CHAPTER XII
QUELLING AN OUTBREAK
Among the prisoners who were being sent home to England on theLena was the German commander who had been captured at Duala,Colonel Von Roth. He had given his parole, and accordingly hadnot been put in irons with the other prisoners in the hold, buthad been given a cabin to himself near the one which Frank andJack shared jointly.
Besides Jack and Frank and the two other officers, the crew ofthe Lena was made up of fifty sailors, a chief engineer and hisassistant and a squad of stokers. In all, there were probablyseventy-five British aboard.
All the prisoners captured had not been put aboard the Lena forthe reason that there were too many of them. Some were aboardthe Cumberland, and the Dwarf was caring for the remainder.However, there were probably a hundred prisoners aboard the Lenabesides the colonel.
Colonel Von Roth made himself very agreeable, said, in spite ofthe fact that he was an enemy, the boys took quite a liking tohim. He conversed fluently upon subjects pertaining to America,where he said he had visited more than once, and also spokefamiliarly of that spot on the African coast where Jack had madehis boyhood home.
Having thus thrown the lads off their guard, Colonel Von Roth setabout finding a way in which he could recapture the ship. Of hisparole he thought nothing.
"What's a parole worth when given to a couple of children?" hehad muttered to himself.
From the start the German officer made himself, perfectly athome, and, although the boys had thought of remonstrating, he wasallowed 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 almosttoo free and easy," Frank had remarked to Jack, at one of theirdaily conferences.
"So he is," Jack had made reply, "I'll have to, speak to himabout it."
He did so, and was somewhat taken aback at the officer's mannerof 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 notdo so."
However, he had quickly seemed to forget this and neither lad,because of his apparent sensitiveness, had the heart to remindhim of it.
It had just struck four bells two days later a Jack stood on thebridge alone. Frank had gone to his cabin and lain down. Hefelt somewhat ill, and decided that a rest was what he needed toput him in condition again.
Jack, having just ordered a slight alteration in their course tothe 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 workingall right a moment ago. Guess I'll go and see what's thematter."
He called the second officer, who took the bridge while Jack wentbelow. As he made his way to the engine-room, he was brought toa 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 thenlaid his ear to the door.
"You dogs!" came the colonel's voice from within. "Thought toget away with this ship, did you? Well, I'll show you!"
Without a moment's hesitation Jack opened the door and spranginside. The action almost cost him his life. He had expected tofind no enemy but the German officer in the engine-room, but inthis he was sadly mistaken. The room was full of men.
The colonel had laid his plans carefully, and they had worked outto his satisfaction.
In a moment when the attention of the sentry guarding thecaptives had been attracted elsewhere, Von Roth sneaked up on himfrom behind and struck him a heavy blow with his fist. Then,tying the prostrate man, the colonel had possessed himself of theguard's key and removed the irons from some of the Germanprisoners.
He did not wait to release all of them, for he was too anxious totry his plan of retaking the ship. Therefore, when he had freedtwenty-five men, he led them quickly to the engine-room, thinkingfirst to capture their strategic point and to take care of therest of the ship's crew later.
He had burst into the engine-room so suddenly, with his men athis heels, that the engineer and his assistants had been toosurprised to resist, in spite of the fact that not one of theprisoners, save the colonel himself, was armed--the colonelhaving appropriated one of Frank's revolvers.
When Jack sprang into the room it was with his revolver heldready for instant use. In a trice lit took in the situation, andrealized that it was no time for talk. The stokers, the engineerand his assistant were standing helpless, evidently awed by thelarger number of Germans.
Jack's revolver spoke, and Colonel Von Roth's hat leaped from hishead. In his hurry Jack's aim had been poor.
The German officer whirled and his revolver also rang out. Jackfelt a sting in his left arm, but he did not pause.
Right into the middle of the crowd of Germans he sprang, hisrevolver spitting fire as he leaped. Down went three Germans,and then Jack was in among them. The tenth and last shot of hisautomatic went squarely into the face of a German soldier.
Battling desperately the Germans leaped upon him and overwhelmedhim. So closely entwined were the struggling men that Jack wasunable to take the time to draw his second revolver; but he wasnot daunted. His fighting blood was up, and he hurled his sixfeet of height and 178 pounds of weight into the thick of theconflict.
His revolver reversed in his hand, he struck out often andfiercely. Here and there the sound of a crunch told him a blowhad landed. But he had no time to investigate; the press was toothick.
By this time the engineer, his assistant and the stokers hadrecovered from their surprise and rushed to Jack's aid. Friendand foe alike grabbed up whatever weapon they could lay theirhands on wrenches, hand-bars and heavy iron pokers.
