RAMMING AN ICEBERG
UNSEEN, the _Independencia_ crossed athwart the great Atlantic
highway without incident. No liner, or even a tramp, fell into her
clutches, and for forty-eight hours after witnessing from afar the
encounter betwixt the British and French cruisers, she pursued her
way without let or hindrance, with ne'er a vessel to chase or to be
chased by.
At length she approached the southern limit of Arctic ice, where the
cold current from off the west coast of Greenland, bringing down with
it the mighty output of inexhaustible glaciers, meets the warmer
waters of the Atlantic. Here it was that the pirate-cruiser ran into
a belt of fog, so dense that from the fore-bridge the fo'c'sle
appeared to terminate at the foremost turret, while the temperature
was so low that the moisture-laden atmosphere froze and hung from all
parts of the masts and deck like gigantic stalactites.
Speed was reduced to seven and a half knots, and for the time being
the keenest look-out was kept by the unacclimatised seamen. But, as
Fielding had surmised, the numbing cold made their energies dormant,
and before many hours had passed the majority of the pirates were
perfectly indifferent to the dangers that threatened them.
As far as the chart showed, the _Independencia_ was in open water,
and well out of the track of steamers plying between Canada and Great
Britain, and as the hours slowly passed without anything untoward
happening, Cervillo, anxious to get clear of the fog-bank, ordered
speed to be increased to twelve knots. The sooner he drew clear of
the blinding atmosphere of frozen mist the better it would be.
Not one of the look-outs noticed a large "growler," or mass of almost
submerged ice, which the cruiser passed at a distance of less than
fifty feet to starboard; not one of them heard the breaking of the
vessel's "wash" upon the fringe of the ice-field. Blindly unconscious
to their danger the pirates drove ahead with the primary object of
getting out of the fog as soon as possible.
Suddenly one of the look-out men stationed right in the bows gave
vent to a shriek of horror, rather than a shout of warning. Looming
distortedly through the fog, its summit lost in the murk, was a huge
iceberg, already on the point of capsizing. Vicious little waves,
caused by the rocking of the mass of unstable ice, lapped the visible
base of the floating mountain. A practised seaman would have known by
the agitation of the hitherto calm water and by the sudden drop in
the temperature that an iceberg was nigh, and would have taken
precautions accordingly; but the warning passed unheeded, and the
_Independencia_ crashed bows on upon the rampart of ice.
The impact threw nearly everyone on board. For a few seconds all were
quiet, stunned by the calamity; then pandemonium broke loose.
Yelling, shouting, and crying, the pirates rushed for the boats,
their officers leading the way. There was no one to give orders to
the engine-room, and the propellers were still driving ahead, pushing
the shattered bows of the cruiser deeper into the fissure caused by
the impact in the side of the berg. Those of the engineers and
stokers who had been not rendered insensible by the concussion
deserted their post, rushed on deck, and, heedless of the sudden
change from the heated engine-room and stokeholds to the freezing,
fog-laden air, joined their comrades in their mad skelter for the
boats.
Even in their frenzy the pirates were cowed by the angry waters that
were visible to their limited range of vision. Between the sides of
the cruiser and the gulf of ice into which she had thrown herself was
a vast cauldron of surging foam mingled with masses of ice that had
slipped from the dizzy heights above. No boat could live in such a
sea; it would either be swamped or crushed betwixt the heavy lumps of
ice that, rising and falling, outrivalled the dreaded Scylla and
Charybdis a thousand-fold.
[Illustration: THE PIRATES RUSHED FOR THE BOATS.
[_Page_172.
]
The shock of the collision threw Fielding and his companions
violently against the fore-bulkhead of their cabin; but, beyond a few
bruises, no one sustained any injury.
The sub. realised what was amiss as soon as any of them.
"They've run her full tilt into an iceberg," he exclaimed.
The gravity of the situation required immediate action, for the
confused shouts on deck mingled with the crushing of the ice and the
turmoil of the agitated waters naturally led the prisoners to
conclude that the cruiser was doomed.
"We're like rats in a trap," exclaimed Fielding. "Now what's to be
done?"
"Get out," replied Cardyke promptly, "We can blow off the lock."
Seizing his revolver the mid. made his way to the door, when Oki laid
a detaining hand upon his shoulder.
"No sink yet," said he. "P'r'aps pirates abandon ship. Then we take
her. Wait; we can so easy get out when we want."
"Yes, Cardyke, it's folly to go on deck with a terrified mob like
that," agreed the sub. "The five of us couldn't do much. I'll tell
you what I will do." And levelling his revolver, Fielding sent a shot
through the stout partition separating the cabin from the one in
which the hostages of _L'Égalité_ were kept, taking good care to fire
high enough not to harm the inmates. Amidst the deafening roar and
confusion without, the sharp crack of the pistol passed unnoticed.
"Ahoy!" shouted Fielding through the hole. "We're prisoners on board
this vessel like yourselves. We're English. I believe there is a
citizen of the United States here?"
"Three, sonny," replied a man, with a typical Yankee twang. "I was
lashed up beside you, I guess, when the skipper of this hooker threw
dust into the eyes of the Yew Hess Hess _Denver_."
"Not alongside of me," replied the sub. "You were next to my brother
officer, Mr. Cardyke. But that's neither here nor there. We're going
to burst open the doors of the cabins. We've half-a-dozen firearms.
How many men are there with you?"
