CAPTURED.
At 4 a.m. the "Investigator" arrived off the eastern arm of Plymouth
Breakwater, whence she signalled to Devonport Dockyard the news of her
arrival. The lights of the "Mudlark" were soon afterwards observed as
she threaded her way through the tortuous passage between Drake's Island
and the mainland, and in company the two vessels bore away in the
direction of Penlee Point.
Officers and crew were in a state of suppressed excitement. If Captain
Restronguet were a man of his word, as he evidently was, his capture
seemed certain, for the waters of Cawsand Bay were admirably suited to
the arrangements which Captain Tarfag had made for his great coup.
By dawn the vicinity of the bay presented a scene of animation. The
cliffs between the village of Cawsand and Penlee Tower were black with
people. Thousands of the good folk of the Three Towns had crossed over
to Cremyll and thence, mostly on foot--for the number of vehicles
available was quite inadequate--had tramped the hilly road across Maker
Heights. Kept at a respectful distance by a strong patrol of
picquet-boats were hundreds of crafts of all sizes, from the frail
pleasure skiff to the weatherly fishing-smacks and the local ferry
steamers. Beyond these lay several battleships and cruisers whose
presence had not yet been required in the North Sea; and since they were
of an older type, with masts and unprotected decks, they were literally
covered with human beings.
A better place to effect the capture of the submarine could hardly be
found, for the depth shelved gradually from twenty feet close inshore to
forty along a line joining the extremities of Penlee and Picklecombe
Points.
The after-decks of the two surveying vessels were buried beneath piles
of nets composed of three-inch tarred rope intermeshed with flexible
steel wire. These could be "paid-out" with considerable rapidity, and
being buoyed and weighted would sink automatically till their upper edge
was ten feet below the surface and their lower edge the same distance
from the bottom. Both vessels were to start simultaneously from the
western extremity of the Breakwater and head for Penlee and Picklecombe
Points respectively, where strong parties of seamen were ready to haul
the ends of the nets ashore.
At half-past five Captain Tarfag gave the order to commence paying out
the obstructions, and at a steady six knots the "Investigator" steamed
ahead, her consort, being a slower vessel, having to take the shorter
distance--that between the Breakwater and Picklecombe. Precisely at
five minutes to six the shoreward ends of the nets were secured.
"If Captain Restronguet keeps his promise he is already safe in the
net!" exclaimed Lieutenant Egmont. "You see, there is nothing to
prevent him from giving his signal at the appointed time. There are no
vessels in the bay, and no aircraft overhead."
"It will be a nasty shock to those craft if he fires a rocket over their
heads," remarked Arnold Hythe, indicating the crowd of small vessels
that, in spite of the picquet-boats, were continually edging nearer and
nearer in the desire of their occupants to see more of the promised
"fun." "But what is going to happen when we trap the submarine?"
"Oh, Captain Tarfag and I have already settled about that," replied the
navigating lieutenant confidentially. "As soon as we are certain that
the submarine is in the bay parties of men ashore will drag in the nets,
till the craft is either stranded or her propellers are hopelessly
entangled in the rope and wire strands. But stand by! It's close on
six."
A hush fell on the assembled multitudes. Every face was turned in the
direction of the tranquil bay, where, save for a slight ground-swell,
the water was unruffled.
The crowds were not kept waiting. Punctually to the minute, at less
than four hundred yards from shore and almost abreast of the little
village that gives the bay its name, a green and white flag, hanging
limply from a staff by reason of the saturated state of the bunting,
rose above the surface. Then urged by some unseen power the flag-staff
ripped its way through the water, throwing the spray in silvery
cascades. Then it described a circle of less than a hundred yards in
diameter, then as abruptly as it appeared the emblem of the mysterious
Captain Restronguet vanished beneath the surface.
"We've got him, by Jove!" shouted Captain Tarfag.
Four blasts in rapid succession from the "Investigator's" syren was the
signal for the men ashore to haul away.
Slowly the ponderous line of netting was dragged through the water.
Fortunately there was little or no tide and hardly any floating weed to
render the task more difficult than it might otherwise have been;
nevertheless it required an hour's hard work ere the enclosed space
marked by the line of buoys appreciably diminished.
All the while signals from the "Investigator" were being exchanged with
the look-out tower on Penlee Point. Again and again came the
disquieting news "No sign of submarine."
"Surely in fifty feet, with a clear sandy bottom, those fellows up there
ought to detect the craft!" exclaimed Lieutenant Egmont impatiently.
"I failed to see it at ten yards, although I admit the water was awfully
muddy," said the sub.
