CAST UPON THE SHORE.
Forty-eight hours later found the Holland XI. out in the Pacific Ocean,
on her way to the Golden Gate.
The death of Pargloss and the capture of his confederate had put a
damper on other plans to tamper with the Central American Canal, and no
trouble was experienced in finishing the journey.
Arriving in San Francisco, Oscar was much surprised to receive what was
little short of an ovation by the citizens.
All had heard of the wonderful work done by the new Holland and all
wished to see the craft, her young commander and her brave crew.
But time was precious and the submarine boat remained in San Francisco
Bay but a few hours.
A cablegram had come from the Far East, that the Hawaiian Islands were
to be attacked and that the enemy wanted to use Honolulu as a base of
supplies.
At that time, Honolulu, the capital of the islands, had grown to be
a city of three hundred thousand inhabitants. Many of the people were
Americans and much of the money invested there had come from California.
The Holland was soon bound for Honolulu, and this made a run of nearly
ten days for the craft.
"Now we are getting into the territory of earthquakes," remarked Andy.
"I wonder what a strong under-water earthquake would do to us?"
"I don't think I would care to experience an earthquake," replied
Oscar. "We are having lively times enough fighting the enemy."
The run to the Hawaiian Islands was made without trouble of any kind,
excepting that the weather was hot and they had to come to the surface
of the ocean every night to get cooled off.
The harbor of Honolulu is an ideal one, situated behind a high series
of rocks called Diamond Head.
When the Holland came into view of Diamond Head, not a native vessel of
any sort was in sight.
"By Jove!" cried Oscar, suddenly. "Look!"
He pointed to the very top of Diamond Head.
From a tall flagpole situated there, floated a large flag of red,
black, yellow and blue.
It was the standard used by the Allies!
"The enemy have captured the Islands!" ejaculated Andy.
His words were true.
Just three days before the new Holland reached there, the fleet of
warships from Asiatic waters had arrived in front of Honolulu and
demanded an immediate and unconditional surrender.
The authorities would not surrender and the three American warships in
the harbor, along with the shore forts, had done their best to hold the
enemy at bay.
But it was a vastly unequal contest from the start, and before sundown,
the three American ships were annihilated, the forts reduced to ruins,
and the capital taken by main force.
For many years the Chinese had been very bitter against the Hawaiians,
for they had been thrown out of the island States after Hawaii was
annexed, and now when they came ashore from their warships they did
everything they dared to make it unpleasant for the inhabitants.
Had it not been for the Russians, every man, woman and child of
Hawaiian birth would have been butchered.
The majority of the foreign fleet had now sailed to capture other
seaports on the islands.
Eight big men-o'-war, however, lay close in Honolulu harbor, keeping
watch over the town.
Watching his chance that night, Oscar went ashore, and from several
Americans gained a full knowledge of what had occurred.
"We would still fight, were the outlook more hopeful," said one of the
Americans, a Custom House official.
"We will make it more hopeful," answered Oscar, grimly. "By morning not
many foreign warships will be seen in this harbor."
The young captain hurried back to the Holland and the submarine craft
immediately sank out of sight and came around Diamond Head into the
harbor. By the aid of a powerful glass they made out the location of
the enemy's ships with ease.
Then Oscar paid a long visit to the ammunition room and where a number
of torpedoes were adjusted, and also a number of dynamite and highite
bombs.
The foreign ships rode at anchor, so that the bombs and torpedoes could
be set off by means of a wire charged with electricity instead of the
time fuses.
"They shall all go up together," said the young captain. "It will be
the greatest blow-up of the age."
Again he sent word ashore, stating that all Americans must keep away
from the water front between the hours of seven and eight o'clock the
next morning.
At midnight the Holland began to move around the bottom of Honolulu
harbor, adjusting the torpedoes and bombs.
The bombs were concealed in seaweed and floated on top of the water,
close beside the ships they were to destroy.
By six o'clock in the morning every instrument of destruction was in
position, and all attached to the fatal electric wire.
