ADRIFT
WITH the excitement of watching the ocean duel still fresh in their
minds, the cutter's crew did not readily realise their predicament.
They had sublime faith in the ability of the "Heracles" to give the
Huns "a proper hammering" and that in due course the British cruiser
would return and pick up her boat.
For some time the sounds of the violent cannonade were borne faintly
to their ears; then, save when a man's hearing played tricks upon
him, the noise of the firing died utterly away.
Hour after hour passed, but no sign of the returning cruiser. The
horrible thought that perhaps the "Heracles" had been sent to the
bottom took root and increased in Tressidar's mind. Yet no hint did
he give to his men. In order to occupy their minds and to keep their
blood circulating--for in the open boat the cold was intense--the
sub. ordered them to row, the oarsmen relieving each other every
half-hour. Round and round in a vast circle the cutter went.
Tressidar was too cautious to take the boat far from the spot where
she had parted company with her parent ship, otherwise, should the
"Heracles" return and find no sign of the cutter, she would most
likely conclude that the boat had either been swamped or blown to
atoms by a stray shell.
To add to the discomfort of the cutter's crew, it was now raining the
steady downpour accompanied by occasional sleet and drifts of fog.
Frequently the extent of vision was limited to less than half a mile.
In these circumstances the chances of being picked up by the
"Heracles" were greatly diminished.
Presently one of the men caught sight of a grey pointed object
forging through the detached pieces of drift ice. At first glance it
resembled a destroyer, save for the difference in colour. It was a
vessel of some sort, but different from any that the cutter's crew
had yet seen. It had a slightly raised fo'c'sle, large
superstructure, and two slender masts fitted with wireless gear.
"A German submarine!" exclaimed a seaman hoarsely. "My word, ain't
she a whopper!"
It was an unterseeboot of the newest type--resembling a small cruiser
rather than the accepted idea of a submarine. Trimmed for surface
running, she exposed a freeboard of nearly ten feet. For'ard were two
twelve-pounder guns in circular turrets, so arranged that they could
be lowered below the deck in a few seconds whenever it became
necessary to dive. In the elongated superstructure, which comprised
not only the conning-tower but several spacious compartments, were
gun-ports fitted with watertight lids. These were now triced up,
revealing the muzzles of four seven-pounder quick-firers. From the
after end of the superstructure floated the Black Cross of Germany,
while abaft were two more "disappearing" guns and the above-water
mine-dropping gear.
Already the two for'ard guns were trained upon the luckless cutter.
At any moment shells might be dealing death and destruction amongst
her crew.
"Stand by with your rifles, lads!" ordered Tressidar. "Keep them out
of sight until I give the word."
In silence the men awaited the submarine's approach, ignorant of what
was about to take place. The sub. had wisely refrained from making
any sign of resistance. He had decided not to give the Germans a
chance to justify their opening fire; but should they do so, the
cutter's crew would fight to the last.
After a while the submarine slowed down and stopped at a little less
than a cable's length to windward of the boat. A couple of heavily
clad officers standing on the platform formed by the roof of the
superstructure examined the cutter through their binoculars. Then one
made a remark to the other and both laughed uproariously.
Meanwhile the bow guns were still trained upon the cutter. Abreast of
the superstructure a seaman, acting upon orders from his officers,
held up a coil of rope to signify the willingness of the submarine's
crew to take the boat in tow.
Tressidar shook his head emphatically. It would be far preferable to
remain adrift in the open boat than to trust to the tender mercies of
the kultured Hun.
Slowly the submarine forged ahead and circling passed within twenty
yards of the cutter. For a few moments Tressidar was under the
impression that the U-boat was about to ram the little craft, but he
was mistaken.
"No take help from Zhermans?" shouted one of the German officers.
"Sorry we have no room for you on board, or we vos take your
prisoners to Zhermany."
Twenty or thirty men who formed the submarine's crew laughed
boisterously at the plight of the British seamen; but, somewhat to
Tressidar's surprise, no attempt was made to molest the cutter. With
her crew still jeering, the submarine increased her speed and was
soon out of sight.
The short day was drawing to a close. Benumbed by the cold, the men
huddled close together for mutual warmth. They were too exhausted to
indulge in conversation. Their frozen hands could not retain their
grasp upon the looms of the oars, yet uncomplainingly they sat with
compressed lips, looking in vain for the return of the "Heracles."
As night came on a lantern was lighted and exhibited from a boathook
set upright through one of the thwarts. The rain had now ceased. It
was snowing slightly, with the promise of a heavy blizzard before
many hours had passed. All around the drift ice floated in compact
masses, until there was danger of the boat being nipped between the
enormous floes as they ground in the long swell.
Just before midnight the thud of a ship's engines became audible.
Gradually the sound drew nearer and nearer. A large vessel, showing
no lights, was cautiously making her way through the drift ice.
The ship was not H.M.S. "Heracles." The cutter's crew knew that by
the noise of the engines, for it lacked the rhythm of the cruiser's
smoothly running machinery.
She was certainly coming in the direction of the boat, but the
question was, would she stop. Since she had gone a long way to the
northward of the usual trade routes, it was evident that the vessel
had good reasons for wishing to avoid examination by the British
patrol craft, and would not be likely to stop at the signal of
distress.
Accordingly the sub. determined to bluff her. By means of a Morse
flashing-lamp, with which the cutter was equipped, a peremptory order
to heave-to was sent. For a few moments the men waited in acute
suspense. Upon the success of the demand depended their lives, since
they had little chance of outliving the rigours of a long winter's
night in the ice-infested sea. A steady white light shone through the
darkness, followed by the signal "I am heaving-to."
"Give way, lads," exclaimed Tressidar encouragingly. "Another five
minutes will do the trick."
