BESET BY SOMALIS.
"Take cover!" ordered Captain Restronguet calmly. "Down below, every
man."
The order was promptly obeyed, for several of the leaden messengers were
flying perilously close, some impingeing upon the metal sides and
conning-towers, that offered a huge target.
"It is as well we afford those rascals something to fire at," he
continued, as he entered the fore conning-tower and closed the scuttles
on the starboard side. "Otherwise they would be firing into the rear of
the position on shore. Serve out the rifles, Mr. Devoran. We must
drive them off before we can attempt to land."
So saying the captain ordered full speed astern. For quite five minutes
the twin screws ran at their greatest rate, causing the hull to vibrate
and the sea to be discoloured with mud and sand churned up by the action
of the propellers. Then, with a rasping sound, the "Aphrodite" glided
off the bank and gained the slightly deeper water.
"Easy ahead!" This time the submarine was headed slightly to the left
of the spot where she had just stranded. Another dull shock told all on
board that once more she was held up, this time by her keel.
All the while bullets were flattening themselves against the submarine's
plating, but in spite of the danger Hythe thought of something which he
immediately put into action. Grasping the lead line he gained the upper
platform, ran forward and made a cast. The lead touched bottom at
twenty feet.
A bullet cut a gash through the sleeve of his coat, another grazed his
shoe, but grimly the sub stuck to his task. Gathering in the line he
made his way amidships and made another cast. Here the sounding gave ten
feet. He had learnt enough.
"We're nearly over the bar, sir," he exclaimed, as he rejoined his
companions in the fore conning-tower. "If we gave her full speed ahead
I think she would do it. We're in quite deep water as far aft as the
after conning-tower."
Without a word in reply Captain Restronguet telegraphed for full speed
ahead. With barely ten seconds' hesitation the "Aphrodite" slipped over
the bar and started off up the creek at a great speed till the motors
were reversed. Losing way she brought up abreast of the sorry defences
held by the shipwrecked crew.
"Here we are, then," exclaimed Captain Restronguet. "But how are we
going to get out again? However, that problem can wait. All ready, Mr.
Devoran?"
Under the fore hatchway every available man was waiting, armed with
automatic rifles. The field gun was dismounted, in order to facilitate
its transport ashore, tackles being in readiness to hoist it on deck.
Up the hatchway the men swarmed, and taking advantage of every bit of
cover afforded by the base of the conning-tower and other projections on
deck, opened a rapid, well-aimed fire upon the Somalis.
So intent were the Englishmen on shore with the work they had in hand
that hitherto they had not noticed the arrival of the "Aphrodite," but
with the rattle of musketry so close to where they stood they could not
fail to notice that help was at hand.
With a ringing cheer the shipwrecked men redoubled their fire, for
hitherto they had been compelled, except when it became necessary to
repel a rush, to husband their cartridge supply.
Soon the volleys from the submarine's deck became too much for the
liking of the Somalis. The accurate fire bowled dozens of them over like
rabbits, and the rest promptly bolted for the shelter of the sand-dunes,
whence they began to work round to join their forces with their brethren
on the other side of the creek, where the chances of sending a score of
unbelievers to perdition were considerably greater.
Turning the "Aphrodite's" bows towards the shore Captain Restronguet
ordered easy ahead till her forefoot grounded on the stiff clay soil
that formed the banks of the creek. Polglaze and Mylor immediately
jumped overboard, the water reaching almost to their chins, and walked
ashore, dragging the end of a three-inch rope. This they fastened to a
bolt passed through a hole in the forefoot of one of the stranded
vessel's boats, and the "Aphrodite" going astern pulled the ponderous
wooden craft down the beach into the water.
As soon as it was brought alongside the field gun was placed into it in
sections. The gun's crew, under Hythe's orders, followed, and the boat
was hauled ashore by Polglaze and Mylor, who had taken the precaution to
bend a rope to the painter.
Although lacking the dash that characterizes the British bluejacket, the
men of the "Aphrodite" ably supported their young commander; and Hythe
was surprised at the resolute bearing of the submarine's crew
immediately under his orders.
The moment the boat's keel touched the ground the brave fellows heaved
the heavy portion of the gun over the side and upon the beach. In
twenty-five seconds the wheels were placed upon the axles and the
lynch-pins thrust home. The gun, its muzzle protected against damage by
a piece of stout canvas, was raised in an almost vertical position by
means of ropes and levers, while the carriage was backed close to the
heavy steel cylinder. Then, with a crash, the gun was allowed to drop
into its proper place, and within a minute the quick-firer was
"assembled" and ready for action.
Up the soft, sloping sand dunes the men raised the gun, Hythe himself
staggering under the weight of a wooden case filled with projectiles.
Wheeling, the men brought the muzzle of the powerful weapon to bear upon
the foe, and the first of the belt of shells was placed within the
breech-block.