"Nine," replied the American. "And a durned sight more in the next
one."
"We ought to be able to make a show on deck. Those fellows are off
their heads already. It won't take much to get the upper hand of
them."
"Bully for you," replied the other. "Guess we'll do our whack."
"Stand by, then," said Fielding, warningly.
Before he could cross the limited space of the cabin there was a
deafening crash, like the simultaneous discharge of a battleship's 14
in. guns. The _Independencia_ rolled till Fielding and his companions
found themselves lying wedged in between the angle formed by the
sloping floor and the longitudinal bulkhead. There they lay, pinned
down by the scanty furniture that had been thrown bodily across the
room. Cardyke's fingers closed involuntarily upon the revolver he was
holding, and the heavy weapon went off, sending a bullet against the
steel deck beam, while the blast singed Hokosuka's hair. All the
while the vessel remained in this position there was a sickening
grinding noise, caused by the huge fabric sliding over the ice. Then
came another tremendous crash. The cruiser, hurled thirty feet above
the water by the capsizing berg, had toppled over the ledge. Down she
plunged, like a toy boat dropped from a height into a pool of water.
Then, dipping obliquely, she plunged beneath the agitated sea till
the waves reached the base of her after-funnel.
"Great heavens--she's going!" gasped Cardyke.
For some minutes it seemed as if the vessel were making her last
plunge. On all sides arose shouts and cries of terror, as the
imprisoned men, struggling in the semi-gloom, sought to regain their
footing. Then, like a sorely stricken whale the _Independencia's_
submerged upper works rose above the surface, water and fragments of
ice pouring over her decks. There she lay, wallowing heavily in the
trough of a furious sea. Her still revolving propellers made her
gather way, but her course carried her clear of the berg she had
previously rammed, and, unguided, she tore once more through the fog.
Her escape from total destruction was indeed providential. When she
rammed the mountainous mass of ice the berg was on the point of
toppling over. The engines driving ahead kept her from slipping
backwards off the long, shelving ledge that projected three hundred
yards from the base of the visible part of the berg. The impact
hastened the toppling process until the submerged ledge touched the
cruiser's keel. The retention was only temporary; the vessel, till
her water-line was several feet above the sea, acted as a gigantic
lever, till the shelf of ice, already weakened by the fracture, broke
off, causing the _Independencia_ to slide, and then plunge back into
the sea. Released of the retarding mass, the main portion of the berg
toppled over, fortunately away from the ship, otherwise the huge
vessel would have been literally buried beneath a mountain of
steel-like ice.
Directly the _Independencia_ regained an even keel Fielding and his
companions struggled to their feet.
"She's afloat," gasped the sub. "Come along, there's no time to lose.
We'll rush the rascals while they're off their heads."
Crash!--went the young officer's revolver. The lock was shattered,
and the door flew open. Fielding and his companions gained the
passage betwixt the cabin on the half-deck. The place was deserted.
Even the sentries on the prisoners' quarters had left their posts.
"Stand clear of the door!" shouted Fielding to the occupants of the
next cabin. And, having given them time to carry out his request, the
sub. sent a shot through the lock.
While Cardyke was serving out the spare revolvers and ammunition to
the released hostages of _L'Égalité_, Fielding liberated the
occupants of the adjoining cabin--the remainder of the prisoners
taken from the French liner and the _Yosen Maru_. A fourth cabin was
found to contain the officers of the Dutch tugs that had been
scuttled when the _Impregnable_ was seized. Abaft of that, and
separating it from the captain's quarters, was another cabin, which,
though containing no prisoners, was found to be used as a small-arms
store. In five minutes the little band of adventurers were armed and
ready for the desperate venture.
'Tween decks the fog was so thick, that from one end of the passage
the armoured bulkhead of the foremost end was invisible. Fielding
knew that the only means of communicating with the quarter-deck was
by the foremost and steerage ladders. The transverse bulkhead, one of
several extending from the upper deck to the double bottoms, was
unprovided with doors, so that, for instance, it was impossible to go
from the bow to the stern of the ship 'tween decks without having to
ascend to the upper deck. During her commission as a unit of the
British Navy the cruiser had been provided with lifts to save the
inconvenience of having to pass up and down so many ladders; but
these lifts were out of order, and had not been repaired by her
unlawful owners.
Marshalling his forces into some semblance of order, Fielding led
them to the foot of the foremost ladder. The hatchway was closed and
securely battened down. Twenty men would have been powerless to burst
open the massive steel covering. The after ladder was similarly
secured. The surprise attack was a failure.
"Now what's to be done?" asked the midshipman.
Fielding did not reply. He was busy racking his brains over the new
conditions of the problem he had to tackle.
"Sit tight, sonny," replied the American. "I've been in a few tough
sets-to in my time; but take the word of Hiram B. Rutter--that's
me--that you can't beat sitting tight."
"That's it," assented Fielding. "We must sit tight. Luckily we're in
comfortable quarters; the captain's cabin, as well as those of the
other officers, are at our disposal, and I think we have access to
the after bread-room, so we won't exactly starve. But they're calming
down, I fancy. They'll be a bit surprised when they find we are in
possession of the after part of the ship. Look here, Mr. Rutter,
would you mind taking these men with you, and keeping your eyes on
the after ladder? I'll watch this one pretty carefully. Directly they
open the hatches wide fire a volley and rush on deck. Be sharp;
they're coming!"