_The Report submitted by Commander Richard Hunter, R.N.,
Captain of the "Strong Arm"._
The report of the proceedings which Commander Richard Hunter, R.N., the
Captain of the _Strong Arm_, subsequently submitted to Captain Helston,
is so terse and yet so graphic, that it is inserted here.
* * * * *
"H.I.M.S. _Strong Arm_,
"Hong-Kong, 9th Jan.
"SIR,
"I have the honour to report that, in accordance with your signal
received at 8.30 A.M. on 8th Jan., I immediately raised steam in fifteen
boilers. One hour later I was able to slip from the buoy, and proceeded
southwards to the rendezvous indicated in your orders.
"By 10 A.M. I was making fourteen knots, and at 11 nearly nineteen,
which speed was gradually increased to twenty as the remainder of my
boilers raised steam.
"At 12.35 P.M. the island then being in sight, the mast-head look-out
sighted a cruiser and three destroyers steaming towards it from the
west, and almost immediately afterwards sighted destroyer 'No. 1'
leaving the island.
"The cruiser was apparently heading to cut off 'No. 1', whilst the three
destroyers disappeared under the land.
"We then saw 'No. 1' head straight for the cruiser, which thereupon
opened a vigorous fire from her small guns. 'No. 1' disappeared behind
her and apparently fouled her stern, for she came away steaming but
slowly and steering in a very erratic manner.
"She was now under a very severe fire, and a considerable explosion
occurred nearly amidships at 12.45.
"Being now 10,000 yards from the cruiser, I opened fire on her from my
foremost guns, and in a couple of minutes caused her to cease firing on
the crippled destroyer and steam off to the southward. At this range I
did not hit her.
"I followed at my utmost speed, and was rapidly closing, but as 'No. 1'
signalled that she was unable to keep afloat I stopped alongside her and
removed her crew. I regret to report that she sank immediately
afterwards.
"I also regret that five men of her crew are missing, including two
wounded men who fell overboard, and that ten are injured--Sub-lieutenant
Harrington, suffering from severe burns and scalds, Midshipman Glover,
slightly wounded, and one man badly burnt (since dead).
"Having re-hoisted my boats, I renewed the pursuit, and at 2 was
overhauling her fast. Meanwhile the three destroyers had scattered and
I disregarded them.
"At 3.25 we made our distance 6000 yards by range-finder, and I again
opened fire from my forecastle 6-inch and the two foremost upper deck
6-inch.
"The enemy replied vigorously from two or three guns and continued her
flight.
"Though we made one or two hits at this range, it was not till we had
drawn up to within 4000 yards that our shooting became good, and at
4.32--the island of Sin Ling being five miles to leeward--she caught
fire astern, steered wildly, and exposed her broadside.
"We now hit her time after time, and her fire became slow and very
inaccurate.
"At 4.56 she hauled down her flag (the Chinese imperial colours, with a
black instead of a red dragon and ball) and ceased firing.
"I too ceased firing and lay to about 2000 yards distant, unwilling to
go within torpedo range. I then ordered my First Lieutenant (C. W.
Smith) to board her, and gave him sixty men to form a prize crew and
navigate her to Hong-Kong.
"When my boats were half-way across she suddenly opened fire on them,
gathered way, and steamed towards me with the evident intention of
ramming, an evolution which I managed to avoid by going full steam
astern.
"She also discharged a torpedo whilst passing, which struck me on the
port bow, and, though failing to explode, stove in one plate. Some
water entered through rivet holes.
"At the same time she opened a very rapid and sustained fire, which
caused many casualties on the open deck, where the men had crowded to
see her.
"Thereupon I renewed the action, and quickly cleared her upper works and
subdued her fire, my 6-inch shells doing very evident destruction.
"She was repeatedly hulled, flames burst out in several places, and at
5.15 made for Sin Ling at full speed, beaching herself in a sinking
condition at 5.42.
"Daylight was now failing.
"I took the _Strong Arm_ as far inshore as I dared, after picking up my
boats' crews (they had been fired upon in the most wanton manner), and
shelled her at point-blank range. In ten minutes I had the satisfaction
of seeing a large explosion aft; a great gap was made in her side, she
heeled to port till the water reached the base of her funnels, and half
her deck was submerged. She was evidently too badly damaged to be
floated.
"This being done, I returned to Hong-Kong and moored to my buoy at 9.25
P.M.
"Very little damage has been sustained by this ship, and it can be
repaired without assistance from the shore.
"I regret, however, to report the following casualties:--
"Killed: One petty officer and five men.
"Wounded: Three officers, two petty officers, and thirty-five men.
"I have the honour to be, &c.,
"RICHARD HUNTER, Commander R.N.,
"Captain of H.I.M.S. _Strong Arm_."
*CHAPTER XII*
*A Council of War*
The "Strong Arm" Returns--Boarding the "_Hai Yen_"--Jenkins--The
Council of War--Ping Sang's Chart--Cummins has a Plan--Ping Sang
Remembers
Captain Helston, with his left arm bandaged to his side, and one empty
sleeve of his monkey jacket flapping in the wind, was on deck to see
"No. 1" slip from her buoy and start on her fatal voyage. No sooner had
her dark hull disappeared in the morning mist than he began to regret
having sent her. A fit of his old irresolution returned, and he would
have recalled her had she been within signalling distance.
He sent for Cummins--a grotesque-looking object in the early morning,
unshaven and wearing a pair of huge sea-boots.
"You know, Cummins," he began, "I have a feeling that something will
happen to her. There is no knowing but that she will poke her nose into
some trouble. What induced me to trust to their word of honour I don't
know, and it may simply be a trap to recapture Hopkins."
"Ha! ha! ha!" chuckled Cummins, chewing his toothpick, "it's too late
now, sir; we can't communicate with her."
"Well, don't you think it might be advisable to get up steam and follow
her."
"Can't manage it, sir. They are refitting the starboard low-pressure
piston-ring, and it won't be ready for another twenty-four hours. You
might send the _Strong Arm_, though. I was always averse to trusting
that Englishman's word."
Helston, to tell the truth, was somewhat nettled at Cummins's influence
on board and his somewhat arbitrary manner, and the implied "I told you
so" irritated him to a degree. So, saying sharply, "Very well, we'll
let her go alone," went down to his breakfast.
But ten minutes later he again changed his mind, and made a signal which
resulted in the _Strong Arm's_ rapid departure.
He expected both ships back by four o'clock at the latest, and as the
hours went by and there was no sign of either, he became extremely
nervous and restless, pacing up and down his after-cabin all that
afternoon. At dinner he scarcely touched anything, and was just on the
point of going out himself aboard "No. 2" or "No. 3", when the signal
midshipman reported that the _Strong Arm_ was entering the harbour and
making her number.
