Under Hatches
"That's done it," ejaculated Burgoyne under his breath. "Why that ass
Branscombe hadn't put Miss Vivian with the deck-hands passes my
comprehension. She'll be separated from her father straight away."
He was furious but impotent. He pictured Hilda ordered below into the
hot, steam-laden, dusty stokehold, imprisoned in an iron box, in
which only hardened firemen could endure the discomforts, especially
in latitudes approaching the tropics. He wondered whether Colonel
Vivian would break the bonds of restraint and jeopardize the lives of
all the passengers, or whether Hilda would give way under the
parting, which might or might not be permanent.
The fact that Alwyn was now senior executive officer complicated
matters. He was responsible for the safety of passengers and crew as
far as lay in his power, and he was under the impression that
Branscombe's ill-advised step reflected upon his own judgment and
discretion. And Hilda Vivian's presence on board promised to lead to
endless difficulties and additional dangers before the prisoners were
rescued. As these thoughts passed rapidly through his mind Burgoyne
watched Miss Vivian from a distance. She no doubt clearly understood
the pirate lieutenant's order, even if the words were somewhat
ambiguous; but the girl gave no sign or look to indicate her
thoughts. She had dropped quite naturally into the stand-at-ease pose
of her companions, all of whom were ready, if needs be, to give their
lives to shield her from harm.
"After all," soliloquized Alwyn, "there'll be Angus and Withers to
keep an eye on her. And there's less chance of the old _Donibristle_
being sunk than the pirate, if a British or Yankee cruiser should
appear."
There was a decided uncertainty about that "if". British cruisers
were comparatively rare birds in that part of the North Pacific, and
Uncle Sam was content to keep his cruisers within easy distance of
the American seaboard, except on rare occasions when events in the
Philippines or Hawaii required their presence. As for merchant
vessels, they kept rigidly to the recognized routes. Sailing craft
had perforce to wander from the narrow path, otherwise there were
wide stretches of the Pacific where the blue seas were hardly ever
disturbed by a ship's cutwater.
The _Donibristle_, when overhauled by the _Malfilio_, was on the
recognized Vancouver-Honolulu route. She had cut and was well to the
south'ard of the steamer track between 'Frisco and Yokohama, and
still at some distance north-west of the converging track between
'Frisco and Honolulu. During the pursuit she had been forced some
miles out of her course, so that any slight hope of being rescued by
a chance war-ship was rendered still more remote.
Pablo Henriques signalled imperiously to Alwyn to put his orders into
execution.
"Carry on, Mr. Withers," said Burgoyne, without a trace of emotion,
although he felt like springing at the throat of the pirate
lieutenant. "Get the firemen--both watches--below."
The men broke ranks and disappeared from view. With them went Hilda,
descending the almost vertical slippery steel ladder without the
faintest hesitation.
"You will lower boats," ordered Henriques.
"But," protested Burgoyne, pointing to the shattered and bullet-holed
assortment of woodwork in the davits, "it is useless. They wouldn't
keep us afloat a minute."
The pirate lieutenant shrugged his shoulders.
"That has noddin' to do with me," he remarked callously. "If dey no
float you swim. It not far."
"That's one way of making us walk the plank, I suppose," thought
Alwyn; then, without betraying his mistrust, ordered the boats to be
swung out.
"We can make some of them seaworthy, lads," he added. "It's not far.
Those boats that can keep afloat will have to make two trips. The
passengers will go in No. 1 lifeboat. She's the safest I think."
As the seamen moved off to carry out the order, Colonel Vivian turned
to the erstwhile Third Officer.
"Is there no chance of my remaining on board?" he asked hurriedly.
"You see, my daughter--and my wife, lying dead below----"
"Miss Vivian will be safe enough, I think," replied Burgoyne. "That
is provided her secret is kept. I quite understand your anxiety about
Mrs. Vivian. Why not ask to be allowed to remain?"
Colonel Vivian limped away to make the request. It was humiliating
for a British army officer to have to ask a favour of a rascally
half-caste pirate, but the thought of having to abandon the body of
his wife to be unceremoniously thrown overboard by this horde of
coloured ruffians made him put aside his scruples.
"No," replied Henriques. "De order is all leave de ship. But I gif
you fife minutes to perform de burial of de lady."
