The Rival Submarines
Page 10
CHAPTER X.
THE SECOND OFFICER RETURNS.
Captain Restronguet remained in his cabin till nearly ten o'clock, then,going into an adjoining dressing-room, he changed into his "dutyclothes," donned a thick coat and india-rubber boots, and made his wayfor'ard to the diving-room in the fore compartment.
Here the men had unshipped the collapsible boat, but as yet it had notbeen unfolded.
"Are you going to bring her to the surface, sir?" asked Polglaze, seeingthat his captain was in his great coat.
"Yes, I have decided to do so," replied Captain Restronguet. "Bring theboat under the upper hatchway, Lancarrow, and you, Gwennap, I want youto lay out a kedge up stream. See that the flukes engage in therubble-work in the base of the centre-pier of the bridge, and run outanother kedge aft."
Lancarrow and Gwennap promptly donned their diving suits and entered the"water-lock," taking with them the anchors and a length of stout Manilarope. Twenty minutes later they returned, the water dripping from theirglistening garb.
"All correct, sir," reported Lancarrow, as soon as his headdress wasremoved. "Nothing short of the rope parting will set us adrift, andthere's precious little tide running now. I took good care to ram thefluke of the kedges well home."
"What is it like up above--dark?"
"I went up to have a look round, sir," announced Gwennap. "It is apitch-dark night, the stars are in, and there's hardly a breath ofwind."
"Good!" exclaimed Captain Restronguet approvingly. "Pass the word toMr. Devoran to bring the vessel awash."
The water in two of the buoyancy tanks was quickly expelled, andmajestically the huge submerged hull rose from the bed of the river,till with her deck just a few inches above the surface she frettedgently at her mooring-rope.
Being immediately below the massive pier of the Tubular Bridge there wasno danger of a passing vessel--should one be under way at thathour--colliding with the "Aphrodite"; while owing to the darkness andthe light-absorbing powers of her hull she was absolutely invisible at aboat's length off.
Rapidly yet silently the hatch on deck was unfastened and slid back.The collapsible boat, weighing less than sixty pounds, was passedthrough, extended, and kept in position by means of stretchers.
Carclew and Gwennap tossed the oars into the frail craft, and holdingthe painter launched her over the side.
"Ready, sir," whispered the latter.
Captain Restronguet immediately came on deck and stepped agilely intothe boat; the bowman pushed off, the oars dipped, and the canvascockleshell darted in the direction of Coombe Bay, a tidal indentationjust south of the town of Saltash.
"Thank goodness it is a fairly black night," muttered CaptainRestronguet. Beyond the pontoon lights at Saltash, the signal lamps ofthe railway, and the riding lights of a few vessels lying at the buoyson the west side of the river, all was in darkness. To gain theentrance to Coombe Bay it was necessary to pass between two cruisers,whose anchor lamps glimmered fitfully, throwing scintillatingreflections on the placid water.
"Boat ahoy!" challenged the look-out on the nearest vessel.
The captain of the "Aphrodite" was equal to the occasion.
"Passing!" he roared, using the shibboleth laid down in the NavalRegulations for this contingency.
This reply apparently satisfied the look-out, and without furtherinterruption the canvas boat drew into the shallow waters of Coombe Bay.Fortunately the tide was nearly at the full, and still rising, and henceno danger of being stranded on the mud was likely to occur.
"Easy, men," cautioned Captain Restronguet, as the gaunt outlines of therailway bridge spanning the creek loomed up against the darkness. Then,"Lay on your oars."
Gradually losing way the boat drifted on till it grounded on the shinglehard at the foot of the bridge. The boat's crew listened intently;beyond the distant rumble of a belated train, and the faint hoot of aliner's syren away out in the Sound, all was still.
Ten minutes passed. Captain Restronguet knitted his brows inperplexity.
"There's some one, sir," whispered Gwennap, as the cautious scrunchingof a man's boots upon the shingle could be faintly heard. Then a darkfigure appeared out of the night.
"Is that you, Kenwyn?" demanded the Captain in a low voice.
"Ay, ay, sir."
"Then jump in; I thought you had missed us."
"Couldn't get here any sooner, sir," said the man apologetically. "Iwas stopped and questioned by a patrol as I came down from the station.There are launches up and down the river, I am told, looking for us."
