HOKOSUKA'S SLEIGHT-OF-HAND
AFTER leaving the French liner _L'Égalité_ helpless in the distance,
the _Independencia_ steamed in a south-easterly direction till out of
sight; then altering helm, she plugged away at an easy eighteen knots
in the direction of the West Indies. Here Juan Cervillo knew that for
a time he would be fairly safe. There were no British warships
capable of doing him much damage, and amid the cays of the Bahamas
there was little chance of meeting with Uncle Sam's battleships or
cruisers. On the other hand, he could rely on being able to intercept
some of the traders in and out of Galveston and New Orleans while, if
things became too hot for him, there would be a more than possible
chance of slipping off to the coast of Venezuela or Columbia, where
the ship could be run ashore, and her rascally crew, with their
ill-gotten booty, could disperse.
Many plans were suggested by Fielding and his companions whereby they
might regain their liberty, but none seemed at present feasible.
Whenever their meals were brought into the cabin armed men stood
without; while, in order to prevent a repetition of their escape
through the scuttle, a sentry was stationed on the poop; orders to
examine the bar across the scuttle every hour were also given to a
petty officer, who was lowered over the side in order that he might
test the condition of the metalwork.
"Couldn't we signal in Morse, sir?" asked Cardyke: "We can easily rig
up a shutter from the scuttle. It might attract the notice of some
passing vessel, and we could give her warning to clear out?"
"A good idea," replied the sub. "But unfortunately, unless the other
vessel approaches without steaming lights, the probability is that
she will be discovered long before we can call her up. Besides,
unless a ship is well abeam, or on our starboard quarter, all the
signalling possible from this cabin won't be seen."
"Still, it will be something to do," continued the mid. "Something to
pass the time."
"Carry on, then," replied Fielding. "But I honestly think it won't
help us much--or anyone else."
During the afternoon the two British officers dozed for a couple of
hours. As Fielding remarked, it was advisable to sleep all you can,
for you never know when you might have to do without it. Besides, it
cured the terrible _ennui_--the tedious waiting for something to turn
up to break the deadly monotony.
Cardyke woke to find Hokosuka sitting on the floor, and carefully
nursing a large revolver. There was a very faint suspicion of
satisfaction in the Jap's eyes, but his immobile face gave no sign of
elation or otherwise. The mid. could not help wondering how the man
gained possession of such a powerful weapon, and his curiosity urged
him to appeal to General Oki.
"The English say they love the sea," observed the Jap. "Britannia,
she rule waves with eel-spear. That what you say. Me think
ninety-nine of all one hundred Englishmen know how to love the sea by
come to sit on seaside and throw stones in water. That English
holiday; but put ninety-nine Englishmen in boat they no know how to
sail."
"That's quite true," thought Cardyke; "but what on earth has that to
do with the question how Hokosuka got hold of that revolver? They are
trying to bamboozle me for some reason. I'll mention the matter to
Fielding when he wakes up. In the meantime I'll keep a watch on Mr.
Hokosuka."
Accordingly the mid. turned on his bunk, and was soon to all
appearances sound asleep, but out of the corners of his almost closed
eyelids he followed the movements of the mysterious Japanese.
Hokosuka had removed the cartridges from the weapon, and was
carefully examining its mechanism. Placing the corner of his coat
under the hammer in order to deaden the sound, he tried the trigger
in a most methodical fashion, so as to get the correct "pull." Then,
replacing the cartridges, he handed the weapon over to his
compatriot.
Oki took the revolver in his hand, and to all appearances it
vanished. Cardyke could swear that from the time the general's
fingers closed over the butt his arm never moved, but where could a
bulky object like that go to?
Neither of the Japs seemed to treat the occurrence otherwise than as
an ordinary transaction; one might have been handing the other a
cigarette-case. The mid.'s curiosity was increasing rapidly.
Having rid himself of the weapon, Hokosuka rose from the floor,
crossed the cabin, and took his stand just below the scuttle. There
he waited as motionless as a statue.
Presently the light that poured through the opening became obscured.
The man detailed to attend to the iron bar was being lowered to make
his hourly examination. As far as Cardyke could see the pirate was
seated in a bos'un's chair, which was let down till the man's
shoulders were level with the scuttle. Steadying himself with his
left hand, the seaman tried the bar with his right; then, satisfied
that it had not been tampered with, he called to his comrades to haul
up.
Instantly, with a rapid, gliding, noiseless motion, Hokosuka's left
hand shot through the aperture. When his arm was withdrawn the Jap
had another revolver in his grasp. He had dexterously removed the
weapon from the seaman's holster, as he had done to the man who had
previously been doing the duty.