"But what if she's given us the slip?" continued the navigating
lieutenant. "Look, man; in another half an hour the bight of the net
will come ashore."
"A lot may happen in half an hour," replied Hythe. "Unless she uses an
explosive to clear a passage we have her safe enough, and I do not think
that Captain Restronguet will resort to extreme measures, judging how he
has already behaved in British waters."
"What I want to know is how Captain Tarfag proposes to take possession
of her, when she is held up in the nets. He told me he had a plan,
which we are now carrying out, but not a word more on the subject would
he say, so, of course, I couldn't offer any suggestions."
"It is nearly high-water springs," observed the sub. "That means that
we could get her sufficiently high for the falling tide to leave her
stranded. Hulloa! What's that?"
A sudden commotion at less than a cable's length on the "Investigator's"
starboard bow showed that some large moving object had been held up in
the stout meshes of the net. Myriads of air-bubbles rose to the
surface, causing a considerable patch of broken water on the otherwise
smooth sea. A light-draught picquet boat, with two heavy grapnels made
ready to lower, dashed over the submerged net. The iron hooks fell with
a dull splash.
"Holding, sir!" shouted the midshipman in charge of the picquet-boat.
"Good! Belay there!" replied Captain Tarfag. "Drop the second grapnel,
and I will send a boat to bring the rope aboard."
The working parties ashore desisted in their efforts. All the power at
their command could not bring the nets home another fathom. Held by the
submarine, that in turn was tenaciously anchored to the bottom of the
bay, they absolutely refused to be hauled in. A sounding gave a depth
of seven and a half fathoms.
"Mr. Hythe," shouted the captain.
The sub took the bridge-ladder at top speed, and saluting, awaited his
chief's orders.
"Oh, Mr. Hythe," continued the latter. "I want to send a couple of men
down to report on the position of the submarine. If she's anchored, get
them to find out in which direction her cable leads and we can then
creep for it. Also I want to ascertain whether it be possible to lower
the bight of a chain under her bow and stern. If that can be done I'll
signal to the Dockyard for a couple of lighters, and we'll lift the
craft with the rising tide and take her straight into the Hamoaze. But
mind, Mr. Hythe, I wish it to be distinctly understood that volunteers
only are required for this service."
"I should like to descend, sir."
"You! Why I thought, by Jove, you had enough of it on the last occasion
you encountered the submarine, judging by all accounts. But of course,
I should be glad to accept your offer. Take two men with you."
The sub again saluted, and on gaining the quarter deck ordered the
bo's'un's mate to pipe away the diving-party.
Of the qualified divers every man-jack expressed his desire, as
vehemently as the presence of the officers permitted, to go down. Hythe
would have much preferred to have taken Moy and Banks, who at his
request had been transferred from the "flagship, but favouritism he
strongly set his face against.
"Numbers one and two front rank men, fall out."
Number one was a tall, broad-shouldered Irishman named O'Shaunessey, a
man who still retained the Wexford brogue. Number two was a dapper
little Cockney, Price by name, who had the distinction of holding the
Navy record for deep-sea diving.
"Look here, Price," said the sub, "I'm going down too; but I want you to
clearly understand what to do. I will try to locate the Submarine, and
see if there is any possibility of raising it by means of a grapnel.
You I want to get as close to the bows as you can without much chance of
being seen and report by telephone what forefoot she has, if any, and if
there's any chance of slinging her at that end. O'Shaunessey, I want
you to examine the after-end, and find out what overhang she has; also
whether her propellers are foul of anything."
"Hurry up, there!" ordered Captain Tarfag. He was naturally anxious that
his prey should not escape him, for, although the strain on the picquet
boat's grapnel-line was maintained, the bubbles no longer rose from the
enmeshed submarine.
Hythe was the first to descend, from a boat lowered from the
"Investigator." The conditions beneath the surface were far more
favourable than on the occasion of his descent at Spithead, for the
bottom was of firm white sand, and the tidal current was barely a
quarter of a knot.
Ere he had traversed fifty yards an ill-defined mass loomed up ahead of
him. It was the submarine, exaggerated out of all proportion by the
refractive properties of the water.
With rapidly beating heart the sub continued to advance. Suddenly he
saw a figure in diver's dress approaching. He stopped. The stranger
stopped too.
"I'll wait for Price and O'Shaunessey," thought Hythe, and still keeping
his face towards the unknown diver he laboriously retraced his steps. As
he did so the stranger did likewise.
"I wonder----" thought the sub, and raising his right arm he saw the
unknown diver simultaneously raise his left. Hythe was confronted by a
magnified reflection of himself. The sides of the submarine were made
of a mirror-like substance.
