PLANNING THE ATTACK
"Think I'll have a little confab with my friend Virginia," said Jack,
soon after they had returned to the fort.
"With whom?" asked Captain Jack.
"Oh, we haven't told you about that, have we?" said Jack. "I mean the
United States cruiser Virginia. I picked her up on the wireless
yesterday."
"You did, eh?" laughed Captain Jack. "Did you give them our location?"
"I didn't know it," said Jack.
"Well," said Captain Jack, "if you'll let me do the talking this time
I'll give it to them."
"Better give them the location of the submarine base, instead," said
Jack. "We'll make our start tonight, and it might be well to have a
cruiser or two drop in at the finish. But I didn't know you were a
wireless operator."
"I'm not much of one," returned Captain Jack, "but I'm not so bad,
either."
The two went into the wireless room, where Captain Jack adjusted the
receiver over his head. Then he began to flash the Virginia call into
space; and at last he got an answer.
"Kaiserland?" came the query.
"Yes," Captain Jack flashed back.
"Who's sending?"
Captain Jack hesitated a moment and then replied:
"Pirate chief."
"So you have captured the other party, eh?"
"No, we've just joined forces. We are going to raid the German
submarine base tonight."
"Are you telling the truth or trying to throw me off the trail?"
"I'm telling the truth. The man you talked to yesterday is here, if
you care to talk to him."
"Let me talk to him."
Jack took Captain Jack's place at the wireless. It took some
conversation to convince the commander of the Virginia that all was
well but Jack did it at last and gave the location Captain Jack gave
him.
"We haven't been able to pick up any wreck," said the Virginia, "and we
had about given up hope of finding you. We tried all night and all
morning to pick you up."
"We were busy," said Jack.
"You must have been," was the answer. "You say you will make the raid
tonight?"
"Yes; when can you get on the ground?"
"Not before morning. Maybe you had better wait so we can join forces."
"Not much," Jack flashed back. "This is my plan and I'm going to do
the work."
"All right, but be careful. I'll put other vessels in this water in
touch and have them on the scene as soon as possible."
"All right," said Jack. "How many vessels in these waters?"
"Half a dozen."
"Well, you'd better get as many of them as possible on the scene," said
Jack. "There might be a slip, you know."
"I'll do the best I can. Good-by and good luck to you."
"Good-by!" flashed Jack.
"Not much help to be expected from that source, unless we wait," the
lad said to Captain Jack.
"Well, we don't want to wait," said the chief of the pirates.
"Right you are as you are."
"I'm just as anxious for action."
They returned to the other room, where Jack called a council of war.
"The time to strike is now," he said when the others had gathered
around the table, all except the pirates, who were still outside.
"I agree with you," said Frank. "How long a march is it, Captain
Jack?"
"If we leave here two hours before dark we will reach the base soon
after midnight," was the reply; "but if you will allow me, I have a
plan to suggest."
"Let's hear it, Captain," said Jack.
"To my way of thinking," said Captain Jack, "it would be better if we
attack from two places."
"Two places?" echoed Frank.
"Yes. My plan would be to send the bulk of the men afoot, while I pick
a crew for my submarine and strike from the sea."
"By Jove!" said Jack. "A first class idea! But will not the German
submarine base be mined?"
"It wasn't when I was there before," said Captain Jack significantly.
"Otherwise I would not have come out whole with a submarine."
"That's true," said Jack. "Well, I agree with you. Yours is by far
the best plan. How many men do you need aboard the submarine?"
"Not more than fifteen. The others will go a foot."
"There is a hitch in this plan, though," said Frank.
"What is it?' demanded Captain Jack.
"Well, your men may be willing to follow you all right, but will they
follow me, or Jack here? You can't go by land and by sea both, you
know, Captain."
"By George!" exclaimed Captain Jack. "I hadn't thought of that.
However, I have no doubt it can be remedied."
"I think I can point out the remedy," said Captain Glenn.
"What is it, Captain?"
"Well, Frank and Jack here know something about submarines, they tell
me. My advice would be to put one of them in command of your men
aboard the submarine rather than in command of the land party. Chances
are none of your men know aught of navigation and would have to depend
upon the man in command, whereas, on land, they might think they could
shift for themselves."
"I am of your opinion, Captain," said Captain Jack, "and shall act upon
your advice. Now, is Templeton or Chadwick the better man for the
job?"
"I fancy one will do as well as the other," put in Williams.
"Personally," said Frank, "I should like the job myself."
"It's yours, then," said Captain Jack briefly.
"Maybe the men will object," said Frank.
"Let 'em," returned Captain Jack. "I'll fix that."
"That's arranged then," said Jack. "Next thing, Captain Jack, is to
select the men for the crew. Williams, you'd better go aboard the
submarine as first officer."
"Suits me," said Williams briefly.
"I'll draw up a list of the crew," said Captain Jack.
He produced an old envelope and a lead pencil and scribbled. Directly
he pushed back his chair.
"That's done," he said. "What next?"
"What's the lay of the land, Captain?" asked Jack.
"Well," replied the pirate chief, "I'll give Chadwick here a chart that
he will find sufficient for his purposes. I made it, thinking I might
want a second submarine some day."
"But how about the land party?" asked Jack.
"The German base," said Captain Jack, "extends along the southern
extremity of the island for perhaps a mile. You see, therefore, that
it's small. I don't believe there are more than a dozen submarines
there. Whether there are more large raiders, I can't say. I wouldn't
be surprised, however, if the one you put a torpedo into the other
night was the last. That would mean that ashore, besides whatever
number of the submarine crews that are aboard their vessels, there
would be comparatively few men. We'll count the submarine crews as
twenty-five men to a ship. That's 300 men. There may be an additional
hundred men on the ground, but I doubt it."
"But they must have some means of protection," said Jack. "Big guns,
and rifles a-plenty."
"Rifles, yes," was the reply, "but few big guns. They feel so secure
in their hiding places that they have made use of their guns mostly to
arm merchant raiders."
"I see," said Jack. "Well, we'll have to leave something to chance.
Now the question arises as how best to destroy the place, submarines
and all."
"Well, I can fix that, too," said Captain Jack. "Bombs are the things
to do the trick. Half a dozen bombs scattered about and timed nicely,
and there won't be a German submarine base at this time tomorrow."
"All right so far as the land side goes," said Frank, "but how about
the submarines?"
"Mines," said Captain Jack quietly, "timed to explode simultaneously
with the bombs ashore. You can lay them from the submarine."
"By Jove!" said Jack. "You'd make a first class combined
general-admiral, Captain Jack," declared Captain Glenn.
Captain Jack smiled slowly.
"I've had all this planned for many a day," he said quietly. "I didn't
know when the Germans might declare war on me, and when they did I was
determined to exterminate them."
"Well, plans thus being decided upon," said Frank, "there is nothing to
do but await the hour of departure."
They discussed the plans in detail while they waited, however. At four
o'clock Captain Jack got to his feet.
"Time to get busy," he said.