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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rounding up the Raider, by Percy F. Westerman
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Rounding up the Raider
+       A Naval Story of the Great War
+
+Author: Percy F. Westerman
+
+Illustrator: E. S. Hodgson
+
+Release Date: June 23, 2011 [EBook #36499]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROUNDING UP THE RAIDER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover art]
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: DENBIGH AND HIS COMPANIONS ARE RESCUED BY A MONITOR
+_Page_ 207.  _Frontispiece_]
+
+
+
+
+
+ROUNDING UP
+
+THE RAIDER
+
+
+A Naval Story of the Great War
+
+
+
+BY
+
+PERCY F. WESTERMAN
+
+Author of "The Fight for Constantinople"
+  "Sea Scouts All"
+      &c. &c.
+
+
+
+_Illustrated by E. S. Hodgson_
+
+
+
+BLACKIE & SON LIMITED
+
+LONDON AND GLASGOW
+
+1916
+
+
+
+
+  By Percy F. Westerman
+
+  Haunted Harbour.
+  His Unfinished Voyage.
+  Midshipman Webb's Treasure
+  Winged Might.
+  Captain Flick.
+  Tireless Wings.
+  His First Ship.
+  The Red Pirate.
+  The Call of the Sea.
+  Standish of the Air Police.
+  Sleuths of the Air.
+  Andy-All-Alone.
+  The Westow Talisman.
+  The White Arab.
+  The Buccaneers of Boya.
+  Rounding up the Raider.
+  Captain Fosdyke's Gold.
+  In Defiance of the Ban.
+  The Senior Cadet.
+  The Amir's Ruby.
+  The Secret of the Plateau.
+  Leslie Dexter, Cadet.
+  All Hands to the Boats.
+  A Mystery of the Broads.
+  Rivals of the Reef.
+  Captain Starlight.
+  On the Wings of the Wind.
+  Captain Blundell's Treasure.
+  The Third Officer.
+  Unconquered Wings.
+  Pat Stobart in the "Golden Dawn".
+  Ringed by Fire.
+  Midshipman Raxworthy.
+  Chums of the "Golden Vanity".
+  Clipped Wings.
+  Rocks Ahead.
+  King for a Month.
+  The Disappearing Dhow.
+  The Luck of the "Golden Dawn".
+  The Salving of the "Fusi Yama".
+  Winning his Wings.
+  The Good Ship "Golden Effort".
+  East in the "Golden Gain".
+  The Quest of the "Golden Hope".
+  The Wireless Officer.
+  The Submarine Hunters.
+  The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge.
+  With Beatty off Jutland.
+  The Dispatch Riders.
+  A Cadet of the Mercantile Marine.
+  With the Last of the Buccaneers.
+  A Lively Bit of the Front.
+
+  The Westerman Omnibus Book
+
+
+
+
+_Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son, Ltd., Glasgow_
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+CHAP.
+
+     I.  THE CAPTURED LINER
+    II.  THE LAST OF THE _NICHI MARU_
+   III.  ON BOARD THE RAIDER
+    IV.  THREATENED
+     V.  THE PURSUIT OF THE _PELIKAN_
+    VI.  THE DECOY
+   VII.  FOILED BY A COLLIER
+  VIII.  REINFORCEMENTS
+    IX.  THE MIDNIGHT LANDING
+     X.  THE LAGOON
+    XI.  DENBIGH'S PLAN
+   XII.  A PERILOUS JOURNEY
+  XIII.  NOCTURNAL INVESTIGATIONS
+   XIV.  A NEGLECTED WARNING
+    XV.  ARMSTRONG'S PART
+   XVI.  THE DISASTER TO THE _MYRA_
+  XVII.  A BID FOR FREEDOM
+ XVIII.  DISAPPOINTMENT
+   XIX.  "OUR LUCK'S OUT"
+    XX.  ADRIFT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
+   XXI.  VON ECKENSTEIN'S SURPRISE
+  XXII.  THE MONITORS IN ACTION
+ XXIII.  HOW THE _PELIKAN_ SURRENDERED
+  XXIV.  THE LANDING PARTY
+   XXV.  ACCOUNTED FOR
+
+
+
+
+Illustrations
+
+
+DENBIGH AND HIS COMPANIONS ARE PICKED UP BY A
+  MONITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+"BY JOVE!" EJACULATED O'HARA. "SHE MUST BE ONE OF OUR MONITORS"
+
+THE 'LOG' WAS A HEALTHY SPECIMEN OF A CROCODILE
+
+"UNLESS THE GERMAN ENSIGN is HAULED DOWN ON BOARD THE _PELIKAN_ WITHIN
+AN HOUR, I OPEN FIRE"
+
+
+
+
+ROUNDING UP THE RAIDER
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+The Captured Liner
+
+"Fifteen days more and then Old England once again!" exclaimed Frank
+Denbigh.
+
+"And bonnie Scotland for me!" added Charlie Stirling.
+
+"You'll not be forgettin' 'tis Ould Oireland I'm bound for,"
+remonstrated Pat O'Hara, purposely dropping into the brogue.
+
+The three chums had just been reading the "miles made good"
+announcement that, printed in English and Japanese, was daily exhibited
+in various parts of S.S. _Nichi Maru_.
+
+"Hostile submarines permitting," remarked Denbigh with a laugh, after
+he had taken good care that no lady passengers were within earshot.
+
+"Rot!" ejaculated Stirling.  "We've cleared them out of the Channel
+pretty well.  It's part of the work of the British Navy under----"
+
+"Stop it!" interrupted O'Hara good-humouredly.  "I know what you were
+going to say: that old tag from the Articles of War.  I propose that
+every time the word submarine is mentioned by anyone of us while on
+board this vessel the delinquent shall be suitably punished as soon as
+the sun's over the fore-yard."
+
+"Hear, hear!  I second that," agreed Stirling.  "No more 'shop'.  We'll
+get plenty of that in a few weeks' time.  I fancy My Lords won't let us
+kick our heels in idleness for long, and honestly, the sooner we settle
+down to business the better."
+
+The three chums were Sub-lieutenants, homeward bound from a portion of
+a certain group of islands off the coast of New Guinea, having till
+recently the high-sounding title of the Bismarck Archipelago.  The
+youthful but none the less glorious Australian Navy had quickly changed
+the colour of that portion of the map, but the climate was a more
+formidable foe than the former German garrison.  Thus the three young
+officers, who had been "lent" to the recently-formed navy, had the
+misfortune to be stricken with fever.
+
+After a long convalescence, which by a pure coincidence lasted almost
+exactly the same time in each of the three cases, Denbigh, Stirling,
+and O'Hara were ordered to return to England and to resume their duties
+with the navy of the Motherland.
+
+They had travelled by an intermediate boat to Singapore, whence, in
+order to save delay, they had proceeded by a Japanese liner, the _Nichi
+Maru_, bound from Nagasaki to London.  It was a case of misdirected
+zeal, for, owing to the torpedoing of a large Japanese liner in the
+Mediterranean, the _Nichi Maru_ had been ordered to take the longer
+passage round the Cape instead of the usual route via the Suez Canal.
+
+"Hulloa!  What's the excitement?" enquired Denbigh, pointing in the
+direction of the bridge.  The chums had gained the promenade deck,
+whence most of the navigating bridge of the liner could be seen.  There
+was evidently something to warrant his exclamation, for the dapper
+little Japanese officer of the watch was steadily keeping his
+binoculars upon some distant object.
+
+"There's a smudge of smoke away to the nor'east'ard," announced
+Stirling.  "The mild excitement of sighting a vessel will help to push
+the hands of the clock.  Now if someone will kindly suggest a
+sweepstake on the nationality of yonder craft----"
+
+The door of the wireless room opened.  The sharp peculiar cackle of the
+instruments announced that an exchange of messages was in progress.  A
+messenger made his way to the bridge.  Almost immediately after, the
+captain hurried from his cabin.  Evidently "something was in the wind",
+for the appearance of the imperturbable commander of the _Nichi Maru_
+at this time of day was rather unusual.
+
+"We're altering helm," declared O'Hara after a brief interval.  "Since
+we can speak with that vessel without the necessity of having to close,
+it points to something of the nature of a serious mishap."
+
+The rest of the passengers were now making their way on deck.  By an
+inexplicable intuition the presence of the still invisible vessel had
+made itself felt.  None of the officers had communicated the news that
+the _Nichi Maru_ was in touch with another craft, yet in five minutes
+the decks were crowded with a medley of Europeans and Asiatics.
+
+"Do you know what is wrong, sir?" asked Denbigh, addressing one of the
+Japanese officers who happened to be making his way aft.
+
+The Jap shook his head.  Like most of the _Nichi Maru's_ officers he
+spoke English.  The question was plain to him, but with Oriental
+reticence he politely evaded it.
+
+"I'll get my glasses," announced O'Hara.
+
+"And mine, while you are about it," said Denbigh.
+
+"And mine, too," added the Scot.
+
+O'Hara quickly returned with the desired articles.  Bringing their
+binoculars to bear upon the smudge on the horizon the three Subs made
+the discovery that there was a two-masted, three-funnelled vessel lying
+apparently hove-to.  Smoke was issuing from her after-funnel in dense
+clouds, that rose slowly in the still sultry air.
+
+"She's flying an ensign," remarked the Irishman.
+
+"Yes, straight up and down like a wet dishclout," added Stirling.  "For
+all the good it's doing it needn't be there."
+
+"Perhaps her propeller shaft is broken," suggested one of the
+passengers, an English merchant who had given up a good position in
+Tokio to return home in order to "do his bit".
+
+"Hardly," replied Denbigh.  "She's bound to be a twin screw, and it
+isn't likely that both engines would break down."
+
+"I don't know so much about that," said O'Hara, pointing aft, where a
+crowd of Japanese seamen were engaged in preparing a large flexible
+steel hawser.  "It looks as if we were going to take her in tow.  And
+it's a long, long way to Las Palmas, worse luck."
+
+"She's a Dutchman," declared Stirling.  "I can make out the red, white,
+and blue ensign.  I wouldn't mind betting she's one of the Rotterdam
+and Batavia liners."
+
+The three British officers relapsed into silence, devoting their whole
+attention upon the disabled liner which was now momentarily looming
+larger and larger as the _Nichi Maru_ hastened to her aid.
+
+Presently the engine-room telegraph bell clanged and the Japanese
+vessel's engines began to slow down.  Two of the boats were swung out
+ready to be lowered, while the four ship's surgeons stood by, ready to
+be taken to the helpless Dutchman.
+
+"Bad boiler-room accident," exclaimed one of the European passengers,
+who had learnt the news from a Japanese petty-officer.
+
+"Boiler accident be hanged!" ejaculated Denbigh, excitedly.  "We're
+done in, you fellows.  That vessel's no Dutchman."
+
+As if in confirmation of the Sub's announcement the tricolour of
+Holland was smartly lowered, its place being taken by that shame-faced
+and palpable imitation of the good old British White Ensign--the Black
+Cross of Germany.  Simultaneously portions of the vessel's plating
+swung outboard, revealing a battery of six fifteen-centimetre Krupp
+guns.
+
+"_Nichi Maru_, ahoy!" shouted a guttural voice in English, for the two
+vessels were now within megaphone-hailing distance.  "Surrender
+instantly, or we send you to the bottom."
+
+There was a pause, while the officer who had shouted the message was
+being prompted.
+
+"Make no attempt to use your wireless," he continued.  "That will not
+save you.  It will make things very bad for you.  Stand by to receive a
+prize crew."
+
+Although completely surprised by the dramatic turn of events, both the
+crew and passengers of the _Nichi Maru_ remained perfectly calm.  The
+captain, a descendant of the knightly Samurai of Old Japan, was on the
+point of ordering full speed ahead, with the object of ramming the
+perfidious vessel and sending both ships to a common destruction; but
+the knowledge that the safety of nearly a thousand non-combatants, many
+of them women and children, would be in dire peril through such an act
+compelled him to submit to the inevitable.
+
+Humanity, not fear, had conquered the courteous and lion-hearted yellow
+skipper.
+
+Boats were lowered from the German auxiliary cruiser--for such she
+undoubtedly was.  Into them clambered a number of motley-garbed men
+armed with rifles and automatic pistols.  But for their modern weapons
+the boat's crew might have come from the deck of an Eighteenth-Century
+buccaneering craft.
+
+"I say, you fellows," said O'Hara, "I'm off below."
+
+"What for?" asked his companions in surprise.  Not for one moment did
+they imagine that the Irishman was showing the white feather, but at
+the same time they were mystified by his announcement.
+
+"To get into uniform," he replied.  "Those skunks won't find me in
+mufti."
+
+"Right oh!" declared Denbigh.  "We'll slip into ours, too."
+
+In a few minutes the chums had changed into their naval uniforms.  By
+the time they regained the promenade deck the Germans were in
+possession of the ship.
+
+A fat ober-leutnant, backed up by half a dozen armed seamen, held the
+bridge, the Japanese captain and deck officers being compelled to
+retire to the chart-room.  A couple of arrogant unter-leutnants with
+much sabre-rattling, were herding the European male passengers on the
+port side of the promenade deck.  The Japanese passengers they drove
+forward with every insulting expression they could make use of.  It was
+the German officers' idea of revenge, for the fall of Kiau Chau, where
+the boasted Teutonic fortress had succumbed to Oriental valour, rankled
+in the breasts of the subjects of the All-Highest War Lord.
+
+Two German officers, apparently of the Accountant branch, had possessed
+themselves of the passenger list of the captured vessel, and were
+proceeding to call the names it contained.  Each person on hearing his
+name had to step forward.  "Denbigh, Frank," exclaimed one of the
+officers.  Denbigh, standing erect, faced his captors.  "Ah!  Englander
+officer, hein?" queried the Teuton insolently.  "Goot!  More to say
+soon.  Step there over, quick."
+
+The Sub obeyed.  He realized that at times even passive resistance was
+indiscreet.
+
+"Stirling, Charles," continued the German.  "Ach, yet anoder Englander.
+Unter-leutnant?  Goot, a goot capture of Englanders we haf."
+
+"I'm a Scot--not an Englishman," protested Stirling.