And so, setting to work rapidly yet reverently, Burgoyne, the purser,
and the steward assisted the bereaved colonel to commit the remains
to the deep. Under the watchful eyes of a couple of pirates, lest
articles or documents of value should be disposed of at the same
time, the corpse was swathed in a spare awning, lashed up, and
weighted with a length of chain. The steward produced a Prayer Book
and handed it to the temporary skipper. Burgoyne, noting that a bare
ninety seconds remained, read a few portions of the burial service,
then, with every man of the _Donibristle's_ crew within sight
knocking off work and standing bareheaded, the mortal remains of Mrs.
Vivian were committed to the deep.
"Perhaps," thought Alwyn, as he turned away, "perhaps it was as well
that Miss Vivian did go below. There are limits even to the endurance
of human nature."
The voice of the pirate lieutenant bawling out orders in broken
English attracted Burgoyne's attention. A signal had just been
received from the _Malfilio_ countermanding the previous order, and
instructing Henriques to send the prisoners below and get under way.
So the boats were swung in again and secured.
By the time that this work was completed, and before the British
deck-hands and officers could be sent below, a faint buzzing that
momentarily increased caused all hands to look skywards. Approaching
the _Malfilio_ at a high speed was a small seaplane. At first
Burgoyne and many of his comrades thought that it was a naval scout,
and that deliverance was at hand; but the fact that no hostile
demonstration was made on the pirate cruiser quickly banished this
hope.
The seaplane was winding in a wireless aerial as she circled round
the _Malfilio_. Without the slightest doubt it was by this means that
the _Malfilio_ had been placed in touch with her prey. The fuselage
was dumpy and the monoplane spare and small, and by the corrugations
of the wings Burgoyne rightly concluded that they were of metal. She
was of an earlier type with a single motor of comparatively low power
--but quite sufficient to enable her to be a valuable adjunct to the
pirate cruiser.
The "winding-in" completed, the seaplane alighted on the surface and
"taxi-ed" alongside the _Malfilio_. A derrick swung outwards from the
cruiser, and a steel wire rope was deftly shackled to the eyebolt of
a "gravity band" round the fuselage. Even as the machine rose from
the water, dangling at the end of a wire rope, her wings swung back
and folded themselves against the body, and in this compact form the
aerial scout vanished from sight behind the _Malfilio's_
superstructure.
This much Burgoyne saw before he was compelled to follow the
remaining officers and deck-hands, including the Cockney who had been
told to stand by the whistle lanyard, and who, during the operation
of swinging in the boats, had seen his officer's signal for recall.
Once 'tween decks, the men were herded for'ard and locked up in the
forepeak, an armed pirate being stationed on the hatchway. The
remnant of officers and the passengers were ordered aft, and secured
in the steerage, where they found Captain Blair, Mostyn, and the
other wounded. There were four cabins at their disposal, the whole
separated from the rest of the ship by a transverse bulkhead in which
was a single sliding door. Outside this a sentry was posted, while,
as an additional precaution, that for some reason was not taken in
the case of the men, four villainous-looking Orientals, armed to the
teeth, were stationed with the prisoners. The dead-lights were
screwed into the scuttles, and the captives warned that any attempt
at tampering with them would be punishable with death; and, since the
electric light had failed, the steerage was dimly illuminated by half
a dozen oil-lamps.
The door had not been locked more than a couple of minutes before the
prisoners heard the thresh of the twin propellers. The S.S.
_Donibristle_ under her new masters was steaming ahead, under greatly
reduced speed, in the wake of the pirate cruiser _Malfilio_--but
whither?
The reaction of the excitement and peril of the last few hours now
set in, and a state of lethargy took possession of most of the
prisoners. The hot, confined, ill-ventilated space, the reek of
iodoform pervading everything, and a sheer hunger and fatigue all
combined to suppress any desire for conversation. For some hours the
silence was broken only by the moans of the wounded and the clank of
the freshwater pump, as the parched men quenched their burning thirst
with frequent and copious draughts, while constantly their Chinese
guards, with their expressionless yellow faces and slanting eyes,
paced to and fro, like sinister demons from another world.