Gathering their remaining energies, for the men were almost done up,
the rowers urged the boat in the direction of the now motionless
steamer, and ranged alongside her towering hull, the rail of which
seemed lost in the darkness overhead.
A coil of rope, hurtling from the deck, dropped into the cutter. The
bowman, his fingers numbed with the cold, fumbled as he took a turn
round the for'ard thwart.
"Lower a ladder," shouted the sub.
"Aye, aye!" replied a voice with a pronounced foreign accent. There
was neither cordiality nor resentment in the words; merely an
acceptance with a good grace of a situation that could not be
avoided.
The cutter was grinding alongside the rust-streaked wall-sides of the
steamer. Her exhausted crew had not the strength to fend her off. It
was, indeed, doubtful whether some of the men would be able to gain
the vessel's deck without assistance.
A wire-rope ladder was lowered from the rail. Owing to the roll of
the ship the lowermost rungs were at one moment three feet from the
side. At another the ladder slapped vigorously against the iron
plating in a manner that promised broken knuckles to the men as they
climbed to safety.
Hardly able to move his limbs after his prolonged exposure in the
boat, Tressidar gamely ascended. His nerveless fingers could hardly
retain a grip upon the wet and slippery rungs. His boots slipped
dangerously from the smooth rounded surface of the swaying ladder.
Oppressed by the weight of his saturated clothing, he had more than
once on the hazardous ascent to pause and regain his breath before he
could summon his jaded energies to a renewed effort.
He fancied that the master of the vessel glanced curiously at him as
he almost staggered upon the deck. Then, without a word, he drew
himself up and waited until the last of his men had gained safety.
Then, and only then, did he drop his plan of bluff.
"We were adrift in an open boat belonging to a British cruiser," he
explained. "We should be glad of your hospitality until we fall in
with another of our warships. Might I ask what ship this is?"
"The 'Freya' of Hammerfest, bound from New York to Gothenborg,"
replied the master. "We are only too glad to give you assistance; for
a few hours, perhaps, since your ships swarm like ants. If you will
send your men for'ard they will be attended to. Meanwhile, sir, will
you favour me with your company in my cabin?"
"How about our rifles, sir?" asked one of the cutter's crew.
Tressidar hesitated. The men, being armed when they left the ship,
ought to be under arms until they returned; but, on the other hand,
it was hardly good taste to send them to the "Freya's" fo'c'sle with
rifles and ammunition as if they were a prize crew.
The Norwegian skipper noticed his dilemma.
"Perhaps you would like me to take charge of them," he remarked.
"Should we be stopped by a German submarine--one passed and was going
south-west less than five hours ago--it would go hard with us if they
found armed Englishmen on board. I will be responsible that the arms
will be returned to you intact when you are transferred to a British
ship."
The sub. saw no reason why he should not do as the master of the
"Freya" suggested. The chances were that the ship would be examined
by a patrol vessel before many hours were passed. There was one
problem, however, that he could not exactly solve, nor did he like to
ask his host any question on the matter. If the "Freya" were what she
was stated to be--a neutral trader from and for neutral ports--why
did she go so far out of her course?
The arms were given up and the jaded men sent forward, where they
were hospitably entertained by the Norwegian crew, who not only gave
them hot food and drink, but lent them clothing while their own was
being dried in front of the galley fire. Not until Tressidar was
assured that his men were made comfortable did he go aft to the
master's cabin.
"You are too tired to converse," remarked the skipper, as the sub.
attacked a plain but appetising meal.
"Not at all," replied Tressidar, his anxiety to hear more of his host
and the vessel under his command being uppermost in his mind.
The master, after the manner of his race, began by plying the sub.
with numerous questions concerning his adventures, to all of which
the sub. replied without any attempt at reticence. He knew that
mistrust begets mistrust, and that if he "hedged" his own chances of
obtaining information would be thrown away.
"So your ship was engaged with a German ship disguised as one of
ours," remarked the master of the "Freya." "I hope she sunk her.
These arrogant Germans have already torpedoed nearly twenty of our
peaceable merchantmen and our Government can but protest If only we
were a great nation how we would help to fight them! As it is, we
can only expostulate, knowing that expostulation is of no avail so
far as a German is concerned."
"Yet the submarine you fell in with this afternoon did not attempt to
torpedo you?"
"No; but I think I can explain that," replied the Norwegian skipper.
"She passed close under our stern and read our name. These fellows
seem to have information of every vessel leaving American ports, and
for which port they are bound. Those making for Scandinavia are
generally left alone; it is only neutral vessels bound for British
ports that are sunk."
"Perhaps that is why you took such a devious course," prompted
Tressidar.
"Yes," admitted his host frankly, "and also to lessen the risk of
hitting a German mine. Our troubles will commence when we enter the
Skager Rack, for the Germans, in defiance of all international law,
have mined that too. But before that, I trust, you will have no
further need for my hospitality."
The skipper spoke with evident sincerity. His sympathies were wholly
pro-British. He quite recognised the necessity for a stringent
blockade of Germany and for the restriction of imports into Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, and Holland.
"Of course it is a great temptation for our people to enrich
themselves," he said, "only it is short-sighted policy. I feel
convinced that should Germany win this war--and my opinion is that
she won't unless the Allies make a serious and irreparable
blunder--the liberty of the smaller States of Europe, even though
they have preserved a strict and punctilious neutrality, will be gone
for ever. But you have finished your meal: you would like to sleep?
There is a bunk at your disposal. Should the slightest occasion
arise, I will have you awakened at once."
Thankfully Tressidar accepted the offer. Half asleep, he threw off
his clothes and turned in. A minute later he was in a deep slumber.