The Stolen Cruiser

by Percy F. Westerman

  CHAPTER VI

  TRAPPED

  MIDSHIPMAN CARDYKE was soon hauled upon the quarter-deck of thepirate cruiser, and, in spite of his struggles, was secured byhalf-a-dozen ruffians. His revolver and dirk were taken from him,then he was lashed to one of the quarter davits, and left in thatignominious position to reflect upon the circumstances under which hehad been snared.

  He knew that his captors had a definite object in securing him to thedavit. He was in full view of the _Frome_, and his late comradescould easily distinguish him through their binoculars. A hasty glanceover his shoulder revealed the fact that there were several of thepassengers of the _Yosen Maru_, and some of the crew of the Dutchtugs, in equally exposed positions. It was obviously intended thatthey were placed there in order to prevent the British destroyer fromopening fire upon her gigantic antagonist.

  In the meantime Fielding was causing his captors a good deal oftrouble. He had contrived to take a turn round a projection on theship's side with the line that had caught him; and although hisassailants hauled on the rope till it was on the point of breaking,they could not succeed in landing their bag. Neither could the sub.disengage himself from the toils of the running bowline, for his ideawas to slip out of the noose and cast himself into the sea, trustingto be picked up by his own craft.

  As for the two men who had followed him, one had leapt back into theswamped whaler. The other stuck gamely to his superior, and Fielding,looking down, recognised the man as Tom Hardy, the coxswain of hisboat.

  "Get out of this, Hardy," exclaimed the sub., breathlessly. "Strikeout for it. The _Frome_ will pick you up."

  "Orders is orders, sir," replied Hardy. "You said as how I was tofollow you, and here I am. Besides, I'm not much of a hand atswimming, sir."

  "All right!" said Fielding, grimly. "But you'll find yourself in abit of a fix."

  The sub. appreciated the coxswain's devotion; for Hardy was anexcellent swimmer in spite of his statement to the contrary, and waswillingly surrendering his chance of escaping from the doubtfulhospitality of the pirate crew.

  All the while there was an incessant jabbering going on above, theDagoes shouting and dancing about on deck, enraged at thestubbornness of their principal captive.

  "Can you get at my revolver, Hardy?" asked the sub., who had beenvainly attempting to free his arms sufficiently to reach the weaponin his holster.

  "I'll try, sir; but what for? They'll plug you, sir, sure as fate."

  "We'll put a bullet through this line, and swim for it."

  "What about Mr. Cardyke, sir?"

  "Cardyke? Has he been caught too? That alters the case. Where is he?"

  "Hauled aboard."

  "I hope the villains haven't hurt him. Look here, Hardy, I'm going tomake a dash up and over the side. Follow me as smartly as you can.Good heavens! What have they done to young Cardyke?"

  For, happening to look up, Fielding saw the mid. lashed to the davit.Thinking that the pirates were about to drop the lad, bound as hewas, over the side, the sub. was seized with a sudden and desperateresolution.

  The men on deck had desisted hauling upon the rope. With a smart jerkFielding unhitched it from the eyebolt that had proved such astumbling block to his captors, then scrambled swiftly and agilely upthe remaining distance of freeboard.

  In a trice he was over the stanchions, and before the olive-colouredmob could realise it, the sub. was in the midst of them, hitting outwith his fists with terrific force. In this he was ably seconded bythe coxswain, and for a few moments it seemed as if the twoBritishers would clear the quarter-deck.

  The Dagoes rallied, and, unfortunately for Fielding, although he hadfreed his arms from the bowline, the noose had slipped as far as hisankles. A lithe and muscular Algerine seized the end of the rope, andFielding, his legs literally jerked from under him, fell heavily onthe deck.

  For another fifteen seconds Hardy stood over the prostrate body ofhis officer, holding out like a bersark. Luckily the sub. had notused his revolver, nor had Hardy drawn his bayonet. The piratesseemed unwilling to do injury to the officer, but their considerationwas not extended towards the gallant and devoted bluejacket. ASpaniard, advancing stealthily from behind, dealt the coxswain aheavy blow across the head with a hand-spike, and Hardy fell to thedeck.

  "You no play fool wid me. Me Juan Cervillo, capitan ob dis ship,"announced the head of the lawless mob, standing in a tragedian'sattitude, with arms folded and chest expanded, before the overpoweredsub. "You jus' behave. No hurt."

  Fielding did not reply. He was humiliated. One thing he regretted inparticular was that in his headlong rush his iron knuckles had notcome in contact with Cervillo's sleek, oily features.

  At a word from the pirate captain the sub. was carried up to theafter-bridge, and ignominiously secured to a semaphore post. Here hewas left to enjoy his surroundings as best he might, and reflect uponhis undignified position.

  Meanwhile some of the crew were holding a consultation as to what wasto be done with the still unconscious Hardy. Some advocated droppinghim overboard, others, judging the British bluejacket by the lowstandard set up by the renegade petty officer who acted asquartermaster, were of the opinion that if the coxswain recoveredfrom the crack over the head he might become a useful member of thecrew. So Hardy was lifted and unceremoniously carried for'ard.

  With anxious gaze Cardyke watched the rapidly receding destroyer. Hecould see her manoeuvring slowly through the water, her two remainingboats being engaged in the work of picking up the swimmers. Drake waspaying dearly for his disinclination for co-operation: two officersand the coxswain missing, two boats and the men's rifles hopelesslylost, and his reputation very much at stake.

  "I wish the _Frome_ would blow this vessel out of the water," thoughtthe mid., but instantly it occurred to him to wonder what wouldhappen to Fielding and the rest of the captives if the destroyer didopen fire. Beyond doing damage to the unarmoured portion of thepirate ship, the _Frome's_ comparatively light ordnance would makelittle or no impression upon her gigantic antagonist.