The "Aphrodite's" landing party were only just in time. Already the
Somalis, reinforced by those who had vainly attempted to stop the
approach of the submarine, were massing for a concentrated rush upon the
handful of men from the stranded merchant-vessel. Under a heavy fire of
Martini and other rifles--weapons discarded by various Governments and
sold by unscrupulous tenders to the fierce and lawless Equatorial
tribes--nearly two thousand spearmen were advancing stealthily, till, in
spite of a steady fire maintained by the British seamen, the attackers
were within two hundred yards. Here they paused, then giving vent to a
terrific roar of defiance, they broke into a headlong rush, brandishing
their broad-bladed spears and leather shields in order to demoralize the
unbelievers who had been rash enough to land on that inhospitable shore.
Hythe raised his hand. The gunner pressed home a small lever with his
thumb. The belt of projectiles in the capacious maw of the automatic
gun, grew shorter and shorter, while the steam from the water-jacket
soon outrivalled the haze from the smokeless powder.
It was no longer a fight: it was a massacre. The sub saw the Somalis
mown down as though with a scythe, till, unable in spite of their
fanatical bravery, to face the hail of death they fled, leaving the
ground thickly covered with dead and dying.
"Cease fire!" ordered Hythe; then, "Carry on. Search the bush away on
the right. There are hundreds of the enemy lurking there."
Round swept the muzzle of the gun; up went the sight to a thousand
yards. "Pop, pop, pop," went the sharp detonation of the quick-firer,
till half a dozen rounds had been fired. Then came an ominous silence.
"Carry on," repeated the sub in a loud voice. "I gave no orders to cease
firing."
"Can't help it, sir," replied Polglaze, who was sitting across the trail
and manipulating the firing-gear. "The blessed thing's jammed."
It was indeed fortunate that the mechanism had not gone wrong during the
attack, but the danger was not yet over. It was imperative that the
weapon should be rendered serviceable again before the rescued crew
could be taken off.
As soon as the Somalis withdrew beyond range the wearied men of the
stranded vessel hastened to greet their new-comer, while the master, a
short, broad-shouldered, rubicund-visaged old salt, briefly explained to
Hythe the circumstances under which the vessel went ashore.
It came as no surprise to the sub to learn that the ship--the
two-thousand ton Diesel engined tramp, "Iticaba"--had been chased by the
"Vorwartz." Scorning to surrender, the sturdy skipper served out rifles
and ordered his men to fire at the submarine as she rose to the surface
to hail the "Iticaba" to heave-to. The bullets had no more effect than
peas rattling on a corrugated iron roof, but Karl von Harburg lost no
time in retiring to the security of the conning-tower.
The chase was a long one, and although the "Vorwartz," fired three
torpedoes only one hit the mark, exploding under the "Iticaba's"
starboard quarter and destroying one of her twin propellers and buckling
the rudder, while the steel plating of the hull was fractured
sufficiently to cause the vessel to be in a sinking condition.
Still the old skipper stood doggedly on the bridge, refusing to
surrender. His one hope was to run the ship ashore in shoal water where
the submarine could not follow. Ordering every available pump to be
worked to its utmost capacity the "old man" still found the leak
gaining, and it was a question whether the "Iticaba" would or would not
founder in deep water.
Apparently the "Vorwartz" was unwilling to waste another torpedo on a
ship that was already doomed; and since her rascally crew could not hope
to gain any plunder from a foundering ship, the submarine sheered off
and made way to the south'ard. Unmolested the "Iticaba" managed to
reach the shore, and on striking was cast broadside on upon the
breakers.
Being unprovided with wireless, the stranded vessel could not call for
assistance; nevertheless the skipper, trusting that the sound might be
heard by passing ships, fired distress guns at the stipulated intervals.
Loath to abandon his command he still held hopes that with the aid of
another vessel and the rent of the hull temporarily patched up, the
"Iticaba" might even yet be towed off and brought safely into port.
But the heavy ground-swell soon knocked this idea out of the skipper's
head. Serious leaks, apart from those caused by the torpedo, appeared,
and in less than an hour from the time of stranding the forehold was
flooded. The first on-shore gale would complete the work of
destruction, and as there were indications of the approach of bad
weather, the skipper reluctantly decided, on he representations of his
chief officer, to give orders to abandon ship. Fortunately the
"Iticaba," broadside on, afforded a breakwater for the boats under her
lee, and after carefully provisioning and manning two whalers, a cutter
and a gig, the crew pulled for the shore.
It was the skipper's intention to camp ashore till the forecasted storm
had blown itself out, and then to coast southwards to Mombassa or
Zanzibar; but the plan was foredoomed to failure.
