THE SECOND OFFICER RETURNS.
Captain Restronguet remained in his cabin till nearly ten o'clock, then,
going into an adjoining dressing-room, he changed into his "duty
clothes," donned a thick coat and india-rubber boots, and made his way
for'ard to the diving-room in the fore compartment.
Here the men had unshipped the collapsible boat, but as yet it had not
been unfolded.
"Are you going to bring her to the surface, sir?" asked Polglaze, seeing
that his captain was in his great coat.
"Yes, I have decided to do so," replied Captain Restronguet. "Bring the
boat under the upper hatchway, Lancarrow, and you, Gwennap, I want you
to lay out a kedge up stream. See that the flukes engage in the
rubble-work in the base of the centre-pier of the bridge, and run out
another kedge aft."
Lancarrow and Gwennap promptly donned their diving suits and entered the
"water-lock," taking with them the anchors and a length of stout Manila
rope. Twenty minutes later they returned, the water dripping from their
glistening garb.
"All correct, sir," reported Lancarrow, as soon as his headdress was
removed. "Nothing short of the rope parting will set us adrift, and
there's precious little tide running now. I took good care to ram the
fluke of the kedges well home."
"What is it like up above--dark?"
"I went up to have a look round, sir," announced Gwennap. "It is a
pitch-dark night, the stars are in, and there's hardly a breath of
wind."
"Good!" exclaimed Captain Restronguet approvingly. "Pass the word to
Mr. Devoran to bring the vessel awash."
The water in two of the buoyancy tanks was quickly expelled, and
majestically the huge submerged hull rose from the bed of the river,
till with her deck just a few inches above the surface she fretted
gently at her mooring-rope.
Being immediately below the massive pier of the Tubular Bridge there was
no danger of a passing vessel--should one be under way at that
hour--colliding with the "Aphrodite"; while owing to the darkness and
the light-absorbing powers of her hull she was absolutely invisible at a
boat's length off.
Rapidly yet silently the hatch on deck was unfastened and slid back.
The collapsible boat, weighing less than sixty pounds, was passed
through, extended, and kept in position by means of stretchers.
Carclew and Gwennap tossed the oars into the frail craft, and holding
the painter launched her over the side.
"Ready, sir," whispered the latter.
Captain Restronguet immediately came on deck and stepped agilely into
the boat; the bowman pushed off, the oars dipped, and the canvas
cockleshell darted in the direction of Coombe Bay, a tidal indentation
just south of the town of Saltash.
"Thank goodness it is a fairly black night," muttered Captain
Restronguet. Beyond the pontoon lights at Saltash, the signal lamps of
the railway, and the riding lights of a few vessels lying at the buoys
on the west side of the river, all was in darkness. To gain the
entrance to Coombe Bay it was necessary to pass between two cruisers,
whose anchor lamps glimmered fitfully, throwing scintillating
reflections on the placid water.
"Boat ahoy!" challenged the look-out on the nearest vessel.
The captain of the "Aphrodite" was equal to the occasion.
"Passing!" he roared, using the shibboleth laid down in the Naval
Regulations for this contingency.
This reply apparently satisfied the look-out, and without further
interruption the canvas boat drew into the shallow waters of Coombe Bay.
Fortunately the tide was nearly at the full, and still rising, and hence
no danger of being stranded on the mud was likely to occur.
"Easy, men," cautioned Captain Restronguet, as the gaunt outlines of the
railway bridge spanning the creek loomed up against the darkness. Then,
"Lay on your oars."
Gradually losing way the boat drifted on till it grounded on the shingle
hard at the foot of the bridge. The boat's crew listened intently;
beyond the distant rumble of a belated train, and the faint hoot of a
liner's syren away out in the Sound, all was still.
Ten minutes passed. Captain Restronguet knitted his brows in
perplexity.
"There's some one, sir," whispered Gwennap, as the cautious scrunching
of a man's boots upon the shingle could be faintly heard. Then a dark
figure appeared out of the night.
"Is that you, Kenwyn?" demanded the Captain in a low voice.
"Ay, ay, sir."
"Then jump in; I thought you had missed us."
"Couldn't get here any sooner, sir," said the man apologetically. "I
was stopped and questioned by a patrol as I came down from the station.
