The Fence Impregnable
During the next fortnight, events moved rapidly.
The new Government of Rioguay expressed its willingness to submit at
discretion to the British arms and craved the clemency of the
victors.
The terms were similar to those offered to San Antonio. All
fortified posts in the republic were to be dismantled, together with
armed ships-of-war and those of the flying-boats that had previously
escaped capture. An indemnity of £6,000,000, payable either in
negotiable bonds or in natural products of the republic, was
demanded, to be delivered in instalments extending over five years.
Until the indemnity was paid, a naval force was to remain at San
Antonio, its upkeep being guaranteed by the Rioguayan Government.
Almost at the same time that the treaty was signed, Great Britain
was able to mediate between the Associated Republic and the Empire
of Hondo. It was a ticklish business--calming down the fierce little
Asiatics without ruffling their _amour-propre_. They had beaten the
Associated Republic. The latter's navy was practically wiped out,
and the teeming millions of the Union were absolutely helpless. They
could raise a huge army, but to what purpose? Possessing sea-power,
Hondo, separated from her foe by the width of the Pacific, could and
did defy the armed might of her antagonist.
Vainly the Associated Republic proposed arbitration, but arbitration
is no good when an enemy is hammering, and hammering very forcibly,
at one's gate. And the Asiatics still remembered with bitterness
that the fruits of victory in times past had been taken from them by
certain European Powers whom they could now ignore with impunity.
Even had she wished, Great Britain could not have intervened with
armed force against Hondo on behalf of the Associated Republic. For
one thing, she had not a sufficient fleet to operate with any
likelihood of success in the distant Pacific. For another, Great
Britain had no desire to make war, either on Hondo or any other
nation, without good and just cause; and in the present instance
there was none.
Now that the war clouds had dispersed, Lieutenant Peter Corbold
began to ponder over his position. Taken back into the Royal Navy
owing to the Rioguayan war, he was now faced with the possibility of
having to "go on the beach" once more. It was not for pecuniary
reasons that the prospect worried him. Apart from his share in the
award by the Government for the "Strong anti-aircraft ray
apparatus", he knew that, if necessity arose, he could exploit the
Rioguayan diamond mine that Uncle Brian and he had discovered.
He was a sailor by inclination and instinct. The call of the Five
Oceans was irresistible. The sea with its changing moods was an
attraction that would never pall. And under the White Ensign, a life
afloat was at its very best. It was bad enough, Peter reflected, to
have been chucked out of the navy once. To have to repeat the
experience was almost unbearable.
Following the signing of peace between Great Britain and Rioguay,
the _Rebound_, _Repulse_, and _Retrench_, together with a number of
light cruisers and destroyers, were ordered home. The _Royal Oak_
was to remain for the present as Flagship to the South American
squadron with its base at San Antonio.
On the afternoon prior to the day fixed for the departure of the
homeward-bound warships, Peter was again ordered by signal to report
on board the _Royal Oak_.
"That means a telling off," he remarked to Cavendish. "I'm going to
get it hot over that Don Ramon business."
"'Fraid so," agreed Cavendish. "To tell the truth, old thing, I
wonder you weren't on the carpet long before this. Don't suppose I
can do much, but if you want me to back you up, I'm only too
willing."
Peter shook his head.
"Best keep out of it," he replied. "The Admiral can't do much,
considering I'm due to get slung out any old way."
But Peter Corbold was woefully adrift. The Admiral received him
quite cordially.
"My flag-lieutenant has received his promotion," he announced. "I'm
looking out for someone I can recommend for the billet, someone with
a good knowledge of the Rioguayan language. You, I think, Mr.
Corbold, will suit me."
"But I'm holding a temporary commission, sir," explained Peter.
"Rubbish!" declared the Admiral breezily. "There'll be no officer
sacked on reduction. You can take my word for that. The Admiralty
will want every trained officer they can lay their hands on with
this expansion of the navy stunt coming on. Now, then, what do you
say? Shall I send your name forward for appointment? Matter of form
only, of course."
"Thanks awfully, sir," mumbled Peter. He was too taken aback to
answer coherently. Usually cool and self-possessed, his sudden
stroke of good luck had metaphorically taken the wind out of his
sails.
"Very good, then," continued the Admiral. "We'll leave it at that
for the present. Maynebrace, my flag-lieutenant, won't be turning
over for a bit, so carry on on board the _Rebound_. When you get
home, take a month's leave. The _Stylex_ is ordered to this station
on the 25th of next month: you'd better come out in her.... Oh, by
the by, you brought off some refugees, I understand?"
"Yes, sir," admitted Peter.
"Glad you did," resumed the Commander-in-Chief. "The President wrote
me requesting that I should give them up. I told him pretty plainly
that it's not wise for the under-dog to kick, and that the refugees
were political prisoners who had found a shelter under the British
flag. The President can whistle for them. They're on their way to
Jamaica by now. All right, Mr. Corbold, carry on."
Peter "carried on". With a light heart and feeling that he was
treading on air (in his joy he very nearly did as he went over the
side), he returned on board the _Rebound_, was told that he was a
lucky dog, and on the strength of it had to stand champagne all
round the ward-room.
At nine next morning, the three battleships, with the signal
requesting permission to proceed, shortened in their cables. The
answering flags fluttered from the yard-arm of the _Royal Oak_.
With bands playing and men lining the sides, the battle-scarred
ships steamed slowly past the Flagship. Then, to the strain of
ringing cheers, the _Rebound_ and her consorts stood down the river,
on their homeward voyage across the Atlantic.
Ten days later, the _Rebound_, her gaping wounds temporarily
patched, steamed between the Round Tower and Blockhouse Fort,
guarding the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. Gosport Beach,
Portsmouth Point, and Portsea Hard were black with people, who
cheered to the echo the home-coming ship that had won credit and
renown in the battle with the Rioguayan navy.
