TRAPPED
MIDSHIPMAN CARDYKE was soon hauled upon the quarter-deck of the
pirate cruiser, and, in spite of his struggles, was secured by
half-a-dozen ruffians. His revolver and dirk were taken from him,
then he was lashed to one of the quarter davits, and left in that
ignominious position to reflect upon the circumstances under which he
had been snared.
He knew that his captors had a definite object in securing him to the
davit. He was in full view of the _Frome_, and his late comrades
could easily distinguish him through their binoculars. A hasty glance
over his shoulder revealed the fact that there were several of the
passengers of the _Yosen Maru_, and some of the crew of the Dutch
tugs, in equally exposed positions. It was obviously intended that
they were placed there in order to prevent the British destroyer from
opening fire upon her gigantic antagonist.
In the meantime Fielding was causing his captors a good deal of
trouble. He had contrived to take a turn round a projection on the
ship's side with the line that had caught him; and although his
assailants hauled on the rope till it was on the point of breaking,
they could not succeed in landing their bag. Neither could the sub.
disengage himself from the toils of the running bowline, for his idea
was to slip out of the noose and cast himself into the sea, trusting
to be picked up by his own craft.
As for the two men who had followed him, one had leapt back into the
swamped whaler. The other stuck gamely to his superior, and Fielding,
looking down, recognised the man as Tom Hardy, the coxswain of his
boat.
"Get out of this, Hardy," exclaimed the sub., breathlessly. "Strike
out for it. The _Frome_ will pick you up."
"Orders is orders, sir," replied Hardy. "You said as how I was to
follow you, and here I am. Besides, I'm not much of a hand at
swimming, sir."
"All right!" said Fielding, grimly. "But you'll find yourself in a
bit of a fix."
The sub. appreciated the coxswain's devotion; for Hardy was an
excellent swimmer in spite of his statement to the contrary, and was
willingly surrendering his chance of escaping from the doubtful
hospitality of the pirate crew.
All the while there was an incessant jabbering going on above, the
Dagoes shouting and dancing about on deck, enraged at the
stubbornness of their principal captive.
"Can you get at my revolver, Hardy?" asked the sub., who had been
vainly attempting to free his arms sufficiently to reach the weapon
in his holster.
"I'll try, sir; but what for? They'll plug you, sir, sure as fate."
"We'll put a bullet through this line, and swim for it."
"What about Mr. Cardyke, sir?"
"Cardyke? Has he been caught too? That alters the case. Where is he?"
"Hauled aboard."
"I hope the villains haven't hurt him. Look here, Hardy, I'm going to
make a dash up and over the side. Follow me as smartly as you can.
Good heavens! What have they done to young Cardyke?"
For, happening to look up, Fielding saw the mid. lashed to the davit.
Thinking that the pirates were about to drop the lad, bound as he
was, over the side, the sub. was seized with a sudden and desperate
resolution.
The men on deck had desisted hauling upon the rope. With a smart jerk
Fielding unhitched it from the eyebolt that had proved such a
stumbling block to his captors, then scrambled swiftly and agilely up
the remaining distance of freeboard.
In a trice he was over the stanchions, and before the olive-coloured
mob could realise it, the sub. was in the midst of them, hitting out
with his fists with terrific force. In this he was ably seconded by
the coxswain, and for a few moments it seemed as if the two
Britishers would clear the quarter-deck.
The Dagoes rallied, and, unfortunately for Fielding, although he had
freed his arms from the bowline, the noose had slipped as far as his
ankles. A lithe and muscular Algerine seized the end of the rope, and
Fielding, his legs literally jerked from under him, fell heavily on
the deck.
For another fifteen seconds Hardy stood over the prostrate body of
his officer, holding out like a bersark. Luckily the sub. had not
used his revolver, nor had Hardy drawn his bayonet. The pirates
seemed unwilling to do injury to the officer, but their consideration
was not extended towards the gallant and devoted bluejacket. A
Spaniard, advancing stealthily from behind, dealt the coxswain a
heavy blow across the head with a hand-spike, and Hardy fell to the
deck.
"You no play fool wid me. Me Juan Cervillo, capitan ob dis ship,"
announced the head of the lawless mob, standing in a tragedian's
attitude, with arms folded and chest expanded, before the overpowered
sub. "You jus' behave. No hurt."
Fielding did not reply. He was humiliated. One thing he regretted in
particular was that in his headlong rush his iron knuckles had not
come in contact with Cervillo's sleek, oily features.
At a word from the pirate captain the sub. was carried up to the
after-bridge, and ignominiously secured to a semaphore post. Here he
was left to enjoy his surroundings as best he might, and reflect upon
his undignified position.
Meanwhile some of the crew were holding a consultation as to what was
to be done with the still unconscious Hardy. Some advocated dropping
him overboard, others, judging the British bluejacket by the low
standard set up by the renegade petty officer who acted as
quartermaster, were of the opinion that if the coxswain recovered
from the crack over the head he might become a useful member of the
crew. So Hardy was lifted and unceremoniously carried for'ard.
With anxious gaze Cardyke watched the rapidly receding destroyer. He
could see her manoeuvring slowly through the water, her two remaining
boats being engaged in the work of picking up the swimmers. Drake was
paying dearly for his disinclination for co-operation: two officers
and the coxswain missing, two boats and the men's rifles hopelessly
lost, and his reputation very much at stake.
"I wish the _Frome_ would blow this vessel out of the water," thought
the mid., but instantly it occurred to him to wonder what would
happen to Fielding and the rest of the captives if the destroyer did
open fire. Beyond doing damage to the unarmoured portion of the
pirate ship, the _Frome's_ comparatively light ordnance would make
little or no impression upon her gigantic antagonist.
