A CHAMPION PASSES
Harris laid one of his revolvers on the deck, reached in his pocket and
produced the six of diamonds. He looked at it closely in the half
darkness and a smile passed over his face.
"I suppose I'm a fool," he muttered to himself, "but someway I couldn't
help it. I was afraid Jack would cut the low card. I wouldn't have done
it for one of the others, but Jack, well, he's a boy after my own
heart."
Harris replaced the card in his pocket; then thought better of his
action, drew it forth again and sent it spinning off across the sea.
"There," he said quietly, "goes all evidence that I cheated."
He picked up the revolver he had laid on the deck and moved a short
distance from the companionway.
There was an extra violent crash and it seemed that the door must burst
open.
"Another one like that will do the work," said Harris, calmly.
He took up what he considered a strategic position and produced his
watch. This he lay on the deck and sat down beside it.
"May as well be comfortable," he remarked.
Again there was a crash and the door of the companionway burst open. A
German head appeared.
"Crack!" Harris had fired without moving from his sitting posture.
The German head disappeared and there was a cry of alarm from below.
"One down, I guess," said Harris, quietly, to himself.
For some moments there was silence, broken occasionally, however, by
the dull sound of voices from below.
"Talking it over, eh?" muttered Harris. "Well, I'll still be here when
you try again."
It was perhaps fifteen minutes later that a cap appeared in the
opening. Again Harris fired. The cap did not disappear and Harris fired
twice more quickly.
The cap disappeared.
"Guess I got another one," said Harris.
Twice more within the next fifteen minutes this happened.
"That should be four, if I have counted correctly," said Harris; "and
I've still four cartridges left. I won't have to reload yet."
He felt in his pocket and then uttered an exclamation of alarm.
"No more bullets. I'll have to make these four count for the next two."
Nothing appeared in the doorway again for ten minutes more and then
Harris fired again. Fifteen minutes later the same thing happened and
Harris, making sure that this was the last of the enemy, emptied his
revolver at it.
Then he got to his feet and put his watch in his pocket.
"Guess that settles it," he said. "Now I'll look around for a boat. I
didn't know it was going to be as easy as all that. If I had I would
have had the others wait for me."
He moved toward the companionway, and as he did so, a bullet whistled
by his ear. Harris stepped back in surprise; and in that moment the
solution came to him.
"By Jove! They've fooled me," he muttered. "They poked their caps up
and I shot them full of holes. However, they don't know yet that I'm
out of bullets."
A few moments later a cap again appeared in the opening. Harris had no
bullets to fire at it.
"They'll discover my predicament in a moment or so, though," he told
himself.
He pulled his watch from his pocket and glanced at it.
"An hour," he said. "They have had time enough. However, I'll just see
the thing through."
As he spoke it grew light. Harris looked off across the sea. There, so
far away that it appeared but a speck upon the water, he saw what he
took to be the motor boat bearing his friends to safety. He waved his
cap.
"Good luck!" he said quietly.
Now a German head appeared in the door of the companionway. It was not
a cap this time. Harris saw it, and drawing back his arm, hurled one of
his revolvers swiftly. His aim was true and the weapon struck the
German squarely in the face. With a scream of pain the man fell back
into the arms of his companions.
But Harris' action had told his enemies that he had no more bullets,
and seeing that they had but one man to contend with, the Germans
sprang from their shelter and leaped for him.
Harris clubbed his remaining revolver, and with his back to the pilot
house, where he had retreated, awaited the approach of the four foes.
"You're going to have the fight of your lives," he said grimly.
A German sprang. Harris' arm rose and fell and there was one German
less to contend with. But before Harris could raise his arm again, the
other three had closed in upon him. Harris felt himself borne back.
The former pugilistic champion of the British navy cast all ring ethics
to the winds. He struck, kicked and clawed and sought to wreak what
damage he could upon his enemies without regard for the niceties of
fighting. He knew that they would do the same to him.
So great had been the force of the shock of the three Germans--all that
were now left of the original twelve--that Harris was borne to the
deck. His revolver hand struck the floor with great force and the
weapon was sent spinning from his grasp.