A keen-eyed Somali, hearing the report of the distress signals, had
ridden his fleet camel to the landward side of the sand dunes fronting
the shore. He could see that a ship was ashore, and that there was a
most excellent opportunity for his fellow-tribesmen to enjoy the
congenial task of massacring a handful of unbelievers and pillaging
their goods. He returned at full speed to the encampment, and soon
eighty swarthy Somalis were ready for the shore.
With seamen's true contempt for danger the crew of the "Iticaba" had
neglected to make any preparations for defence against hostile
tribesmen. They knew that they were cast ashore upon a district over
which the Italians exercised something less then a nominal sway, and
that the Somalis were noted for their excesses upon any strangers who
had the misfortune to fall into their hands. Yet they suffered
themselves to be surprised by eighty savages while they were straggling
inland to find brushwood to light a fire.
The crew paid dearly for their rashness. Four men fell under the keen
broad-bladed spears of the Somalis. The rest contrived to form up and
open fire; and finding that their self-imposed task had already cost the
lives of twenty of the Faithful, the Somalis beat a retreat in order to
summon the neighbouring tribes to aid them.
From north, west and south the fanatical warriors assembled, till, with
numbers sufficient to overwhelm the handful of Englishmen, they advanced
to the second attack.
Profiting by experience the crew of the "Iticaba" had meanwhile
constructed rough-and-ready defences. They realized that they were
fairly trapped, for to attempt to put to sea in open boats with the
probability of encountering a gale would be sheer madness. On the other
hand it was possible that they might hold out against the attackers,
until either the weather became fair or means of rescue were afforded
them.
"Well, the sooner we get you out of this mess the better," said Hythe,
when the master of the "Iticaba" had concluded his narrative.
"Strikes me you are no better off than we are," remarked the old
skipper. "There's too much sea running on the bar for you to get out.
What water d'ye draw?"
The sub told him.
"Suppose you are one of those new-fangled craft--all top-sides and no
draught in a manner o' speaking," remarked the "old man" bluntly.
"Well, hardly," replied Hythe smiling. "You see yonder vessel is the
submarine 'Aphrodite,' of which you may have heard."
The master of the "Iticaba" looked at the sub for a few seconds, then
shrugging his shoulders he replied,
"Look here, sir, I'm grateful for your assistance, but Cap'n Nick Rees
isn't a man to be bamboozled. I know for a fact that that cursed
'Vorwartz' destroyed the 'Aphrodite' some days ago. I heard the news
from official sources while I was lying at Aden."
"News from official sources is apt to be misleading, Captain Rees. It
is in this case. That vessel is the submarine 'Aphrodite' and there is
Captain Restronguet standing abaft the after conning-tower. There is no
doubt but that he may be able and willing to afford accommodation for
you and your crew. The quarters will be somewhat cramped, I fear. But
as soon as we can get out of the creek it will not take us very long to
tow your boats to Mombassa or Zanzibar as you suggested. How are you
getting on, Polglaze?"
"A fair brute of a job, sir," replied the man, as, streaming with
perspiration, he struggled with the refractory mechanism of the gun.
"It's lucky for us they have not persisted in the attack," observed
Hythe. "All the same, there's no time to be lost. Mylor and Gwennap,
will you take the boat and row off to the 'Aphrodite.' Inform Captain
Restronguet of the state of affairs, and how the position will be
difficult to hold in the event of a night attack. Ask him if there is
any objection to bringing off the survivors of the 'Iticaba'?"
While the two men were on their errand, and Polglaze, with two or three
assistants, was endeavouring to get the automatic gun into working
order, the rest of the landing-party assisted the crew of the "Iticaba"
to launch the ship's boats. Within an hour they were afloat and moored
a few feet from the bank of the creek, stern ropes and kedges having
been laid out so as to haul them off into deep water should it be
necessary to embark in a hurry.
Presently the quartermaster and Gwennap returned with the order that
Captain Restronguet wished the landing party and the rescued men to
embark at once, as the wind was rising and there was a heavy swell
tumbling in over the bar.
The crew of the "Iticaba" received the communication with mixed
feelings. They were glad to leave this inhospitable shore, but at the
same time they had grave misgivings as to whether they ought to trust
themselves on board a submarine. The majority of the men, although
members of the Royal Naval Reserve, were blue water seamen, to whom a
storm at sea had no perils providing they were at a safe distance from a
lee shore. They were sufficiently conservative in their ideas to regard
with obvious distrust the interior of a submarine as a haven of refuge.
"Are you going to dive, sir?" asked Captain Rees. "If so, I'd rather
stick it ashore and chance my luck; and most of my men would too, I'm
thinking."
"Please yourself, then," replied the sub brusquely. "I wouldn't give a
rope's-end for your chances if you remain here. Now, then, Polglaze,
hurry up. Limber up, there, we'll finish the repairs on board."
"Nearly finished, sir," answered Polglaze remonstratively.
"Can't help it. There'll be too much of a swell on the beach in a
minute. Fall in, men."
