift, and
was now three or four miles from Ceuta.
Ten minutes later a masthead flashing lamp was seen blinking at a
distance of about six miles. The light came from the destroyer
_Zeebrugge_, which, pelting along at twenty-five knots, was on the
lookout for the errant airship.
Kenneth Kenyon was now on his mettle. For the first time he was in
command of a large airship about to make a descent. As officer of the
watch he had already had opportunities of observing the handling of the
huge vessel, but now he found himself confronted with the problem of
bringing her close to the surface of the sea so as to enable the
destroyer to manoeuvre sufficiently enough to establish direct
communication.
"Hope I don't make a bog of it," he soliloquised. "I must admit I feel
a bit rotten after that little jamboree just now. Still, I'll stick it."
Although he was not aware of the fact, Leading Hand Jackson was keeping
a sharp eye on his superior officer, ready at the first sign to "take
on" should Kenyon's physical strength fail him.
For the next ten minutes the greatest activity prevailed. Gongs were
clanging, crisp orders were issued through various voice-tubes, gas was
being withdrawn from various ballonets, the motors were constantly being
either accelerated or retarded according to the conditions demanded. The
white flashing lamp signals were being exchanged with the T.B.D., which
had now circled sixteen degrees to starboard and was steaming slowly
dead in the eye of the wind.
In the floor of the bow compartment of the "Golden Hind" the large
trap-hatch had been opened. Close by crouched men ready to lower away a
wire rope, at the end of which a small electric bulb glowed to enable
the destroyer's crew to locate the line in the dark. Throughout the
manoeuvre neither the "Golden Hind" nor the _Zeebrugge_ made use of
their searchlights, since the dazzling rays might baffle the respective
helmsmen and result in a collision.
Slowly and gracefully the airship dropped until her fuselage was thirty
feet from the surface of the sea. She was now dead in the wake of the
destroyer, and the task that confronted Kenyon was to bring her ahead
sufficiently for the bows to overlap the _Zeebrugge's_ stern. An error
of judgment at that low height would result in the airship's bows
fouling the destroyer's mast.
Foot by foot the "Golden Hind" gained upon the destroyer until a shout
from the latter's deck announced that the wire rope had been made fast.
Instantly the airship's six motors were declutched. She was now moving
merely under the towing action of the _Zeebrugge_, which was forging
ahead at a bare four knots.
From the trap-hatch in the airship's bows a rope-ladder was lowered, its
end being held by a couple of bluejackets on the T.B.D. Without loss of
time Fosterdyke swarmed up the swaying ladder, and was followed by
Bramsdean.
"Cast off, and thank you!" shouted the baronet.
"All gone," came an answering voice from the _Zeebrugge_, followed by a
hearty "Best of luck to you!"
Released, the "Golden Hind" leapt a full five hundred feet into the air
before the propellers began to revolve.
"Cheerio, Kenyon!" exclaimed Fosterdyke, as he joined Kenneth in the
navigation-room. "All's well that ends well, but you gave me a pretty
bad turn. What happened?"
"Hardly know, sir," replied Kenyon. "Our wire rope didn't part.
Possibly the shackle on the buoy gave. But we found a man hanging on
the end of the wire."
"You did, eh?" exclaimed the baronet, sharply. "What sort of man?"
"You'll see him, sir," replied Kenneth. "He's laid out below."
"H'm!" ejaculated Fosterdyke, and relapsed into silence.
He was deep in thought for some moments, then turned to Kenyon again.
"We're making an official start in a few minutes' time," he announced.
"We have to pass over the Rock and display three red and three white
lights to the official observer on Signal Hill. When we see a similar
signal made from the Rock that will be the actual starting time. Pass
the word for Jackson to get the lamps in position."
At an altitude of three thousand feet, or fifteen hundred feet above the
summit of the Rock of Gibraltar, the "Golden Hind" received her official
send-off at 3.35 A.M., eighteen hours after the Hun-owned Z64.
Evidently there was not a minute to be wasted. The contest had
developed not merely into a voyage round the world within the space of
twenty days, but a race in which the British competitor had to make good
her formidable handicap of eighteen hours or approximately three
thousand five hundred miles.
With the wind abeam on the port side the "Golden Hind" opened out to one
hundred and forty miles an hour. During the earlier stages of the race
Fosterdyke rather wisely decided to keep below the maximum speed, rather
than overtax the motors by running "all out." Within a few minutes of
receiving her official permit to depart the airship lost sight of the
lights upon the Rock of Gibraltar. She was now steering E. by S.--a
course that would take her over the northern part of Algeria and Tunis
and within a few miles of Malta.