He ran up on deck to see for himself, and quickly a signal blinked
across from the _Strong Arm's_ mast-head lamp that she had driven a
strange cruiser ashore, and rescued the crew of "No. 1", which had been
sunk.
The news rushed like wildfire round the ship, and officers and men
crowded on deck to see her slowly creeping to her buoy and signalling
for medical assistance.
Helston went aboard her immediately, and Dr. Fox and the other doctors
of the squadron worked all night with the wounded, many of whom had to
be sent to the Naval Hospital next morning, including Harrington, whose
condition was very grave.
Helston obtained a rapid report of the day's happenings from Hunter, and
congratulated Ping Sang on his escape.
The identity of the strange cruiser was unknown, and even Ping Sang, who
had more information than anyone else as to the resources of the
pirates, had been unable to recognize her. However, it was a great
achievement to have destroyed so powerful a vessel at the cost of one
destroyer, though the loss of life was much to be regretted.
"You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs, I believe," was Ping
Sang's comment, as he calmly puffed his cigar on the sacred
quarter-deck.
The loss of life evidently did not worry him in the slightest degree.
Helston was most severe with Pattison, for, though praising his
intrepidity and personal behaviour, he censured him strongly for his
manoeuvring of "No. 1".
"What induced you to run straight at her instead of taking to your heels
and escaping, I cannot think, and to leave the bridge in charge of a
midshipman at the most critical moment seems to me to show a great want
of judgment. You had no torpedoes on board, and it was impossible for
you to damage her."
Except for the fact that his action delayed the cruiser, and ultimately
led to her destruction, Helston would have sent him home forthwith.
This was not his hasty judgment, for he made no remarks at the time, but
was given two days later when all the circumstances had been
investigated more closely. In fact Harrington, the Sub, who had been so
badly injured in his attempt to rescue people from the stokehold, was
the only one belonging to "No. 1" who came in for any praise, and he was
too ill in hospital to appreciate it.
This opinion was general throughout the squadron, and poor Pattison, who
was sent to the _Sylvia_ for duty, more or less in disgrace, felt it
very keenly.
"I did the first thing that came into my head," he said, "and it wasn't
till we were right on top of her that I remembered we had no torpedoes
on board."
The morning after the return of the _Strong Arm_, this ship, with
Helston aboard, and the two remaining destroyers in company, steamed to
Sin Ling Island.
The strange cruiser was found still lying on the rocks--a
melancholy-looking object. Her after magazine had evidently blown up,
and she was a total wreck aft of her main-mast--a mass of warped and
twisted plates and deck beams.
On her twisted stern was her name _Hai Yen_ in Chinese characters, the
gilt scorched by fire; but this name did not identify her, and her
origin and history were still a mystery.
No complaint could be made of the _Strong Arm's_ captains of guns, for
their shooting had been marvellously effective, and her upper works were
riddled with shell holes. Two guns had been dismounted, and her funnels
were pierced in a hundred places.
Helston and Hunter had come to the conclusion that she had been
escorting the three destroyers from the south, chiefly from the certain
fact that they had neither guns nor torpedo-tubes aboard when first seen
by "No. 1". These spare tubes and guns might still be aboard the _Hai
Yen_. So a thorough search was made through the whole ship, and, though
none of these things were found, it was discovered that the ship had
been pretty thoroughly stripped of everything movable, and that the
upper deck was covered with coal-dust. The coal must have been brought
up after the action, because in places it covered great smears of blood,
and the only inference was that the three destroyers had coaled from her
bunkers during the night, removed all her remaining portable
stores--even her small quick-firers had disappeared--and also taken her
crew aboard them.
To make certain that the crew were not still on the island, Helston
landed two hundred men and thoroughly explored it. It was but a small
rocky outcrop from the Chinese coast, not a mile long, but by the time
this had been done daylight was beginning to fail. No traces of the
crew were discovered.
During this time the midshipmen had been allowed to inspect the ship,
and, needless to say, returned with much spoil. One of them had an
undamaged chronometer, another actually brought off the steering-wheel
from the conning tower, two of them lowered the ship's bell into their
cutter, whilst a daring youngster swarmed up to the foremast-head and
secured her gilt weather-vane.
They were all vastly pleased with themselves and their trophies.
Everybody being aboard again, the _Strong Arm_ steered to the north,
and, on passing the island where "No. 1" had exchanged Hopkins for Ping
Sang, sent the two destroyers inshore to reconnoitre; but though they
entered the little bay where "No. 1" had been so neatly trapped, and
explored the whole of the coast with their searchlights, no sign of any
ship or junk could be found.
The three ships then returned to Hong-Kong, Helston taking Ping Sang
back to the _Laird_ with him.
Ping Sang and Dr. Fox dined that night with Helston, and that merry old
Chinese gentleman, vastly pleased to be sitting once again in front of a
good dinner, was amusing in the extreme.
He made even the surly Doctor smile at his adventures, and very droll
were the descriptions of himself sweating along the main road to
Aberdeen loaded down with sugar-canes ("Beastly stuff! I can't think
why they eat it. Never knew what it was to earn a living of ten cents a
day"); of being hauled along by his pigtail through a malodorous crowd
of his countrymen to the police station ("Never knew I hated them
before, till they began kicking me in the back"); of his struggles and
protestations when the Englishman withdrew the charge and took him back
to the junk; of his voyage to the island, shut down below in the
stinking hold ("They didn't go across that night, but hid round a corner
till the next"), and of his imprisonment on the island, where he was a
guest of the same Englishman ("That man is a precious scoundrel, I tell
you, and his food was worse; but he did give me some decent clothes,
I'll say that for him").
The only one without a smile on his face was Jenkins, Helston's marine
servant, who had persisted in accompanying his master; but this was due,
as Dr. Fox well knew, to the fact that he had been ashore that
afternoon, and was now assuming an air of extreme sobriety only to be
accounted for by a too liberal consumption of beer.
He was an extraordinary man, this old soldier. He never went ashore
without coming off half-drunk, and, as Helston often said, "he's always
most drunk when he's most sober", and it was only by his preternatural
solemness, or by noticing that he occasionally carried the dishes round
the table at the double, that one knew that he had been making a brute
of himself ashore.
Time after time Helston had dismissed him and sent him for'ard to rejoin
the Marine Detachment, but always, next morning, he was stealthily
creeping about Helston's cabin, folding up and brushing his clothes, and
waking him at exactly the same time with "Six bells just gone, sir", and
"'Ere's your cup of tea".
He had once managed to get rid of him by giving him "five days' cells",
but before he had finished this punishment Helston's hair required
cutting. No one could do this so well, so he was brought aft to do it,
and, the job being satisfactorily concluded, Helston gave him one of his
cigars, and twenty minutes to smoke it, before he was locked up again.
