by Anthology
"It's my belief," observed French thoughtfully, "that the Japanese would have kept out entirely if they hadn't been tied hand and foot by their treaty. They knew when we declared war a full half year before they intended that we should, that the game had been lost before it had even been begun. They're deucedly patriotic and all that, but as the Captain says, they're not fools. Now with the Chinese, it's different. It isn't so much a question of ambition with them as just plain hate. As long as they think they can still hurt us, they're going to keep up the struggle, even though they know that they haven't a single chance of winning out in the end. But where's that bathtub, Tommy? That interests me a good deal more just now than even the probable duration of the war."
"The commander of the Manchester's a friend of mine, so I guess I'll take you over to her," said Hooker, stepping into the Ariadne's launch, which swung at the temporary landing-stage. "Aren't you coming along?" as Leslie paused on the bank.
"No, thanks. I'm clean enough for a while. Besides I want to have a talk with Gordon."
"You'll join us at dinner this evening on the Ariadne, won't you?" called the Lieutenant as the launch headed out into the muddy stream.
"Yes. I'll be there."
He watched the little craft for a moment longer and then turned with something like a sigh and, mounting his uneasy pony, set out at a foot pace for the headquarters of the marine corps. It suddenly occurred to him that he still had Mabel Thornton's letter to the Lieutenant in his pocket and with an exclamation of annoyance, he drew it forth and turned it over idly in his hands. For an interval he hesitated, but reflecting that Hooker had given it to him without the slightest reservation, he unfolded the missive resolutely and commenced to read.
"— We are planning to go to Vermont this summer. Jim Merriam has been spending his vacation at Dorset and writes so enthusiastically of the place and says the summer colony there is so pleasant and the young people have so much fun that he has gotten us all excited about it, and mother said only last night that she had decided to go. We all think it will do Eve lots of good to go to a place she's never been to before, where there's lots of things going on all the time — take her away from herself, I mean. I'm awfully glad she and Jimmy Merriam are to be together this summer. He understands her so well and they've always been almost like brother and sister and Eve said just the other day that she had such a restful, contented feeling when she was with him—"
The Captain stopped reading and the paper rustled as his hand contracted in a quick spasm of pain. To renounce her himself was one thing, but this was a possibility he had never taken into consideration.
"But after all," he said to himself after a moment, calmly enough, "there's no reason why she shouldn't if — if she cares for him. Evelyn's a girl who ought to have a home and children of her own — it's the only kind of a life in which she'll be really happy — and Jim would make her a good husband — none better. I'd rather it would be some one like Jim — yes, I'd a good deal rather it would be some one like Jim."
But his face was not at all contented as he said it. It is hard for a young man to give up the hope of happiness even when pursuing a very commendable ideal of conduct; and Leslie was not yet thirty-two.
"Come on, little horse," he said at length, setting his bearded jaw firmly; "let's be moving — Hello! What's up now?"
A slate-coloured hull moved slowly across the brown water inside the bar, followed by another and yet another. Not warships, certainly.
"By George!" exclaimed the Captain as his unwilling pony broke into a sharp canter; "I believe the Americans have arrived at last."
At headquarters, under the guise of much confusion, things were transpiring swiftly. Colonel Gordon, the commander of the marine detachment, was there, deep in conversation with Rear Admiral Scott, the chief of the second squadron. Staff officers moved about importantly, and even the marine private on guard was swollen with suppressed information. As Leslie rode up and dismounted, Colonel Gordon hailed him.
"The Admiral wants to see you directly, Smith. Just sent a cadet over to your quarters to look you up."
"Very well, sir." Leslie saluted, tossed his bridle to a waiting orderly, and strode into the building. A brief word to the sentry at the Admiral's door and he was at once admitted into the presence of the Commander-in-Chief. Barrows was studying a map as Leslie entered, but looked up quickly and nodded recognition.