+
+"No matter.  The one is as bad as odder, if nod worse.  Over dere," and
+he pointed to the place where Denbigh was standing.
+
+"We're marked down for something, old man," whispered Denbigh.
+
+"Yes, but listen.  They're tackling O'Hara now."
+
+Sub-lieutenant O'Hara faced his inquisitor with a broad smile on his
+face.  The Germans could not understand why a man should look pleasant
+in time of adversity.
+
+"Irish?  Ach, goot!" declared the Teuton.  "Der Irish not like
+Englischmans.  When we Germans take London, Ireland free country will
+be."
+
+"You haven't got to London yet," remarked O'Hara with the perplexing
+smile still on his lips.
+
+"Already our Zeppelins hab there been.  It is matter of time.  Ach?
+Brussels, Warsaw, Bukharest, Cettigne--five capitals--all conquered."
+
+"How about Paris?" enquired O'Hara.  "To say nothing of Calais.  And
+who commands the sea?  You Germans haven't a vessel afloat outside your
+own territorial waters."
+
+"Vot is dis?" asked the Teuton, pointing to the armed liner.  His voice
+rose to a crescendo of triumph.
+
+O'Hara was temporarily non-plussed.  Evidently something was at fault
+somewhere.  How could a large vessel like that evade the strong cordon
+of British warships?
+
+"You're at the end of your tether, old sport," he said after a brief
+hesitation.  "That ship will be at the bottom before another
+twenty-four hours."
+
+"You tink so?" almost howled the exasperated German.  "You vill see.
+If she sink, den you sink mit her.  Over dere."
+
+O'Hara rejoined his chums.  A couple of armed seamen mounted guard over
+them while the work of investigation and pillage continued.
+
+"We're marked down as hostages," began the Irishman; but one of the
+seamen, bringing the butt end of his rifle down on the deck within a
+couple of inches of O'Hara's toes, rendered unnecessary the guttural
+"Verboten" that accompanied the action.
+
+In silence the three Subs watched the proceedings.  Under the orders of
+their captors the Japanese seamen were compelled to transfer bullion
+stores from the _Nichi Maru_ into the boats.  German seamen brought
+charges of explosives and placed them below.  It was apparent that the
+destruction of the captured vessel was already decided.
+
+At length all preparations were completed.  One of the _Nichi Maru's_
+officers, acting under the authority of the ober-leutnant gave the
+order--first in Japanese and then in English--to abandon the ship.
+
+"Fifteen minutes only are allowed.  Boats to be provisioned and manned.
+No personal property is to be taken.  Women and children first."
+
+The Japanese captain was expostulating, firmly and in a dignified
+manner.  He pointed out the inhumanity of sending women and children
+adrift in mid-Atlantic and under a tropical sun.  His protests were in
+vain.
+
+"We will send a small vessel to pick up the boats," retorted the German
+lieutenant.  "We will not sink a small one purposely.  A little
+discomfort will do these English good.  You yellow apes are used to it."
+
+The Japanese accepted the direct insult without signs of emotion.  The
+disguise of his feelings was a national trait, but it would have gone
+hard with the arrogant Prussian had the captain of the _Nichi Maru_ not
+been hampered with a crowd of non-combatants.
+
+"Now, Englishmen," exclaimed the German.  "Into that boat.  Any trouble
+make and you dead men.  Ach!  You smile now: your trouble it only has
+just commenced."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+The Last of the _Nichi Maru_
+
+In silence the three Subs left the doomed _Nichi Maru_ and entered the
+waiting boat.  At the word of command the men pushed off and rowed
+towards the modern pirate.
+
+The disguised vessel had now swung round and was lying motionless at a
+distance of two cables' length from her prize.  The hull was painted a
+light yellow, with a broad black band.  Her funnels were buff with
+black tops.  On her stern were the words, _Zwaan_--Rotterdam.
+
+"She's no more the _Zwaan_ of Rotterdam than I am," cogitated Denbigh.
+
+He was right in his surmise.  The vessel was originally the
+_Pelikan_--a supplementary Hamburg-Amerika Line boat.  On the outbreak
+of the war she was homeward bound from South America, with, as was the
+case with all liners flying the German flag, an armament of
+quick-firers stowed away in her hold.
+
+Unfortunately for Kaiser Wilhelm's plans the abrupt entry of Great
+Britain into the arena of war had nipped in the bud the activities of
+German commerce raiders.  A few ran amok until promptly rounded up and
+settled by the ubiquitous British cruisers.  Others fled for neutral
+ports.  Amongst them was the _Pelikan_, whose captain, with
+considerable astuteness, contrived to make for a harbour belonging to
+an obscure South American Republic.
+
+Before doing so he had fallen in with the light cruiser _Karlsruhe_--a
+craft doomed shortly afterwards to end her career at the hands of her
+own crew rather than face an action that would end either in
+destruction or ignominious capture--and from her received a number of
+additional officers and men.
+
+For a twelvemonth or more the _Pelikan_ lay hidden.  Lavish sums
+expended in bribery sealed the mouths of the grasping officials of the
+port, in addition to procuring coal and stores to enable the German
+vessel to put to sea whenever an opportunity offered.
+
+At length the chance came.  Acting under wireless orders from Berlin
+the _Pelikan_ was to make a dash for the Atlantic, do as much damage as
+she possibly could to shipping of the Allies, and finally attempt to
+reach Dar es Salaam, the principal port of German East Africa.  Here,
+should she succeed in evading the British patrols, she was to transfer
+her crew, armament, and munitions to shore to assist the land forces of
+the Colony against a threatened advance from Rhodesia.
+
+Accordingly the _Pelikan_ became the _Zwaan_.  Disguised by a different
+colour paint and supplied with forged ship's papers she easily evaded
+the lax authority of the neutral port and made for the open sea.
+
+A course was shaped to cut the Dutch East Indies liners' route in the
+latitude of Cape Verde.  Then, following in a parallel direction, the
+track usually taken by the vessels she was impersonating, the pseudo
+_Zwaan_ headed due south.
+
+Kapitan von Riesser, her commanding officer, was a resourceful and
+crafty Hun.  He was steeped in the doctrine of "frightfulness", but in
+the present instance there were limits.
+
+Had he been the commander of a U boat he would not have hesitated to
+send the _Nichi Maru_ to the bottom without warning, for a German
+submarine could strike a fatal blow and not show herself during the
+attack.  The _Pelikan_---to revert to her original name--was not
+capable of emulating the methods of German unterseebooten without risk
+of subsequent capture.  And as the possibility of being taken by a
+British warship always loomed upon von Riesser's mental horizon, he was
+determined to tread warily.
+
+The fear of reprisals alone kept him within the bounds of discretion as
+laid down by up-to-date rules of warfare.  He might sink any
+merchant-vessel that fell into his clutches, provided he gave the
+passengers and crew time to take to their boats.
+
+Three days before sighting the _Nichi Maru_ the _Pelikan_ had been
+stopped and examined by a British cruiser.  The boarding-officer knew
+neither German nor Dutch, and conversation had to be conducted in
+English.  The ship's papers were apparently in order.  The British
+lieutenant failed to pay sufficient attention to the bulky deck-gear
+that concealed the raider's quick-firers; nor did he discover that,
+hidden between double bulkheads abaft the engine-room, two
+torpedo-tubes, removed from the _Karlsruhe_, were ready for instant use
+should occasion arise.
+
+The cruiser had, indeed, a very narrow escape of sharing the fate of a
+British battleship that was torpedoed in the Channel on a dark and
+stormy night, the deadly missile being launched from a vessel sailing
+under the Dutch flag.  Only Kapitan von Riesser's doubts as to the
+immediate success of a torpedo attack prevented him putting his
+treacherous design into effect.  A stricken cruiser, he knew, could use
+her guns with tremendous results, and he had no wish to lay down his
+life for the Fatherland while an easier course lay open to him.
+Accordingly the boarding officer, with many apologies for having
+detained a neutral vessel, returned to the cruiser, which immediately
+steamed northwards, while the _Pelikan_ proceeded on her course.
+
+Having assumed that the British cruiser was well out of her way, the
+raider began to send out wireless calls, limiting the radius of action
+to about fifty miles.  She did not call in vain, for the _Nichi Maru_,
+picking up the appeal for aid, hastened to the _Pelikan's_ assistance
+and, all unsuspecting, fell a victim to her captor.
+
+During the "round-up" of the passengers, Kapitan von Riesser had been
+informed by signal of the presence of three British naval officers on
+board the _Nichi Maru_, and instructions were asked as to their
+disposal.
+
+The kapitan resolved the problem in his mind.  He could not murder the
+prisoners without the news being conveyed by the rest of the passengers
+of the Japanese liner.  If they were brought on board the _Pelikan_,
+they would be a source of danger should the ship again be overhauled by
+a patrolling cruiser, unless----
+
+He consulted the ship's surgeon.  Apparently the latter's advice was
+satisfactory.  In addition, should the _Pelikan_ arrive at Dar es
+Salaam with three British naval officers on board as prisoners, well
+and good.  If, on the other hand, the vessel were captured on the high
+seas, the prisoners would no doubt be willing to testify to the fact
+that Kapitan von Riesser had committed no unpardonable breach of the
+usages of war.  From which it will be seen that von Riesser was always
+considering how to save his own skin in the event of capture.
+
+"Up--at once!" ordered the unter-leutnant as the boat containing
+Denbigh and his companions ran alongside the lowered
+accommodation-ladder of the _Pelikan_.  The German did not hesitate to
+show his arrogance; but he was severely snubbed by his kapitan.
+
+"I must apologize, gentlemen," began von Riesser in good English as the
+British officers came over the side.  "My subordinate, Herr Klick, has
+allowed his zeal to outrun his discretion.  It is necessary for me to
+detain you.  I know you will bow to the inevitable and recognize that
+it is the fortune of war.  I will speak to you again shortly!"
+
+The kapitan hurried off, leaving Denbigh and his fellow-prisoners
+standing close to the head of the accommodation-ladder.  Beyond the
+fact that a sentry stood within ten feet of them, no attempt was made
+to place them under restraint.  They were free to speak, and to watch
+the scene that was being enacted a few hundred yards from the vessel to
+which they had been removed.
+
+The _Nichi Maru_ was lowering her boats rapidly yet with admirable
+discipline.  Without accident the heavy lifeboats with their human
+freights took the water.  As soon as the falls were cast off, the crews
+rowed to a safe distance, where they lay on their oars and awaited the
+end of the huge liner.
+
+With some minutes to spare, the work of abandoning the vessel was
+completed.  The captain was the last to leave, the imperturbable look
+upon his olive features masking the rage and grief that gripped his
+mind.
+
+The two German boats still lay alongside.  Presently half a dozen
+Teutons hurriedly scrambled into the waiting craft, which without delay
+were rowed quickly toward the _Pelikan_.
+
+Three muffled reports came almost simultaneously from the interior of
+the doomed liner.  These were followed by two more at comparatively
+long intervals.  The _Nichi Maru_ heeled slightly, and began to settle
+slowly by the bows.
+
+The ship took her time.  The wreaths of fleecy steam mingled with
+denser columns of smoke that issued from 'tween decks.  Then, as the in
+rushing water came in contact with the furnaces, the vessel was
+enveloped in a cloud of eddying pungent fumes.
+
+When the cloud dispersed, the _Nichi Maru's_ bows were level with the
+water, while her stern was raised until the blades of her now
+motionless propellers were clear of the agitated sea.
+
+Lower and lower sank the doomed ship.  At frequent intervals, small
+explosions of compressed air took place.  The sea was strewn with
+fragments of floating wreckage.
+
+"She's going!" whispered Stirling.
+
+The liner recovered herself.  For a moment it seemed as if she were
+floating on an even keel.  Then, with a convulsive effort, she flung
+her stern high out of the water and slid rapidly to her ocean grave.
+Almost the last to be seen of her was the mercantile flag of Japan,
+still floating proudly from the ensign staff.
+
+In the liner's crowded boats the Japanese officers were standing erect
+and at the salute as the vessel disappeared from view.  They, too, were
+of a breed that is not to be intimidated by Teutonic frightfulness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+On Board the Raider
+
+"I wish to call attention to the fact, gentlemen, that we acted in
+strict accordance with the rights of belligerents," remarked Kapitan
+von Riesser.
+
+The _Pelikan's_ captain was seated in his cabin.  On either side of him
+stood von Langer, the ober-leutnant who had been in charge of the
+boarding-party, and Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick.  Facing him stood
+Denbigh, Stirling, and O'Hara.
+
+"I am afraid we cannot agree with you," replied Denbigh.
+
+"Possibly not," retorted von Riesser, "but on what grounds?"
+
+"It is hardly a humane act to turn those people adrift in open boats,"
+continued the Sub.
+
+"What else could I do?  Surely you would not expect us to receive a
+thousand people on board this ship?  They will be picked up, without
+doubt, within a few hours."
+
+"Perhaps," declared Denbigh.  "But there is always a risk.  Your action
+in sinking that ship is unjustifiable.  I am not here to argue the
+point, but I will merely state a case in which one of your captains did
+not think it advisable to go to the lengths you did.  When, in the
+early part of the war, the _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_ compelled the
+British liners _Galicia_ and _Arlanza_ to heave-to, these ships were
+subsequently allowed to proceed----"
+
+"Yes, but at that time you English were not attempting to starve us out
+by a blockade," interrupted the kapitan excitedly, as men do when
+cornered in argument.
+
+Denbigh shrugged his shoulders.  He had made his protest and had scored
+a point.
+
+"We have done with the past," continued von Riesser.  "My object in
+sending for you is to explain your position.  You are, of course,
+prisoners of war.  It is my intention to accord you treatment as your
+rank demands.  In ordinary circumstances you are at liberty to leave
+your cabins and come on deck whenever you wish during hours of
+daylight.  There may be times when it will be necessary for you to be
+locked in--perhaps taken below.  But, understand: if you attempt to
+jeopardize the safety of the ship, or to communicate with any passing
+vessel, or, in short, to behave other than officers on parole----"
+
+"But we are not on parole," interrupted O'Hara.