At 4 A.M. Kenyon, who had modestly refrained from giving any details of
the part he had taken in the rescue of Enrico Jaures, and had concealed
the fact that he had been temporarily out of action, was relieved by
Peter Bramsdean.
As he turned to go to his cabin Kenneth saw that the baronet was
standing in a corner of the navigation-room and studying a nautical
almanac.
"Sleep well, Kenyon," exclaimed Fosterdyke. "You've some arrears to make
up."
"Rather, sir," agreed Kenyon. "But we've forgotten something."
"Eh, what?"
"That fellow we found hanging on to the wire rope, we didn't put him on
board the destroyer."
"No," agreed Fosterdyke, grimly. "We didn't. I saw to that. Unless
I'm much mistaken our unwanted supernumerary can and must give us
certain information that will rather astonish us. I'll see him later
on, by Jove!"
Kenyon nodded knowingly. Evidently Fosterdyke had learnt something.
However, as far as he, Kenyon, was concerned, other things of a more
pressing nature demanded his attention--food and sleep.
At eight o'clock Fosterdyke ordered his involuntary guest to be brought
before him.
"There's something fishy about the breaking adrift business," he
observed to Bramsdean as the two sat at a table in the after-cabin
awaiting Enrico's appearance.
"Where's Jackson? We'll want him. No, don't disturb Kenyon; he had a
pretty sticky time."
"More than you imagine, sir," added Peter, and proceeded to tell the
baronet the part Kenneth had played in the aerial rescue of the
imperilled Rock Scorpion.
"Kenyon didn't say a word about it," he added on the conclusion of the
narrative. "He was as mute as an oyster over it all. Frampton and
Collings told me. It was----"
A knock on the cabin door interrupted Bramsdean's explanation.
"Come in!" exclaimed Fosterdyke.
In answer to the invitation entered Leading Hand Jackson, followed in
single file by one of the crew, Enrico Jaures, and two other members of
the "Golden Hind's" company.
The Scorp was still labouring under the effects of his narrow escape.
He looked, to quote Bramsdean's words, "as if the stuffing had been
knocked out of him."
Fosterdyke's handling of the situation was a bold one. Without any
preliminaries, without even asking the fellow's name, he demanded
sternly:
"How much did Count Karl von Sinzig promise you for last night's work?"
Jaures gave an involuntary start, but almost immediately relapsed into
his imperturbably passive attitude. Then with a slight shrug of his
shoulders he replied:
"Me no spik Englis."
"Try again," said Fosterdyke, contracting his bushy eyebrows and looking
straight at the man. "All I can say is that if you don't speak English
it's a case of won't, not can't."
"Me no spik Englis," reiterated Jaures.
Without speaking, Fosterdyke looked straight at the fellow for a full
thirty seconds. During that period Enrico attempted three times to meet
the searching gaze of his inquisitor.
"Now!" exclaimed the baronet at length.
Enrico Jaures maintained silence.
Fosterdyke slowly and deliberately unstrapped his wristlet watch and
placed it on the table.
"I give you thirty seconds," he said in level tones. "Thirty seconds in
which to make up your mind either to answer or refuse to answer my
question. Might I remind you that we are now eight thousand feet above
the sea, and it is a long drop. Jackson, will you please remove that
hatch?"
"Of course the Old Man was only kiddin'," remarked Jackson when he
related what had transpired to his companions after the affair was over;
"but, bless me, even I thought he meant to do the dirty sweep in. He
looked that stern, that it put the wind up the bloke straight away."
Absolutely disciplined, the Leading Hand obeyed orders promptly.
Throwing back the aluminium cover in the centre of the cabin floor, he
revealed to the gaze of the thoroughly terrified Jaures a rectangular
opening six feet by four. Far below, glittering in the sunshine, was
the blue Mediterranean.
"Five seconds more!" announced Fosterdyke, calmly.
Of the occupants of the after cabin Enrico Jaures now seemed to be the
least interested in the proceedings. His furtive glances had given
place to an expression of lofty detachment, as if he were utterly bored
by the whole transaction. Bramsdean found himself deciding that either
the fellow was an imbecile or else he was a past master in the art of
dissimulation.
"Time!" declared Fosterdyke.
Enrico Jaures positively beamed.
"Me no spik Englis," he babbled.
Sir Reginald eyed the accused sternly, but even his piercing glance
seemed of no avail. The Rock Scorp continued to smile inanely.
"Take him away," ordered Fosterdyke with asperity.
He waited till the door had closed upon the involuntary guest, and then
gave a deprecatory shrug.
"The fellow's scored this time, Bramsdean," he remarked, "but I'll get
to windward of him yet."