CHAPTER XXXI
Von Hoppner's Boast
"It's that spy bloke, sir," reported one of the petty officers."Cassidy and Jones are tackling him all right."
By the time Fordyce arrived upon the scene the worst of the tumulthad passed. Mindiggle, foaming at the mouth, was lying on his back,with Cassidy planted firmly on his chest, and the other A.B. pinninghis arms to the floor. Other would-be quellers of the disturbancewere awaiting an opportunity to secure the spy's legs. He was kickingright and left, almost capsizing the bulky form of his captor, thewhile yelling and shouting in a blood-curdling manner.
At length Mindiggle was handcuffed and gagged, and the Sub was thentold of what had occurred. It appeared that one of the seamen, goinginto the spy's temporary cell, had been suddenly and violentlyattacked by the demented man. There could be no doubt about it;Mindiggle's brain had turned under the mental strain. He was nothingless than a homicidal maniac.
About five minutes later Fordyce was called to the cabin occupied bythe two survivors of the torpedoed German destroyer. TheLieutenant-Commander had recovered consciousness, and almost hisfirst act was to demand the reason why he, an officer of the ImperialGerman Navy, should be sharing the same cabin with a common sailor?
"I will convey your request to my commanding officer," replied theSub, although he was inwardly raging at the attitude taken up by thearrogant Hun, who, but for Fordyce's promptitude, might have beenlying fathoms deep in the Baltic. "Not knowing your name (the Sub wastoo truthful to deny all knowledge of the prisoner's rank) we werenaturally at a loss."
"My name, Herr Unter-leutnant, is Ludwig von Hoppner," replied theHun pompously. "My rank, Kapitan-Leutnant of H.I.M. torpedo-boatV201, as you English have already learnt to your cost."
"Indeed!" remarked Fordyce. "Then apparently we are quits, since V201has been destroyed. Might I enquire particulars of the circumstancesto which you refer? Surely this Ordre pour le M?rite must have hadsomething to do with it?"
The Sub hardly expected that von Hoppner would give the information,but the Hun, unable to refrain from boasting, swallowed the bait.
"It has," replied von Hoppner. "If you wish to know, Englishman, itwas for destroying one of your submarine-cruisers at the southernentrance to the Sound."
"Then, I suppose," resumed Fordyce, "that the incident occurred abouttwo years ago, when one of our submarines went aground in neutralwaters, and your destroyers shelled the stranded vessel until aDanish cruiser intervened. To the best of my recollection, theofficer directing the German operations received the Iron Cross only,and not l'Ordre pour le M?rite."
"You are mistaken," said von Hoppner petulantly. "It was not thatoccasion to which I refer. It was on the 9th of ---- of the presentyear."
"Thank you!" replied the Sub quietly. "That is all I wish to know forthe present. I will convey your request to Lieutenant-Commander theHon. Derek Stockdale."
Chuckling to himself, Fordyce returned to the skipper's cabin to makethe report. He found the Hon. Derek conferring with Mr. Macquare asto what was to be done with the lunatic, for Mindiggle's case washopeless.
"He's cheated a firing-party, Macquare," remarked theLieutenant-Commander. "The sooner we get him off this craft thebetter. And the wounded German bluejacket too. At daybreak I'll speakthe first merchantman or fishing-boat we sight and put them both onboard. Well, Mr. Fordyce? You look mighty pleased with yourself."
"I have found out the name and rank of the prisoner, sir. He isKapitan-Leutnant Ludwig von Hoppner, late of V201, and the possessorof l'Ordre pour le M?rite, bestowed, I have good reason to believe,for assisting us in our passage through the German mine-field at thesouthern entrance to the Sound."
"Eh, what's that?" enquired the Hon. Derek. "Explain yourself,please."
"Might I have the log-book, sir?" asked Fordyce.
Receiving the manuscript volume, the Sub turned over the pages untilhe came to the entry under the date given by the German officer.
"There you are, sir!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "That was the nightwhen we were held up by the nets, and a Hun torpedo-craft opened away for us by destroying that sunken merchantman by means of depthcharges."
"By Jove, yes!" ejaculated the Lieutenant-Commander. "Carry on, Mr.Fordyce."
"So there's hardly a doubt that this von Hoppner was the officercommanding the torpedo-boat. When he blew up the submerged vessel hewas under the impression that he had strafed us, and so his Emperorgave him that potty decoration."
"What sort of fellow is he?" asked the Hon. Derek.
"A regular cad, sir, I should imagine," replied Fordyce. "His firstwords to me were of the nature of a complaint that we had shoved himinto the same cabin as the bluejacket with the broken leg."
"Oh, is he?" rejoined the Lieutenant-Commander grimly. "In that caseI won't spare his feelings over his tin-pot decoration. Had he been adecent sort of man I would have left him in blissful ignorance onthat point. Well, I think it is about time we got a move on, Mr.Macquare."
R19, after a fairly long interval of submergence, was cautiouslybrought to the surface. An examination of the moon-lit sea gave nosigns of the presence of hostile or other craft. Overhead nothing inthe nature of an air-craft could be discerned.
Running awash, yet ready to dive at a few seconds' notice, thesubmarine held on her way, reeling off mile after mile, until thefirst blush of dawn revealed the presence of a Zeppelin bearing downwind at a great speed.
The Lieutenant-Commander promptly gave orders to dive, and once againR19 sank and rested upon the sea bed. Whether the German air-ship had"spotted" her was a matter for speculation. The crew would havepreferred to take their chances in an encounter with the giantgas-bag, but their skipper thought otherwise. Until the Baltic wasleft astern, cautious tactics were to be the order of the day.Sounding meant long and tedious delays, but, as the Hon. Derekremarked, "None but a fool would cut capers in the open jaw of aman-trap."
It was approaching midday when R19 left her enforced resting-place.The Zeppelin had vanished from sight, having failed in her quest tolocate the task she had been called upon to perform; but less than amile away on the port bow was a fishing-boat of about forty tons,moving slowly through the water with fathoms of nets towing astern.
"That's what we've been wanting to fall in with," observed the Hon.Derek. "Starboard a little, Quartermaster. Lay me alongside thatvessel."
A Sub and a Submarine: The Story of H.M. Submarine R19 in the Great War Page 31