On the sixth morning it was "Six bells, sir, just gone, sir, and 'ere's
your cup of tea", and he was now as much a permanent institution as the
ship's bell or the ship's cat.
Ping Sang had gained much interesting but no valuable information from
the Englishman.
"Hamilton is his name. I knew him well several years ago, before he
disappeared, and he was always up to some devilment or other. If he
could not manage to work for his living, he could certainly live by his
wits.
"He gave me a very interesting account of his whole scheme. He,
Hopkins, and the German, Schmidt--the 'Mysterious Three' of
Tientsin--had put in fifty thousand dollars apiece, and many wealthy
Chinese had subscribed very large sums in what he called 'our venture'.
'We've done pretty well. We have quite a respectable little fleet, and
have captured thirty million dollars' worth of ships and cargoes, to say
nothing of the ransoms some of our prisoners have paid for their
freedom. We have friends throughout the country, and our prisoners know
that if they talk too much when they get back, they will get their
throats cut one fine night. We have had to do it to several
already--just as a warning.'
"I asked him if he did not fear capture.
"'Capture!' he laughed, highly amused. 'You will never see any of us
again, unless you happen to come as paying guests. Hopkins made a fool
of himself, but he won't be caught napping again, and ten times your
little fleet could not get into our island.'
"I asked him what became of all the crews of the many ships he had
captured. Had he hanged them?
"'Hang them? Rather not!' he told me. 'One or two of the first few,
perhaps, but ever since, directly they see what a fine life we are
having there, they volunteer to join us, and make splendid recruits.'"
"Did you discover how he was going to get back to his precious island?"
asked Helston.
"No, I did not. I asked him several times, and kept my eyes and ears
open, but not a thing could I discover. He had nothing there except the
junk, as far as I could see, and they gave me complete liberty to go
about the island as much as I liked."
"How did you spend your time?" asked Dr. Fox.
"Playing cards with him, like a fool," said Ping Sang, wreathed in
smiles; "and I lost nearly ten thousand dollars, and have promised to
send them ashore directly we reach his island. He is going to send a
junk for them as soon as we get there, and he had the cheek, too, to ask
me to bring up all the things he had left behind him in the Victoria
Hotel.
"Oh yes, I promised," laughed Ping Sang; "he amused me so, I couldn't
help promising him."
Dinner being over, Hunter and the Captain of the _Sylvia_, Commander
Bannerman, came across in their galleys, and they and Cummins of the
_Laird_ joined a council of war, to determine the future plan of
operations.
It was a curiously impressive little scene in Captain Helston's
fore-cabin that night--the polished table littered with documents and
lighted by the hanging crimson-shaded electric lamps; the grey clouds of
tobacco smoke eddying among the steel deck-beams overhead and curling
through the after 12-pounder gun-ports; the glitter of the polished
brass-work of the gun-mountings, one on each side of the cabin--a grim
reminder of war; and the serious, eager faces of Helston and his three
Commanders as they bent over the various papers and argued their plans
and proposals.
The last time they had all met together round that table they had drunk
success to the squadron, and gaily hoped that the pirates would give
them a chance of "doing something".
Now they had done something--one of their three destroyers was at the
bottom, and five of her men had gone down with her; nine of the _Strong
Arm's_ men were dead (three had died of their wounds), and thirty or
more were wounded--and though they had destroyed a cruiser, still she
had not previously entered into their calculations, and her appearance
on the scene rudely interfered with their plans and expectations of only
meeting old, half-repaired Chinese men-of-war. There might be more like
her, acquired secretly, and with the memory of those nine bodies waiting
to be buried in the quiet cemetery in the Happy Valley next morning, and
the unknown strength of the enemy they were now going to meet, the
council took their places round Helston's table with a certain
solemnity.
Captain Helston himself, gaunt and thin, sat at the head, his long, thin
face haggard in the electric light, his right hand nervously fidgeting
with some papers in front of him, and his left arm still bandaged to his
side, his empty sleeve sewn across his chest.
At the other end of the table sat Hunter of the _Strong Arm_, a man with
a great red face and great red hands, a clumsy-looking giant, more
grieved at the loss of his men than elated at the destruction of the
pirate cruiser. A typical bluff, good-hearted sailor was he, not devoid
of brains, but seldom troubling to use them. To see him in a football
"scrum", and to hear his lusty roars of encouragement to his side, did
one good, and one knew immediately what kind of man he was.
Use his brains! Why? God had given him a great body which never knew
fatigue, a mind which never knew fear, and he was one of the
"range-up-alongside-and-blow-
the-beggar-out-of-water-and-if-he-won't-sink-ram-him" school of naval
officer.
Antiquated in his ideas he may have been, but he was possessed, as are
most men like him, of an enormous personal magnetism, and every man Jack
of his crew would follow him to the death.
On Helston's right sat Ping Sang, bubbling over with humorous details of
his escapade, red in the face, his eyes twinkling with appreciation of
his good dinner. As he was beautifully dressed in his favourite colour
of dark claret silk, and had a gold-knobbed skull-cap of the same colour
on his head, his gay attire contrasted strangely with the more sober
mess jackets of the others.
As usual, he was smoking a cigar, and had in front of him a big despatch
box, from which he drew rolls of papers, spreading them in front of him
with a due sense of their importance.
No one who had seen him on board "No. 1" the day before, standing calmly
near the after funnel under a heavy fire, could help but praise his
contempt for danger; but his first remark when he was taken off in the
_Strong Arm's_ boat and saw the destroyer slide under the sea was,
"There goes four hundred thousand dollars", and when it was discovered
that she had carried three men down with her, in addition to the two who
had been knocked overboard, all he said was, "Men very cheap; plenty
more to take their places".
It was very evident that everything was precious to him except the lives
of the people whom he was paying to risk their lives for the protection
of his vast trade. Already Helston and the others had lost some of
their first admiration for the good-natured, plucky little man, and
could not feel in sympathy with a nature so completely indifferent to
death and suffering. Still, he was not a European, and allowance had to
be made for the stoicism and callousness of the Celestial.
Next to him sat Cummins, an odd little figure, his tie up round his
ears, smoking a stale old pipe, and chuckling to himself as some
humorous fancy passed through his active brain. Nothing, however solemn
or tragic, but had its amusing side for him.
Opposite him, and on Helston's left, was Bannerman of the _Sylvia_, a
tall, restless man, with light tawny hair and cleanly-trimmed beard. He
had employed all his social and service influence to be appointed to
Helston's squadron, and always had a grievance that the _Sylvia_ was
only a store-ship. The other Commanders chaffed him unmercifully about
his four little 12-pounders--the only guns she carried--and to ask him
how much coal he had for them was always sufficient to get a "rise" out
of him.
