The Admiral's Promise
"By the by," remarked Alwyn to the skipper of the _Titania_ just
before the former turned in, "do you happen to have a White Ensign on
board?"
"By Jove, no," replied Swayne, somewhat astonished at the unusual
request. "I'm not one to risk chucking away five hundred of the best
for unlawfully flying colours to which I am not entitled, my pippin."
"I don't suppose you would be fined--in the circumstances to which
I'm going to refer," said Burgoyne earnestly. "It's quite possible
that we may fall in with the _Malfilio_. She's away cruising, and she
may be well south of the Line. The Pacific's wide, I know, and the
probability of running up against her is small; but strange things
happen at sea. She's got the speed of you by at least six knots."
"Well?"
"Then you'll have to bluff her," continued Burgoyne. "She'll fight
shy of a White Ensign, even if flown from a mud-hopper, although she
hasn't hesitated to use it herself.... If you had wireless----"
"We haven't," said Swayne. "Didn't have any use for it."
"Perhaps it's as well," agreed Alwyn. "But let me advise you to get a
White Ensign made up in case of emergency."
"Right-o, I will," replied Swayne. "We've a spare Red Ensign. It
won't be much of a job to work in white bunting where necessary. I'll
put a couple of hands on that at once. I don't fancy Miss Vivian
borrowed both sewing-machines; but I do know she took one into the
cabin and yards of white duck and drill."
At one bell in the forenoon watch a vessel was sighted broad on the
starboard beam, and shaping a converging course towards the
_Titania_.
"What do you make of her, George?" inquired Swayne.
Burgoyne had already brought his binoculars--formerly the property of
the late Black Strogoff and possibly that of an honest man before the
pirate lieutenant acquired them--to bear upon the stranger.
"Make of her?" he repeated softly. "There's not much doubt about it.
That vessel is the _Malfilio_."
"But the third funnel?" demurred Mostyn.
"A fake," replied Burgoyne promptly. "I'd keep your dusky crew out of
sight, Swayne, if I were you; and the sooner we run up the White
Ensign the better."
Swayne was no coward--far from it--but he felt decidedly
uncomfortable. It is one thing to face a Hun when your vessel is
armed; another to attempt to bluff a pirate when your armament
consists merely of one or two shot-guns, a couple of rifles, and a
few automatics, and the pirate was able to back up his argument with
six-inch quick-firers. To make matters worse the _Titania_ carried
20,000 pounds worth of silver in her hold, the result of ten months'
hard and dangerous toil under the sea, and it would be very hard
lines if the fruit of her labours was simply snapped up by Ramon
Porfirio and his gang of freebooters.
Remembering Burgoyne's warning of the great disparity in speed
between the two vessels, Swayne resisted the impulse to put the helm
hard over and show his heels to the cruiser.
"Right-o," he assented. "Up with the Ensign."
The impromptu emblem of the Royal Navy fluttered out bravely.
Anxiously the crew of the _Titania_ awaited developments. For some
minutes the _Malfilio_ held on. She was flying no flag. Possibly it
had been her intention of hoisting the White Ensign, too; but the
appearance of a similar flag on the little white craft rather upset
Porfirio's calculations.
"By Jove! if we only had wireless," sighed Mostyn. "Wouldn't we have
a game with him, calling up imaginary battle-cruisers and all that
sort of thing."
A minute or so later the _Malfilio_ hoisted the Rising Sun--the
ensign of Japan, and still closing made the International Signal,
"What ship is that?"
"Port helm a point, please," said Burgoyne; "we'll get within
semaphore distance and then we'll puzzle him a bit."
The _Titania_ rapidly closed her distance, for the _Malfilio_ had
slowed down and was doing about eight or nine knots. This manoeuvre
undoubtedly perplexed Ramon Porfirio. Although he could have blown
the former craft clean out of water, he had a wholesome respect for
men-of-war of any description.
Burgoyne balanced himself on the weather stanchion-rails. There was
no chance of the pirates recognizing the clean-shaven man as being
one of the officers of the _Donibristle_.
Waving the two hand-flags Alwyn spelt out the following message:
"H.M.A.S. _Titania_. We are escorting submarine flotilla carrying out
quarterly torpedo exercise. Please keep clear. Other vessels of the
squadron are also exercising in vicinity. Caution necessary
especially at night."
Ramon Porfirio swallowed the fable. The word "submarine" scared him
stiff, and he had not the faintest desire to run up against any of
the powerful cruisers of the Royal Australian Navy.
Thrice the Japanese Ensign was dipped on board the _Malfilio_, a
compliment that Swayne reluctantly returned. Then turning eight
points to starboard the pirate cruiser made off at full speed.
"Burgoyne, dear old thing!" exclaimed Swayne exuberantly, "you've
more than earned your passage. But for you we should have been
properly in the _consommé_. Well, I hope I've seen the last of that
blighter."
"I won't reciprocate your wish," rejoined Alwyn. "In fact I rather
want to meet her again on a strictly business footing. I think we can
now tell Miss Vivian that she is at liberty to come on deck."
Hilda was delighted to learn that another serious danger had been
averted.
"How did you manage it?" she asked.
"Better inquire of this merchant, Miss Vivian," replied Swayne
indicating Burgoyne, who turned a dusky red and shuffled his feet.