"The deuce there are!" exclaimed Captain Restronguet; then in a calmertone he added, "We must risk it. Perhaps it is my fault; but I don'tthink they'll look for the 'Aphrodite' so close to the bridge. Giveway, men."
On gaining the main stream, greatly to the relief of all in the boat, nored and green lights of patrolling launches were to be seen. BoldlyCaptain Restronguet steered across the bows of the cruiser that hadhailed him on the outward trip. To lurk inshore would be courtingsuspicion.
"Boat ahoy!" came the hail from the lookout.
Captain Restronguet replied as before, but this time the look-out wasnot satisfied.
"What boat is that?" he shouted.
"Customs!" roared the captain with a lucky inspiration.
Muttering a malediction on all custom-house officials, especially onthose in this particular boat, the seaman resumed his walk up and downthe fo'c'sle deck. He remembered a certain half a pound of tobacco thathad got him into trouble with His Majesty's Customs, and the incidentstill rankled in his manly bosom.
Without further interruption the boat ran alongside the deck of the"Aphrodite." Her crew jumped aboard the parent vessel, hauled thecollapsible on deck and folded it.
"Look sharp, sir!" exclaimed Gwennap. "There's a steam-boat bearingright down upon us."
There was no time to be lost. Hastily the folded boat was droppedthrough the hatchway, her crew quickly followed and the hatch wasreclosed. One touch and the emergency chambers were flooded, and thesubmarine began to sink to the bed of the river. It was a close thingfor the picquet boat. Had she been a quarter of a minute earlier theywould have stove her bows in against the massive plating of the elusivevessel. As it was she passed over the after-conning-tower with less thanhalf a fathom of water to spare, utterly ignorant of the narrow escapeshe had had.
"Welcome home once more, Kenwyn!" said Mr. Devoran cordially, extendinghis hand, which the new arrival gripped like a vice and shook like apump-handle.
Had the chief officer of Southsea Coast Guard Station, or P.C. 445 ofthe A Division of the Borough of Portsmouth Police been present at thisreunion, they would have had no difficulty in recognizing Mr. Kenwyn asthe quiet and very retiring unknown who had landed under most unusualcircumstances on Southsea Beach.
"I had to abandon my diving-suit, sir," explained Kenwyn, who served onboard the submarine in the capacity of second officer.
"That I have already learnt from Press reports," replied CaptainRestronguet. "And I was glad to know that you took particular pains toget rid of the air reservoir. That did the authorities nicely; they arewelcome to the dress, and if they can analyse the metal it is composedof they are also at liberty to make use of the secret. It has not beenpatented. But how came you to get out of your bearings, Kenwyn? Inotice you had to concoct a cock and bull yarn about walking from thebeach at Gosport."
"I never tell a lie, sir, under any conditions. As a matter of fact,after I left the 'Aphrodite' I did go ashore at Gosport, somewherebehind a yacht yard. No one saw me. I then tried to cross to thePortsmouth side of the harbour to try and recover the submarine weldingtool that Carnon, you may remember, dropped when we examined theentrance to No. 5 Shipbuilding Slip. Before I realized it the ebb tidecaught me, and I was whisked off down the harbour at a rate of at leastseven knots. As soon as I felt the current slacken I took compassbearings and came ashore, and the rest you
know."
"You have, of course, heard that we have a naval officer on board?"
"Heard? Rather. The papers are full of it, sir, and every one istalking about it. At Exeter Station and again at Millbay, on my journeydown, it was the sole topic of conversation on the platform."
"And how does the Great British Public like it?"
"In a general sense they are thankful it is no worse, so to speak. Itis recognized that you are a power that cannot lightly be ignored, andyour magnanimity (that is the way they put it) has created quite afavourable impression. Even in the House it was suggested that it wouldbe a master-stroke in world supremacy if you could be induced to handover the 'Aphrodite'----"
"Never!" declared Captain Restronguet vehemently, and bringing his fistdown heavily upon the table. "Never! They had their chance, butfoolishly threw it away. Now, gentlemen, it is nearly one o'clock. I,for one, will be glad to have a few hours' rest," and with aninclination of his head Captain Restronguet retired to his sleepingquarters.