He was not popular, and when in a bad temper nagged his officers and men
till they in turn were white-hot with silent rage. It was always with
him: "My ship moored very smartly this morning, Cummins", or "Beat you
yesterday unmooring, Hunter", or some other of the two or three
evolutions the store-ship could take part in.
He did not disguise his knowledge that if anything happened to Cummins
or Hunter he would get the vacancy, and, though he naturally never said
so in so many words, it was quite plain he looked forward to such an
event occurring.
His one idea was promotion, and he would stick at nothing to obtain it,
caring not at all who suffered in the process.
Dr. Fox was there too, reading the _Hong-Kong Evening Mail_ in an
easy-chair by the side of the fire, and making some caustic remark from
time to time.
A strange little group of fighting men it was: Helston, broken in
health, and only eager for promotion because promotion meant his
marriage to little Miss Milly; Bannerman craving for it for the power in
its train; big-hearted Hunter caring not a jot, so long as he got plenty
of fighting; and little Cummins, caring little for anything, so long as
he could work out practically his scientific theories of modern warfare.
The island occupied by the pirates was called Hong Lu--merely a small
dot on the Admiralty chart, lying in the middle of the Straits of
Formosa, half-way between the Pescadores and Amoy. Ping Sang had had
copies made of the rough map, drawn by the English merchant captain a
year ago, and passed them round.
From these it appeared that Hong Lu was about five miles long, shaped
somewhat like a horse-shoe, and that the harbour, inside the loop, was
connected with the sea by a narrow passage between high cliffs, formed
by the curved-in ends of the island.
At the loop end there was also another outlet to the sea even more
narrow than the first.
The English captain had roughly marked the places, on each side of the
entrance, where he had seen them mounting guns, and Ping Sang knew that,
among the cargoes of the three steamers captured outside Nagasaki
eighteen months ago, there were six 6-inch modern guns and many smaller
quick-firers. As these had been intended for a new Chinese fort on the
Min river, and as all their mountings and ammunition had also been on
board, it would be an easy matter to mount them efficiently.
"They'll give us some trouble," smiled Hunter, gleefully rubbing his big
red hands together; "take any amount of hammering if the beggars only
fight 'em properly."
"I only hope they won't," muttered Dr. Fox from his easy-chair. "We've
had quite enough poor fellows killed already, and I don't want any more
work patching up the wounded."
"And here is the list of ships," continued Ping Sang.
This was the list of Chinese men-of-war which had been run ashore after
the battle of the Yalu, and had apparently been salved by some
Europeans--the "Mysterious Three".
It included the _Yao Yuen_ and the _Mao Yuen_, sister ships, ten years
old, and of about three thousand tons. Each carried two Krupp 8-inch and
six 4.7-inch guns. Then there was the _Tu Ping_, somewhat larger and
still older, carrying a 10-inch Krupp in the bows and nine 6-inch
besides--all of them old-fashioned guns.
These were probably the three sighted by the English gun-boat whilst
cruising in the Chusan Archipelago a few months previously.
In addition, two or three corvettes belonging formerly to the Yangtze
squadron had disappeared. These, however, could never be made
serviceable against modern ships.
"That little lot ought not to give us much trouble," said Hunter rather
sadly; "they dare not come out and fight us in the open."
"They have ten or twelve torpedo-boats," interposed Cummins, who was a
devoted believer in the possibilities of the torpedo, "and if those
three destroyers, which must have been handed over by the Patagonian
Government since we left them at Colombo, reach this precious island of
theirs, they will give us no end of trouble."
"Yes, perhaps they will," said Hunter cheerfully. "It will add to the
excitement, won't it? Make a more level game, eh? 'No. 2' and 'No. 3'
ought to be pretty busy with that little lot. Almost wish I was in
command of one myself."
"I should think it would make a more level game," came from behind Dr.
Fox's newspaper satirically--"much more level."
"Well, what shall we do?" asked Helston. "Those three destroyers have
at least twelve hours' start of us, and I don't suppose it will be
possible to catch them, for, of course, we cannot leave until after the
funeral of your men, Hunter. Directly the funeral parties have returned
we will weigh and proceed north."
"Certainly, sir, we shall be ready," replied Bannerman and Hunter, the
latter, adding, "Of course, sir, I could not leave till I had buried my
men."
"Excuse me, sir," interposed Cummins, chuckling in his nervous manner;
"those destroyers could not take all the crew of the _Hai Yen_ and her
stores without being unseaworthy. They must have had some other ship
there, and if she had been a man-of-war we should have seen something of
her. Don't you think that must have been so, sir?"
"Certainly; I half suspected it myself."
"Well then, sir, they must have had a merchant steamer, and a pretty
small one at that, otherwise they could not have got her in close enough
to transfer all those stores in one night, the water is so shallow."
"Certainly, certainly," nodded the others.
"Therefore, if she was small, there are but few such steamers that can
steam more than ten knots, and this, or more probably less, will be her
speed to Hong Lu, and the destroyers would be pretty certain to convoy
her, and so we might catch them as well."
"You want us to start immediately?" asked Helston.
"Certainly, sir, and at your highest speed, sending 'No. 2' and 'No. 3'
ahead, if possible, and with luck we might bag them and Hopkins, and the
lame Englishman in addition."
"But," interposed Bannerman, "your whole plan is based on mere
conjecture, Cummins, and you must remember that my ship cannot steam
faster than ten knots herself."
"You can come on afterwards," replied Cummins, adding maliciously, for
he loved to goad Bannerman, "You won't want an escort, I suppose.
Haugh! haugh! haugh!"
"Well, well," Helston interfered, seeing that Bannerman was rapidly
losing his temper, "the conjecture may turn out to be incorrect, but it
is better to act upon it than upon nothing at all."
"What time can you get your funeral parties on board again, Hunter?"
"Not before noon, sir; their mess-mates would never forgive me if they
could not do this."
"When I turn up my toes," said Bannerman snappishly, "I don't mind what
happens to me; they can chuck me overboard if they like."
"Well, old fellow," answered Hunter, "when my turn comes, I should like
to know that my own men looked after me."
"Very good, gentlemen," concluded Helston. "The _Strong Arm_ will
follow the squadron, the remainder of which will leave at daybreak."
Before Hunter went back to the _Strong Arm_ he drew Captain Helston
aside and put in a good word for Pattison of the ill-fated "No. 1", but
the latter shook his head: "Plucky, of course, he was, but a man in
command of a destroyer wants more than pluck--brains and common sense."
"Those two midshipmen, sir, Glover and Foote, behaved with great
coolness for youngsters under fire for the first time, and Harrington,
who I hear is doing well in hospital, did magnificently.