+
+"It matters not," declared the kapitan.  "If I choose to consider that
+you are equivalent to being on parole that is my affair.  If, then, you
+break any of the conditions I have mentioned you will be tried by a
+properly constituted court consisting of officers of the ship, and if
+found guilty you will be shot.  Is that perfectly clear?"
+
+The three prisoners signified their assent.  After all, the German's
+stipulations were reasonable.
+
+Von Riesser turned and conversed for a few minutes with his
+ober-leutnant.  O'Hara, being ignorant of German, and Stirling having
+but a slight knowledge of the language, were unable to understand the
+drift of the conversation.  Denbigh, on the other hand, was a fluent
+linguist, but he had already decided to keep that knowledge from his
+captors.
+
+Presently Kapitan von Riesser produced a British Navy List.  Somewhat
+to the British officers' surprise they noticed that it was dated "April
+1916", or more than a twelvemonth since the last list had been
+obtainable by the public.
+
+"You have qualified as an interpreter, I see," remarked von Riesser.
+"For what languages?"
+
+"Hindustani, Swahili, and Arabic," replied Denbigh promptly.  He did
+not think it necessary to add that German was amongst his
+qualifications, and he thanked his lucky stars that the recent Navy
+Lists do not specify the language in which officer-interpreters are
+expert.
+
+"You are evidently considered a promising young officer," continued the
+kapitan.  He could not refrain from adding, with a thinly-veiled sneer,
+"I am afraid your services will be lost to the English Admiralty for
+some time to come."
+
+"Perhaps," drawled Denbigh, with such well-feigned indifference that
+von Riesser glanced keenly at the young officer's clear-cut features.
+
+Having subjected Stirling and O'Hara to an examination--in which the
+Irishman scored more than once by his smart repartees--the prisoners
+were dismissed.
+
+The first meal on board the raider was served in the cabin allotted
+them.  Judging by the nature of the repast provisions were neither
+scarce nor unvaried.  Having finished, they went on deck.  No one
+offered to interfere with them.  The seamen affected to ignore them.
+Once Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick passed, and gave them such a look that
+O'Hara afterwards remarked he would like to have a quiet five minutes
+with the German.
+
+"I wonder they haven't searched us," said Stirling in a low voice.
+"Now I wish I had put my small revolver into my coat pocket.  I thought
+it would have been too risky."
+
+"For the same reason I practically emptied my pockets before we left
+the _Nichi Maru_," declared Denbigh.
+
+"And so did I," added O'Hara, "but I took jolly good care to hide that
+little automatic pistol--you know the one: I collared it from a German
+officer in that little scrap at Herbertshöhe."
+
+"For goodness sake be careful," protested the cautious and level-headed
+Scot.
+
+"I'll try to be," replied O'Hara non-committedly.
+
+"Where is the pistol?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"Inside the lining of my cap," replied the Irishman.  "Can you see any
+sign of a bulge under the cap-cover?"
+
+"Not a trace," declared Denbigh.  "Only, old man, remember you are
+rather hot-headed.  Let's hope there won't be a premature explosion."
+
+"There won't," said O'Hara emphatically.  "Because I've no cartridges."
+
+"That's something to be thankful for," remarked Stirling.  "But what,
+might I ask, is the use of an automatic pistol, if you haven't any
+cartridges?"
+
+"You never know your luck," replied O'Hara.  "I may manage to pick up
+some on board.  Whist!"
+
+Von Langer, the fat ober-leutnant who had been in charge of the
+boarding-party, was approaching.
+
+Possibly at a hint from his chief he had dropped his overbearing
+manner, for he addressed the prisoners in a mild tone.
+
+"It is nearly sunset," he remarked.  "You vos go below.  I am sorry to
+tell you dis, but dese are orders.  Wir mussen vorsichtig zu Werke
+gehen."
+
+Denbigh gave no sign that he understood.  Von Langer had hoped to trip
+the Englishman, but he had failed.
+
+"What was that Johnny spouting about?" asked Stirling, when the three
+chums had retired to the cabin.
+
+"That they had to be very careful," replied Denbigh.  "That I don't
+doubt.  I'll give them a week at the very outside.  If we are not free
+men then, I reckon we're booked to Davy Jones his locker."
+
+The cabin was plainly furnished.  An electric light was burning, but
+the porthole had been previously closed and locked.  Overhead an
+electric fan was buzzing, while fresh air was admitted by means of
+ventilation pipes communicating with the open air.
+
+"We might do worse," remarked O'Hara as he proceeded to undress.  "The
+rotten part of it is, we can't see what's going on outside.  The
+beggars have cooped us up pretty well."
+
+"They are evidently busy," said Stirling, as the bustling of some
+hundreds of men was plainly audible above the hum of the fan.  "Perhaps
+they do the worst of their dirty work during the hours of darkness."
+
+The three officers proceeded to make an examination of their quarters.
+The walls were of pitch-pine, but upon O'Hara sacrificing one of his
+razors, it was found that the woodwork merely formed a casing to a thin
+steel bulkhead.  The ceiling, too, was of steel, coated with a patent
+cement to preserve the metal and to prevent "sweating".  The door was
+of steel, and was fitted with a "jalousie" or latticed shutter; but
+their captors had taken the precaution of bolting a solid metal plate
+over the opening.
+
+"Not much chance for anyone who happens to be a somnambulist," said
+Denbigh.  "Well, it's no use kicking against the pricks when you're
+barefooted.  I'm going to turn in.  By Jove, I do feel horribly sleepy."
+
+"And so do I," added Stirling, unable to stifle a terrific yawn.
+
+"I believe I'm asleep already," muttered O'Hara drowsily.
+
+A moment later the three chums were lost in oblivion.  An opiate
+secretly administered by the doctor had been mixed with their food.  So
+soundly did they sleep that they were unaware of a terrific crash that
+took place during the middle watch--the explosion of a torpedo launched
+from the supposed Dutch liner at a large French vessel.
+
+Von Riesser had risked an example of frightfulness.  The huge,
+heavily-charged missile--powerful enough to sink the largest battleship
+afloat within a couple of hours from the moment of impact--had
+literally torn to pieces the lightly-built hull of its victim.  Before
+the luckless passengers and crew rushed for the boats--and these were
+for the most part shattered--the French craft sunk like a stone.
+
+It was not until the sun was almost overhead that Pat O'Hara awoke.
+The deadlight of the porthole had been unshipped and the cabin was
+flooded with dazzling sunlight.
+
+He sat up in his bunk.  His head seemed to be splitting.  Everything in
+view was slowly moving to and fro with a semicircular motion.
+
+"What the deuce have I been up to?" he soliloquized.  "Where was I last
+night?  By Jove, I must have had another touch of that rotten malaria."
+
+Presently the erratic movements of his surroundings quieted down.  He
+became aware that Denbigh and Stirling, lying in their bunks on the
+other side of the cabin, were still sleeping and breathing stertorously.
+
+"Now how in the name of goodness did those fellows get into my cabin?"
+asked the puzzled Irishman, for he was under the impression that he was
+on board the _Nichi Maru_.  "Has someone been having a rag?"
+
+From the alley-way came the sound of voices.  He listened.  The
+speakers were making use of a foreign language.  It was not the soft,
+pleasing Japanese tongue--something harsh and guttural.
+
+"German!" ejaculated O'Hara.  "By my blessed namesake I remember it all
+now."
+
+He leapt from his bunk and, crossing the cabin, shook Denbigh by the
+shoulders.  The Sub's only reply was a grunt of semi-conscious
+expostulation.  O'Hara turned his attentions to the Scot.
+
+"Fore!" muttered Stirling, engrossed in the joys of a round of golf in
+dreamland.
+
+"More like twelve, be jabbers," retorted O'Hara.  "The sun's well over
+the fore-yard.  Show a leg and shine, you lazy bounder."
+
+The discipline imbued in the old Dartmouth College was too strong to
+resist the nautical invitation to get up.  Stirling rolled from his
+bunk--fortunately it was the underneath one--and subsided heavily upon
+the floor.
+
+"Pull yourself together, man," counselled O'Hara.  "Those rotten Huns
+have been hocussing our grub."
+
+"If they have, they have," muttered the imperturbable Stirling.
+"That's no reason why you should bellow into my ear like a
+ninety-thousand horse-power siren."
+
+Leaving the Sub huddled upon the floor O'Hara proceeded to dress.
+
+Suddenly he exclaimed:
+
+"The dirty spalpeens!  They've been to my pockets while I was asleep."
+
+This announcement literally electrified his companion, for Stirling
+remembered that he had over twenty pounds in Australian sovereigns in
+his purse.  Alas!  The gold had vanished.
+
+"Your pistol?" asked Stirling.
+
+The Irishman whipped his uniform cap from a hat-peg.
+
+"It's there," he reported.  "And might you be wanting it to let
+daylight into the fellow who collared your cash?"
+
+"Not much use without cartridges," replied Stirling savagely.  "It
+might have got us into hot water if they had found it.  Better pitch it
+through the port-hole, old man, before it lands you in queer street."
+
+"No fear," declared O'Hara.  "It may come in handy some day."
+
+Some time elapsed before the two men were able to rouse Denbigh from
+his stupor.  He, too, discovered that a small amount of gold that he
+happened to have on him at the time of the capture of the _Nichi Maru_
+had been taken from him.  Some silver and a few Japanese coins had been
+left.
+
+"We've been drugged right enough," said Denbigh.  "I wonder why?
+There's some underhand game afoot during the hours of darkness.
+To-night we'll do without wine at dinner, and see how that acts."
+
+Having completed their toilet the three Subs left the cabin, for the
+door was now unlocked and the metal covering to the jalousie removed.
+Without stood a seaman on sentry duty.  He drew himself up stiffly as
+the British officers passed, but made no salute, nor did he attempt to
+bar their progress.
+
+At the foot of the companion-ladder a petty-officer stopped them.
+
+"Breakfast awaits you in this cabin," he said in German.  Neither
+Stirling nor O'Hara understood, while Denbigh was sufficiently on his
+guard to feign ignorance of the nature of the announcement.
+
+"Der vos a meal for you in dere," announced von Langer, stepping from
+behind the shaft of a ventilator.
+
+"Thank you!" replied the three Subs in unison.
+
+"But it's nearly lunch time, isn't it?" added O'Hara.
+
+"Dey vos tell me der Englische are very fond of sleep," retorted von
+Langer with a laugh.  "Himmel!  I tink dot is very true."
+
+The meal over, the prisoners went on deck.  Out of curiosity Denbigh
+walked to the rail and leant over the side.  He was not surprised at
+what he saw.  The ship's sides had been painted during the night.  The
+black band still remained, but the yellow paint had been replaced with
+a coat of blue.  Already the tropical sun was blistering the still wet
+paint, revealing patches of the original hue underneath.  The funnels,
+too, had been redecorated.  They were now red with black tops.
+
+Some minutes later Kapitan von Riesser descended from the bridge and
+walked aft.  Seeing the British officer he crossed the deck.
+
+"You like our new colour scheme?" he asked.
+
+Denbigh did not reply to the question.  He asked another.
+
+"Mr. Stirling and I both lost some gold during the night.  Our cabin
+was entered while we were asleep and the money taken from our pockets.
+Was the--er--theft committed at your instigation?"
+
+For a moment von Riesser hesitated.
+
+"There was no theft," he replied.  "The gold was taken from you
+prisoners----"
+
+"Contrary to----" began Stirling hotly.
+
+"In accordance with my instructions," continued the Kapitan.  "Gold is
+of no use to you.  Instead, you will be furnished with Notes to its
+equivalent as soon as we arrive."
+
+"You may as well get your purser to write out a receipt," said O'Hara.
+"It will come in handy when the _Zwaan_--if that's her proper name--is
+captured."
+
+Von Riesser laughed boisterously.
+
+"Captured?" he repeated.  "Ach!  I don't think there is much danger
+now.  South of the Line there is not a solitary British cruiser that
+can touch us in speed.  There are plenty of them, I admit, but that is
+your English all over.  Three swift vessels would be worth all your
+East India fleet put together, yet you pack highly-trained crews into
+slow and out-of-date tubs."
+
+"Possibly the captain of the _Emden_ thought the same as you do,"
+remarked Stirling.
+
+"Müller had difficulties that I have not," replied von Riesser.  "He
+was known to be in the Indian Ocean and swift cruisers were dispatched
+from England and Australia to hunt for him.  Our presence on the High
+Seas will not be known to your Admiralty until it is too late.  So,
+gentlemen, I must ask you to seriously consider the possibility of
+finding yourselves prisoners of war in our well-defended Colony of
+German East Africa."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+Threatened
+
+That night, according to their pre-arranged plans, the captive
+sub-lieutenants avoided taking any of the wines that were placed before
+them.
+
+They dined alone in a small cabin placed at least fifty feet from their
+sleeping quarters.
+
+As it was now after sunset the porthole was closed and locked.  The
+door, too, was shut, but not secured.  Outside, a sentry paced to and
+fro.
+
+"Look here, you fellows!" exclaimed Denbigh after the man deputed to
+attend to their needs had gone.  "It's all very well knocking off the
+fizz, but they'll notice we haven't drunk any."
+
+"Pour it into the grate," suggested Pat O'Hara recklessly.
+
+Denbigh shook his head.
+
+"Won't do," he objected, giving a glance in the direction of the small
+"bogie" stove.  "I suppose there isn't any possibility of prizing open
+the port-lid?"
+
+"You'd be spotted even if you could.  There are plenty of men on deck,"
+said O'Hara, glad of the opportunity of countering Denbigh's objection
+with another.  "Come along, old bird; what do you suggest?"
+
+Stirling, to whom the invitation was addressed, thrust his hand into
+the breast pocket of his coat.
+
+"What would you do if I weren't here to look after you?" he enquired,
+at the same time producing three sponges.  "I took them from our cabin."
+
+"For dessert?" queried O'Hara, lifting his eyebrows in surprise.
+
+"Yes, if you are a goat," said Stirling with asperity.  "Goats are, I
+believe, rather partial to this sort of tack."
+
+Coolly the Scot poured out a wineglassful of sherry--it was from the
+same decanter that they had taken some the previous evening--and slowly
+spilt the liquid on the sponge.
