THE FORTUNE OF WAR
SEVENTY-TWO hours after the receipt of the misleading intelligence
from the hapless _Duke of Negropont_ the scout _Cerberus_ again put
to sea. This time there was no doubt that the news concerning the
_Independencia_ was genuine. The United States cruiser _Denver_ had
seen, and had stood in pursuit of the pirate. According to the
American captain's report the pirate was heading north, apparently
with the intention of preying upon the liners running between New
York and Montreal, and Liverpool and Southampton.
Once more Lieutenant Douglas Drake's hopes rose high. He felt
confident that to him would fall the honour of effecting the pirate's
capture. He knew full well that more than a score of cruisers, to say
nothing of ocean-going destroyers, were keenly on the alert; but in
spite of this knowledge the presentiment was uppermost in his mind
that the aero-hydroplanes of the _Cerberus_, under his command, would
score the honour of the day.
The lieutenant spent most of his watch on deck in attending to his
four pets. There was no time to test their capabilities in the air,
for the scout could not slacken speed to allow the boat to be hoisted
out. True they could be sent up from the deck, a specially
constructed line of rails being laid down to admit of them so doing.
They could, if necessity arose, return to their parent by alighting
on the poop; but there was always the risk of damage to their
hulls--a catastrophe that would be eliminated if the aero-hydroplanes
came to rest upon the sea. Thus, although Drake had had experience in
craft of a very similar type, he was totally unacquainted with their
peculiarities; but in spite of this handicap he had no fears as to
his ability to make a successful flight, and, what was more, a
successful attack upon the daring pirate.
His plan of operation was somewhat upset by the intelligence received
of the despicable ruse whereby Juan Cervillo had been able to keep
his vessel immune from shell fire. If the same precaution were
adopted on all occasions it seemed pretty obvious that the
aero-hydroplane could not drop explosives upon the cruiser's deck
without doing harm to friend as well as foe.
At one time he thought of dropping bombs containing charges of
noxious gases upon the _Independencia's_ decks, but realising that
the speed of the ship creating a current of air would speedily
disperse the vapours, he decided such a scheme was impracticable. At
another the chances of dropping a charge of dynamite down one of the
huge funnels of the cruiser, and thus putting the boilers out of
action, suggested themselves. Then a capital idea suddenly struck
him. The more he thought of it, the more he felt confident of
success. On unfolding his plan to Captain Dexter of the _Cerberus_
his superior expressed his satisfaction, and promised to let Drake
have a free hand in the enterprise.
At 2 a.m. on the morning of the fourth day out the look-out reported
that there was heavy firing away to the north-west. Instantly the
crew were called to general quarters, all lights were screened, and a
course shaped towards that quarter of the horizon that was
illuminated by flashes resembling distant lightning. All on board the
scout were bewailing the fate that had snatched the laurels from
their grasp, for no other reason could be assigned to the firing
beyond the fact that the _Independencia_ was being engaged by some
other man-of-war. In vain the _Cerberus_ sent out calls with her
wireless on the off-chance of picking up information as to who the
lucky vessel might be; only a chaotic series of electrical waves came
to the wireless room. On and on at full speed the little British
vessel tore. With luck she might come in at the death, and be able to
fire a shot or two in real earnest, when suddenly the glare of the
distant flashes died away.
"Too late, by George!" exclaimed Drake, slamming his binoculars into
their case.
"They've settled her hash, and we're out of it."
For another half-hour the _Cerberus_ carried on. All need for
screened lights was now done away with, and from her masthead her
signalling lamp blinked incessantly, calling up the victorious vessel
in Morse. Still no reply came through the darkness.
"Surely to goodness they haven't sunk each other?" asked one of the
lieutenants.
"Rot!" replied another, vehemently. But at the same time the idea
that such was the case began to grow upon the group of anxious and
despondent officers.
Suddenly a rocket soared skywards, barely a mile on the scout's brow.
"Acknowledge," ordered the captain, shortly; and from the _Cerberus_
an answering rocket was sent up.