"Could you manage to send Foote to 'No. 3', sir? The two boys are great
chums and he deserves another chance."
"All right, Hunter, I will not forget him; good-night."
Shaking hands with Helston the little council of war broke up, the
Commanders going back to their ships, leaving him and Dr. Fox alone.
Ping Sang was by this time sound asleep, unable to withstand the
influence of his good dinner, so they left him where he sat, and the two
old friends had a last pipe together before turning in. Going through
the fore-cabin again before saying "good-night" they woke Ping Sang, who
was still asleep with his head on the table.
He sat up with a start, and with a yell of triumph banged at the table
till the tumblers rattled.
"Ho Ming's butler, the butler himself, I'll have his liver torn out if
ever I can get him across to the mainland!"
"Whatever's the matter?" they both asked, thinking his dinner had had
too much effect on him.
"He's that brute who betrayed me to the lame Englishman Hamilton. I
felt sure that I had somewhere before seen the man who went aboard those
junks so hurriedly, and that's the man--Ho Ming's butler, the
white-livered scoundrel!"
He was in a frantic rage, and wanted to go ashore immediately and tell
Ho Ming; but Captain Helston and Dr. Fox managed finally to calm him,
and induced him to go to bed.
*CHAPTER XIII*
*The Avenging of Destroyer "No. 1"*
Off in Pursuit--Horribly Sea-sick--A Neck-and-Neck
Race--Commence Firing!--Running into Danger--"No. 1"
Avenged--The Dinghy Capsizes--Plucky Little Ogston
_The Narrative is continued by Mr. Glover_
We had had a jolly good day at Sin Ling Island, and Mr. Parker let me go
aboard the _Hai Yen_ with the other midshipmen, and a grand time we had
scrambling about her. I brought back a scraggy cat--half-witted I think
he was, for he walked about with his head on one side in the funniest
manner possible, "meaowing" from morning to night. His fur was burnt
off one side, but we got some ointment stuff from the medicine chest
aft, and with some bandages made him ship-shape--a comical sight he
looked, I can tell you.
We didn't get much sleep that night, because, after coming back, we had
to fill up with coal again, get in fresh provisions, and then bring our
torpedoes over from the _Sylvia_. It was not till three o'clock that I
crept into the Gunner's bunk (he was on watch), and got a couple of
hours' sleep.
Then we all unmoored, and whilst I was busy seeing everything secured
aft, who should come alongside but Tommy Toddles in one of the _Laird's_
cutters. He was wildly excited, I could see, and, after reporting
himself to Mr. Parker, came dancing along the deck and told me that
Captain Helston had sent him to join "No. 3". We got his chest out of
the boat, but there was very little room for it anywhere, and Mr.
Parker, who swore very loudly when he saw it, made him take out the
things he wanted most and then sent it back to the _Laird_.
"You two youngsters will have to share the same chest," he said. But we
didn't mind in the least, it was so jolly to have Tommy.
Well, "No. 2" and we shoved off and left the _Strong Arm_ behind,
looking very forlorn in the half daylight with her ensign at half-mast.
It seemed quite strange, too, without "No. 1", and, when we were running
past the _Sylvia_, we saw Mr. Pattison on the bridge, looking, we
thought, very down on his luck.
Directly we were clear of Hong-Kong and were on our proper course, we
were sent ahead at full speed, and then had not much time to think of
anything else, for there was a big loppy sea and a strong breeze on our
starboard bow.
We were doing twenty-five knots and began to get very lively.
I thought that nothing would ever make me sea-sick, but this did, and as
I had nothing to do on deck, and neither Tommy nor I wanted to yarn, I
crept into the Gunner's bunk again; but the Sub came down a few minutes
after to get his oil-skins and found me there. He turned me out,
ordered me on deck, and made me take the wheel from the quarter-master
and steer.
We were pitching tremendously, our bows burying themselves up to the
conning tower. Down, down they would go till I thought, with an awfully
empty feeling inside me, that they would never stop. Up they would come
again, tons of water pouring off them, and the wave catching her
amidships would roll her over to leeward.
Roll! Why, several times I thought she would go right over, and once or
twice, as we heeled, I caught hold of the edge of the bridge to steady
myself; but Collins had his eye on me all the time, and cursed me pretty
hard.
"Keep her into it, you young ass! Don't let her pay off like that," he
said. And another time: "If you let her swing more than two points off
her course again, I'll give you half a dozen over the ward-room table."
I would do my best, and would put the helm over to steady her, feeling
horribly sick and dreadfully miserable, for I was wet through and very
cold.
Mr. Parker came up presently in his oil-skins to relieve Collins,
smoking a pipe, the very sight of which made me feel green, and after
looking cheerily at "No. 2", which was on our beam, and having as bad a
time as ourselves, said, with his body jammed securely between the
chart-table and the 12-pounder; "We shall break the old girl's back if
we keep at this much longer, Collins. Give me a light, old chap; all my
matches are wet through."
I devoutly wished she would break her back, and actually looked aft to
see if there were any sign of such good fortune.
We slowed down shortly afterwards and fell back to the _Laird_; but she
must have been doing nearly twenty knots, and though she did give us
somewhat of a lee, we had a horrible time of it.
Mr. Parker sent me down below, and I had to hold on pretty hard to get
safely aft, and I found poor Tommy lying on the after 6-pounder gratings
in a worse state even than I was.
This cheered me a little.
The night was almost as bad, and though I was dead tired and wet through
to the skin and longed to die, it was impossible to lie in a bunk. I
was thrown out of the Sub's bunk twice--you see there were not enough
bunks for all, so I had to use the one belonging to the man on
watch--and spent most of the night on the deck of the ward-room,
clinging to the legs of the ward-room table, till even these gave way at
one extra heavy lurch. We went clattering to leeward and woke the
Engineer, who kicked me out and wanted to know "What I meant by choosing
that time of night to play musical chairs?"
Then I crept up on deck and held on to the after steering screen, really
too frightened to go below again, we were rolling so horribly. I tell
you all this just to let you know what it is like to be in a destroyer
in heavy weather for the first time. People see destroyers dashing in
and out of harbour, and think what a jolly life it must be on board; and
so it is, too, when once you are used to it, and have learnt that they
can stand on their heads one moment, roll till the sea comes half-way up
to their funnels the next, and be none the worse for it.
But doesn't it want a lot of hanging on?
Tommy joined me behind the screen presently, and a miserable pair we
were, I can tell you, and wished ourselves back again in the _Laird_,
swinging in our hammocks.
In the middle watch Jones, one of our petty officers and the captain of
the 12-pounder, came aft to take the log and found us there.
"'Ello, sir! what be you two young gen'lemen a-doing of there?" he said.
We gulped out that we were too scared to go below, and felt better in
the fresh air.
