IN THE CONNING-TOWER.
For several minutes Arnold Hythe sat motionless, watching the
rapidly-changing objects that flitted across the inclined mirror.
Captain Restronguet made no attempt to distract his attention, but
standing with folded arms he watched with feelings of satisfaction the
effects of the spectacle upon the young officer's face.
"Wonderful!" exclaimed the sub at length.
"You think so, Mr. Hythe? Let me assure you that this view is nothing
to what I can show you. Suppose we take a stroll for'ard?"
The captain opened the door of his cabin.
"You will excuse me preceding you," he remarked apologetically. "We
will proceed to the fore conning-tower. Oh, yes, the 'Aphrodite' has
two. That accounts for the reports of the master of the 'Barberton
Castle,' that he sighted two submarines lying side by side. As a matter
of fact he saw the two conning-towers of the 'Aphrodite' against the
light, and influenced by the fact that he had hitherto seen submarines
with single conning-towers he was misled. Had he really seen two
submarines"--and here Captain Restronguet's features darkened
ominously--"he would have witnessed a catastrophe to one of them. But
of that I will say more later. Suppose we look into this compartment on
our way for'ard."
Hythe's guide rolled back a sliding-hatch that communicated with the
men's quarters--a fairly spacious room on the starboard side amidships.
To the sub's surprise he saw O'Shaunessey.
"Holy St. Pathrick!" ejaculated the seaman, almost forgetting in his
excitement to salute. "Faith! sorr, how came you in this shebeen? Sure,
I thought 'twas meself only as these rascally foreign spalpeens 'ad
taken."
"They collared me too, O'Shaunessey," answered Hythe.
"Bad cess to them!" continued the gigantic Irishman, shaking his fist in
the direction of half a dozen almost as powerfully built men who were
imperturbably regarding their captive. "They tackled me with some
insthrument, an' I couldn't raise me hand in self defence. They must
have known that I could never stand being tickled, the ign'rant
foreigners."
"Why foreigners, O'Shaunessey?" asked the sub, while Captain Restronguet
gave a low chuckle.
"Ain't they foreigners, bedad? I prached to 'em like the blessed St.
Pathrick held forth to the sarpints, an' all they did was to shake their
heads."
"There is no necessity to keep up this pretence any longer, men,"
exclaimed Captain Restronguet. "This sailor must be treated as one of
yourselves for the time being. You might reassure him, Mr. Hythe, for
in spite of our electric treatment he seems inclined to be troublesome,
and a good deal of damage might be done if we have to use strong
measures."
"Look here, O'Shaunessey," said the sub, "we must make the best of our
present position. This gentleman, Captain Restronguet, will doubtless
put us ashore in good time," and with a swift look that the sailor
rightly interpreted that he must keep his weather eye lifting, Hythe
followed the captain out of the compartment.
"This is the for'ard double bulkhead," explained Captain Restronguet, as
the pair came to the doors that Hythe had previously noticed. "The
'Aphrodite' is built in three separate sections, any of which can, in a
case of emergency, be detached from the remaining portion and still
remain watertight. The midship sections at the two principal bulkheads
are identical. Thus if the centre compartment should happen to be holed
the fore and after sections can be detached, brought together, and
secured. We would then still be a submarine of two-thirds the length of
the present one. In the foremost section are the offensive appliances,
subsidiary motors, and certain stores. The midship portion forms the
living space for the crew, main store rooms, etc.; the after section
contains the officers' cabins, and underneath them the main propelling
machinery. In each section is a diving-chamber capable of being flooded
in order to allow the crew to leave the vessel when occasions arise.
The exit in the midship section is on Number Two Platform; in the others
it is on Number Three."
"Sounds like a railway station," thought Hythe; then--
"What do you mean by platforms?" he asked.
"You might prefer to call them decks, Mr. Hythe. Number One is
literally on deck, and extends practically the whole length and breadth
of the vessel. Her sections are, as you doubtless have observed, almost
square, the ridges of the deck and the bilges being very slightly
rounded off. This gives plenty of space for the crew when running on
the surface, and also enables the 'Aphrodite' to rest on the bottom of
the sea without any perceptible list, unless, of course, the bed shelves
at all. Number Two Platform--but perhaps you are not interested?"
"Rather!" exclaimed the young officer eagerly.
"Well, then, Number Two Platform runs fore and aft at nine feet below
the overhead girders, so there is no necessity to have to stoop when in
any of the compartments or alley-ways. Number Three Platform rests on
the cross girders that are bolted to the keelson, and being airtight
form a hollow bottom. As a matter of fact these double bottom
compartments are nearly always filled with water, which can be ejected
by powerful, quick-delivery force pumps when necessary. Here is the
door in the base of the for'ard conning-tower."
Unfastening the door by a cam-action lever Captain Restronguet agilely
negotiated the narrow way and sprang up a steel ladder. Hythe followed
and found himself standing on a metal grating in the company of the
captain and a quarter-master. The latter took no notice of his
superiors beyond moving a little to one side; his whole attention was
fixed upon the task of steering the submerged craft.