+
+"Fill your glass first," cautioned Stirling.  "Then they'll think we
+have had some of the poisonous stuff.  Slip your sponge into your
+pocket, Denbigh.  Don't squeeze it.  I am presuming you'll want it
+again later.  Of course if Pat wishes, he can chew his."
+
+Dinner over, the chums retired to their sleeping cabin.  In fact they
+had no option, since they were forbidden to go on deck after sunset.
+Here they talked and looked at the illustrations of some old Spanish
+newspapers until lights out; then, turning in, they lay awake awaiting
+possible developments.  Eight bells struck.  The _Pelikan_ was no
+longer moving through the water.  Outside the cabin men were talking.
+Springing from his bunk Denbigh approached the door, putting his ear to
+the covered jalousie.
+
+"I suppose those English swine are sound asleep," said a voice which
+the sub recognized as that of Kapitan von Riesser.  "I cannot hear them
+grunting--we did last night."
+
+"Nor can I, sir," replied Unter-leutnant Klick, who as officer of the
+watch was accompanying the captain on his rounds.  "But they must be.
+They went for that doctored sherry like fishes."
+
+"Himmel!  That is good news," exclaimed von Riesser.  "It will be quite
+safe to settle that vessel.  When she first answered our call she was
+only forty kilometres away.  In twenty minutes----"
+
+The listener fancied he could hear the kapitan rubbing his hands with
+glee.
+
+"It is much the better way," continued von Riesser: "'Lost with all
+hands' is quite a plausible theory.  I am almost sorry we didn't wait
+until night when we tackled the Japanese ship.  We run a good risk of
+being made a quarry for a dozen or more of those accursed cruisers.
+Those English may even send some swift destroyers on our track.  You
+are sure those fellows are quite insensible?"
+
+"As quiet as the grave, sir," assured the unter-leutnant.  "They will
+hear nothing.  Even that terrific explosion when our torpedo took the
+Frenchman by surprise never disturbed them.  But, of course, sir, I'll
+make doubly sure.  We'll squirt some chloroform into the cabin."
+
+"Then be sharp about it," said von Riesser.  "There's no time to be
+lost.  That English vessel ought to be in sight within the next quarter
+of an hour."
+
+The German officer moved away.  In a trice Denbigh communicated the
+news to his companions.
+
+"Oh for a respirator!" whispered O'Hara.
+
+"Don't worry," said Stirling.  "The electric fan will carry off the
+fumes as quickly as they pump them in."
+
+Even as he spoke the fan ceased to revolve.  The current actuating the
+ventilating gear had been switched off.  Already Unter-leutnant Klick
+was putting his scheme into effect.
+
+"Those voice tubes," hissed Denbigh.
+
+"They lead nowhere," protested Stirling.  "They are blocked.  I tried
+them some time ago."
+
+The cabin had previously been used as the purser's office, and from it
+voice-tubes had communicated with the captain's cabin, the head
+steward's quarters, and the clerk's office.  The metal pipes had been
+removed, but three lengths of flexible tubing had been left.
+
+With a sharp tug Denbigh wrenched one of the tubes from the flange
+securing it to the bulkhead.  The second gave more trouble.  As he was
+straining at it a sharp rasping sound fell upon his ear.  In the
+adjoining cabin someone was at work drilling a hole through the metal
+partition.
+
+Smearing the bell-shaped mouth-pieces of two of the detached pipes with
+soap from the wash-basin, Denbigh clapped them together.
+
+"Hold on here, Pat," he whispered.  "Press 'em tightly."
+
+O'Hara obeyed unhesitatingly.  Instinctively he realized that this was
+Denbigh's pigeon, and once Denbigh undertook a task he was pretty
+certain of the result.
+
+Stirling was then told to hold one end of the second and third
+sections.  The united length of tubing was now nearly nine feet.  One
+end Denbigh wedged into the opening in the ceiling for the electric
+fan.  The other he held in his hand in readiness.
+
+At length, after a tedious wait, Denbigh saw the tip of the drill
+emerging from the bulkhead.  Marking the spot he instantly switched off
+the light.  A dull thud announced that the boring tool had made a
+complete perforation and that the handle had struck home against the
+steelwork.
+
+The drill was withdrawn.  In its place a small metal tube was inserted.
+Deftly and noiselessly Denbigh slipped the lower end of the flexible
+piping over the projecting nozzle.  Then he waited.  He could hear the
+Irishman breathing heavily.  The portion of the tube that he was
+holding quivered in his excitable grasp.  Stirling, cool and collected,
+gave no sign of the potential alertness that possessed him.
+
+A gentle hissing sound, repeated at short intervals, announced that the
+Germans were injecting the stupefying fumes by means of a bellows.  A
+faint, sickly odour assailed Denbigh's nostrils.  He had to fight hard
+to refrain from gasping.  Grimly he stood by until the hissing noise
+ceased.
+
+His plan had been successful.  Save for a slight leakage the fumes had
+travelled through the pipe and had been carried through the louvres of
+the ventilator, while the hot air of the cabin was sufficient to create
+an up-draught to disperse the noxious vapour.
+
+Denbigh removed his end of the tube.  As he did so he heard a voice
+exclaim:
+
+"It is enough.  More will kill them.  You had better enter the cabin,
+Herr Doktor, and see that they are still breathing."
+
+The sub drew the piping from his companions' grasp.
+
+"Turn in and pretend you're insensible," he whispered, fearful lest the
+sound should be heard through the newly-made hole in the bulkhead.
+
+It was less than five minutes later when the door was unlocked and a
+dim figure cautiously entered.
+
+"Not half so bad as I expected," said a guttural voice.  The smell of
+the anæsthetic had almost dispersed.  "Where is the switch?"
+
+"Here, Herr Doktor," replied a petty officer.
+
+The next instant the cabin was bathed in brilliant light.  In spite of
+their efforts to the contrary the three supposed sleepers twitched
+their eyelids.
+
+The ship's surgeon bent over O'Hara.  A short scrutiny confirmed his
+suspicions.  He turned to the bunk on which Stirling was lying, and,
+lifting the sub's eyelid, placed the tip of his forefinger upon the
+eyeball.
+
+"Ach, is it so?" ejaculated the German, for Stirling had been compelled
+to contract his eyelids.
+
+A similar test bore the same result in Denbigh's case; then, without
+another word, the doctor hurried from the cabin.
+
+"The old pillbox has tumbled to it," muttered Denbigh.  "Now what will
+their little game be?"
+
+The sub was not left long in doubt.  Ober-leutnant von Langer, who had
+followed the doctor into the cabin, made his presence known by bawling
+out an order to half a dozen of the crew who were waiting without:
+
+"Come!  Out mit you!" he exclaimed, addressing the sham sleepers.  "It
+is that I know your little pretend.  Ach! you tink you smart?"
+
+Yet Denbigh and his companions kept still, half-hoping that the
+doctor's test had not been successful and von Langer was trying his
+hand.
+
+The ober-leutnant gave another order.  Unceremoniously the three
+British officers were hauled out of the bunks by the seamen, who seemed
+to take a delight in roughly handling anyone of commissioned rank.
+Perhaps, if von Langer did but know it, his men would have been only
+too pleased to use him in the same way, for the ober-leutnant was a
+Prussian and a Junker, while the crew were for the most part from
+Schleswig-Holstein.
+
+With as much dignity as their dishevelled appearance would permit,
+Denbigh and his companions allowed themselves to be taken on deck,
+where they had to cool their heels at the pleasure of their captors.
+It was a bright moonlight night.  The air was decidedly chilly for the
+Tropics.  A heavy dew was falling.  The lightly-clad men--for the
+sub-lieutenants were in pyjamas--realized that there was a grave risk
+of tropical fever.
+
+The ship was once more under way.  With a true seaman's instinct
+Denbigh glanced aloft.  By the relative position of the moon--since no
+stars were visible--he was able to fix the approximate course of the
+vessel.  She was steering roughly sou'-sou'-east.  Far away to the
+nor'ard a masthead lamp was blinking--calling in Morse to know why they
+had been summoned.
+
+Denbigh gave a grunt of satisfaction.  For once von Riesser's plan had
+gone awry.  He had feared to treacherously torpedo an unsuspecting
+merchantman since there were hostile eye-witnesses on board the
+_Pelikan_.
+
+Presently the kapitan, clad in a greatcoat over his white uniform,
+appeared at the head of the bridge-ladder.
+
+"You there, von Langer?" he called.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the ober-leutnant.  "Shall I bring the prisoners to
+you?"
+
+"No, I'll see them in my cabin," replied von Riesser.  "Tell off a
+couple of hands to guard the prisoners and another half-dozen to wait
+outside in case there is any trouble.  I'll be there in a few minutes."
+
+The kapitan's quarters were situated aft on the upper deck.  They
+comprised a large cabin, used for meals and recreation, and a sleeping
+cabin opening from it.  Denbigh and his companions were marched into
+the outer cabin and told to take up a position facing von Riesser's
+empty arm-chair and separated from it by a long mahogany table.
+
+The cabin was plainly furnished.  In addition to the arm-chair and
+table there were two sideboards, a large book-rack, and half a dozen
+cane chairs.  On the table lay a pile of Dutch charts.  Books for
+navigation and sailing directions in the same language occupied the
+shelves in company with a few American novels.
+
+Everything German, with one exception, had been studiously eliminated,
+in order to baffle the curiosity of a British boarding-officer in the
+event of the supposed _Zwaan_ being held up.  The exception was a large
+oil painting of the Kaiser in the uniform of a German Admiral of the
+Fleet.  The portrait was framed in a massive oak frame securely fixed
+to the bulkhead between the two cabins.  The only other picture was a
+sepia-toned photograph of the Queen of Holland, in a narrow, plain gilt
+frame.  When it became necessary to hide the features of the All
+Highest War Lord from the eyes of the strafed English, who had
+practically contrived to drive the War Lord's battleships from the face
+of the five oceans, von Riesser took the risk of committing lese
+majesté by placing the portrait of Queen Wilhelmina over that of the
+Emperor Wilhelm II.  Then, to all appearances, the captain's cabin of
+the _Zwaan_ was loyally adorned by a photograph of the Queen of the
+Netherlands in a deep oak frame with a thin gold slip.
+
+In the circumstances, however, it was not considered necessary to
+eclipse the All Highest War Lord, so the three British subs found
+themselves confronted by the painted features of the modern Attila.
+
+The door was thrown open.  Von Langer and the two seamen clicked their
+heels and saluted as von Riesser entered with the dramatic effect of
+which Prussians are so fond.  Gravely saluting the Emperor's portrait
+and then returning his subordinates' mark of respect the kapitan took
+his seat.
+
+"You know why you are here?" asked von Riesser abruptly, lowering his
+brows and looking sternly at the three British officers.
+
+"We do not," replied Denbigh.  "In fact, it is rather unusual to turn a
+fellow out of his bunk at one in the morning."
+
+"Do not bandy words, Herr Denbigh," snapped the kapitan.  "You have
+been causing trouble."
+
+"Is it causing trouble to take steps to avoid being gassed or
+chloroformed?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"Yes," almost shouted the kapitan.  "If we think it desirable that our
+prisoners should be put to sleep it is not for them to resist."
+
+"In that case there's no more to be said," declared the Irishman.  "You
+are top-dog----"
+
+"You call me a dog, you English swine!" almost howled the now
+infuriated Prussian.
+
+O'Hara burst out into violent laughter.  Denbigh smiled broadly, while
+around Stirling's firm lips hovered the suspicion of a grim smile.
+Their utter indifference to the ravings of their captor took von
+Riesser by surprise.
+
+"I may as well tell you," began Denbigh, seizing his opportunity, "that
+I can speak German perhaps as well as you can speak English.  I
+overheard your conversation outside our cabin an hour or so ago, and we
+know what you proposed to do to the ship which you were luring.  I
+suppose you call those tactics frightfulness.  I call them low-down,
+skulking treachery.  How a man who professes to be a sailor, who has
+lived a free and healthy life upon the sea, could belittle himself to
+act as you propose to do, and possibly have done, passes my
+understanding.  I give you fair warning, Kapitan von Riesser, that,
+should we be set free by an English cruiser, you will have a grave
+indictment to answer."
+
+Von Riesser did not reply for a few moments.  He was greatly agitated.
+Once or twice he glanced anxiously at his ober-leutnant, as if curious
+to know whether von Langer understood Denbigh's words.
+
+Then he, too, laughed, but it was not a natural outburst of an
+unburdened and evenly-balanced mind.
+
+"You threaten?" he asked.  "Well, I can threaten also.  Suppose I
+decide to put into operation the principle of your worthy Prime
+Minister?  One of his maxims, oft quoted in the Press, is, I believe,
+'Wait and see'?"
+
+"It ought to be particularly applicable in your case," rejoined Denbigh
+coolly.
+
+"Ach!  And in yours.  What is to prevent me from ordering a weight to
+be put about your neck and cast you into the sea?  Weight and sea.
+Himmel, that is great!"
+
+He roared at his own joke, while von Langer, although unable to
+comprehend the significance, showed his servile approbation by laughing
+in a minor key.
+
+"I don't think that it would make very much difference if you did,"
+replied Denbigh.  "You see, the _Nichi Maru's_ people know that you
+carried us off.  Some day you will have to answer some rather searching
+questions if you could not produce us."
+
+Again von Riesser pondered.  He was beginning to feel horribly annoyed
+with himself for having ever received the three British officers on
+board the _Pelikan_.  He was plunging deeper and deeper into the mire.
+He lacked the determination to cut the Gordian Knot.
+
+By way of an excuse he scribbled a note and tossed it to von Langer.
+
+"Take that to the officer of the watch," he said carelessly.
+
+The ober-leutnant quitted the cabin.  The two impassive seamen
+remained.  They, fortunately, knew no English, save a few catch phrases
+picked up when lying in dock in that dim period before the War.
+
+"Suppose we cry quits," resumed von Riesser.  "I am ready to apologize
+for having exceeded my rights in dealing with you.  After all there's
+no great harm done.  I'll admit I planned to trap yonder vessel.  You
+must have misunderstood me when I said that I had intended to torpedo
+her.  We use our torpedoes only in cases of extreme necessity.  Are you
+willing to forget this night?"