"The _Malfilio_ sheered off. That's the long and short of it, Miss
Vivian," he replied gruffly, in a vain attempt to deprecate his share
of the affair.
The rest of the run down to Sydney passed almost without incident.
Fine weather favoured the _Titania_ until she made her landfall at
Moreton Island, off the extreme south-east corner of Queensland. From
there right down to Sydney she bore the brunt of a stiff easterly
gale, and all hands were glad when the little craft passed between
The Heads into the land-locked Port Jackson.
"Now we are in civilization once more, Miss Vivian," remarked
Burgoyne, as the _Titania_ approached the wharf where she was to be
berthed. "You have no friends in Sydney, I suppose?"
Hilda shook her head.
"Then," continued Alwyn briskly, "you are still under my charge. I
must be responsible for you until I hand you over to your father. As
a matter of fact I've an uncle and aunt living at Balmain, just over
there, and they'll make you welcome."
The girl had resumed feminine attire for the first time on board when
the _Titania_ "made her number" to the Outer North Head Lighthouse.
For several days she had been most industrious, spending hours in her
cabin with a sewing-machine for company. The result of her labours
was a neat, well-fitting coat and skirt of plain workmanship and a
shady hat to match.
"You seem to take your guardianship for granted, Mr. Burgoyne," she
remarked with mock severity, although in her heart she admired the
masterful way in which he had gone about things.
"Precisely," he rejoined. "Having had the responsibility of looking
after you for so long, I am not going to throw up my trusteeship at
this juncture, Miss Vivian. I mean to see this business through, and
until I can report to Captain Blair and Colonel Vivian that I have
done my duty you must consider yourself as--as--what shall I say?--a
piece of merchandise of great value. You understand?"
"Yes," replied the girl. "We'll leave it at that, Mr. Burgoyne."
As soon as the _Titania_ was moored. Burgoyne and Mostyn took Hilda
ashore after she had said farewell to the good-natured Swayne,
Fontayne, and O'Loghlin. Mr. and Mrs. Dalrymple Burgoyne readily
consented to have Miss Vivian with them until the Colonel came to
claim her, and this arrangement being satisfactorily transacted,
Alwyn and Peter bade Hilda good-bye promising, if possible, to be
back within a month or six weeks.
"Now, old son," remarked Burgoyne, as the two officers made their way
back to the _Titania_, "we've business to attend to. You and I must
try and wangle a place in the operations against our friend Porfirio.
It'll take some doing. Pukka naval officers don't take kindly to
outsiders when there's a job on. They'll probably try and get us to
give all the information we can, and then tell us to stop still and
be good boys while they go out and mop up the pirates. I rather fancy
Swayne and the others want a look-in, too."
That was precisely what the part-owners of the _Titania_ wanted,
although they were not sanguine about it. Finally it was decided that
the five should go in a body to the Senior Naval Officer, report the
fact that the _Donibristle_, _Kittiwake_, and _Alvarado_ were not
lost at sea but were captured by pirates, and request that the five
ex-officers be employed during the operations necessary for the
destruction of the pirates.
That same afternoon they secured an interview with the Senior Naval
Officer. The Admiral heard Burgoyne's startling statement without a
sign that betrayed his surprise. In his mind he was sceptical. He had
a suspicion that his visitors were skylarking young Australians
"trying to pull his leg". Neither Alwyn nor Peter could produce
documentary evidence proving what they claimed to be--officers of the
Mercantile Marine belonging to the lost S.S. _Donibristle_.
Spreading out a chart of the North Pacific the Admiral questioned
Burgoyne at some length. Alwyn's answers, prompt and to the point,
carried conviction, and the naval officer had to admit that the
existence and deeds of Ramon Porfirio formed one of the most
surprising pieces of information that he had heard in the whole
course of his career.
When Burgoyne came to that part of the story in which a vessel
arrived off the island and displayed her searchlights the Admiral
inquired:
"How long ago was that?"
Alwyn told him. The Admiral rang a bell and one of the officers on
his staff appeared.
"Bring me the docket containing the report of Captain Consett, of the
U.S.S. _Yosemite_, please," he said.
In a few minutes the document was forthcoming. The time given by
Burgoyne and the Captain of the American cruiser exactly tallied,
while there was a further similarity between the description of the
island as recorded by the written reports and by Burgoyne, except
that the former had not discovered the existence of life on the
island.
"There's one thing," remarked the Admiral, "we have the exact
position of this island. You say it is fortified? Can you let me have
a rough plan of the anchorage, the approaches, and the batteries?"
Burgoyne complied. The Admiral looked at the drawing carefully and
critically.
"You're a bit of a cartographer, I see," he remarked. "Where did you
learn that?"
"At Osborne and Dartmouth, sir," replied Alwyn. "I was one of the
'redundant' officers, withdrawing with a gratuity in 1920. Since then
I have been in the Mercantile Marine."
Three hours passed before the deputation withdrew. Its members were
in high feather. The Admiral had given his word that the five should
be temporarily engaged for special duties with the Australian
squadron ordered to the North Pacific.
At 8 p.m. orders were issued for two light cruisers, a seaplane
carrier, and three destroyers to proceed under sealed orders at noon
on the following day.