The interior of the conning-tower was literally lined with electrical
appliances, each switch distinctly marked according to the work it had
to perform, but for the moment the sub paid scant heed to them. His
eyes travelled in the direction of one of three large oval scuttles
filled with plate glass.
The submersion indicator pointed to thirty-four feet, a depth that
allowed the "Aphrodite" to pass under the keel of the deepest draughted
battleship afloat, with five feet to spare. The compass pointed due
east.
"We are just pottering about, as it were, between the Draystone and the
Mewstone," announced Captain Restronguet. "The depth here averages ten
fathoms, which gives us a margin of five feet under our keel. There is
a battleship coming out of harbour, she is now in Smeaton Pass, and we
are waiting for her to draw clear. On a falling tide we must take no
risks."
"What do you mean?" asked Hythe.
"Simply that as soon as the vessel is outside the Breakwater I mean to
take the 'Aphrodite' into the Hamoaze, and give you a chance to see that
historic stretch of water under slightly different conditions from that
which you have been accustomed to, Mr. Hythe. You were in the submarine
service, I believe?"
"Yes," assented the sub. "But how do you know that?"
"Merely by a reference to the Navy List. But look ahead; see that
object dead in line with our bows?"
"An electro-contact mine, by Jove!" exclaimed Hythe.
"Right again. Since the beginning of this German war-scare, which I
venture to predict will pass away, unless my powers of reasoning play me
false, the approaches to all British ports of any magnitude, especially
the naval ones, have been strewn with these contrivances. Watch."
A slight touch on the switch controlling the helm and the "Aphrodite"
swung away to starboard, clearing the deadly mine by less than twenty
feet. Another loomed up ahead, only to be avoided by another touch of
the helmsman's finger.
"I do not want to boast," remarked Captain Restronguet, "but I have
enough electrical energy stored within this vessel to explode
simultaneously every mine, be it a mechanical, observation, or
electro-contact one, in Plymouth Sound, and even seriously imperil every
fort and ship in the vicinity. Some day I may have to put the powers at
my command to a stern test, but until the necessity actually arises I
prefer to exploit the 'Aphrodite' solely as an example of what I am
capable of producing in the interests of science. Look out of that
scuttle on your left; what do you see?"
"A regular pile of huge stones," replied the sub.
"The eastern extremity of that wonderful work known as Plymouth
Breakwater. We are now in only forty-five feet of water allowing for
the state of the tide. The top of our conning-towers are but fifteen
feet above the surface, yet I can assert with confidence that anyone
standing on Staddon Heights and looking down upon this channel from an
altitude of not less than three hundred and fifty feet would not see the
faintest sign of the 'Aphrodite.'"
"What causes her to be almost invisible?" asked Hythe. "Are her plates
made of or faced with glass?"
"Oh, no. Glass would not serve the purpose. The light would be
reflected too much. In fact the 'Aphrodite' would be a huge heliograph,
sending out rays of reflected sunlight in all directions. The
composition placed over the steel plating of this submarine is a secret.
All I can say at present is that it has the power to reflect the image
of near objects only. It absorbs all brilliant rays of light, and is in
consequence an almost perfect form of invisibility."
"What is that?" asked Hythe excitedly, pointing to a sudden turmoil in
the water ahead.
"Only the action of the triple propellers of a torpedo-boat-destroyer.
We are overhauling her. Ease down to ten knots, Carnon. She's off
through the Asia Pass. There's not enough water for us; so let her come
round to starboard."
The quartermaster telegraphed for speed to be reduced; the submarine
turned towards the deeper Smeaton Pass, leaving the destroyer, in
blissful ignorance of the proximity of the much-searched-for Captain
Restronguet, to take the short cut into the Hamoaze.
"Now we can take things more easily," observed the captain after awhile.
"The channel is now ninety feet deep, although we are but a few hundred
yards from Plymouth Hoe. We are now approaching the Drake Channel,
between the Victualling Yard and Drake's Island."
"However do you contrive to find your way about in a complicated
waterway like this?" asked the sub, who was well acquainted with the
above water navigation of that part of Plymouth Sound within the
Breakwater. "You have no periscope?"
"A periscope would soon give the show away," observed his companion.
"For the present, we simply rely upon the chart and compass, and look
out for the sudden shelving of the bottom. See, there! Hard a
starboard, quartermaster: there's the Vanguard Bank dead ahead."
From almost due south the "lubber's line" in the compass-bowl pointed to
almost due north. The "Aphrodite" had reached the "Narrows" between the
Devil's Point and Cremyll.
At a word from Captain Restronguet the quartermaster set the engine room
telegraph indicator to stop; another movement, a gentle hiss betokened
the admittance of water into one of the sub-compartments of the vessel.
Then slowly and mysteriously the "Aphrodite" sank in twenty-two fathoms
of water to the bed of the narrow channel.
At that depth, and owing to the swift-running tide, charged with the mud
brought down by the River Tamar, the water was so thick that, till the
electric lamps were switched on, the submarine was in total darkness.
"Prepare to anchor," ordered Captain Restronguet through a telephone.
"Good!" he ejaculated, after about a minute had elapsed. "Now, Mr.
Hythe, you must be feeling hungry; so will you do me the honour of
having lunch in my cabin?"