I. A Splendid Appointment
II. The Story of the "Twin Death"
III. Skipper of the "Bunder Abbas"
IV. Adrift in a Dhow
V. My First Capture
VI. The Edge of Civilization
VII. The Battle of the Paraffin Can
VIII. Ugly Rumours
IX. Trapping a Caravan
X. The Fight in the "Coffee-Cup"
XI. The Cobra Bracelet Again
XII. Mr. Scarlett Bares his Arm
XIII. Rounding up a Prodigal
XIV. We Deal with Jassim
XV. A Tragedy of the Telegraph
XVI. The Siege of Jask
XVII. Jassim Takes his Revenge
XVIII. To the Rescue
XIX. The Grey-Eyed Lady Decides
*Illustrations*
The "Bunder Abbas" comes upon a large Arab dhow in the very act of
landing guns . . . _Frontispiece_
The four of us tried to haul the yard and sail on board, hauling for all
we were worth
Looking through my loophole I saw a tall, fine-looking Arab peering into
the chasm beneath
Bowing in the most dignified manner to the prodigal son and ourselves,
they squatted in a circle round us
*GUNBOAT AND GUN-RUNNER*
*CHAPTER I*
*A Splendid Appointment*
At the time this yarn commences I was a lieutenant of four years'
seniority, a "watchkeeper" aboard H.M.S. _Russell_, longing earnestly to
see the world, but with no probable prospect of my desires being
realized.
I had been serving in the Channel and Atlantic Fleets, continuously, for
seven years--appointed from one ship to another, from a battleship to a
destroyer, from a destroyer to an armoured cruiser, and from her to the
_Russell_. In fact, I began to wonder whether my whole naval career was
to be spent plodding round the British Islands, and the limits of my
world were to be bounded by an occasional view of the coast of France,
and a still more infrequent sight of the rugged headlands of Spain.
Then, by a lucky stroke of good fortune, my chance did at last come.
I happened to be on forty-eight hours' leave in London, and at my club,
the "Junior", met a captain under whom I had served a year or two
previously.
We talked about our former ship, and I told him how tired I was of
sticking at home, and how anxious I was to see some foreign service. He
jerked out, in the abrupt way he had: "Why, man, clear out!--get along
to the Admiralty!--full speed!--off you go! I was talking to the Second
Sea Lord not half an hour ago, and he'd just heard that a lieutenant was
wanted for the Persian Gulf. Give him my card. Why, bless my rags, I
haven't one!" and he scribbled his name on the back of a club envelope
and hustled me out.
I found myself jumping into a hansom (there were no taxis available then
as now) and driving to the Admiralty before I fully realized what I was
about to do.
"No, the Second Sea Lord won't see nobody," a porter at the Admiralty
told me; adding, mysteriously: "The First Lord 'as just a-been an' sent
for him. You 'ad better see Mr. Copeland, 'is sec-re-tary."
I always feel overawed at the Admiralty--merely being in the same
building with their "Lordships" is enough to overawe any humble
lieutenant--so I meekly followed the porter into a waiting-room, pacing
up and down restlessly till he came back again, beckoning me with a
confidential air. "'E'll see you, if you step this way. 'E is in a
middling good temper this morning--ain't 'ad many to worry 'im."
My interview with Mr. Copeland was short and sharp.
"What do you want?" he said curtly, more or less as if I was a
pickpocket or a beggar asking for a penny.
"I hear there's a vacancy for a lieutenant in the Persian Gulf. I'm
Martin--Paul Reginald Martin of the _Russell_, four years' seniority
next May--and I want to go there. My late captain gave me this for the
Second Sea Lord;" and I handed him the envelope with the pencil note:
"Give this chap the job if you can", and his signature.
The secretary glanced at it, threw it on his desk, and looked at me
suspiciously. "Yes, yes! I don't know how he came to hear of it.
Collingwood, of the _Bunder Abbas_, has died of sunstroke. Quite right!
quite right! I'll put your name down for her--if you wish."
"Please!" I said.
"Do you know what the job is?" he asked, as if, did I know, I should not
be so keen to go.
"Not in the least," I answered; "and I don't mind, so long as I can get
abroad and out of the Channel Fleet."