QUELLING AN OUTBREAK
Among the prisoners who were being sent home to England on the
Lena was the German commander who had been captured at Duala,
Colonel Von Roth. He had given his parole, and accordingly had
not been put in irons with the other prisoners in the hold, but
had been given a cabin to himself near the one which Frank and
Jack shared jointly.
Besides Jack and Frank and the two other officers, the crew of
the Lena was made up of fifty sailors, a chief engineer and his
assistant and a squad of stokers. In all, there were probably
seventy-five British aboard.
All the prisoners captured had not been put aboard the Lena for
the reason that there were too many of them. Some were aboard
the Cumberland, and the Dwarf was caring for the remainder.
However, there were probably a hundred prisoners aboard the Lena
besides the colonel.
Colonel Von Roth made himself very agreeable, said, in spite of
the fact that he was an enemy, the boys took quite a liking to
him. He conversed fluently upon subjects pertaining to America,
where he said he had visited more than once, and also spoke
familiarly of that spot on the African coast where Jack had made
his boyhood home.
Having thus thrown the lads off their guard, Colonel Von Roth set
about finding a way in which he could recapture the ship. Of his
parole he thought nothing.
"What's a parole worth when given to a couple of children?" he
had muttered to himself.
From the start the German officer made himself, perfectly at
home, and, although the boys had thought of remonstrating, he was
allowed the freedom of all parts of the ship. He went below,
when, he felt so disposed, and returned when he was ready.
"It seems to me that our gallant colonel is taking things almost
too free and easy," Frank had remarked to Jack, at one of their
daily conferences.
"So he is," Jack had made reply, "I'll have to, speak to him
about it."
He did so, and was somewhat taken aback at the officer's manner
of receiving the rebuke.
"I meant no harm," he replied, with an air offended dignity,
"but, of course, if you do not wish me to go below, I shall not
do so."
However, he had quickly seemed to forget this and neither lad,
because of his apparent sensitiveness, had the heart to remind
him of it.
It had just struck four bells two days later a Jack stood on the
bridge alone. Frank had gone to his cabin and lain down. He
felt somewhat ill, and decided that a rest was what he needed to
put him in condition again.
Jack, having just ordered a slight alteration in their course to
the man at the wheel, signaled the engine-room for more speed.
There was no response to the signal, and Jack tried it again.
Still there wits no response.
"That's funny," said the lad to himself, "the bell was working
all right a moment ago. Guess I'll go and see what's the
matter."
He called the second officer, who took the bridge while Jack went
below. As he made his way to the engine-room, he was brought to
a sudden stop at the door. He heard a familiar voice inside,
speaking in a tone of great satisfaction.
"Colonel Von Roth, or I'm much mistaken," Jack fold himself,
laying a hand on the door. "I wonder--"
Struck with a sudden thought, he drew back suddenly, and then
laid his ear to the door.
"You dogs!" came the colonel's voice from within. "Thought to
get away with this ship, did you? Well, I'll show you!"
Without a moment's hesitation Jack opened the door and sprang
inside. The action almost cost him his life. He had expected to
find no enemy but the German officer in the engine-room, but in
this he was sadly mistaken. The room was full of men.
The colonel had laid his plans carefully, and they had worked out
to his satisfaction.
In a moment when the attention of the sentry guarding the
captives had been attracted elsewhere, Von Roth sneaked up on him
from behind and struck him a heavy blow with his fist. Then,
tying the prostrate man, the colonel had possessed himself of the
guard's key and removed the irons from some of the German
prisoners.
He did not wait to release all of them, for he was too anxious to
try his plan of retaking the ship. Therefore, when he had freed
twenty-five men, he led them quickly to the engine-room, thinking
first to capture their strategic point and to take care of the
rest of the ship's crew later.
He had burst into the engine-room so suddenly, with his men at
his heels, that the engineer and his assistants had been too
surprised to resist, in spite of the fact that not one of the
prisoners, save the colonel himself, was armed--the colonel
having appropriated one of Frank's revolvers.
When Jack sprang into the room it was with his revolver held
ready for instant use. In a trice lit took in the situation, and
realized that it was no time for talk. The stokers, the engineer
and his assistant were standing helpless, evidently awed by the
larger number of Germans.
Jack's revolver spoke, and Colonel Von Roth's hat leaped from his
head. In his hurry Jack's aim had been poor.
The German officer whirled and his revolver also rang out. Jack
felt a sting in his left arm, but he did not pause.
Right into the middle of the crowd of Germans he sprang, his
revolver spitting fire as he leaped. Down went three Germans,
and then Jack was in among them. The tenth and last shot of his
automatic went squarely into the face of a German soldier.
Battling desperately the Germans leaped upon him and overwhelmed
him. So closely entwined were the struggling men that Jack was
unable to take the time to draw his second revolver; but he was
not daunted. His fighting blood was up, and he hurled his six
feet of height and 178 pounds of weight into the thick of the
conflict.
His revolver reversed in his hand, he struck out often and
fiercely. Here and there the sound of a crunch told him a blow
had landed. But he had no time to investigate; the press was too
thick.
By this time the engineer, his assistant and the stokers had
recovered from their surprise and rushed to Jack's aid. Friend
and foe alike grabbed up whatever weapon they could lay their
hands on wrenches, hand-bars and heavy iron pokers.