"Got some work for you, Captain," he said shortly. "You know the country between here and Peking pretty well, don't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. I'm planning to start a force off to-morrow to capture Peking and I hope with it the central government. You understand, it'll simply be a raid. We couldn't hope to hold the place with the men we have here, but if we can be quick enough, I think we should be able to get there and back again before the Chinese can get sufficient reinforcements to make us any trouble. Practically all their first-line troops are up in Manchuria and though there's a garrison at Tientsin, I don't believe we'll have much difficulty in disposing of it. So far as I know, there are no regular troops in Peking at all. Now the men we want to get hold of aren't in the government buildings. They have a secret council chamber of their own somewhere in the city where they can meet without any danger of being spied upon and where they can hide temporarily if an expedition like the one we're planning attacks the place unexpectedly. You can see yourself that unless we know just where to put our hands on them, we wouldn't be any better off if we did reach the city. By the time we'd gotten by the walls and searched the town, they'd either be safe in the hills or we'd have an army down upon us that it would be folly to stand against. Now, Colonel Villon writes me that there's a native spy in the city, a fellow named Li, who knows where this secret meeting hall is. I've been trying to get in touch with him for some time, but I haven't been able to so far and I must confess I'm shy about trusting natives with our plans. If the Chinese should happen to get wind of the raid beforehand, it'd be all up with it. Now I want you to get into Peking in some way — that's your lookout — hunt up this man Li — I can tell you where to find him—"
"Beg pardon, sir," interrupted Leslie; "but that won't be necessary. I know where the meeting-place is."
"Good God!" said Barrows hastily. For several seconds he regarded the Captain intently, plainly at a loss, but Leslie bore his superior's gaze without flinching although his own face grew slowly crimson.
"See here, Smith," began the Admiral at length; "I've accepted you on St. John's recommendation and you must admit I haven't tried to open up your past history at all, even though your position is vague, to say the least. It's come to the point now, however, where I'll have to require a little more of an explanation before I feel like trusting you entirely. You come to me as a soldier of fortune, probably under an assumed name, with your past shrouded in mystery and yet you say that you are in possession of a secret that is known only to the head of the Intelligence Department and one or two of his most trusted agents. You must own, Captain, that under the circumstances your statement is incredible, to put it very mildly."
For a while Leslie appeared to be debating with himself and the Admiral waited patiently, keenly studying his every expression. At last the Captain raised his head and moved a step nearer to his superior.
"Admiral Barrows," he said evenly, "you can readily understand that when a man like myself wishes to conceal his identity, the reason is no ordinary one and the occasion must be more than ordinary which will induce him to put aside that concealment."
"The gravity of the occasion is for you to decide yourself," replied Barrows shortly; "I've said all that I feel at liberty to say — as yet."
"Of course," went on Leslie, "I could simply offer my help, with the services I have already rendered the Federation as a guarantee of good faith, and if you did not choose to accept it on that basis, I could go my own way as I did before and leave you to work out your own salvation."
"Pardon me, Captain," returned the Admiral; "but this matte
r can't be settled as easily as all that. Either you're lying — forgive me if I speak rather plainly — in which case I certainly don't feel justified in trusting you, or in some manner you've obtained possession of a secret you've no business to have. In either case, you're a dangerous man to have going around loose and I shall feel it my duty to detain you until I know more about you than I do now. Come, Captain," he added, sitting back in his chair and regarding Leslie with friendly eyes, "you have too much sense not to understand that with all the responsibility I have on my shoulders, I can't afford to take any chances. Be square with me and you won't regret it. On the other hand" — he suddenly leaned forward and his eyes blazed dangerously — "I warn you that I'm not a man to be trifled with, as perhaps you may have heard."
"All I ask," said Leslie quietly, "is that if I tell you about myself, you'll promise that no one else will ever know my secret."
"I'll promise to keep quiet as long as it's compatible with my duty to the Service."
"That's fair enough," replied the Captain readily. "Now as far as you know, how many were in the secret of this hidden meeting-place?"
"Colonel Villon, for one," said Barrows, puzzled at the turn the conversation was taking; "Major Wilkie and Captain Gardiner, who went there in the first place, and the spy — that's all."