Then, with a powerful tug straining at her bow hawsers and another
following discreetly astern, the _Rebound_ glided slowly past the
South Railway Jetty, and "opened out" the tapering masts of the
veteran _Victory_.
Peter remembered the last occasion when he entered Portsmouth
Harbour, and the comparison was a pleasant one. Then he was, as he
imagined, going on the beach once and for all. Now he was safely
re-embarked upon a career after his own heart. Then the huge slipway
was bare. Now it was taken up with the keel-plates of a mammoth
battleship--the first of Britain's new navy. The dockyard was
teeming with life and activity. The ceaseless rattle of pneumatic
tools once more filled the air. The huge electric cranes were again
endowed with movement. Thousands of busy workmen swarmed everywhere.
Trade was already "following the Flag", as it had done in times
past. Mercantile shipping was reviving steadily, without the
deplorable prospect of a "boom" and its disastrous consequences.
Iron and steel workers were getting into their stride; the coal
industry was looking up. There was every indication of an era of
peace and prosperity.
And the reason was not far to seek. Britain had at last a definite
policy. No longer was she content to "toe the line" at the behest of
a party of international politicians assembled at Washington. She
was determined to regain her rightful position as Mistress of the
Seas. Without acting harshly towards her weaker neighbours, anxious
to keep peace on the principle of the "strong man armed", Britain
was much in the position of a big and tolerant brother keeping his
brothers and sisters in order.
As soon as the _Rebound_ paid off, Peter Corbold journeyed up to
town after a hurried but comprehensive visit to a Portsmouth firm of
naval outfitters. At the Admiralty he obtained official confirmation
of his appointment as Flag-lieutenant, and also obtained the
information that Sir Brian Strong (with K.C.B. and a dozen other
titles tacked on to his name), was living in retirement near
Bournemouth.
That same evening, Peter went down to his uncle's house, a small,
unassuming villa overlooking Poole Harbour. Although the hour was
late, he found Uncle Brian in overalls, working in a laboratory that
for area completely eclipsed the dwelling-house.
"You're wrong in your surmise, Peter," observed Sir Brian, during
the course of conversation. "I'm paying a flying visit to Rioguay.
I'll probably be out there before you. Yes, it's concerning the
diamond valley. I've obtained a concession from the new President,
and I've formed a Limited Company. You're one of the principal
shareholders, Peter--but we'll go into that matter presently. So I'm
just off to introduce the Works Manager to the place, although in
point of fact I'm rather keen to see the scene of our exploit
again."
Peter nodded.
"Wish you luck, Uncle," he said, "but thank goodness I'm not flying.
Had quite enough of that; blue water's much safer. But it was a
great stroke of yours--the rays invention."
"It was," agreed Sir Brian gravely. "But come this way."
He took his nephew to a corner of the laboratory where stood a
simple yet ingenious device.
"That was my emergency gadget," he announced, after explaining the
mechanism.
Peter looked at it long and anxiously. Then he turned to his uncle.
"Better sling it in the ditch before there's any harm done," he said
seriously.
Sir Brian chuckled.
"That's exactly what I mean to do," he replied. "Give me a hand with
the thing."
Together they carried the latest creation of Sir Brian's brain out
of the laboratory down the sloping lawn to a small pier.
In the bright moonlight, Peter saw a small dinghy made fast to the
steps. Into the stern-sheet of the boat the gadget was placed. Uncle
Brian sat aft, while Peter cast off and took the oars.
It was now slack tide and first high water.
With steady stroke, Peter urged the dinghy along, while Sir Brian
steered for the High Light at Sandbanks.
"This will do," he observed, when the white section changed to red.
"Right in the middle of the channel. It's a good fifty feet down.
Steady, Peter, mind the gunwale; it was varnished only yesterday....
Let go!"
With a sullen splash, the "box of tricks" disappeared from sight.
Sir Brian sat gazing at the ever-increasing circles in the moonlit
water.
He sat up with the air of a man who has taken a critical step and is
well satisfied with the result. Then, in a barely audible voice, he
quoted:
"Let us be back'd with God, and with the seas
Which He hath given for fence impregnable,
And with their helps only defend ourselves;
In them and in ourselves our safety lies."
PRINTED AND BOUND IN GREAT BRITAIN _By Blackie & Son, Limited,
Glasgow_
[Transcriber's Notes:
This book contains a number of misprints.
The following misprints have been corrected:
[find out how Don Jose] ->
[find out how Don José]
["By jove!" he almost shouted] ->
["By Jove!" he almost shouted]
(Several other instances of "jove" have been
corrected to "Jove" but are not further mentioned here)
[Senor Jaurez grinned] ->
[Señor Jaurez grinned]
[shooting trip up the Rioguaya.] ->
[shooting trip up the Rio Guaya.]
(There is a difference between the country-name
and its river)
['Spose it's all right,] ->
[S'pose it's all right,]
['spose the Tower of Babel] ->
[s'pose the Tower of Babel]
[subsiduary] ->
[subsidiary]
[there were compensatetions.] ->
[there were compensations.]
[knifelike bows] ->
[knife-like bows]
[antiaircraft gun, they] ->
[anti-aircraft gun, they]
[indispensibility] ->
[indispensability]
[the wreck of the foretop] ->
[the wreck of the fore-top]
[separating the wardroom] ->
[separating the ward-room]
The word [wolfhound] is also found spelled as [wolf-hound].
Both versions are found multiple times. No correction was made.
A few other cases of punctuation errors were corrected, but are
not mentioned here.
Unfortunately one illustration is missing. It is marked in the
illustrations-list and at the position where it should be, with
the text: [(missing from book)].
]