Guarding his head as well as he could with one upraised arm, Jack
struck right and left with his revolver butt. A man sprang at
him with a heavy wrench, but the lad caught it, by a quick move,
on his revolver. It saved his head, but the weapon went to the
floor in a thousand pieces.
Jack grappled with this antagonist, and, by a quick twist of the
arm, whipped the wrench from his opponent's hand. It rose and
fell and the German toppled over.
Colonel Von Roth, now the only man in the room armed, stood off
to one side, trying in vain to bring his revolver to bear upon
Jack. He was afraid to fire, however, for fear of hitting one of
his own men. Hither and thither he darted around the struggling
mass of men, attempting to get a clear shot at the lad.
Suddenly Jack stooped near the door of one of the furnaces and
picked up a heavy iron poker. With this he laid about him right
lustily, and in a moment had cleared a little circle about
himself. The rest of the English, driven back by the Germans,
were still fighting desperately at the opposite side of the room.
Now that Jack was standing alone, he made an excellent target for
Colonel Von Roth's revolver and the colonel was not slow to
realize it.
Quickly he raised the revolver and fired; but at that same moment
Jack suddenly took two rapid steps forward, and the bullet
whistled harmlessly over his head.
The lad raised his eyes from the rest of his opponents for a
brief instant, and in that instant realized that the colonel had
singled him out for his bullet.
With a sudden fierce bellow he raised his heavy poker in both
hands, and plunged into the thick of the conflict. There was no
stopping him now. His rush was irresistible. He bore down upon
the foe like a human catapult.
Heavy wrenches, pieces of steel, nuts and bolts were hurled at
him. Some struck him and some flew past. But to these he paid
no heed. Strong as a lion he fought his way on. The Germans
retreated before this fighting figure of sinew and muscle; they
quailed before his grim set mouth and the gleam in the eye of
him.
With mighty strokes he swept them aside with broken heads and
arms and limbs. His object now was Colonel Von Roth, who still
stood at the far end of the room, his revolver raised, ready to
fire.
Taking heart from the gallant action of their commander, the
British stokers sprang forward anew, and now the Germans tried to
escape. The English pushed them back rapidly.
Straight for Colonel Von Roth went Jack. The colonel, with
upraised revolver, saw him coming and turned pale. He aimed
quickly and fired. Jack staggered back a step and then came on
again. A second time the colonel fired, but this time the lad
did not even pause.
The heavy iron poker seemed to whirl about his head; there was
the sound of a blow. Colonel Von Roth went to the floor with a
groan, and Jack fell sprawling on top of him, unconscious.
Even as the lad fell, the one German soldier who still remained
in the room, picked up a heavy wrench and sprang forward.
Quickly he raised his arm, and was in the very act of hurling it
at the head of the unconscious lad when there was the sound of a
revolver shot. The German threw up both arms, spun rapidly
around once or twice, and fell to the floor.
In the doorway stood Frank. Aroused from his slumber by the
sounds of scuffling below, he had sprung up suddenly. At first
he could not make out the cause of the disturbance. Then there
suddenly flashed before his face a vision of Colonel Von Roth.
This vision spurred him to instant action. Leaping from his bunk
he ran on deck. There all was serene and quiet. He paused for a
moment, undecided. Then, urged on by some uncanny foresight, he
dashed toward the engine-room.
On the steps he met the first of the retreating German soldiers.
With a cry over his shoulder to the third officer, who had
followed him, he plunged in among them, striking out swiftly
right and left. At the door of the engine-room he halted.
At first he could not make out Jack's unconscious figure lying,
on the floor. But, as the German stooped to pick up the wrench,
the lad divined his purpose. He had fired just a moment before
the wrench would have crushed out his friend's life.
Quickly Frank bent over his chum and gently raised his head to
his knee. There was no sign of life in the still body and Frank
quickly placed his hand over the lad's heart. A faint fluttering
was his reward.
"Thank God! he's alive!" he said.
Exerting himself to the utmost, he lifted Jack to his own
shoulders, and started toward the door. At that moment the third
officer came rushing down the steps. Together they carried Jack
to his cabin, where they laid him on his bunk. Then Frank
hastily summoned the surgeon.
The lad bent over his friend anxiously as the physician examined
him.
"Will he live, doctor?" he asked anxiously.
The surgeon shook his head doubtfully.
"Bullet just grazed his temple," he said. "Also he is badly
bruised about the body. So far as I can see there are no broken
bones; but he may be injured internally."
"Is there anything I can do, doctor?"
The surgeon looked at the lad's white face.
"Yes," he replied. "Go and see that the prisoners are safely
secured. I can work better without your presence here."
Frank started to protest, but the surgeon raised a warning hand.
Without another word Frank left the cabin.
Making sure that all the unwounded prisoners had been safely
secured, Frank gave orders that Colonel Von Roth's body be
prepared for burial. An hour later he returned to the cabin.
"How is he, doctor?" was his first question.
"Still unconscious, as you may see," was the reply. "However, I
have made a thorough examination, and I believe that you need
have no fear; but he must have perfect quiet for several days.
Some one must be with him constantly. It would be well to have
someone come now and wait here until he regains consciousness. I
have other work to do."
"I'll sit here myself," said Frank quietly. "As you go out will
you tell the second officer to keep the bridge until further
notice?"
The surgeon bowed and left the cabin. Drawing up a chair, Frank
sat down beside his unconscious friend and took up his silent
vigil.