He held up his flickering lantern. "Eh! ye be sea-sick, be ye?" he
said. "Well, ye do look powerful green, and be as wet as water. Just
come along o' me; I'll stow you away out of 'arm."
He made us climb into the dinghy, which was in her crutches amidships,
told us to lie down on some coils of rope and old canvas deck-cloths,
and covered us with a tarpaulin.
We huddled up together and presently got warm again, and once we were
warm and steamy we soon went to sleep.
It did not seem ten minutes later before we were roughly shaken by the
shoulders, and there was Jones again.
"Turn out, you young gents; just show a leg there. It's gone seven bells
(half-past seven), and it's time ye were rousing yourselves."
"Looking better the noo, ye are," he said, as we scrambled out from
under the tarpaulin, feeling stiff all over but the sea-sickness gone;
"and 'ere's a drop of hot cocoa for you and a bit of ship's
biscuit--make men of you agin."
The sea had gone down considerably and it was broad daylight, the sun
shining brightly, and Jones was smiling in a fatherly manner at us, with
a couple of ship's biscuits in one hand and a bowl of steaming cocoa in
the other.
Well, I should never have believed it possible. A few hours before I
thought I should never want to touch a bit of food again, and now we
both felt famished, and would have gulped down the lot between us, but
Jones made us eat a bit of hard biscuit first, and then sandwich in a
little cocoa, and so on till there was no more left of either.
"No, there ain't no more," said Jones, "and the Captain, 'e wants to see
you both as soon as you've made yourselves respectable."
He was on the bridge; and after we had brushed each other down we went
for'ard, feeling awfully cheap and disreputable.
"Now, you two youngsters must understand," he began. "I'll let you off
this time, but don't let me ever catch you shirking your work again,
whether you are sea-sick or not. Now, go below (I think I saw a twinkle
in his eye) and get some breakfast. The _Laird_ has sighted those
pirate destroyers and we are chasing them, but I shall not want either
of you for half an hour, so make the best of your time."
"Where are they, sir?" we asked eagerly.
"Right ahead, but we can't see them yet. They've only just sighted them
from the _Laird_."
The range of view from a destroyer is very limited, and it was the
_Laird's_ mast-head look-out who had discovered them.
"Couldn't we stay, sir?" we asked, forgetting all about our hunger in
the excitement.
"No. Go down below; and you're not to come up again for half an hour."
Even with our excitement we managed to tuck in pretty well when at last
the officers' cook did send us down something to eat--some eggs and
bacon--from the galley, and we made a loaf of bread and a pot of jam
look precious small before we had finished.
We waited impatiently for the thirty minutes to go by and then ran up to
the bridge, and by this time could see a cloud of smoke on the horizon
ahead of us.
We were tearing along with a vengeance, "No. 2" coming up astern, and
the _Laird_ several miles behind us.
A lovely morning it was, for the gale of yesterday had blown itself out,
and the sea was now a beautiful glittering green, with a long, quiet
swell, crested here and there with "white horses", which every now and
then dashed against our bows, leapt into the air, and fell in thousands
of sparkling drops over the fo'c'stle.
"No. 2" kept gradually coming up, and eventually, do what we could, she
drew level, and neck and neck we raced, not fifty yards apart.
Tommy and I could hardly keep still with excitement, and I felt as if I
was tingling all over. Neither Mr. Parker nor Mr. Lang of "No. 2" had
as yet been under fire, and now was their chance to avenge poor "No. 1";
and they were going to do it, too, if only the engines did their best.
And splendidly they whizzed round, and we were going even faster than
when we chased the destroyer outside Colombo.
We now could see that there was a small merchant steamer with the
pirates, almost hidden in smoke, but she seemed to be lagging behind,
and presently we saw that the destroyers were steaming away from her.
"They're leaving her to her fate," said Mr. Parker, and half an hour
later we caught her up, and went flying past near enough to see one
stolid-looking man on her bridge staring solemnly at us. She was only
an old tub of a merchantman, very deep in the water, wallowing along
like a porpoise, and showing her bottom covered with barnacles and green
growth as she rolled.
"She probably has the crew of the _Hai Yen_ aboard," Mr. Parker told us,
"and the _Laird_ will catch her in an hour."
We left her as if she had been at anchor, "No. 2" forging ahead a
little, whilst Mr. Lang roared insulting remarks to Mr. Parker through
the megaphone, and the Sub dangled the end of their grass hawser over
the stern and asked if we wanted a tow--the most deadly insult they
could give.
We were now coming up to the three pirates, one of which seemed unable
to keep up with the others and was falling back rapidly, whilst the
other two, like huge porpoises, went rushing on.
By this time we had gone to quarters, and were standing by our guns.
Tommy had to do doggy to Mr. Parker and run messages; I had to look
after the for'ard 6-pounders, one on each side under the bridge.
The men took off their boots so that they could grip the deck more
firmly with their bare feet, stripped off their jumpers, and stood to
their guns, eagerly waiting, with rows of cartridges in the racks behind
them.
Down where I was, with "No. 2" right ahead, I could not see the pirates,
but almost immediately the signalman above me shouted: "They've fired,
sir!" and in the twinkling of a second a shell, missing "No. 2", fell
into the water close under our bows, and, bursting, covered one gun's
crew with spray.
"Me mither told me niver to git wet," said the funny man of the crew,
ruefully shaking himself.
"Put your big feet up, then, and keep it off, Bill," shouted one, and
"Take off your 'at, 'twill make yer 'air grow", shouted another.
"Shall we load, sir?" asked the Captain of the gun, a little grey-eyed
man named Clarke.
I told him to wait for orders, and so we hung on, and as plenty more
shells came whistling past, the men became rather restless, the
ammunition numbers picking up the cartridges and waiting for the signal
to load.
The order seemed a tremendously long time coming, but "No. 2", sheering
across our bows to port, gave us a good view of the pirate, and
commenced firing herself.
At last Tommy, putting his head over the bridge screen, shouted down;
"Stand by!" "Close up!" I yelled to the two guns' crews, and the
captains of the guns, with their chin-stays gripped between their teeth,
jumped to their shoulder-pieces, pressing well home, glued their eyes to
the sights, and, with feet wide apart, stood ready, keeping their sights
on the destroyer.
Down went the breech-blocks with a snap, in rattled the cartridges, up
went the blocks again, and "Ready!" yelled the breech numbers.
"Range 1500 yards!" yelled Tommy from the bridge overhead in a funny,
squeaky, excited voice, and directly afterwards I heard Mr. Parker give
the order "Commence!" to Jones of the 12-pounder gun.
Tommy passed the order down to us, and with a whoop of joy the men
jumped to their guns.
My aunt, what a row there was!