Guarding his head as well as he could with one upraised arm, Jackstruck right and left with his revolver butt. A man sprang athim 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 thefloor in a thousand pieces.
Jack grappled with this antagonist, and, by a quick twist of thearm, whipped the wrench from his opponent's hand. It rose andfell and the German toppled over.
Colonel Von Roth, now the only man in the room armed, stood offto one side, trying in vain to bring his revolver to bear uponJack. He was afraid to fire, however, for fear of hitting one ofhis own men. Hither and thither he darted around the strugglingmass of men, attempting to get a clear shot at the lad.
Suddenly Jack stooped near the door of one of the furnaces andpicked up a heavy iron poker. With this he laid about him rightlustily, and in a moment had cleared a little circle abouthimself. 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 forColonel Von Roth's revolver and the colonel was not slow torealize it.
Quickly he raised the revolver and fired; but at that same momentJack suddenly took two rapid steps forward, and the bulletwhistled harmlessly over his head.
The lad raised his eyes from the rest of his opponents for abrief instant, and in that instant realized that the colonel hadsingled him out for his bullet.
With a sudden fierce bellow he raised his heavy poker in bothhands, and plunged into the thick of the conflict. There was nostopping him now. His rush was irresistible. He bore down uponthe foe like a human catapult.
Heavy wrenches, pieces of steel, nuts and bolts were hurled athim. Some struck him and some flew past. But to these he paidno heed. Strong as a lion he fought his way on. The Germansretreated before this fighting figure of sinew and muscle; theyquailed before his grim set mouth and the gleam in the eye ofhim.
With mighty strokes he swept them aside with broken heads andarms and
limbs. His object now was Colonel Von Roth, who stillstood at the far end of the room, his revolver raised, ready tofire.
Taking heart from the gallant action of their commander, theBritish stokers sprang forward anew, and now the Germans tried toescape. The English pushed them back rapidly.
Straight for Colonel Von Roth went Jack. The colonel, withupraised revolver, saw him coming and turned pale. He aimedquickly and fired. Jack staggered back a step and then came onagain. A second time the colonel fired, but this time the laddid not even pause.
The heavy iron poker seemed to whirl about his head; there wasthe sound of a blow. Colonel Von Roth went to the floor with agroan, and Jack fell sprawling on top of him, unconscious.
Even as the lad fell, the one German soldier who still remainedin the room, picked up a heavy wrench and sprang forward.Quickly he raised his arm, and was in the very act of hurling itat the head of the unconscious lad when there was the sound of arevolver shot. The German threw up both arms, spun rapidlyaround once or twice, and fell to the floor.
In the doorway stood Frank. Aroused from his slumber by thesounds of scuffling below, he had sprung up suddenly. At firsthe could not make out the cause of the disturbance. Then theresuddenly flashed before his face a vision of Colonel Von Roth.
This vision spurred him to instant action. Leaping from his bunkhe ran on deck. There all was serene and quiet. He paused for amoment, undecided. Then, urged on by some uncanny foresight, hedashed 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 hadfollowed him, he plunged in among them, striking out swiftlyright 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 beforethe wrench would have crushed out his friend's life.
Quickly Frank bent over his chum and gently raised his head tohis knee. There was no sign of life in the still body and Frankquickly placed his hand over the lad's heart. A faint flutteringwas his reward.
"Thank God! he's alive!" he said.
Exerting himself to the utmost, he lifted Jack to his ownshoulders, and started toward the door. At that moment the thirdofficer came rushing down the steps. Together they carried Jackto his cabin, where they laid him on his bunk. Then Frankhastily summoned the surgeon.
The lad bent over his friend anxiously as the physician examinedhim.
"Will he live, doctor?" he asked anxiously.
The surgeon shook his head doubtfully.
"Bullet just grazed his temple," he said. "Also he is badlybruised about the body. So far as I can see there are no brokenbones; 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 safelysecured. 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 safelysecured, Frank gave orders that Colonel Von Roth's body beprepared 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, Ihave made a thorough examination, and I believe that you needhave no fear; but he must have perfect quiet for several days.Some one must be with him constantly. It would be well to havesomeone come now and wait here until he regains consciousness. Ihave other work to do."
"I'll sit here myself," said Frank quietly. "As you go out willyou tell the second officer to keep the bridge until furthernotice?"
The surgeon bowed and left the cabin. Drawing up a chair, Franksat down beside his unconscious friend and took up his silentvigil.
Boy Allies under Two Flags Page 12