With a mighty effort, he hurled the three men from him and leaped to
his feet. The Germans also arose. Harris did not wait for them to
resume the offensive. With head lowered he charged.
Nimbly the foe skipped to either side and Harris felt a keen pain in
his right side. One of the foe had drawn a knife and stabbed as Harris
rushed by. Whirling quickly, Harris again sprang forward. One man did
not leap out of his way quickly enough, and Harris' hands found his
throat.
The man gave a screech as Harris' hands squeezed. The Englishman raised
his enemy bodily from the deck, flung him squarely in the faces of the
other two, and followed after the human catapult.
The foremost German dodged and seized Harris by the legs. Both went
over in a heap, Harris on top. Harris raised his right fist and would
have brought it down on the German's face but for the fact that the
second foe seized his arm in a fierce grasp. At the same moment he
struck with his knife.
The point penetrated Harris' right side and he felt himself growing
faint. Angrily, he shook the German from him and rose to his feet. The
man who had been underneath the Englishman also got quickly to his
feet, and before Harris could turn, stabbed him in the back.
With a cry, Harris whirled on him and seized the knife arm. He twisted
sharply. The German cried out in pain and sought to free himself. But
his effort was in vain.
With the grasp by the wrist, Harris swung the man in the air, and
spinning on his heel, hurled him far across the deck, where the
unconscious form struck with a crash; and at the same moment the other
German struck again with his knife.
Harris staggered back.
Now the German who so recently had felt the effect of Harris' fingers
in his throat, pulled himself from the deck and renewed the battle. He
advanced, crouching, and another knife gleamed in his hand.
It is possible that, had it not been for the effects of the knife
wounds, Harris, in the end, would have overcome these foes, for he was
a powerful man. But when a man is bleeding from half a dozen wounds and
faces two adversaries both armed with knives, he has little chance of
ultimate victory. Harris realized it; but he was not the man to beg for
mercy. Besides, so fierce had been his attacks and so great his
execution, it is not probable that the Germans would have spared him
anyhow. They were insane with rage.
There were only two of them left now; and Harris told himself that
their number would be fewer by one before they finished with him. He
leaned against the pilot house panting from his exertions.
"A great lot of fighters, you are," he taunted his enemies. "Four of
you attacked me with knives and you haven't done for me yet."
The Germans also were glad of a breathing spell. Their faces reddened
as Harris taunted them.
"We shall kill you yet," said one angrily.
"Don't be too sure," said Harris. "I'm an Englishman, you know, and you
have always been afraid of an Englishman."
At this the Germans uttered a cry of rage and sprang forward, their
knives flashing aloft.
The first German missed his mark as Harris dodged beneath his arm and
closed with him. He uttered a cry for help.
"That's right, you coward! You'll need it," said Harris.
He squeezed the man with all his might. Out of the tail of his eye he
caught the glint of the other German's knife as it descended. Releasing
his hold upon the one man, he stepped quickly backward. But the knife
caught him a glancing blow on the forehead, inflicting a deep wound.
For a moment Harris paused to shake the blood out of his eyes. Then,
with a smile playing across his features, he advanced; and as he
advanced he said:
"You've done for me, the lot of you. But I shall take you with me."
The Germans quailed at the look in his face; and as he moved forward
swiftly they threw down their knives and turned to run.
But they had delayed too long.
Harris stretched both hands out straight before him. One hand closed
about the arm of the German to his right. The other clutched the second
man by the throat. Harris pulled the man he held by the arm close; then
released his grip, but before the German could stagger away, seized
him, too, by the throat.
"Now I've got you," he said.
Blow after blow the Germans rained upon his face and shoulders, kicking
out with their feet the while. Harris paid no more attention to these
than he would have to the taps of a child.
But the Englishman felt his strength waning fast. It was with an effort
that he staggered across the deck. At the rail he paused for a moment,
gathering his strength for a final effort.
Then, still holding a German by the throat with each hand, he leaped
into the sea.
Once, twice, three times the three heads appeared on the surface and a
spectator could have seen that Harris retained his grip. Then the three
sank from sight.
And so passed the former pugilistic champion of the British fleet,
brave in death as he had been in life. The waves washed over the spot
where he had gone down.