Destroyer "No. 2" was now well ahead of us, and as she gradually drew
abreast of the pirate destroyer she got four guns to bear--the
12-pounder on the bridge, the 6-pounder just beneath it on the starboard
side, the 6-pounder on the beam amidships, and the 6-pounder on the
platform aft.
We could see the fierce little spurts of flames darting out, and thought
she hit the pirate several times.
We too were firing very fast, and were trying to rake her stern, hoping
to be able to knock away some of her rudder gear.
The pirate was dividing her attention between us, but was shooting very
wildly and could not touch us; and no wonder, for presently "No. 2" had
even forged ahead of her, and we could every now and then see shells
bursting against her funnels and cowls and under her bridge. We all
yelled with delight.
Her shooting became very feeble, and we could see the guns' crews trying
to sneak away down below; but a big man, with a great black beard, and
dressed as an officer, kept on driving them back, exposing himself with
great bravery.
It was wonderful that he was not hit, and really, if we had been
superstitious we should have thought that he bore a charmed life. But
now "No. 2" had forged right ahead and was settling down after the other
two destroyers, leaving this one entirely to us.
Was not that a gentlemanly thing for Mr. Lang to do?
Now that they were no longer under a cross fire, the pirates took
courage again, and their shells began whistling past us in dozens. We
did work hard at our guns, I can tell you, and hit her many times, but
never seemed able to reach a vital spot, for we were plunging and
shaking into the long swell, and it was awfully difficult to keep our
sights steady.
Just then there was a faint cheer from the pirate, and we could see
those still left on deck waving their arms and pointing ahead.
Tommy came jumping down the ladder in a tremendous state of excitement.
"The island of Hong Lu is in sight," he said, "and a cruiser is coming
out to their rescue. Mr. Parker says we can't possibly carry on for
more than ten minutes longer, and he's going to steer in more closely.
You have to fire at her water-line between her funnels and try and
disable her boilers."
All our guns were turned on this part, and we gradually edged in till we
were not fifty yards away; but encouraged to renewed exertions by the
chance of a rescue, they fired still more vigorously, and at that
distance could not help hitting us. One shell bursting nearly
amidships, wounded two men standing there, another pierced our foremost
funnel, tearing a great rent in it, and a third burst against the
conning tower, within ten feet of where I was standing, and though it
stunned us for the moment, smothered us with smoke, and little pieces of
it went flying round, no one was hit.
That was about their last shot, for they could take no more punishment.
Ten or twelve had already been knocked over, and we could see them lying
in huddled heaps on the deck. The rest took shelter below, crowding
down the small hatchways, till we could see no one except the big
officer.
"That cruiser is getting jolly close," said Tommy, who had been sent
down to see what damage that last shell had done, "and 'No. 2' is coming
back as fast as she can."
I could just see the big cruiser coming along under a dense cloud of
smoke, not more than 6000 yards off, firing at "No. 2" as she flew back
towards us.
I thought that Mr. Lang had had enough of it and was running away, and
wondered how Mr. Parker dare carry on, but not a bit of it. Round came
"No. 2", and circling about our stern, she stationed herself just astern
of the pirate destroyer, on her other quarter, plugging at her for all
she was worth, and then I saw that we were both safe for the next few
minutes. You see we were all three in a bunch, and the cruiser could
not fire without risk of hitting her own destroyer.
We ran like this, firing into her as hard as we could--we on one side,
"No. 2" on the other--and now our shooting began to take effect. The
pirate began to slacken speed; we could see wide rents in her side and
water pouring in.
"Keep at it, men, for another minute," shouted Mr. Parker, and we poured
in a regular stream of shells.
One or two of these just did the trick (we never found out which fired
it, but Jones claimed it for his 12-pounder, and "No. 2" was equally
certain it was her shot), for suddenly a great volume of smoke and steam
rushed up from her deck, her mast and foremost funnel went over the
side, and her deck opened in a great gap, as if she had broken her back.
We gave a great cheer, and heard "No. 2" cheering wildly too.
It was just about time, for the cruiser was now not two thousand yards
off, and began blazing at us, apparently not caring whether she hit her
own destroyer or not, now that she could not possibly get away.
One shell fell into the water just between us, and went ricocheting away
with a loud hissing noise.
We had to leave her, and quickly too; so wheeling round we steered to
pick up the _Laird_ again, which now was out of sight, firing a parting
broadside, which made Mr. Parker sing out, "Cease firing, men, cease
firing; she's had enough, she's sinking!"
Didn't the cruiser give it to us then! Big shot came pitching all round
us with the noise of an express train, and little ones went past with a
"flipping" sound. How it was we were never hit I cannot imagine to this
day, for she was really making splendid practice in that first five
minutes, and I don't think I have ever felt in so much of a funk since,
for, you see, if but one of those big shells had come aboard, it would
have been death for everybody, and we should have sunk before we could
have said "Jack Robinson".
But our great speed soon took us out of accurate range, and then we were
practically safe, except from any chance shot.
The cruiser must have seen the _Laird_ before we did, for she soon gave
up the chase and left us alone; and mighty glad we were, too, I can tell
you, and went to "clean guns" and cleared up the deck. It was littered
with empty cartridge cases, in spite of many which had rolled or been
thrown overboard. The two wounded men had been attended to long before
this, but there was nothing very serious wrong with them, just flesh
wounds from small bits of shell.
Looking back we saw that the other two destroyers had returned, and were
standing by the one we had crippled; but they could not save her, for
suddenly she turned turtle and disappeared, our men breaking out into
cheers again.
"I hope they managed to save that big chap," Tommy said, and Mr. Parker,
hearing him, added, "I hope so too; I should jolly well like to shake
hands with that man."
We ran back safely to the _Laird_, and found her standing by the little
merchant steamer, which was rolling heavily in the long swell, had a
great list to port, and was apparently sinking.
We had heard no guns fired, so could not make out quite what had
happened; but the _Laird_ had evidently boarded the steamer, for, as we
came in sight of her, she was hoisting her two life-boats (cutters), and
it turned out that directly she had heard the report of heavy guns in
our direction, she had recalled the boats which she had sent across and
was coming to our rescue, judging that we had been attacked by something
bigger than a destroyer.
We went as near the _Laird_ as was safe, and sent across the two wounded
men, much against their will, I must say, for they thought that once
they were sent to the _Laird_ they would never get a chance of rejoining
"No. 3", and everyone expected that the destroyers would see most of the
fighting.
Tommy took them over in the whaler, and as he got alongside the
_Laird's_ after accommodation-ladder, her crew came crowding to the side
and gave three cheers, for by this time they had heard that we had sunk
one of the pirates.
Whilst Tommy was away the little steamer gave one or two heavy lurches
to port, lifted her bows out of the water, just as if she had been
alive, and was struggling to keep her head up, and then sank.