"That's all," assented Leslie. "Now I'm not Colonel Villon or the native, and Major Wilkie was killed, as is generally known —"
"By all that's holy!" cried the Admiral; "you don't mean to tell me that you're —"
Leslie bowed his head. "I am," he said in a low voice.
"But — but, great heavens, man!" exclaimed the astounded naval officer; "you were supposed to have been killed too — at the same time Wilkie was."
"I should have been," said Leslie with white lips; "but unfortunately I wasn't."
"H'm," reflected the Admiral. "Have you any means of proving that you really are Captain Gardiner?"
"Lieutenant Hooker of the Ariadne knows me," said Leslie; "you can ask him."
"Hooker knows why you have — well, preferred to stay dead?"
"Yes."
"And he approves?"
"Yes."
"Then I guess you're all right, Captain, though of course I'll want to have a talk with Hooker before I definitely decide to send you. And now let's get down to business again. When we commence the assault on Peking, you'll take a small detachment, get into the city on the other side and capture these fellows before they can get away. I needn't tell you it'll be risky work, but I believe you can do it if you're quick enough. Of course they may bolt before we reach the city, but we've got to leave something to luck and I rather think they'll hang on till the last minute, trusting to our being interrupted and believing they can escape whenever they want to."
"Very well, sir, I understand. By the way, I should think Colonel Villon would have given you a plan of the city, showing the location of this council hall so that—"
"Why, so he did," interrupted the Admiral, opening a drawer of his desk; "but we'd lose too much time if we tried to go by that alone. Here!" And he pushed the paper across to the Captain. Leslie glanced over it and smiled grimly.
"I think I understand why Li didn't report to you — always supposing he hasn't been caught and killed. Admiral Barrows, this thing's no good — now."
"What do you mean?"
"Simply that they changed their quarters after our visit, as they naturally would. Li probably found that out as soon as he got back from London and hasn't been able yet to unearth their new hiding-place. I imagine he wasn't anxious to admit to Colonel Villon — or you — that he was at fault as long as he still had a chance to dig them out."
"Do you know where they are now?"
"Yes. I was acquainted with one of the men in the council and after our mission had — was over, I stayed in the city and tracked him — for reasons of my own. And in that way I discovered where their new meeting-place was."
"So you're the only man who has this information now?"
Leslie nodded, and the Admiral uttered a low whistle.
"Well, just indicate the correct location on here." He hesitated and reflected while Leslie complied with his request. "I guess that's all, Captain. You can trust me to keep your secret for you. Don't get yourself killed before the time comes."
Leslie saluted and withdrew, leaving the Admiral staring straight before him, buried in deep thought.
Chapter XV
The Last Of The Ariadne
WHEN the Chinese planned the defences of Tientsin, they looked forward to a possible attack by a much larger force than Admiral Barrows' expeditionary army. A strong semicircle of fortifications, running in general northeast and southwest, covered the approaches to the city on the Taku side and heavy batteries protected the Pei-ho, railway and highroad. To the north of the native city, another fort guarded the junction of the river with the Grand Canal and near the site of the old mud wall, still other groups of big guns kept watch on the west and south. At this time, however, the well-designed lines were poorly manned, for the fighting in Manchuria had drawn heavily on the trained troops of the regular army; and although the Tientsin garrison was perhaps equal to the Federation force in numbers, it was for the most part greatly inferior in organisation, discipline, and equipment and also, it must be confessed, in fighting quality. However, Rear Admiral Scott by no means underestimated the task that lay before him. The reduction of Tientsin was but a means to an end and he did not propose to fatally weaken his fighting force by a needless expenditure of men.
On the morning of July Fifteenth Admiral Scott's advance came in touch with small parties of Chinese and drove them back on the fortifications, after an interchange of shots which did little damage to either side. The American brigade, heavily supported by sailors and marines, was then massed for an assault on the centre of the Chinese position, and the navy dirigibles were ordered to blow up the forts and prepare the way.
In the pilot-house of the Ariadne, from whose port and starboard spreaders fluttered the flag of the division commander, Lieutenant Hooker waited impatiently for the signal to attack. As the first level rays of sunlight turned the dingy earth to molten gold, a puff of black smoke appeared in the air behind the motionless columns of the troops and hung there, an ugly blot against the brilliant glory of the new-born day. And turning to his cadet, the Lieutenant said briefly, "Let her go!"