Hour after hour passed. Darkness succeeded daylight. At intervals the
guards were changed, and at about nine o'clock a negro brought in a
small sack of ship's biscuits.
About midnight Miles attempted to start a conversation by grumbling
to Tarrant about the bad methods of the Mercantile Marine, and the
British Columbian and Chinese Line in particular, in allowing ships
to leave port in a defenceless condition. Tarrant promptly "shut him
up", amidst a murmur of applause from the men in the vicinity, for
the drummer's anxiety for his own safety, and disregard of the plight
of his companions, had not failed to be noticed.
"That's the way to deal with him, Mr. Tarrant," remarked Alwyn.
"We've quite enough to put up with without having to listen to the
yapping and whining of a spiritless fellow like that."
"Yes, it's deucedly unfortunate," said Tarrant, "but so far we
haven't been badly treated."
"No," agreed Burgoyne, "we haven't. They've spared our lives,
although that rather puzzles me. One would have thought that, being
pirates, they would emulate the Hun and do the '_spurlos versenkt_'
stunt. Piracy is a hanging matter, and having gone thus far it's a
wonder they didn't go the whole hog. However, they haven't and I
don't think they will now."
"I always thought that there was no such thing as piracy nowadays,"
remarked the purser, "at least only in a small way in the China
seas."
"Then you'll have to revise your ideas, Holmes," rejoined Burgoyne.
"It came as a shock to all of us. One of the aftermaths of the Great
War, I suppose, and the very audacity of it brings temporary--let us
hope--success. This game can't last long. Once the world gets wind of
it there'll be British, Yankee, and Jap light cruisers and destroyers
on the _Malfilio's_ heels, and she'll be rounded up in double quick
time."
"I wonder where they are taking us," said Tarrant.
"That I can't say," replied Alwyn. "But, if it's any information to
you, I can inform you that we've been steaming roughly nor'west for
the last six hours."
"How do you know that?" inquired Branscombe in astonishment. "Here we
are cooped up without a chance of seeing a single star, and yet----"
"I've a compass, laddie," replied Burgoyne. "A liquid pocket compass,
and I mean to stick to it as long as I jolly well can. Naturally, in
playing a billiard handicap, a fellow...."
He continued discoursing upon the irrelevant subject of billiards for
more than a minute, his companions expressing no surprise at the
sudden change of topic. It was not until the Chinese sentry had
passed and was out of earshot, that the former theme was resumed.
"That chap might understand English," observed Burgoyne. "Well, I can
also tell you this; if we hold on our course sufficiently long, we'll
fetch up on one of the Aleutian Islands, or else on the coast of
Kamtchatka."
"Give me something a little warmer," protested Tarrant. "There's
nothing like getting used----"
A voice, hoarse, masterful, and at the same time, slightly
incoherent, interrupted the conclave. Captain Blair was recovering
consciousness and making a considerable song about it.
"Mr. Angus," he shouted, "can't you whack her up a bit more? Three
knots if you burst. The cowardly skunks--women on board, and the
villains are shelling us. Mr. Angus, are you there?"
In a trice Burgoyne was by the Old Man's side, fearful lest he should
divulge the fact to the pirate that there had been more than one
woman on board.
"It's all right, sir," he said soothingly. "We've got the heels of
them."
"Eh?" exclaimed the skipper. "Who's that?"
"Burgoyne, sir."
"And we've given 'em the slip, eh? Yes, the firing's stopped right
enough. Where am I?"
"In good hands," replied Alwyn. "You've been knocked about a bit, but
Holmes and the steward have patched you up all right."
"Yes, I remember," rejoined Captain Blair. "I told you to carry on,
and everything's O.K.?"
Reassured on that point, the Old Man gave a long sigh, closed his
eyes, and sank into a sound slumber.
Towards morning Burgoyne noticed, by consulting his compass, that the
_Donibristle_ had altered her course and was steering due west.
"Kamtchatka's off," he announced, as Tarrant appeared munching a
biscuit. "They've altered course four points to the west'ard."
"And that means?" asked the Consular Service man. "That we make Japan
if we carry on as we are going," replied Alwyn.
"H'm; s' long as they land me within easy distance of my destination
I welcome the alteration," observed Tarrant. "But perhaps they're
making for a coral island or something of that sort. Are there any
hereabouts?"