There are launches up and down the river, I am told, looking for us."
"The deuce there are!" exclaimed Captain Restronguet; then in a calmer
tone he added, "We must risk it. Perhaps it is my fault; but I don't
think they'll look for the 'Aphrodite' so close to the bridge. Give
way, men."
On gaining the main stream, greatly to the relief of all in the boat, no
red and green lights of patrolling launches were to be seen. Boldly
Captain Restronguet steered across the bows of the cruiser that had
hailed him on the outward trip. To lurk inshore would be courting
suspicion.
"Boat ahoy!" came the hail from the lookout.
Captain Restronguet replied as before, but this time the look-out was
not satisfied.
"What boat is that?" he shouted.
"Customs!" roared the captain with a lucky inspiration.
Muttering a malediction on all custom-house officials, especially on
those in this particular boat, the seaman resumed his walk up and down
the fo'c'sle deck. He remembered a certain half a pound of tobacco that
had got him into trouble with His Majesty's Customs, and the incident
still rankled in his manly bosom.
Without further interruption the boat ran alongside the deck of the
"Aphrodite." Her crew jumped aboard the parent vessel, hauled the
collapsible on deck and folded it.
"Look sharp, sir!" exclaimed Gwennap. "There's a steam-boat bearing
right down upon us."
There was no time to be lost. Hastily the folded boat was dropped
through the hatchway, her crew quickly followed and the hatch was
reclosed. One touch and the emergency chambers were flooded, and the
submarine began to sink to the bed of the river. It was a close thing
for the picquet boat. Had she been a quarter of a minute earlier they
would have stove her bows in against the massive plating of the elusive
vessel. As it was she passed over the after-conning-tower with less than
half a fathom of water to spare, utterly ignorant of the narrow escape
she had had.
"Welcome home once more, Kenwyn!" said Mr. Devoran cordially, extending
his hand, which the new arrival gripped like a vice and shook like a
pump-handle.
Had the chief officer of Southsea Coast Guard Station, or P.C. 445 of
the A Division of the Borough of Portsmouth Police been present at this
reunion, they would have had no difficulty in recognizing Mr. Kenwyn as
the quiet and very retiring unknown who had landed under most unusual
circumstances on Southsea Beach.
"I had to abandon my diving-suit, sir," explained Kenwyn, who served on
board the submarine in the capacity of second officer.
"That I have already learnt from Press reports," replied Captain
Restronguet. "And I was glad to know that you took particular pains to
get rid of the air reservoir. That did the authorities nicely; they are
welcome to the dress, and if they can analyse the metal it is composed
of they are also at liberty to make use of the secret. It has not been
patented. But how came you to get out of your bearings, Kenwyn? I
notice you had to concoct a cock and bull yarn about walking from the
beach at Gosport."
"I never tell a lie, sir, under any conditions. As a matter of fact,
after I left the 'Aphrodite' I did go ashore at Gosport, somewhere
behind a yacht yard. No one saw me. I then tried to cross to the
Portsmouth side of the harbour to try and recover the submarine welding
tool that Carnon, you may remember, dropped when we examined the
entrance to No. 5 Shipbuilding Slip. Before I realized it the ebb tide
caught me, and I was whisked off down the harbour at a rate of at least
seven knots. As soon as I felt the current slacken I took compass
bearings and came ashore, and the rest you know."
"You have, of course, heard that we have a naval officer on board?"
"Heard? Rather. The papers are full of it, sir, and every one is
talking about it. At Exeter Station and again at Millbay, on my journey
down, it was the sole topic of conversation on the platform."
"And how does the Great British Public like it?"
"In a general sense they are thankful it is no worse, so to speak. It
is recognized that you are a power that cannot lightly be ignored, and
your magnanimity (that is the way they put it) has created quite a
favourable impression. Even in the House it was suggested that it would
be a master-stroke in world supremacy if you could be induced to hand
over the 'Aphrodite'----"
"Never!" declared Captain Restronguet vehemently, and bringing his fist
down heavily upon the table. "Never! They had their chance, but
foolishly threw it away. Now, gentlemen, it is nearly one o'clock. I,
for one, will be glad to have a few hours' rest," and with an
inclination of his head Captain Restronguet retired to his sleeping
quarters.