"She's following us, by Jove!" exclaimed the mid. "I wish I had a
pair of binoculars, and was able to use them. I wonder what Drake is
going to do?"
Yes, the _Frome_ was tearing along, yet gaining slowly, for the
stokers of the _Independencia_ were toiling their hardest, pumping
crude petroleum into the complex array of burners. Columns of black
smoke, tinged with flame, shot from the tall funnels of the cruiser.
Every possible inch that could be got out of her was made use of. Her
neglected engines were beginning to run more smoothly. She might hold
her own, or might even shake off the pursuing destroyer.
The midshipman could not help noticing the lack of discipline amongst
the motley crew. Seamen, with a couple of revolvers stuck in their
belts, and cigars in their mouths, would stroll aimlessly along the
quarter-deck, give a glance at the British destroyer, and curtly
question their officers as to the position of affairs. Some of the
latter were not above accepting cigars and cigarettes from the men.
The officers were decked out in gaudy uniforms, while the men wore
coarse canvas jumpers and trousers. Some wore canvas shoes, others
rope-soled boots, but the majority went bare-footed. The only person
who seemed to be able to exercise any real authority was Juan
Cervillo.
Nearer and nearer drew the _Frome_ till she was but a couple of miles
astern, steering a course well on the _Independencia's_ port quarter,
and studiously avoiding her wake. The destroyer did not court further
trouble by running over a grass hawser or other obstruction purposely
thrown over by the chased ship.
Cardyke felt much easier in his mind when he saw that the _Frome_ was
gaining. He had such a supreme faith in his comrades that he felt
certain that rescue was merely the question of a few hours at the
very outside. Of what was to be done to effect this desirable
business he had no idea; but it would be managed all right. Before
sunset he would be having dinner in the destroyer's wardroom.
Presently Cervillo climbed up to the after-bridge, and, taking his
stand close to where Fielding was secured, watched the destroyer
through a telescope. After a lengthy examination he called to one of
his officers, who in turn gave voluminous directions to a party of
seamen. In a leisurely manner they began to bring up ammunition for
some of the quick-firers mounted amidships on the starboard side of
the ship.
Cardyke could see that the muzzles were depressed and trained
slightly abaft the beam; but unless the cruiser ported her helm it
would be a matter of impossibility to fire upon her pursuer.
Bang! A sharp report, followed by a shrill screech of the projectile,
announced that the _Frome_ had opened fire with one of her foremost
guns. The missile struck the water at less than two hundred yards to
starboard, threw up a column of water thirty feet in the air, and
ricochetted thrice ere it dipped for the last time.
It was purposely aimed wide of the chase, but it showed that the
destroyer meant business.
Unswervingly the _Independencia_ kept her course; the _Frome_ settled
down to the same rate, and kept her station at less than eight
hundred yards on the cruiser's quarter. Four more shots came from the
British destroyer, then she ceased firing, holding doggedly on to the
chase. The prominent positions occupied by the pirates' hostages
rendered shell fire upon the _Independencia_ out of the question, and
Juan Cervillo knew that for the time being he held the whip hand.
But the tenacious dogging of his vessel by the British destroyer was
a serious business. Unless pursuit could be shaken off, the _Frome_,
by the aid of the wireless, would bring a cordon round the modern
buccaneer long before she had done anything like the damage she
wished to do. Already, no doubt, other warships were steaming under
forced draught to settle accounts with the filibustered
battle-cruiser. The _Frome_ must be put out of the running.
It was now half-an-hour after sunset. The horizon was quite
uninterrupted, grey sea met grey sky in an unbroken line, and the
outlook promised dirty weather on the morrow.
Having satisfied himself that no other vessel was in sight, Cervillo
descended from the after-bridge and entered the conning-tower. An
order to the quartermaster made that worthy put the steam
steering-gear hard over, and as the _Independencia_ swung round at
right angles to her former course, one of the quick-firers let fly a
plugged shell.
Cervillo's idea was merely to cripple the destroyer by sending a
non-explosive shell through her engine-room. He was very chary of
going to extreme measures, not that he was averse to committing
murder, but he had a wholesome respect for the British Navy. The
partial disablement of the _Frome_ would give him another start in
his piratical career. But unfortunately Cervillo's action had far
more disastrous effect than he had anticipated.
The missile sheared its way through the thin steel plating of the
destroyer like an arrow fired through a sheet of brown paper. It
struck one of the cylinders of the motors, fracturing it into fifty
pieces. The petrol caught fire, and, leaping in a cascade of flame,
ignited the main tanks in the double bottom.
The motors stopped spasmodically. The engineer-lieutenant and his
staff had barely time to rush through the small manhole and gain the
deck ere the 'midships section of the ill-fated _Frome_ was a mass of
flames. With the utmost discipline the crew lowered the remaining
boats, and, deeply laden, they pushed off, leaving Drake, the gunner,
and about a score of the crew clustered for'ard. Luckily the
destroyer kept head to wind, which, in a manner, preserved those on
the fo'c'sle from being slowly roasted to death.
Horror-stricken, Cardyke watched the enactment of the tragedy. By the
glare of the burning petrol, that shot skywards to a height of over
one hundred feet, he could see the boats, deeply laden, lying on
their oars, and the knot of brave men gathered around their rash but
intrepid commander.
Suddenly there was an explosion as the sea burst through the heated
plating. The pillar of flame died out, stifled in the cloud of smoke
and steam, but the burning petrol floating on the water, spread in
all directions, spurts of fire rising and falling intermittently till
darkness and the increased distance hid the awful scene from the
midshipman's view.