Captain Rees glanced in the direction of the "Aphrodite," which was
moored by a pair of stout chain cables, since her patent anchoring
device was useless when afloat. He gave another look, this time at the
slender mounds of sand that had been hastily heaped over the victims of
the Somalis.
"Come along, men!" he exclaimed.
Quickly the landing-party and the crew of the "Iticaba" embarked.
Polglaze, still lingering longingly over his array of spanners and other
armourers' tools, accompanied the gun to the beach.
Just as the gun's crew were about to unmount the heavy weapon from its
carriage a blood-curdling roar of mingled yells and shouts burst from a
dense body of Somalis, who, observing the embarkation in progress, had
crept up the remote side of the dunes, and barely a hundred yards from
the shore.
Three of the seamen who had not yet embarked dropped on one knee, and
using their rifles, strove to check the furious rush. Others in the
boats joined in the firing, while from the deck of the "Aphrodite" every
man left on board hastened to aid their comrades with well-aimed
volleys.
Coolly Polglaze attempted to adjust the small pieces of mechanism
necessary to make the automatic gun serviceable, while Gwennap stood
ready to thrust the end of the ammunition belt into the breech-block
feeder.
The next instant Polglaze dropped limply across the trail with a
broad-bladed spear thrown at less than ten yards' distance sticking into
his body. Gwennap, using the butt-end of his rifle, stood over his
comrade till, desperately fighting, he fell. The gun was surrounded by
a swarm of blood-thirsty foes.
Seeing this the men who still remained ashore made a wild scramble for
the boats, and the fire in consequence slackened. Revolver in hand,
Hythe called to them to make an effort to recover the gun. The call was
promptly obeyed, and a dozen men, comprising several of the "Iticaba's"
crew, in addition to those of the "Aphrodite" jumped ashore, pouring in
a hot fire as fast as they could handle the bolts of their magazine
rifles.
Unable to withstand so concentrated a fire the horde of Somalis melted
away. The gun stood alone with a score or more of corpses to bear
testimony to the efficacy of the rifle-fire.
But there was no time to be lost. Already a swarm of the enemy, four or
five times as numerous as the crowd that had just been driven off, were
racing like furies to renew the conflict.
As soon as Hythe gained the place where the quick-firer stood he
realized that it was impossible to remove it. Even in the short
interval during which it had remained in the enemy's possession the
Somalis had taken good care to sever and remove the drag ropes.
Calling to his men to carry off the bodies of Polglaze and Gwennap, the
sub removed the breech mechanism, and staggering under the heavy weight,
he followed his men to the boats, where, under a heavy but ill-aimed
rifle fire from the Somalis, they pushed off towards the "Aphrodite."
Under the lee of the submarine the men boarded their haven of refuge.
One glance sufficed to show that poor Gwennap was no more. The Somalis,
not content with slaying outright, had hacked his body in a most
atrocious manner. Polglaze still showed signs of life, for protected by
his comrade's body, he had escaped the demoniacal fury of the savages.
Nevertheless the spear-thrust through his left shoulder looked very
dangerous.
What had to be done must be done quickly, for night was approaching, and
the Somalis were evidently making preparations to remove the gun which
had been left in their hands. As long as daylight lasted the rifle fire
from the deck of the submarine would effectually check any attempt in
this direction, while an additional deterrent was provided in the form
of a powerful rocket. This could only be fired at an angle of less than
five degrees from the perpendicular, and in consequence could do no
physical hurt to the Somalis. Nevertheless the moral fear it inspired
served to make the natives clear off to a respectful distance, where
they waited for nightfall.
It was obvious that the attempt to recapture the quick-firer must be
made early for other reasons. The wind was now blowing strong from the
east'ard, and with the rising sea landing would be a very difficult
matter; while, floating light, the submarine stood a good chance of
being blown from her anchorage.
As soon as night had fallen twenty men led by Hythe fell in on the upper
platform. Rifles were discarded as encumbrances, but each of the party
carried an automatic pistol in his belt, the weapon holding ten
cartridges, while separate clips, each containing a similar number, were
placed in their ammunition belts.
Into the stern-sheets of the "Iticaba's" cutter was stowed a coil of
three inch rope--the "coil" measuring the orthodox one hundred and
thirteen fathoms. One end of the rope was made fast to the
"Aphrodite's" for'ard capstan, while to the other end was spliced a
length of flexible steel wire rope.
With muffled oars the boat's crew gave way, Mylor the quartermaster
paying out the rope as the boat stole shorewards. There was little need
for silence, for the thunder of the surf on the reef drowned every other
sound.
All went well till the cutter grounded on the shore, then from a
distance of nearly two hundred yards along the bank the darkness was
pierced by the flash of the Somalis rifles, while a swift rushing sound
indicated that swarms of fierce foes were charging down upon the boat.