  "She's following us, by Jove!" exclaimed the mid. "I wish I had apair of binoculars, and was able to use them. I wonder what Drake isgoing to do?"

  Yes, the _Frome_ was tearing along, yet gaining slowly, for thestokers of the _Independencia_ were toiling their hardest, pumpingcrude petroleum into the complex array of burners. Columns of blacksmoke, tinged with flame, shot from the tall funnels of the cruiser.Every possible inch that could be got out of her was made use of. Herneglected engines were beginning to run more smoothly. She might holdher own, or might even shake off the pursuing destroyer.

  The midshipman could not help noticing the lack of discipline amongstthe motley crew. Seamen, with a couple of revolvers stuck in theirbelts, and cigars in their mouths, would stroll aimlessly along thequarter-deck, give a glance at the British destroyer, and curtlyquestion their officers as to the position of affairs. Some of thelatter were not above accepting cigars and cigarettes from the men.The officers were decked out in gaudy uniforms, while the men worecoarse canvas jumpers and trousers. Some wore canvas shoes, othersrope-soled boots, but the majority went bare-footed. The only personwho seemed to be able to exercise any real authority was JuanCervillo.

  Nearer and nearer drew the _Frome_ till she was but a couple of milesastern, steering a course well on the _Independencia's_ port quarter,and studiously avoiding her wake. The destroyer did not court furthertrouble by running over a grass hawser or other obstruction purposelythrown over by the chased ship.

  Cardyke felt much easier in his mind when he saw that the _Frome_ wasgaining. He had such a supreme faith in his comrades that he feltcertain that rescue was merely the question of a few hours at thevery outside. Of what was to be done to effect this desirablebusiness he had no idea; but it would be managed all right. Beforesunset he would be having dinner in the destroyer's wardroom.

  Presently Cervillo climbed up to the after-bridge, and, taking hisstand close to where Fielding was secured, watched the
destroyerthrough a telescope. After a lengthy examination he called to one ofhis officers, who in turn gave voluminous directions to a party ofseamen. In a leisurely manner they began to bring up ammunition forsome of the quick-firers mounted amidships on the starboard side ofthe ship.

  Cardyke could see that the muzzles were depressed and trainedslightly abaft the beam; but unless the cruiser ported her helm itwould be a matter of impossibility to fire upon her pursuer.

  Bang! A sharp report, followed by a shrill screech of the projectile,announced that the _Frome_ had opened fire with one of her foremostguns. The missile struck the water at less than two hundred yards tostarboard, threw up a column of water thirty feet in the air, andricochetted thrice ere it dipped for the last time.

  It was purposely aimed wide of the chase, but it showed that thedestroyer meant business.

  Unswervingly the _Independencia_ kept her course; the _Frome_ settleddown to the same rate, and kept her station at less than eighthundred yards on the cruiser's quarter. Four more shots came from theBritish destroyer, then she ceased firing, holding doggedly on to thechase. The prominent positions occupied by the pirates' hostagesrendered shell fire upon the _Independencia_ out of the question, andJuan Cervillo knew that for the time being he held the whip hand.

  But the tenacious dogging of his vessel by the British destroyer wasa serious business. Unless pursuit could be shaken off, the _Frome_,by the aid of the wireless, would bring a cordon round the modernbuccaneer long before she had done anything like the damage shewished to do. Already, no doubt, other warships were steaming underforced draught to settle accounts with the filibusteredbattle-cruiser. The _Frome_ must be put out of the running.

  It was now half-an-hour after sunset. The horizon was quiteuninterrupted, grey sea met grey sky in an unbroken line, and theoutlook promised dirty weather on the morrow.

  Having satisfied himself that no other vessel was in sight, Cervillodescended from the after-bridge and entered the conning-tower. Anorder to the quartermaster made that worthy put the steamsteering-gear hard over, and as the _Independencia_ swung round atright angles to her former course, one of the quick-firers let fly aplugged shell.

  Cervillo's idea was merely to cripple the destroyer by sending anon-explosive shell through her engine-room. He was very chary ofgoing to extreme measures, not that he was averse to committingmurder, but he had a wholesome respect for the British Navy. Thepartial disablement of the _Frome_ would give him another start inhis piratical career. But unfortunately Cervillo's action had farmore disastrous effect than he had anticipated.

  The missile sheared its way through the thin steel plating of thedestroyer like an arrow fired through a sheet of brown paper. Itstruck one of the cylinders of the motors, fracturing it into fiftypieces. The petrol caught fire, and, leaping in a cascade of flame,ignited the main tanks in the double bottom.

  The motors stopped spasmodically. The engineer-lieutenant and hisstaff had barely time to rush through the small manhole and gain thedeck ere the 'midships section of the ill-fated _Frome_ was a mass offlames. With the utmost discipline the crew lowered the remainingboats, and, deeply laden, they pushed off, leaving Drake, the gunner,and about a score of the crew clustered for'ard. Luckily thedestroyer kept head to wind, which, in a manner, preserved those onthe fo'c'sle from being slowly roasted to death.

  Horror-stricken, Cardyke watched the enactment of the tragedy. By theglare of the burning petrol, that shot skywards to a height of overone hundred feet, he could see the boats, deeply laden, lying ontheir oars, and the knot of brave men gathered around their rash butintrepid commander.

  Suddenly there was an explosion as the sea burst through the heatedplating. The pillar of flame died out, stifled in the cloud of smokeand steam, but the burning petrol floating on the water, spread inall directions, spurts of fire rising and falling intermittently tilldarkness and the increased distance hid the awful scene from themidshipman's view.