Poor little thing! She had probably been thumping her way up and down
the Chinese coast for years till she had fallen into the hands of the
pirates, and you could not help feeling sorry for her.
By this time the _Laird_ had lowered her boats again, and they pulled
over to where we could see a lot of heads bobbing about in the water,
and were evidently trying to save some of the struggling wretches.
A signal was semaphored across to us, and we had to get out our dinghy
and go to their assistance as well. I went in charge with a volunteer
crew, consisting of Jones, our petty officer, and another man, and hard
work it was in that clumsy boat, nearly as broad as she was long, to
pull across to where the steamer had sunk.
We could do no good either, for the Chinese would not let us save them,
and it was dangerous work in that cranky boat getting hold of them with
a boat-hook and trying to haul them over the gunwale against their will.
They probably thought that we should torture them, and preferred a quick
death by drowning to mutilation, of which a Chinaman has a terrible
dread.
One we had nearly dragged on board, and all three of us were tugging at
him, when a wave lopped in over the gunwale. We filled with water, and
before we knew what had happened we were all struggling in the water,
still gripping hold of the wretched Chinaman.
"Let the brute go!" I shouted, as soon as I got my head above water, and
we swam to the dinghy and clung on to her keel. It was a jolly
uncomfortable position, for the water was very cold, and the waves kept
washing over us, and it was mighty hard work clinging to that three
inches of wood keel.
With all my clothes on, and my boots too, I seemed to weigh a ton, and
but for Jones catching hold of me every now and then whenever a wave
came along I should have been washed away.
We were not left there long, though, for one of the _Laird's_ cutters
was quite close and came alongside, dropping down from wind'ard,
Mellins--good old Mellins--with a grin of delight, standing up in the
stern and taking care that we were not struck by the oars.
They hauled us aboard, and then we got hold of the dinghy's painter and
towed her back to "No. 3". Mellins, being a chum of mine, and an awfully
good chap, first hunted round and fished all her bottom boards and her
sculls and boat-hook out of the water, for I dare not go back without
them, because Mr. Parker would have been so angry.
We all were horribly cold by the time we scrambled up the side of "No.
3", and, never thinking of anything else except to change into dry
things, I was just going to dive down below, when Mr. Parker hallooed
out to me; "Hoist your boat immediately, you young idiot! I'll teach
you to capsize my dinghy!"
We got it inboard presently, working at the little derrick winch till we
were almost warm again, and then I ran down to Mr. Parker's cabin to
report "all correct". "He really ought to be rather pleased", I
thought, for we had lost none of the boat's gear; but I had forgotten
that I was still dripping with water, and wherever I stood a puddle of
water formed immediately.
Mr. Parker, seeing the mess I was making on his cabin deck, flew into a
great rage, and ordered me to go on deck, take all my things off, and
then report to him. "What the dickens do you mean by making my cabin in
such a state?"
It didn't take a minute to slip off all my sloppy clothes, and I went
down again with nothing on but my cap, which somehow or other had stuck
on my head all the time I was in the water.
"You've lost everything out of her, I suppose?" he said angrily, though
he seemed rather amused at my appearance. "Here I send you away to pick
up people, and you have the cheek to capsize my boat and make yourself
and 'No. 3' a laughing-stock!"
"I'm very sorry, sir," I told him, "but they did struggle so, and we
didn't lose anything out of her, sir, not even her stern grating; we
picked them all up."
"All right, Glover, don't do it again."
You can imagine that, as I stood there shivering, with my cap in my hand
and not a stitch of clothes on, I wasn't very anxious to repeat the
experiment.
"I didn't intend you to report to me like that," he added, smiling
again. "Now, dry yourself," and he threw me one of his big bath-towels,
"and when you are dry, climb into my bunk and get warm."
He went on deck, and it was glorious rubbing myself dry till my skin
glowed, and Tommy came down with my pyjamas and a bucket of red-hot pea
soup he had got from the men's galley.
It wasn't long before I was jolly snug under Mr. Parker's blankets, and
then Tommy told me of a very plucky thing that had happened. They had
told him about it when he went aboard the _Laird_ with our wounded men.
It seems that when the _Laird_ had overhauled the steamer, many of the
crew jumped overboard and were drowned, nor would she stop her engines
till the _Laird_ had sent a shot across her bows and then another into
her bridge.
This brought her to, and a couple of boats, with their crews armed, were
sent across to take charge of her.
They found, as had been imagined, that the crew of the _Hai Yen_ were
aboard, but they made no resistance, and our people signalled over for
some stokers and engine-room hands to work the engines.
Little Ogston, the assistant engineer--I told you before what a jolly
little chap he is, and how clever--went over in charge of them, and by
the time they got aboard something had evidently gone wrong with the
steamer, for she seemed to be sinking.
They found that the Chinese captain had opened all his flooding valves
and under-water openings, and that the engine-room and stokehold were
half-full of water.
They could not close them, for the fittings were now below the water,
but little Ogston made one of the Chinese stokers show him more or less
where the opening and closing gear was, and what did he do but strip off
his things and dive under the water, which had now risen almost as high
as the cylinders, and was finding its way into the other compartments of
the ship, fore and aft.
The engine-room was quite dark, Tommy told me, and there was fifteen
feet of water swishing about among the machinery as she lurched from
side to side, and all the grease and filth from the bilges was floating
about in it.
Just fancy having the pluck to dive into that in the dark, knowing that
it was only a question of a few minutes before the ship would sink!
Of course it was useless, and Ogston was jolly well exhausted after he
had made three attempts. They had to carry him on deck and do the
artificial respiration dodge before he came round.
He then wanted the diving apparatus sent across from the _Laird_, and he
would have gone down again in the diver's dress had not they all been
recalled to the _Laird_. That was when she heard the pirate cruiser's
heavy guns, guessed we'd run up against something big, and was coming
along after us.
"So you see," Tommy finished up dolefully, "they had to leave the
steamer, which was chock-full of stores, ammunition, and the _Hai Yen's_
small guns, and now everything has gone to the bottom. But wasn't it
jolly plucky of Ogston? They're awfully proud of him down in the
gun-room, and are going to give him a mess dinner to-night and a
sing-song afterwards. Don't you wish we could go?"
"Rather!" I said; but it turned out that there was something to do that
night much more exciting than a sing-song.
*CHAPTER XIV*
*Night Operations*
Cooky has a Grumble--A Pirate Junk--"Hup, Hoff, and Hout of
it"--Creeping Inshore--Four Pirate Torpedo-boats--A Dangerous
Job--A Cunning Trap--The Fourth Torpedo-boat
_Told by Pat Jones, Petty Officer, First Class, Captain of the
12-pounder, Destroyer "No. 3"_