Then the searchlights were flashed in the direction of the signal,
and to everyone's surprise two huge cruisers, both well-nigh battered
out of recognition, were discovered lying less than half-a-mile
apart. Masts, funnels, boats, most of the unarmoured
superstructure--all had been swept away, while the heavily protected
sides of both craft showed ominous dents and cavities where
armour-piercing shells had found a billet.
"Great Scott!" muttered the gunnery lieutenant. "Which one is the
_Impregnable_ that was?"
"Neither," replied Drake, grimly. "There's been a horrible mistake
without a doubt. Goodness knows what ships these are, or to what
nation they belong; but it is obvious that each has mistaken the
other for the pirate."
"What ship is that?" shouted Captain Dexter through a megaphone, as
the _Cerberus_ eased down, and glided a cable's length to lee'ard of
one of the erstwhile combatants.
"His Majesty's ship _Trincomalee_," was the reply. "Stand by till
daylight; we're badly hulled. Can you send a boat?"
Ten minutes later a pale-faced lieutenant, with his hair and eyebrows
singed, his clothing rent and reeking with powder, came over the side
of the _Cerberus_. His story confirmed Drake's surmise. The
_Trincomalee_, steaming with lights screened, had fallen in with an
unknown vessel which was also running without navigation lights.
Before the British vessel could hail, a shot was fired into her at
less than four hundred yards range. The _Trincomalee_ instantly
replied with all the quick-firers she could bring to bear upon her
antagonist. Then the 6 in. and 9 in. guns joined in the deafening
roar, and for forty minutes the two vessels were hotly engaged, till
a searchlight directed from the only projector that had escaped
destruction revealed the hideous truth. The _Trincomalee_ had engaged
and had nearly annihilated a French cruiser, the _Tréhouart_, of
19,000 tons. Orders were immediately given to cease fire; but it was
quite five minutes ere the Frenchmen ceased to pound away with her
undamaged ordnance at her unresisting antagonist.
The _Cerberus_ stood by till daylight revealed the shattered ships.
Both were leaking badly, but the inrush of water was being kept under
by means of the ships' pumps. Their respective captains exchanged
visits and expressed mutual regrets at the unfortunate occurrence;
then slowly, under their own steam, both vessels headed towards the
Nova Scotian coast, the _Cerberus_ escorting them in case immediate
assistance was required. Sixteen hours later the two badly mauled
vessels crept into Halifax Harbour, and the _Cerberus_ was free to
resume her quest.
Did she but know it, the _Independencia_ crossed her wake, unseen and
unsuspected, at the time she was steaming at full speed to ascertain
the cause of the firing. The pirate cruiser had run the gauntlet of
the chain of cruisers and, with an open sea before her, was tearing
at her utmost speed towards the desolate Arctic Ocean.
This incident naturally increased the attention already devoted to
the quest of the modern buccaneer, and gave occasion for much
discussion. On the one side experts and armchair critics boldly
asserted that this regrettable incident was owing simply and solely
to the blundering way in which the operations were conducted, and
that had more caution been exercised there would have been no
desperate encounter between vessels of friendly nations, and the
accompanying loss of life; while on the other hand there were people
who maintained that it was but the fortune of war, and mistakes of
that sort were bound to occur. To harass naval captains with
regulations that would tend to curb the natural ardour of their crews
would be opposed to the best traditions of the service. Even in the
House a member blandly suggested that it should be submitted to an
international conference that hostile ships should hail each other
before opening fire, and quoted instances from frigate actions during
the Napoleonic wars. But he did not suggest a way whereby a destroyer
on a dark night that was about to loose a torpedo at an enemy's ship
a mile away, or a submarine stealing beneath the waves with a like
purpose, could carry out the order.
It was also found that the use of wireless was not an unmitigated
blessing, for what with deliberately false reports sent by tramp
steamers--paid by Juan Cervillo for the purpose--the panic-stricken
messages from some nervous skipper, and the practical jokes of not a
few amateur operators, the search for the _Independencia_ was
hindered more than furthered, till the cruisers patrolling the
liners' route had good cause to heartily malign the name of wireless
telegraphy.
Day after day passed, and though columns in the daily papers were
devoted to the all-important topic, the pirate-cruiser seemed to have
mysteriously disappeared off the face of the waters.