Keeping a respectful distance from the submerged craft Hythe walked
towards, but parallel to, the bows. Presently he became aware that he
was passing under the lowermost edge of the net, that, with elongated
meshes, was stretched tightly across the upper portion of the stem of
the submarine.
Since nothing had attempted to molest him, Hythe's sense of confidence
rose.
"No, they wouldn't dare play the fool now," he reasoned. "There's no
escape for them, and they will make the best of a bad job by
surrendering at discretion as soon as the lighters sling her clear of
the bottom. I wonder where her cable is?"
No signs of the submarine's anchor and chain were visible. There were
hawse-pipes--two on the starboard bow and one on the port bow, but in
none of them was a stockless anchor, or indeed one of any description.
The hawsepipes were partly concealed by the nets, but the meshes were
sufficiently distended to make the sub certain on that point.
Keeping his eyes fixed upon the ground Hythe walked on, thinking that,
from the position of the vessel, he would eventually stumble over an
anchor and chain lying half-buried in the sand. At length he came to the
limit of his life-line, his search unrewarded.
"That's completely stumped me--middle wicket, by Jove!" he muttered. "A
looking-glass submarine fixed as tight as a limpet to the sand, and not
an anchor to be seen! All in good time, I suppose. When we get her
into Plymouth we'll find out all we want to learn soon enough."
With that he turned and began to make his way round the submarine once
more.
"Oh, there's O'Shaunessey!" he said to himself, as a huge helmeted
figure came shambling along through the semi-transparent water. "I
wonder what---- Great Scott!"
Arnold Hythe came to an abrupt stop. The diver approaching him was not
O'Shaunessey. The Irishman's helmet was provided with an air-tube, and a
life-line encircled his chest; this fellow had neither. He was one of
the crew of Captain Restronguet's submarine.
The sub was not devoid of personal courage. The sight of the strange
diver advancing in his direction aroused all the bull-dog fighting
instinct in him.
"All right, my fine fellow!" he muttered. "I'll see if I can't tackle
you."
Unhesitatingly he advanced towards the stranger. The latter, pausing a
brief instant, held up one hand as if warning off his rival, but seeing
that Hythe was intent upon grappling with him he stood on his guard.
The sub had no compunction. Although he could not under present
circumstances summon the man to surrender in the King's name, he
realized that, by virtues of the special Act of Parliament, he was
authorized to summarily arrest any member of Captain Restronguet's
command.
The next instant the two divers were locked in a close embrace, Hythe
endeavouring to bring the man's arms to his sides, while at the same
time he shouted through the telephone for his comrades in the boat to
haul him to the surface. The unknown struggled desperately, striving to
pass one heavily-leaded boot behind the sub's ankle. For ten seconds
they grappled in the eerie depths of the sea, then Hythe found himself
being dragged along the sandy bottom. His signal to be hauled up was
being answered, and the steady strain on the life-line told him that
unless anything unforeseen occurred another minute would find him and
his captive at the surface.
On and on, over the yielding sand the two men were dragged, for the long
scope of rope prevented an immediate upward ascent. Suddenly the
unknown diver wrenched one hand free. He drew his knife, the blade
glinted dully in the pale green light, and with a steady motion severed
the life-line.
"Great heavens! He'll sever my air-tube next," thought the sub, but,
apparently content with the advantage already scored, the fellow dropped
his knife and tightened his grasp upon his antagonist.
"Blow me up!" gasped Hythe through the telephone, but although the men
at the air-pumps redoubled their exertions the extra pressure of air
escaped through the valve in the young officer's helmet, since he was
unable to close it.
"I am attacked. Tell O'Shaunessey and Price to come to my assistance,"
exclaimed the sub. In spite of his powerful physique he was not even
holding his own. He had bitten off more than he could chew.
During the struggle the sand churned up by the feet of the wrestlers
rose till it was almost impossible to see more than a few feet away.
Several times Hythe gave a hasty glance to see if his men were coming to
his aid--but no.
Four grotesquely-attired figures appeared through the sand-blurred
water. With a feeling of dismay the sub realized that he was hopelessly
outnumbered. Since he had taken the initiative in provoking the contest
he knew that he must expect to accept the consequences; yet he
determined to resist as long as his strength of body and mind remained.
Powerful hands grasped him by the arms and legs. He was overthrown and
lifted into a horizontal position. Even then he kicked out strongly
till his captors, having good cause to fear his leaden-soled boots,
desisted in their efforts to secure his legs.
A loud buzzing--the hiss of escaping air--told him that the worst was at
hand. The minions of Captain Restronguet were unscrewing the union of
his air-tube.