Like huge birds intolerant of earth ties, the mighty dirigibles soared into the sky. Lightly they hovered, resting on the bosom of the air as easily as though they had never known a medium more substantial, and the morning sunlight tinged their slaty hulls and sparkled in golden spray from their whirling propeller blades. A beautiful race of unearthly beings they seemed, born of the bright sunshine and clear breeze under the arching roof of heaven, rising in their joy and strength to greet their flaming master in the east. Wonderful creatures, indeed, but bearing destruction and death. For from their rounded barbettes, the slender quick-firers thrust hungry muzzles and low down on their gracefully curving sides, squat bomb tubes grinned through the open ports fore and aft.
"It'll be easy work," remarked Hooker to Leroy. "Nothing to look out for but anti-aircraft guns, and not very many of them. We ought to be through in an hour or so."
The cadet did not reply. He was staring uneasily towards the spread-out city that lay map-like before them; staring at some vague shapes showing dimly behind the regular lines of the fortifications.
"Lieutenant," he said suddenly, "what d'you make of those things?"
Hooker lifted his long-barrelled marine glasses and peered intently.
"Dirigibles!" he cried with a startled oath. "One — two — three of 'em! Sonny, those damned Orientals have sold us good and proper! We didn't dream there was an airship within five hundred miles!"
The boy's face paled slightly, but his fingers were steady as they rested on the wheel.
"What are you going to do?"
But Hooker was already sh
ooting rapid commands at the veteran quartermaster.
"Signal the Aphrodite and Brunhilde to obey previous orders and attack the forts. Daphne and Ariadne will engage the enemy's dirigibles. Turn her over at full, son — we've got to get those fellows before they can interfere with the bombardment."
"Couldn't we engage with the whole division and attend to the forts later, sir?"
"Can't risk having all our ships crippled. That could easily happen and then it'd be all up with the expedition. The soldiers alone couldn't take those forts in a month."
Leroy nodded with compressed lips as the wheel turned in his expert hands.
"Orders, sir?"
"Tackle that big fellow with the yellow gas-bag first. Keep off to port a trifle so we can give the other one a dose from our stern battery."
They were nearing the forts and the Aphrodite and Brunhilde obediently slowed down, while an eruption of thin projectiles spouted all about them. Side by side the Daphne and Ariadne raced onward. There was a flash from the largest of the Chinese dirigibles and the Ariadne's hull rang and quivered as the shot glanced off.
"Those beggars can aim," observed Hooker, unmoved, and directed his main battery to commence firing.
With the first sharp reports of the Ariadne's guns, pandemonium broke loose. The Chinese dirigibles sheered off to starboard and lashed the Federation ships with a storm of steel, while the Daphne and Ariadne blazed like overcharged thunder-clouds. The narrow hulls trembled under repeated blows. Slim shells hammered on armour-plate, seeking for a spot at which to enter, and the slender steel guys twanged and snapped like overtuned piano wires. Already the smallest of the Chinese ships was drifting helplessly, vomiting flame, and as the licking fire reached her gas storage tanks, the air was shattered by a rending report and bits of twisted steel and splintered wood and the mangled pieces of men rained down to the earth beneath.
Leaving the Daphne to settle with the smaller of the remaining two dirigibles, Hooker boldly attacked the monster with the saffron-hued gas-bag, whose enormous size made the compact, graceful Ariadne seem by comparison considerably smaller than she really was. Not only was the Chinaman larger, but, designed for shorter flights and land operations only, she carried heavier batteries than the Federation ship, and Hooker quickly perceived that in a game of straight hammering, he could hardly fail to come out second. So manoeuvring rapidly, he endeavoured to secure an opportunity to ram. But the Chinese airship, admirably handled, gave him no opening and the Chinese shells were beginning to tear great gaps in the Ariadne's plating and glance dangerously from the rounded surface of her armoured gas-bag.