Those on board of the Holland were exhausted by their work, yet nobody
thought of going to sleep.
An early breakfast was had and then the Holland ran out of the harbor
as far as the length of the electric wire permitted.
Watching the foreign ships, Captain Oscar saw the sailors stirring and
then heard the roll-calls sounding.
The warships were crowded with Chinese, Japanese and Russians.
These commanders had ordered fresh meat and vegetables to be brought
on board their vessels at half-past seven, and when no native lighters
came out with the things they grew very angry.
"We are not to be disobeyed!" stormed one Chinese commander. "If that
food is not forthcoming quickly, I will go ashore and fire the accursed
city."
Similar threats were made by the other commanders, and by quarter to
eight some of them prepared to leave their ships, to put their threats
into execution.
"We will let them get ashore," said Oscar to his companions. "They will
make good prisoners."
The foreign commanders went ashore with much pomp, and hurried to the
Custom House to see why their commands had not been obeyed.
Oscar had ordered that any foreigners ashore should be made prisoners,
yet as the warships still rode unmolested in the harbor, the Americans
at the Government Building knew not what to do.
If they made the commanders prisoners, and the plan of those on board
of the Holland failed, it would go bad with the city people.
But at ten minutes to eight came what appeared to be a terrific
earthquake.
There was a noise like a sharp crash of thunder, followed by broad
sheets of fire playing across Honolulu harbor, and then those at
a distance saw several of the foreign warships flying skyward and
townward, blown into atoms.
The air was filled with debris and the streets of Honolulu and the
housetops were covered with bits of wreckage. In some instances the
wreckage was on fire and produced other fires in the city, but these
were rapidly extinguished.
The native Hawaiian thought the end of the world had come and some of
the most superstitious of them ran hither and thither, shrieking in
terror.
The explosion shook the Custom House and broke some of the glass in the
windows.
"Ha! What does that mean?" demanded one of the Chinese officers, who
had come ashore.
"It means that your ship is blown up and that you are our prisoner!"
answered one of the Americans, and pointed a pistol squarely at his
head.
A wild scene followed, but the foreigners were outnumbered and soon
all eight of those who had come ashore were made prisoners, and cast
into one of the dungeons of the old fort. The sailors who had been left
in charge of the small boats at the dock were either killed by the
shock of the explosions, or shot down by sharpshooters stationed at a
distance.
The annihilation of many of the foreign warships was complete, and
when the wreckage and the smoke cleared away, nothing remained in the
harbor but several sunken hulks, the other ships having lost no time in
leaving. The lives of all on board the sunken ships were also destroyed.
Oscar came ashore at ten o'clock and the Americans nearly hugged the
young captain to death.
"You have saved us!" said one of the number. "That was the greatest
move I ever witnessed in my life!"
"Now we must watch for the return of the other warships," said the
young captain.
But he first wanted some more torpedoes. Fortunately these were close
at hand, for Honolulu was an American base of supplies for warships
sailing between San Francisco and the Philippines.
That afternoon found the Holland lying off shore about two miles from
the city.
It was rumored that seven other foreign ships were coming, but so far
they were still out of sight.
Suddenly a strange rumble rent the air, coming from the depths of the
sea.
The terrific explosion of the morning had loosened some rocks of the
reefs outside of the harbor and now followed a regular under-water
earthquake.
The disturbance was a violent one, and brought on a tidal wave which
arose to a height of fifteen feet.
"Hi, look!" screamed Andy to Oscar.
Both were on the deck of the Holland at the time, and before they could
go below the craft was caught by the tidal wave and carried rapidly
toward shore.
Over the beach swept the wave, carrying the Holland with it, a distance
of two hundred feet and more.
Then the wave went down almost as suddenly as it had arisen, and the
young captain found his submarine craft high and dry on the rocks,
three hundred feet from water deep enough to float her!
There was great confusion on board, and in the midst of this came
another alarm.
"The foreign warships are in sight! They have spotted us and are
running this way!"