+
+"We would like to talk the matter over between ourselves," replied
+Denbigh.  "If you have no objection, we will give our reply at noon
+to-morrow."
+
+"I agree," said von Riesser, with a meekness that quite surprised
+Denbigh and his companions.  He gave an order to the two seamen.  They
+turned and left the cabin.
+
+Two minutes later the British officers were back in their own quarters.
+Time had been called after the first round, and the Prussian had not
+come out top-dog.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+The Pursuit of the _Pelikan_
+
+"One thing that puzzles me," remarked Stirling during the following
+forenoon, "is why they didn't clap us below under hatches, instead of
+trying to stupefy us.  It would have been far less trouble."
+
+"I must say that I share your thoughts," said Denbigh.  "These Germans
+are no fools.  They are pretty thorough in whatever they take up,
+whether it's a diabolical scheme or otherwise.  It might be that
+there's something below that they don't want us to see, and rather than
+run a risk in that direction, they prefer to lock us up in the cabin."
+
+"That's all very well," rejoined O'Hara.  "But it won't wash.  Old von
+Langer let it out in the course of conversation that this ship has
+already been examined by one of our cruisers."
+
+"Then perhaps the boarding-officer wasn't cute enough.  It's a tribute
+to our sagacity, old man," said Stirling.  "However, time and events
+will prove.  By Jove, the fateful hour approaches!  What will von
+Riesser say to our decision?"
+
+At eight bells the three British officers were told to proceed to the
+kapitan's cabin.  This time von Riesser was alone.  He looked flustered
+and worried.
+
+"Sit down, gentlemen," he began.  "You must look upon this as a private
+and confidential chat.  Now, to go straight to the point: are you
+prepared, in the event of your being given honourable treatment and
+allowed the greatest liberty possible, to maintain silence upon last
+night's affair?"
+
+Denbigh, as spokesman, did not think it advisable to give a direct
+reply.
+
+"Do you, on your part, promise to refrain from treacherous attacks upon
+Allied merchantmen?" he asked.
+
+"I think I can give that guarantee," replied von Riesser.  "If I do so,
+will you write a certificate to the effect that, to the best of your
+belief, I, as commander of the ship, am acting in accordance with the
+present accepted rules of naval warfare?  That, I think, will square
+matters."
+
+"We cannot do that," declared Denbigh.  "We are willing to give a
+certificate to the effect that you acted with discretion."
+
+The kapitan smiled grimly.
+
+"There is a certain amount of latitude in that," he replied.  "I
+suppose you will then say nothing of last night's business."
+
+"Since we have no direct evidence of what you have done, we cannot very
+well state a case," said Denbigh.  "The thing is this: are you going to
+torpedo any merchantmen without warning?"
+
+"No," replied von Riesser.
+
+"Very well.  We have forgotten last night," declared Denbigh.  "Should
+occasion arise we will give you the required certificate."
+
+"And should occasion not arise," thought von Riesser, "I will make it
+pretty hot for these young cubs.  Once safely in port in our African
+colony, I will show them what it means to thwart a Prussian officer."
+
+With these sentiments in his mind and a smile on his face the kapitan
+dismissed his prisoners.
+
+During the afternoon there was a thick haze.  It was impossible to
+distinguish anything beyond a distance of about a mile from the ship.
+Sea and sky were merged into an ill-defined blurr.  The glass, too, was
+falling rapidly.  That and the presence of the mist betokened an
+imminent change in the weather.
+
+Suddenly there was a rift in the curtain of vapour.  At less than two
+miles away on the _Pelikan's_ port bow were two vessels, one being in
+tow of the other.
+
+The subs were quick to recognize the leading craft.  She was a British
+cruiser of the "Eclipse" class--a vessel of 5600 tons, and with a
+nominal speed of 19 knots.  But the craft in tow was a puzzle to them.
+She was low-lying, with a raised superstructure amidships, one funnel,
+and a tall mast fitted with a fire-control platform.  From her for'ard
+turret two huge guns, seemingly out of all proportion to the rest of
+the ship, protruded.  The muzzles, instead of being inclined upwards,
+were depressed.  Although Denbigh and his companions could not
+distinguish details owing to the distance of the vessel, the German
+officers, by means of their telescopes and binoculars, could see that
+the muzzles of the guns were resting on large chocks bolted to the
+deck, while the protruding part of the weapons were additionally
+secured by stout hawsers.  The mysterious craft was apparently
+deserted.  Everything was battened down, for the decks were swept by
+the long Atlantic waves.
+
+"By Jove!" ejaculated O'Hara.  "She must be one of our monitors.  Now,
+where is she off to, I should like to know?  There's something in the
+wind."
+
+[Illustration: "BY JOVE!" EJACULATED O'HARA, "SHE MUST BE ONE OF OUR
+MONITORS."]
+
+Kapitan von Riesser could have answered the question.  He stood on the
+bridge, glasses glued to his face and rage in his heart.  There could
+be but one solution.  The monitor was bound for the Indian Ocean, to
+take part in the forthcoming operations against the Germans in East
+Africa.
+
+"Donnerwetter!" muttered von Riesser.  "These accursed English.  They
+may throw away their opportunities on land, but they know how to do
+things at sea."
+
+"Shall I carry on, sir?" asked the officer of the watch.
+
+"No, port helm," ordered the kapitan.  Then realizing that the carrying
+out of this command might arouse the suspicions of the British cruiser,
+he had the _Pelikan_ steadied on her helm.  The course would bring her
+within a mile of the cruiser and her tow.
+
+"The cheek!" exclaimed Stirling.  "Old von Riesser's going to play a
+game of bluff."
+
+"I vote we semaphore," suggested O'Hara impulsively.  "We'd do the
+trick before they could stop us."
+
+The Irishman, however, had no opportunity of putting his plan into
+effect, for at that moment a petty-officer informed the subs that it
+was the kapitan's pleasure they should go below.
+
+They found the port-hole closed and locked.  Von Riesser was not a man
+to take needless risks.
+
+A hoist of bunting fluttered from the cruiser's signal yard-arm.  It
+was a message in the International Code: "E C--what ship is that?"
+
+Promptly the Dutch ensign was hoisted, while simultaneously the
+"number" of the real _Zwaan_ was made.
+
+From the cruiser came another signal.  Von Riesser had no occasion to
+consult the code-book.  It was "I D--Heave-to, or I fire."
+
+"Hard a-port!" he shouted, and telegraphed for full speed ahead.
+
+Round swung the _Pelikan_, listing until five feet of her underbody
+showed clear.  Even as she did so a couple of 12-pounders spat
+venomously, the shells passing perilously close to the towering hull.
+
+Down fluttered the Dutch ensign.  The British cruiser ceased firing.
+Ahead lay a bank of fog.
+
+Von Riesser knew that he was in a tight corner, and it was in tight
+corners that the better qualities of the man showed themselves.  For a
+few moments he stood motionless.  Every second the _Pelikan_ was
+slipping farther and farther away from the cruiser, which, hampered by
+her tow, was unable to stand in pursuit.  Her skipper was somewhat
+mystified.  According to the rules of the game the _Pelikan_ had
+struck, yet he knew that of necessity the immense bulk must carry
+considerable way.
+
+The British cruiser had no doubts of the blue liner with the broad
+black band, for the survivors of the _Nichi Maru_ had been picked up by
+one of the patrolling vessels.  Once more that mixed blessing, wireless
+telegraphy, had been brought into service, and a description of the
+raider sent far and wide.  Already a number of light cruisers were on
+their way from Simon's Bay to intercept the _Pelikan_, while the
+blockading squadron off the east coast of Africa had been warned of the
+likely attempt on the part of the fugitive to gain one of the
+little-known and unfrequented rivers of the last of Germany's overseas
+possessions.
+
+Von Riesser alternately kept glancing ahead and astern.  The haze was
+beginning to envelop the monitor and her escort.
+
+He shouted an order to a petty officer.  The man doubled aft, bawling
+as he ran.  Then from the ensign staff fluttered the Black Cross of the
+Imperial German Navy.
+
+The cruiser's reply was a salvo from her quick-firers.  Two shells
+struck home, one bursting on the poop and blowing the emblem of Germany
+to atoms, besides causing considerable damage to the deck.  A second
+burst amidships, shattering a couple of ventilators, splintering one of
+the boats, and destroying the greater portion of the bridge.  Fragments
+of metal and splinters of wood flew in all directions.  Kapitan von
+Riesser narrowly escaped being hit.  As it was, one of his officers and
+two seamen were killed outright, five others being seriously wounded,
+while the kapitan was thrown to the deck by the concussion.
+
+For a few minutes the _Pelikan_ was enveloped in smoke and spray thrown
+up by the shells that exploded on either side; but before the cruiser
+could get in another effective shot the raider was lost in the mist.
+
+Von Riesser guessed, and rightly, that the cat was out of the bag,
+otherwise the cruiser would not have hoisted that peremptory demand to
+heave-to.  He realized that his position was a hazardous one.
+Thousands of miles from a friendly port, sought by perhaps a score of
+British cruisers, and, moreover, running short of coal, the _Pelikan_
+stood a very small chance of dropping anchor in East African waters,
+except as a prize.
+
+On the other hand, Fate, in the guise of the mist, had dealt kindly
+with the _Pelikan_.  For the rest of the day she steamed westward.
+Down below the firemen toiled like Trojans, shovelling coal into the
+glowing furnaces.  On deck the crew worked hard, clearing away the
+debris left by the British cruiser's shells.  The wireless staff were
+busy "jamming" the numerous messages thrown out from various vessels,
+that were converging on the monitor and her escort for the purpose of
+cutting off the audacious _Pelikan_.
+
+About an hour before sunset the mist cleared.  The sea was still calm,
+although high overhead the ragged and greasy clouds betokened the
+approach of a southerly gale.  The setting sun, a ball of bright
+yellow, set in a pale greenish-yellow sky, threw its slanting rays
+across the damaged bridge, almost blinding the look-out with its
+brilliance.
+
+"Sail on the starboard bow," reported one of the watchers.
+
+Von Riesser, who had practically recovered from the shock of being
+capsized by the explosion, had not left the bridge.  He immediately
+gave orders to starboard the helm.  At the present juncture he would
+not risk meeting even an unarmed tramp laden with military stores.
+
+The stranger was the British light cruiser _Actæon_, of 3000 tons, and
+with a speed of slightly over 20 knots.  Pelting towards the scene of
+the encounter between the _Pelikan_ and her foiled antagonist, the
+_Actæon_ was unwittingly approaching the fugitive.  She, having the
+advantage of the light, recognized the German liner almost before the
+latter had noticed her presence.
+
+As the _Pelikan_ swung round, the _Actæon_ followed suit, both vessels
+being now on slightly converging courses and about six miles apart.  It
+was a question as to which of the two was the speediest ship--a
+question, seemingly, that events only could prove.
+
+The sun set.  The short period of tropical twilight gave place to
+pitch-black night, for the moon, now two days after the full, had not
+yet risen.
+
+On board the _Pelikan_ all lights that might be visible from outside
+were extinguished, save for one white light shown aft.  The pursuing
+vessel displayed no lights, but her approximate position could be fixed
+by means of the dull-red glow of the flames that issued from her three
+funnels.
+
+"Do you think she's gaining, von Langer?" asked the kapitan anxiously,
+after an interval of almost unbroken silence as far as the officers on
+the _Pelikan's_ bridge were concerned.
+
+"I am not sure," replied the ober-leutnant.  "We do not appear to be
+gaining on her.  It may be that we are just holding our own."
+
+"Unless we can shake her off completely before sunrise we stand little
+chance," said von Riesser moodily.  "We cannot stand up to her.  Those
+guns would send us to the bottom in a quarter of an hour, long before
+we came within torpedo range."
+
+"If we had but a dozen mines, sir----" began Unter-leutnant Klick.
+
+"It is no use wishing for what we haven't got," snapped the kapitan.
+"And what is more, yon English ship is taking good care not to follow
+directly in our wake in case we were dropping mines."
+
+There was silence for some moments.  Von Riesser was deep in thought,
+his eyes fixed the while upon the lurid red tint on the horizon.
+
+"Ach!" he exclaimed.  "I think I have it.  Here, Herr Klick, see that
+the motor launch is cleared ready for lowering."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The Decoy
+
+Wondering at the inexplicable nature of Kapitan von Riesser's order the
+unter-leutnant hurried off.  In a few minutes the sea-boat's crew,
+drilled for such emergencies, had provisioned and watered the
+twenty-five-foot motor-launch that hung in davits abreast of the
+after-funnel.
+
+The securing chocks were removed, the falls manned, and the davits
+swung outboard.
+
+"Motor-launch ready, sir!" reported the unter-leutnant.  "Water and
+provisions are on board, and a hundred litres of petrol."
+
+"I gave no orders for the boat to be victualled," exclaimed the
+kapitan.  "No matter: it will waste too much valuable time to remove
+the stuff.  Now, listen, Herr Klick.  Everything depends upon the
+strict carrying out of my instructions.  Place two men on board the
+launch--one to tend each of the lower blocks of the falls.  Have ready
+a white light.  See that the helm is lashed.  I will slow down the
+ship, and turn her so that the launch will be slightly to leeward.  At
+the word, see that the motor is started and the light exhibited.  Then
+lower away smartly, and tell the men to hang on to the falls when they
+are disengaged unless they want to be a target for the English cannon."
+
+"I understand, sir.  You are using the boat as a decoy."
+
+"Precisely, Herr Klick.  Now, be sharp.  With a vessel pursuing us at a
+rate equal to our utmost speed we cannot afford to lose precious
+moments in lying-to."
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"I say, you fellows, I think I'll go on deck and see what's doing,"
+announced Sub-lieutenant Stirling.
+
+His companions looked at him with feelings akin to amazement.
+
+"What the deuce are you babbling about, old man?" asked O'Hara.  "You
+know as well as we do that we are locked in."