"Evidently they mean to give Hawaii a wide berth," said Burgoyne.
"After that there are only a few small islands--the Ocean Islands
they're called. I've never been there, because they lie to the
nor'ard of our regular track and a good way south of the Yokohama-San
Francisco route."
"Uninhabited?"
Burgoyne shook his head.
"I've told you all I know," he asserted. "It isn't much. But we'll
find out in due course, I expect."
Shortly afterwards the bulkhead door was unlocked, and Withers was
unceremoniously shown in.
"What's for brekker?" he asked. "I'm ravenous."
"Ship's biscuit and lukewarm water, old son," replied Branscombe.
"What are you doing here?"
"The blighters are letting us work watch and watch," said the Second
Engineer, voraciously biting off chunks of the tough biscuit. "I've
had my stand-easy, and they sent me aft to get some grub before I'm
on again. Angus will be here in another quarter of an hour."
"And the men?" asked Burgoyne "How are they standing it?"
"Fine, everything considered," replied Withers "Even though they are
being fed on rice as if they were Chinks." He glanced at the Chinese
guards. They were bunched together close to the bulkhead door,
resuming an interrupted game of cards. "And Miss Vivian is just
splendid," he continued lowering his voice. "We rigged her up a sort
of caboose under one of the intake ventilators. She told Angus that
she'd slept well, but she couldn't tackle rice and cold water, so I'm
going to fill my pockets with biscuits for her. No objections, I
hope?"
"Do the pirates worry you much?" asked Branscombe.
"Directly--no; indirectly--yes," was the reply. "They don't post
guards in the engine-room, which is a blessing; but they are
continually calling for more revolutions. Perhaps they imagine we're
a South American republic--how's that for a joke, Branscombe?"
"Feeble," was the reply, "but get on with it."
"There's nothing much to get on with," continued the Second Engineer.
"There was a talk of tinkering with the high-pressure slide-valves
and stopping the engines, only Angus said that, if the _Donibristle_
did break down, the cruiser would doubtless remove the prize crew and
send her to the bottom--and us as well. So that didn't come off. But,
I say, who's eating chocolate?"
"No one," replied Alwyn.
"You're wrong, old son," he replied presently, "or perhaps I ought to
say 'Mr. Burgoyne' now? Fact remains, I smell chocolate. The air's
stiff with it."
"Hanged if I can whiff it," exclaimed Alwyn. "Iodoform, yes, but not
chocolate."
For answer the Second Engineer grasped Burgoyne's arm and led him
across the compartment. With a sense of smell almost as acute as that
of a dog, he led Alwyn to a dark corner formed by the angle of one of
the cabin bulkheads with the ship's side. There, seated on an
upturned bucket, was Miles--and there was no doubt now as to the reek
of chocolate. Filled with indignation at the gross selfishness of the
drummer, Burgoyne held out his hand.
"I'll trouble you to hand over what's left," he said curtly.
But Miles was not going to surrender his spoils without protest.
"Say, what for?" he asked. "If I took the precaution to lay in a
stock, that is my affair."
Burgoyne with difficulty restrained his temper.
"At once," he exclaimed sternly. Having been trained from his early
youth to manage men, he was not going to stand any nonsense from a
coward.
The passenger gasped but complied. Burgoyne found himself possessed
of a slab of chocolate weighing nearly a pound. The wretched fellow,
taking advantage of the fact that during the chase the steward's
pantry was unattended, had taken and concealed the toothsome stuff.
"Mr. Holmes!" sang out the Third Officer
The purser appeared.
"This is part of the ship's stores, is it not?" inquired Burgoyne.
Mr. Holmes replied in the affirmative, volunteering the additional
information that the chocolate was stamped with the company's
initials--a fact that in his haste the pilferer had overlooked.
"Right-o, Mr. Holmes," continued Alwyn. "That leaves me with a clear
conscience. Take charge of the stuff and issue it out in equal shares
to everyone aft. Keep back a share for Mr. Angus and the Third
Engineer when they arrive."
But when Withers returned to the engine-room his pockets were
bulging--not only with biscuits, but with small cubes of chocolate.
Spontaneously, and almost without exception, every temporary occupant
of the steerage had given up his share to Hilda Vivian.