Just then Fielding awoke. Oki pointed to the revolver that his
compatriot held.
"By Jove!" exclaimed the sub., in astonishment. "However did you get
hold of that?"
"We have two," replied Oki, calmly. "One you have, other we will
keep. Now put out of way--hide. Lil boy"--and to Cardyke's disgust he
heard himself referred to in that strain--"lil boy, him ask where you
get. I no tell; you no must tell. If he no know, then he no can
tell."
[Illustration: HALF A DOZEN SEAMEN HEADED BY THE RENEGADE ENGLISHMAN
BURST INTO THE ROOM.
[_Page_ 131.
]
"I see," agreed Fielding. "But these rascals will ransack the place
when they miss these revolvers."
"Let look everywhere," replied General Oki; "revolver all gone."
And Fielding's astonishment was no less than his junior's when the
weapon seemed to disappear from sight.
Barely a quarter of an hour later the cabin door was thrown open, and
half-a-dozen seamen, headed by the renegade Englishman, burst into
the room.
"No hanky-panky tricks, sir!" exclaimed the bo'sun. "You've sneaked a
couple of revolvers. We missed one, and didn't know where it had
gone; but the fellow who was lowered over the side made sure he had
his when he went down, and when he came up it had gone. And I saw
that his holster was fastened when he started. So no beating about
the bush. Hand them pistols over, and save yourself a sight of
trouble. You can't get the weather side of me, sir."
"I have no revolvers," replied Fielding. "I wish I had. I'd make sure
of your losing the number of your mess."
"None of your cheek!" replied the man, fiercely. "Get over there."
Hustling the five occupants of the cabin into one corner the bo'sun
directed his men to search the room, and soon all the scanty
furniture was turned over and over again, but without result. This
done the British officers, the coxswain, and the other two Japs were
subjected to a search, their coats being removed for that purpose.
"Confound it, we're on the wrong tack!" grumbled the pirate bo'sun.
And, ordering his men to clear out, he went to make his report to
Juan Cervillo that a systematic search convinced him that no weapons
were to be found in the prisoners' cabin.
Hokosuka waited to make sure that none of the unwelcome visitors were
returning, then produced a couple of revolvers and a large
sheath-knife.
"Not same 'volvers," explained General Oki. "These toll. Hokosuka
make pirates pay for coming here."
"Not the same revolvers?" asked Fielding, in astonishment. "Where are
the first two you had?" For it seemed incredible that after the
systematic search not only were the looked-for articles not found,
but two more pistols, to say nothing of the sheath-knife, were added
to the defensive armoury of the occupants of the cabin.
"Me show you," replied the general, and turning to his compatriot he
spoke a few words in his native tongue. Simultaneously both Japs
pulled up the legs of their trousers, and revealed the weapons with
their muzzles stuck between their feet and their shoes, the chambers
fitting into the hollow just behind their ankles.
"I'm hanged if I saw you put yours there!" exclaimed the sub.
Oki merely shrugged his shoulders. He did not think it necessary to
explain how the trick was done; but like most Japanese, he was an
adept at sleight-of-hand.
"Where are we making for, I wonder?" asked Cardyke.
"If we go on at this rate and in the same direction a week will find
us in West Indian waters, unless I'm very much mistaken," replied
Fielding. "It's a mystery to me why this ship hasn't been headed off
and captured long ago."
"Long ago!" echoed the mid. "Why, it's only a matter of a few days!"
"Yes, yes, I know; but one would naturally think that with modern
scientific instruments at one's command it would be an utter
impossibility to play hide and seek in the North Atlantic."
"Were you navy officer man in 1907?" asked General Oki, who, although
his English was somewhat quaint, could follow ordinary conversation
with comparative ease.
"In that year I was completing my last term at Dartmouth," replied
Fielding.
"Then you have no heard of manoeuvres that year--how one English
fleet sailed in North Sea for over sixty hour, looking for another
English fleet, and no can find?"
"By Jove! I believe I heard something of the kind," replied the sub.
"But you seem to know a lot about our naval matters, sir?"
"My business," replied Oki, calmly.
The British and the Japanese officers were entering into an animated
discussion on the possibilities of wireless in war when they were
interrupted by the crash of a quick-firer, followed by the slowing
down of the cruiser's engines.
There was a rush to the scuttle, but the field of visible horizon was
limited, and nothing could be seen that could give the reason for the
discharge of the gun. The firing from the cruiser and the
slowing-down showed that the _Independencia_ had overhauled another
craft and was not the pursued craft.
"It's another liner being nabbed!" exclaimed Cardyke.