+
+None of the three prisoners had any thought of turning in.  They had
+heard the crash of the British shells as the cruiser sought to wing the
+German raider.  In spite of the danger of being hit, and what was
+infinitely worse, being drowned like rats in a trap in a foundering
+vessel--since it was more than possible that the crew of the _Pelikan_
+would take no steps to liberate the captives--the subs were in high
+spirits.  They took it for granted that their release would be a matter
+of a few minutes only, since the lightly-built _Pelikan_ would stand no
+earthly chance against the vastly-superior ordnance of the pursuing
+vessel.  Then came a sudden cessation of the firing; yet the prisoners
+knew by the thud of the engines that the German ship was still pelting
+on her bid for safety.
+
+Hours passed.  There was no doubt in the minds of the three men that
+the _Pelikan_ was being hotly pursued.  The pulsations of the engines
+under forced draught was conclusive evidence on that point.  The
+captive officers sat and talked, drawing conclusions as to what was
+taking place, until Stirling suddenly hurled a verbal bomb-shell by
+announcing his intention of going on deck.
+
+"Don't be so rash with your assertions, Pat," replied Stirling in mock
+reproof.  "It is certainly true that we are locked in.  It is also a
+fact that I possess a very efficient screw-driver.  I took the liberty
+of annexing it, as one of the carpenter's crew has been guilty of
+negligence.  On board a British ship that screw-driver would, in the
+usual course of routine, find itself in the scran-bag; but since I'm
+not at all certain that such a visible cure for forgetfulness exists in
+the German navy, I have and hold the article in question."
+
+"No need to brag about it, old man," said O'Hara.  "You are not the
+only light-fingered gentleman of our little coterie.  As these Germans
+had no compunction in entering the cabin and sneaking out hard-earned
+cash, I repaid the compliment by entering one of the officer's cabins,
+and this is what I annexed."
+
+He held up a dark-green paper packet containing a dozen rounds of
+ammunition that fitted the automatic pistol.
+
+"Steady!" exclaimed Denbigh.  "You're looking for trouble with that
+thing, Pat.  It's as dangerous as a shillelagh at Donnybrook Fair.  And
+what's the object in breaking out?" he continued, addressing Stirling,
+who was fondling the screw-driver in anticipation.  "If you're detected
+there'll be a rumpus.  I don't suppose you'll do any good, and if you
+possess your soul in patience a little longer you'll be let out."
+
+"Hanged if I can," retorted Stirling.  "I must have a look round.  I
+didn't ask you fellows to come.  In fact, there's less risk for one
+than three."
+
+"Have your own way, then," said Denbigh, who knew that when the Scot
+once made up his mind there would be no turning aside.
+
+The lock was secured to the inside of the door.  It was sufficient to
+keep out intruders, but quite inadequate to resist the application of
+the screwdriver.  Working swiftly yet silently, Stirling removed the
+brass staple.  Only the pressure of his boot against the door kept it
+shut.  Cautiously he drew the door ajar.  There was a light switched on
+in the passage.  At the far end of the alley-way was the sentry on the
+aft-deck.  The rest of the cabins were deserted, since the excitement
+of the chase kept all officers on deck.  Having, then, no fear of
+detection the sentry was sitting on the lid of a chest, his face buried
+in a book.
+
+"All clear," whispered Stirling.  "S'long, you fellows.  Expect me when
+you see me."
+
+He gave another glance in the direction of the sentry.  The man had not
+stirred.  Softly Stirling crept out and tiptoed along the passage in
+the direction of the ladder leading to the upper-deck.
+
+The noise of the engines, audible throughout the length and breadth of
+the ship, and the tramp of feet on deck, deadened the slight sound of
+his movements.  At the end of the alley-way a curtain had been
+stretched in order to screen the light from the companion-way.  Beyond,
+although there were men standing about, the place was in darkness.
+
+Stirling took the risk.  He knew that in the gloom there would be great
+difficulty to distinguish the uniforms of the German officers from his
+own.  Lifting aside the curtain, he stepped forward with the
+self-confidence of a man accustomed to command.
+
+The knot of seamen separated, the men clicking their heels and standing
+rigidly at the salute.  In the darkness they recognized the officer but
+not the individual.  Not for one moment did they suspect that he was
+one of the strafed Englishmen, whom they had every reason to suppose to
+be under lock and key.
+
+Without interruption Stirling gained the deck.  The shattered woodwork,
+just discernible in the darkness, showed him the result of the British
+cruiser's shells.  He glanced aft.  Far astern, the red blur that had
+so disturbed the equanimity of Kapitan von Riesser came as a solace to
+his mind.  His surmises were correct.  The _Pelikan_--or, as he knew
+her, the _Zwaan_--was being chased, but he could not quite understand
+why the pursuing vessel should be so far astern, since a few hours ago
+she was within range.  He, of course, knew nothing of the event that
+led to the _Actæon_ taking up the chase.  Nor could he suggest any
+reason why the German liner should show a white light astern.  It
+seemed contrary to every precaution necessary to shake off pursuit.
+
+"May as well get for'ard," soliloquized the sub.  "There seems a bit of
+a hullabaloo.  I'll see what it is about.  I don't suppose I'll be
+spotted if I keep clear of the crush.  Hulloa!  They're getting the
+boats out.  Are they going to abandon ship, I wonder, or is it merely a
+matter of discretion, should the old hooker get plugged?"
+
+With little difficulty Stirling took up his position under the lee of a
+ventilator.  As he waited he heard fragments of the conversation
+between von Riesser and his subordinate.
+
+Stirling was a poor German scholar; so much so that he was ashamed of
+the little German he knew.  By sheer good luck, however, he recognized
+several of the words--sufficient to enable him to guess shrewdly the
+nature of the kapitan's order.
+
+Stirling was very often lucky in that way.  Even while he was hiding
+behind the ventilator he recalled a similar instance.  It was on the
+occasion of his entry examination to Osborne, and Stirling was in those
+days an atrocious speller even for a youth of thirteen and a half.  In
+the dictation subject the lad found himself balked by the word
+"adaptable".  He was on the point of writing "adaptible" when he caught
+sight of some letters stamped upon the pen he was using: "The Adaptable
+Pen".  When the result of the examination was announced Stirling found
+that he had only just attained the minimum marks in English to qualify.
+Afterwards he was apt to remark that he owed his commission to a
+twopenny pen which might, for aught he knew, have been made in Germany.
+
+"By Jove, they're going to use that boat as a decoy," soliloquized the
+sub.  "I'll risk it.  Hang it all!  If I'm spotted there can only be a
+shindy.  With our cruiser pelting up astern and Denbigh and O'Hara
+below, they won't dare to try any of their kultur tricks."
+
+The launch was now level with the rail.  The men told off to attend to
+the disengaging gear were already on board, while down below an
+artificer was trying to coax the motor.  Apparently he had trouble, for
+he called out to one of his mates to pass something to him.  At that
+moment Kapitan von Riesser gave an order, and the unter-leutnant and
+his men faced for'ard.
+
+In a trice Stirling slipped quietly over the rail at the heels of one
+of the crew.  While the latter made his way for'ard to the motor-room
+the sub entered the little cabin.  It was, as he expected, empty.  Not
+knowing whether any of the launch's crew would remain, Stirling crept
+under the seat and waited.
+
+The _Pelikan_ was losing way.  Her engines had been reversed in order
+to bring her almost to a standstill in the least possible time.
+
+"Lower away!" shouted a voice in German which Stirling recognized as
+that of Unter-leutnant Klick.
+
+The racing of the motor, which the artificer had at length succeeded in
+starting, drowned all other sounds.  The propeller, racing in the air,
+was revolving at terrific speed.  Unless the launch were quickly put
+into the water the motor would soon be overheated, since no cooling
+device was possible until the pump sucked water into the jackets
+surrounding the cylinders.
+
+The artificer, his task accomplished, swung himself on to the
+_Pelikan's_ deck, while directly the falls were cast off the two seamen
+swarmed up the ropes.  Almost before Stirling was aware of it, the
+launch was speeding forward.
+
+"Time I made a move," muttered the sub.  With the utmost caution he
+emerged from his hiding-place and made his way to the well.  The bright
+rays of the lamp lashed to the ensign-staff enabled him to see
+everything on deck.  One glance told him that he was the only member of
+the crew.  Already the _Pelikan_ was lost to sight in the darkness.
+
+Stirling's first act upon taking command was to cut the lashings of the
+helm and to turn the launch in the same direction as the _Pelikan_ had
+been travelling.  He then looked for the supposed position of the
+pursuing cruiser.  On the horizon were two glints of red light at,
+roughly, 15 degrees apart.
+
+"Two of them," said the sub to himself.  "The more the merrier.
+Another ten minutes and it will be seen whether I am smashed to
+smithereens by a British 6-inch shell."
+
+As a matter of precaution he cast off the lashings of the lamp, placing
+it on a seat just inside the cabin.  There it was within arm's reach,
+while the sub was not in danger of being temporarily blinded by the
+glare.
+
+"That's the rising moon," continued Stirling, referring to the light to
+the east'ard.  "The other glare is from the cruiser's funnels.
+Allowing her speed to be 20 knots, and this hooker's 12 or 15, she's
+gaining on me at about eight miles an hour."
+
+Presently the newly-risen moon appeared in a rift of clouds.  Its
+slanting rays silhouetted the outlines of a large four-funnelled
+cruiser, now less than a couple of miles astern.
+
+"Time!" ejaculated Stirling laconically.  Leaving the helm he made for
+the motor-room and switched off the ignition.  Then, returning to the
+well, he raised and lowered the lamp several times in succession,
+dipping it behind the coaming in order to signal the "General Call".
+
+A light flashed from the cruiser.  Thank heavens it was not the spurt
+of a quick-firer but a steady white flare, to signify that the ship was
+in readiness to receive the message.  "_Zwaan_ has sent decoy adrift,"
+signalled Stirling.  "Probably altered course to south'ard.  Please
+return and pick me up after end of chase."
+
+A searchlight was switched on from the cruiser's after-bridge.  For a
+few moments it played upon the now motionless motor-launch.  Then,
+somewhat to Stirling's surprise and to his not altogether complete
+satisfaction, the cruiser began to slow down.
+
+"It's all right for me," soliloquized the sub.  "But it's hard lines on
+Denbigh and Pat.  I'm afraid von Riesser has given our fellows the
+slip."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+Foiled by a Collier
+
+For the rest of the night Denbigh and O'Hara awaited in vain for their
+comrade's return.  They had no idea of the flight of time since, during
+the chase, the ship's bell had not been struck.  In the screened cabin
+they sat, with the electric light switched on, for after their
+interview with Kapitan von Riesser on the subject of the attempted
+chloroforming, the current was not cut off after ten o'clock as was
+formerly the case.
+
+"Faith!  I'll go and see what he's up to," exclaimed O'Hara, removing
+the chair from the door.  It was the only way to keep the door closed,
+since the replacing of the staple of the lock would have barred
+Stirling's return.
+
+"Better not," objected Denbigh.  "Either he's all right or he's all
+wrong.  In the former case it wouldn't do to meddle with his business.
+Two stand double the risk of detection that one fellow runs.  In the
+latter case, our going to look for him won't help matters in the least,
+because if they've collared him they will be on the look-out for us."
+
+"S'pose you're right," grudgingly assented Pat.  "We must stick it."
+
+The chums "stuck it" for another two hours, then the sound of six bells
+(7 a.m.) announced the fact that it was daylight, and that precautions
+in the matter of noise were no longer necessary.
+
+"The flunky will be here presently to open the port-hole," remarked
+Denbigh.  "I think we had better screw on that chunk of metal.
+Stirling won't be coming now."
+
+"Then what has happened to him?"
+
+"Goodness only knows.  Look here; we won't open the ball.  Let's see if
+they know anything about his disappearance."
+
+"The man will notice that the moment he comes into the cabin," objected
+O'Hara.
+
+For answer, Denbigh crossed over to Stirling's cot, placed the bolster
+longwise and covered it with the blankets.  Then, partly drawing the
+curtains, he stood back and surveyed the result of his handiwork.
+
+"Dash it all!" he exclaimed.  "It would take a lynx-eyed detective to
+spot the game, especially when the port-hole is opened, because the
+bunk is dead against the light.  Let's turn in.  Old Fritz will smell a
+rat if he finds us up and dressed."
+
+The two subs had barely settled themselves in their bunks and had
+switched off the light, when a key clicked in the lock and the German
+sailor deputed to attend to them stumbled in.
+
+He was a taciturn fellow.  Perhaps it was because he understood no word
+of English, and was unaware of the fact that Denbigh spoke German.  He
+had, however, a habit of conversing with himself during the performance
+of his duties, and more than once Denbigh picked up information from
+the fellow's unguarded babbling.
+
+This time Fritz was silent.  Setting down a jug of hot water, he
+unlocked and opened the port-hole.
+
+Having washed, shaved, and dressed, Denbigh and O'Hara made their way
+to the cabin in which was served their meals.  Covers for three lay on
+the table.  The steward was standing by in his customary manner.
+
+Without a word the subs seated themselves.  Presently Fritz came in to
+deliver a message from one of the ship's officers.
+
+"Where's the third Englander?" asked the steward.
+
+Apparently Fritz was fond of a joke at the messman's expense.  Without
+a word he stooped and looked under the table; then drawing himself up,
+he replied:
+
+"I cannot see him."
+
+"Fool!" ejaculated the steward.  "Don't try to be an idiot; you are one
+already.  Where is the schwein-hund?"
+
+"Too lazy to get up and have his breakfast, I suppose," replied Fritz
+indifferently.  "He was fast asleep when I went in."
+
+Having asked in broken English if the subs required anything further,
+and receiving a negative reply, the steward went out.
+
+"Deucedly strange," said Denbigh in a low voice.  "Those fellows know
+nothing.  I wonder if von Riesser and his cheerful ober-leutnant have
+been up to mischief."
+
+It was not until one bell in the forenoon watch that Stirling's absence
+was discovered.  Denbigh and O'Hara were immediately sent for and
+closely questioned.
+
+The interview was unsatisfactory, the British officers affecting
+ignorance of the time of their comrade's disappearance; while von
+Riesser, rightly guessing that Denbigh and O'Hara imagined he was
+responsible and was trying to cloak suspicion, was so emphatic in his
+assurances that he knew nothing of Stirling's whereabouts that his very
+earnestness caused the subs to misjudge him.
+
+A thorough search was instituted, but, naturally, without the hoped-for
+result.  Reluctantly, Denbigh and O'Hara came to the conclusion that
+their chum had either fallen in or had been thrown overboard.
+
+Kapitan von Riesser was genuinely perturbed, not on account of the loss
+of the British officer, but for the additional complication that might
+ensue if the _Pelikan_ should be captured.  The idea of being taken
+prisoner obsessed the German commander.  It loomed up in front of him
+like a gaunt spectre day and night.  It spoke volumes for the fact that
+Great Britain was Mistress of the Seas.
+
+He showed little or no elation at having evaded the cruiser that had
+doggedly held in pursuit until long after midnight.  His pessimism was
+beginning to become infectious.  Officers and men were downcast.
+Several times on the lower deck remarks were heard to the effect that
+it was an unlucky day when the _Pelikan_ escaped from her nominal state
+of internment.
+
+For the next three days Denbigh and O'Hara were "off colour".  The
+mystery of Stirling's disappearance affected them deeply; but on the
+fourth day they cheered up considerably, for the _Pelikan_ had
+intercepted a wireless message from a British cruiser.  The message was
+in code, but one word occurred that shed a different light upon the
+mystery.  The word was "Stirling".  Von Riesser lost no time in
+informing the two British officers, and although the latter were unable
+to decipher the message it was evident that Stirling had been picked up
+by one of our patrols.
+
+Shortly after daybreak on the fifth day of Stirling's absence, the
+_Pelikan_ overhauled a large collier, outward bound from Penarth to
+Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, with a valuable cargo of steam
+coal.
+
+It was evident that the skipper of the collier had received no warning
+that a German raider was at large, for he allowed the _Pelikan_ to get
+within three cables' length without exciting any suspicion.
+
+When the latter peremptorily ordered the collier to heave-to and
+surrender, however, the stalwart old merchant captain showed the stuff
+he was made of, for without complying, he suddenly ported helm and bore
+down upon the liner, which had now hoisted German colours.
+
+It was a forlorn hope, for the _Pelikan_ could steam twice as fast as
+the collier and was much quicker on her helm.
+
+"By Jove! that fellow has some pluck," exclaimed O'Hara admiringly,
+for, anticipating no resistance on the part of the would-be prize,
+Kapitan von Riesser had not ordered the British officers below.  "But
+he's asking for trouble."
+
+"Yes, poor chap, he's put himself out of court," agreed Denbigh.
+
+Manoeuvring so that the _Pelikan's_ guns could be brought to bear upon
+the collier without danger of carrying away her masts, von Riesser gave
+the order to fire.  Two shells did the mischief.  Both burst amidships,
+sweeping away the bridge and chart-house, and with them the rash and
+gallant skipper and three of the crew.
+
+Further resistance being out of the question the collier struck her
+flag.  Splendidly handled the _Pelikan_ ranged up alongside, and
+without delay the work of transferring the cargo commenced.  Although
+the sturdy Britons who formed the collier's crew refused to lift as
+much as a little finger to help there were plenty of hands available
+from the _Pelikan_.  The steam winches were manned, skips and whips
+brought into play, and sacks and sacks of badly wanted fuel were
+toppled down the liner's chutes.
+
+"Stand by there, you men!" shouted Kapitan von Riesser, observing that
+the crew of the collier were provisioning and swinging out their boats.
+"I haven't said I was going to sink your ship.  Come and bear a hand
+and we'll let you go."
+
+Somewhere from the vicinity of the wrecked bridge came a hoarse voice:
+
+"We want no favours from strafed Germans.  Get your coal yourself if
+you want it.  You'll have to jolly well look sharp, for the hooker'll
+be on her way to Davy Jones in half an hour."
+
+"Himmel!" gasped the astonished kapitan, completely taken aback by the
+bull-dog audacity of the collier's men.  "Quick, Herr Klick.  Sound the
+well."
+
+Accompanied by a couple of armed seamen the unter-leutnant hurried
+below.  In a few minutes he reappeared.
+
+"They've opened the valves, sir," he reported.  "The sea is rushing in
+like a sluice.  It is already up to the floor of the engine-room."
+
+Von Riesser leant over the bridge rail and surveyed the deck of the
+collier forty feet below.
+
+"Unless you close those valves I'll smash every boat you have!" he
+shouted.
+
+A chorus of gibes was the only reply.  The engine-room staff alone knew
+the position of the valves.  It would take a stranger a couple of hours
+to locate them, and the men knew it.
+
+"Smash away," they replied derisively.  "Smashing private property is
+the only thing you Germans can do properly."
+
+For a full minute Kapitan von Riesser lost all control of himself.  He
+stormed and raved, cursing both in German and English, until he
+realized that during that minute the collier had sunk deeper in the
+water.
+
+There was a rush on the part of the _Pelikan's_ men who were loading
+the sacks in the vessel's holds, so fierce was the influx of the sea.
+
+Above their shouts of anger and surprise arose the ceaseless taunts of
+the British crew.  Having fully made up their minds that no quarter
+would be given the stalwart men decided to die game, and in their
+opinion the spirit of independence was best shown in heaping sarcasm
+upon the baffled Teutons.
+
+Already the hawsers and springs holding the two vessels were straining
+almost to breaking point.  Reluctantly von Riesser gave the order to
+cast off, at the same time telegraphing to the engine-room for
+half-speed ahead.
+
+Somewhat to the surprise of the collier's crew no attempt was made by
+the _Pelikan_ to interfere with them.  Taking to the boats they hoisted
+sail and in twenty minutes the little flotilla was lost to sight.
+
+It was a long time before von Riesser got over his fit of bad temper.
+Precious time had been all but wasted, for the only result of the
+enterprise was the addition of roughly seventy tons of coal to the
+_Pelikan's_ sorely-depleted bunkers.
+
+"By Jove! that was a nasty knock," remarked O'Hara to his chum.  "It's
+a wonder old von Riesser hadn't ordered those boats to be stove-in.
+The lip those fellows gave him was enough to make a British admiral
+commit an act of frightfulness."
+
+"The old chap's frightened about something," replied Denbigh.  "He's
+literally on toast.  You see, what with Stirling's escape--for I feel
+confident that code message referred to his rescue--he's got to mind
+his p's and q's until he's through the cordon.  Then, if he does, I
+guess he'll make it mighty hot for us."
+
+Denbigh was right in his surmise, for as soon as Stirling had been
+taken on board H.M.S. _Actæon_ and had made a report to the captain,
+the cruiser communicated with each of her consorts, giving the position
+of the _Pelikan_ when last seen and the probable course.
+
+Following this message another was transmitted to the Admiralty
+announcing the safety of Sub-lieutenant Charles Stirling, captured
+while on a passage home in the Japanese liner _Nichi Maru_.
+Instructions were asked as to the "disposal" of that officer.
+
+Promptly came the reply temporarily appointing Stirling to H.M.S.
+_Actæon_ as supernumerary, since it was recognized that his knowledge
+of the elusive raider might be of great assistance to the pursuing ship.
+
+Within two hours of the _Actæon's_ wireless message additional small
+cruisers, armed auxiliaries, and destroyers left Table Bay, while
+others were ordered from the Pacific Station to proceed to the vicinity
+of Cape Horn and guard both the passage to the southward of that place
+and also the intricate Straits of Magellan.
+
+In the event of the _Pelikan_ eluding the cordon in the Atlantic, and
+since it was known that her desired destination was German East Africa,
+the squadron operating in conjunction with the British military
+expedition was warned to exercise a particularly sharp look-out, both
+in the Mozambique Channel and off the East African coast between 4° S.
+and 11° S. lat.
+
+Four swift destroyers of the Australian Navy were also given
+instructions to proceed to Mauritius and await orders.  Thus the net
+was being swiftly tightened around the fugitive liner that alone flew
+the Black Cross ensign of Germany outside European waters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+Reinforcements
+
+Under reduced speed, in order to economize her coal, the _Pelikan_ held
+on her southerly course.  By dint of careful stoking, her funnels
+emitted little or no smoke that might betray her position.  At night
+every light was screened.
+
+Fortune seemed to be favouring her, for without sighting a single
+vessel she reached the fortieth parallel, or considerably farther to
+the south'ard than she need do in ordinary circumstances in order to
+round the Cape of Good Hope.
+
+The air was rapidly becoming colder, and her crew, being unprovided
+with warm garments, suffered acutely after coming straight from the
+Tropics.
+
+While the work of repairing the damage done by the British cruiser's
+shells was progressing as well as the limited means at the disposal of
+the ship would permit, one of the crew slipped, and striking his head
+against the edge of an iron plate, was so severely injured that he died
+within two hours of the accident.
+
+It was then that Denbigh and O'Hara had yet another example of the
+thoroughness of the German system.  The usual practice would have been
+to sew the body up in a shotted hammock and throw it overboard, but
+Kapitan von Riesser had another plan.
+
+One of the boats, with the name "_Zwaan_--Rotterdam" painted on the
+stern, was lowered.  In it the corpse was placed and the boat turned
+adrift.
+
+In due course, the kapitan hoped--and the crew, realizing that
+necessity knows no law, agreed with him--that the boat would be sighted
+by one of the British cruisers, and thus give the impression that the
+raider had sunk.
+
+About four on the following morning the two subs were roused by the
+sudden increase of the revolutions of the propellers, and the frantic
+tramp of feet on deck.
+
+"Hulloa, what's wrong now?" asked O'Hara.  "They've got a move on for
+something."
+
+"One of our ships in chase, I think," replied Denbigh.  "As we are
+locked in we may just as well go to sleep again.  I'd like to wake up
+and find the hooker hove-to and a prize."
+
+"Not bad advice," rejoined the Irishman, turning over and rolling
+himself in his blankets.  "Thank goodness it's not our watch.  If these
+fellows carry on much farther we'll find ourselves on the way to the
+South Pole."
+
+Sleep, however, was out of the question.  The two chums talked at
+intervals until the appearance of Fritz warned them that it was time to
+dress for breakfast.
+
+After the meal the subs found, somewhat to their surprise, that they
+were not prohibited from going on deck, as was generally the case when
+another vessel was sighted.
+
+It was piercingly cold.  A heavy dew had frozen as it fell, rendering
+the decks very slippery.  Several of the crew were at work with hoses,
+washing down the planks with salt water in order to clear away the thin
+coating of ice.  So keen was the wind that Denbigh and his companion
+were glad to take shelter under the lee of the deck-houses.
+
+Astern, at a distance of about two miles, was a long, rakish-looking
+craft, with two short masts and two funnels.  She was painted a dark
+grey, almost appearing black.  She flew no flag, but a signal fluttered
+from the foremast.  Owing to the direction of the wind it was
+impossible, even with the aid of powerful glasses, to distinguish the
+flags, since the vessel was steaming directly in the wake of the
+runaway _Pelikan_.
+
+Several of the latter's officers were aft keeping the mysterious craft
+under observation, while on the after-bridge Kapitan von Riesser and
+the officers of the watch were engaged upon a similar task.
+
+Seeing the British officers appear the kapitan descended the bridge and
+strolled aft.  Affecting surprise at finding Denbigh and the Irishman
+on deck he asked:
+
+"What do you make of that vessel, Herr Denbigh?  Is she one of yours?"
+
+The sub shook his head.
+
+"I really cannot say," he replied.  "You see we've added considerably
+to our fleet since the outbreak of war, and I haven't been in Home
+Waters since October, 1913.  She's coming up pretty fast, I should
+imagine."
+
+"She is," agreed Kapitan von Riesser dryly.  "But not so fast as you
+would like, perhaps.  It is somewhat strange that she hasn't opened
+fire before now.  Perhaps it is because your compatriots are afraid of
+hitting you," he added with a slight sneer.
+
+"And for similar humanitarian reasons you have refrained from using
+your quick-firers, I presume?" retorted O'Hara.
+
+"She's hoisting Argentine colours, sir," reported one of the
+_Pelikan's_ officers.
+
+He was right, for altering helm slightly the pursuing vessel enabled
+the flag to blow athwartships.  At the same moment the signal that had
+been kept flying at the masthead could be distinguished.  It read:
+"What ship is that?"
+
+"Those colours may be an English trick," said the kapitan.  "I'll carry
+on."
+
+"By Jove, old man!" he whispered to his chum.  "It looks as if we are
+dished this time.  We were a little too premature in chipping the Old
+Man."
+
+In an hour the pursuing craft had closed to slightly less than a mile.
+Still she made no attempt to open fire.  There were, in fact, no guns
+visible.
+
+"Hoist our proper colours," ordered Kapitan von Riesser at length.  "It
+will be all the same in another twenty minutes' time whether we use our
+own ensign or any other."
+
+The Black Cross ensign was run up.  Its appearance was greeted by a
+prolonged blast on the stranger's siren, then from the extremity of the
+pursuing craft's bridge a man began semaphoring.
+
+Although skilled in semaphore, neither Denbigh nor O'Hara could
+understand the message.  The British system differs from the German,
+which again varies with the French and Spanish.  Yet, peculiarly, the
+officers and men of the _Pelikan_ could read the signal with ease.
+
+Grave, anxious looks gave place to smiles, while one of the crew began
+to cheer--a demonstration that the kapitan quickly suppressed.
+
+Von Riesser had now ascended the bridge.  Still suspicious he ordered
+the torpedo tubes to be charged and the engines to be reversed.
+
+Directly the overtaking craft noticed the falling off of the liner's
+speed her decks were black with humanity, and the air was rent with
+cries of "Hoch!"  Then came the strains of "Deutschland uber alles", in
+which the _Pelikan's_ crew joined lustily.
+
+"Good heavens!" ejaculated Denbigh.  "What does it all mean?  There's a
+small German colony afloat."
+
+"'Fraid so," agreed O'Hara.
+
+As there was hardly any sea running the two vessels ran alongside each
+other.  The new-comer had the name _San Matias_ painted on her stern
+and on her boats and life-buoys.  She carried no guns except a couple
+of small brass signalling pieces.  Her officers and a few of her crew
+were South Americans, beyond doubt, but the rest of the crowded
+complement were of marked Teutonic origin.
+
+The British subs stood at the rail watching the unwonted sight.  No one
+offered to order them below.  It was part of the business to let them
+see what was going on.
+
+No time was lost.  While a party of officers from the _San Matias_ were
+being entertained by von Riesser in his cabin the Germans from her
+transferred themselves and their belongings to the _Pelikan_--nearly
+three hundred men of military age and bearing.  Then came the work of
+transhipping stores from the capacious holds of the South American
+vessel.  Carcass after carcass of oxen and sheep were brought on deck.
+From the oxen were produced long bundles wrapped in cloth.  Every
+bundle contained four modern magazine rifles.  Enclosed with the frozen
+mutton were small shells and rifle ammunition.  As fast as the
+munitions were taken from their strange places of concealment most of
+the carcasses were dumped overboard, a few hundred being retained for
+food and stored in the _Pelikan's_ refrigerators.  Then came bundles of
+hides, each containing parts of machine-guns, until it looked as if the
+ship had enough material to equip an army corps.
+
+Long before the _San Matias_ had disgorged her warlike stores Denbigh
+had overheard enough conversation to enable him to solve the mystery.
+
+The _San Matias_ had been chartered by a number of wealthy German
+merchants in Buenos Ayres for the purpose of sending some hundreds of
+reservists to German East Africa.  The presence of the _Pelikan_ in the
+South Atlantic had been expected, and her progress, based upon reports
+from British cruisers and duly transmitted by spies to Buenos Ayres,
+reached the projectors of the scheme with remarkable promptitude.  The
+arms and ammunition had been purchased sometime previously from a
+pro-German firm in New York, and sent to the Argentine to fulfil a
+fictitious contract for the Government of that republic.
+
+The _San Matias_ was then chartered, her owner, captain, and crew being
+heavily bribed to undertake the risk, comparative immunity being
+afforded by means of forged ship's papers and certificates of
+nationality of the "passengers".  At the same time the report was
+spread in Buenos Ayres and Monte Video that the _Pelikan_ had been
+sighted making for Bahia--a matter of two thousand miles N.N.E. of the
+estuary of the La Plata.  British agents swallowed the bait and
+telegraphed the news to London, whence, in turn, the false information
+was transmitted to the patrol vessels specially detailed to search for
+the daring raider.
+
+This report had literally done the trick.  The northernmost group of
+British cruisers instantly converged upon the Brazilian coast in the
+neighbourhood of Bahia.  The southern patrol remained in the vicinity
+of the Falklands.  Thus the _Pelikan_ had the chance of a free and
+uninterrupted run eastwards until she approached the vicinity of the
+Cape of Good Hope.  Although her adventures were by no means over, one
+source of danger had been removed.
+
+The German reservists were certainly optimists.  They firmly believed
+that Egypt had been wrested from the British, and that their role was
+to join the large army concentrating in German East Africa and march
+victoriously down the valley of the Nile and crush the remnant of the
+English in the vicinity of Khartoum.  According to their idea and
+belief South Africa was in rebellion, and that German South-West Africa
+was once more a Teutonic colony.  India, too, had revolted and joined
+the Turks, who had occupied Persia and Beluchistan.  Mention was also
+made of the impending advance of the Turco-Germanic armies through
+Tibet and China to establish a vast empire from the Atlantic to the
+Pacific, and to avenge upon Japan the loss of Kiau-Chau.  In short, the
+German armies were everywhere triumphant, although they could hardly
+understand why they should have to be smuggled out to sea when the
+German High Seas Fleet roamed unchallenged and the British navy skulked
+in harbours.
+
+At length the last of the _San Mathias's_ cargo was transhipped.  The
+two vessels parted company, the Argentine returning to Buenos Ayres
+while the _Pelikan_ headed eastward on her perilous passage round the
+Cape of Good Hope.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+The Midnight Landing
+
+The sanguine spirits of the German reservists had the effect of
+cheering up the crew of the _Pelikan_.  To confirm their assertions the
+former produced copies of newspapers printed under Teutonic auspices
+for the benefit of the South American republics.
+
+Taking advantage of the information concerning the dispositions of the
+British cruisers the kapitan of the _Pelikan_ stopped another collier
+at a distance of four hundred miles east of Buenos Ayres.  For eighteen
+hours the two vessels lay side by side while the coal was being
+transhipped to the almost empty bunkers of the raider.
+
+For certain reasons von Riesser did not sink the tramp after having
+depleted her cargo.  Perhaps it was because the crew had offered no
+resistance; but it was just possible that the kapitan of the _Pelikan_
+had sufficient humanity to see that the turning adrift of a couple of
+boat-loads in the desolate South Atlantic meant practically slow and
+certain death.
+
+From the time of the arrival of the German reservists von Riesser's
+demeanour towards Denbigh and O'Hara underwent a marked change.  Rarely
+did he enter into conversation with them.  He treated them with
+aloofness.  This the subs minded but little; it was the restrictions
+placed upon their movements that riled them.  They were now allowed
+only two periods of exercise on deck during the day--from ten till noon
+and from two till five--and kept within strict limits.  A sentry was
+posted to see that they remained within boundaries specified, and
+orders had been given for none of the reservists, many of whom spoke
+English, to enter into conversation with them.
+
+On the fifth day after falling in with the _San Matias_ the ship's
+course was changed to S.S.E.  This she held until further progress was
+barred by the presence of a large field of pack ice.  Von Riesser, in
+order to avoid any possible chance of meeting any of the Cape Squadron,
+had elected to go south into the vast and desolate Antarctic before
+entering the Indian Ocean.
+
+At length came the welcome order to steer north.  Gradually the
+temperature rose as the _Pelikan_ left the frozen seas astern.
+
+Maintaining a steady progress the ship reached the vicinity of
+Mauritius, keeping well to the eastward of that island.
+
+The _Pelikan_ now underwent another change.  From truck to water-line
+she was repainted--black on the starboard side and a light-grey on the
+port.  An additional funnel, a dummy one made out of canvas stretched
+on a framework of hoop iron and wood, was set up.
+
+"It looks as if this craft is going to get through after all," remarked
+O'Hara, as the _Pelikan_ reached Equatorial waters without having so
+much as sighted another vessel of any description.
+
+"Yes, rotten luck," said Denbigh.  "I heard von Langer telling that fat
+major that another twenty-four hours would bring us in sight of land.
+I notice these fellows are preparing for their jaunt ashore."
+
+The reservists were discarding their motley civilian attire and were
+being provided with drill uniforms that had at one time been white but
+were now dyed to a colour nearly approaching khaki.  Each man wore a
+sun helmet, but instead of puttees, jack-boots of dark undressed
+leather were served out.
+
+In the midst of these preparations a sail was reported on the starboard
+bow.  Hurriedly arms were served out to the troops, the quick-firers
+were manned, and machine-guns placed out of sight but in a position
+that would enable them to be used with deadly effect should occasion
+arise.
+
+"Down to your cabins, you Englishmen!" snarled the fat major, von
+Eckenstein, who had previously been in conversation with the
+ober-leutnant of the _Pelikan_.
+
+"Are you in charge of this ship, Herr Major?" asked O'Hara.  "Hitherto
+our orders have come from Kapitan von Riesser."
+
+The major's only reply was to raise a cane that he held in his hand and
+to strike the Irishman sharply across the cheek.
+
+O'Hara's hot Hibernian blood surged at the insult.  Fortunately he
+managed to keep himself under control, but for an instant Denbigh felt
+certain that his comrade's hard fist would come violently in contact
+with von Eckenstein's podgy nose.
+
+"I'm afraid that bounder will have cause to be sorry for this,"
+remarked O'Hara, when the chums had retired to their cabin.  He
+critically examined in the glass the reflection of his face, on which a
+weal was rapidly developing.  "By Jove, it was lucky for him that you
+were there, otherwise I would have given him something by which to
+remember me to the rest of his days."
+
+"Perhaps it is as well," rejoined Denbigh.  "It hardly pays in the
+circumstances to argue the point with a Prussian."
+
+Of what occurred during the next two hours the subs had only a vague
+idea.
+
+Von Riesser realized that flight was out of the question.  To attempt
+to do so would arouse suspicion, and since several swift cruisers were
+known to be off the coast, a wireless message would bring half a dozen
+speedy British warships upon the scene.  He therefore decided to carry
+on, escape by a stratagem if possible, if not, fight in a final bid for
+liberty.
+
+Since the waters adjacent to German East Africa had been declared to be
+in a state of blockade it was useless to hoist the mercantile flag of
+any nation, so the Blue Ensign of the British Reserve was displayed.
+
+In less than half an hour the strange craft was plainly visible.  She
+was a small tramp, also displaying the Blue Ensign.
+
+Von Riesser heaved a sigh of relief.  She was not an armed auxiliary,
+otherwise the White Ensign would have been used.  More than likely she
+was one of the fleet of subsidized merchantmen carrying stores and
+munitions for the British Expeditionary Force operating against the
+sole remaining German colony.
+
+The stranger hoisted a signal.  It was in code and consequently
+unintelligible to the _Pelikan_.  Von Riesser promptly replied by
+another hoist, the flags meaning nothing, but simply to puzzle the
+tramp.
+
+The _Pelikan_ held on her course, which, in defiance of the Rule of the
+Road at Sea, would bring across the bows of the other.  That in itself
+was suspicious, but any alteration of helm would reveal the _Pelikan's_
+piebald sides.
+
+At a distance of less than a mile the German vessel gave three blasts
+upon her siren, signifying that her engines were going astern.
+Nevertheless she was steaming ahead as hard as she could until
+deception was no longer possible.
+
+An order from the bridge and the screens surrounding the guns were
+lowered revealing her formidable quick-firers.
+
+"Heave-to, or I'll sink you!" shouted the kapitan through a megaphone,
+for the tramp was now less than two cables' lengths away and broad on
+the starboard beam.
+
+The tramp, which proved to be S.S. _Myra_ of South Shields, had no
+option but to surrender.  She was unarmed and of slow speed.  Having
+left Simon's Bay with a convoy under escort she had encountered the
+tail of a cyclone.  Detained by temporary engine-room defects during
+the storm she had fallen out of station, and was now a couple of
+hundred miles astern of the rest of the convoy.
+
+Slowly the Blue Ensign was lowered, and way taken off the ship.  Within
+ten minutes a prize crew in charge of Unter-leutnant Klick was on
+board.  The officers and crew were locked up below, and warned that any
+attempt at resistance would result in the instant destruction of the
+_Myra_ with all on board.
+
+The boarding-officer's report was to the effect that the tramp was
+heavily laden with warlike stores.  He asked instructions as to the
+disposal of the prize.
+
+Kapitan von Riesser's mind was very active now.  With a successful
+issue in sight he was not inclined to send such a valuable prize to the
+bottom.
+
+"Can you get the _Myra's_ engine-room and stokehold staff to work, Herr
+Klick?" asked the kapitan.
+
+"I can, sir," replied the unter-leutnant grimly; and he did, for by
+dint of threats he compelled the luckless men to undertake to carry on
+under his orders.
+
+"Very good," continued the kapitan of the _Pelikan_, receiving an
+affirmative reply.  "Follow me at two cables' lengths astern.  I'll
+slow down to enable you to keep station.  Be prepared to abandon ship
+instantly should occasion arise."
+
+Later in the afternoon the _Pelikan_ and her prize arrived off Latham
+Island, under the lee of which von Riesser had decided to remain the
+night, since it was too hazardous to enter the harbour he had selected
+during the hours of darkness.
+
+Denbigh, who had been allowed on deck, recognized the island.  He had
+served a commission on the flagship of the East Indies India Station
+when he was a midshipman, and was fairly well conversant with the
+African coast in the vicinity of Zanzibar and Dar-es-Salaam.
+
+Latham Island is a dangerous, low-lying patch of coral and sand, of
+oval form, being barely 350 yards in length and 180 yards broad.  In no
+place does it rise more than 10 feet above the sea.  Its surface is
+quite flat, having been made so by the constant treading of myriads of
+sea-fowl, that have consolidated the sand collected on the coral
+substratum into a soft sandstone, which shines very white in the sun,
+but is difficult to discern at night or in a bad light.
+
+When visited and surveyed by H.M.S. _Shearwater_ in 1873, a stone
+beacon was erected on the island, but owing to the absence of mortar
+used in its construction, it was blown down by the wind.  Coco-nut
+trees were planted at the same time, but the result was unsatisfactory,
+as the birds destroyed them.
+
+Owing to the dangerous vicinity of the islands it was unlikely that any
+vessel would pass within several miles of it during the night, so the
+_Pelikan_ stood a chance of remaining at the anchorage without fear of
+detection.
+
+"We are not far from the Rufigi River, are we?" asked O'Hara.  "Do you
+think that the _Pelikan_ is going to run for there?"
+
+"Hardly," replied Denbigh.  "With the _Königsberg_ as a warning I think
+she'll give the Rufigi a wide berth.  It's my opinion that she'll have
+a show at getting into the Mohoro River.  It's fairly close, and once
+we can pass the bar there's deep water for nearly twenty miles.  I'm
+curious to know what we are doing off Latham Island, however.  I think
+I'll try the Stirling trick and have a prowl round on deck during the
+night."
+
+"Only don't leave me in the lurch, old man," protested the Irishman,
+with an assumed look of consternation.
+
+"I won't," replied Denbigh laughingly.  "So don't lock me out."
+
+Just before midnight the sub set to work with the screw-driver and
+succeeded in opening the door.  Fortunately there was no sentry on the
+aft-deck on this occasion.  Overhead there was a considerable amount of
+noise going on.  It conveyed the impression that there were scores of
+men hard at work and trying to perform their various tasks with as
+little noise as possible.
+
+Unseen and unheard, Denbigh gained the deck and mingled with the
+throng.  There were seamen and reservists all hard at it, buckling to
+in the starlight.  Cautiously the sub looked about for a place of
+concealment, where he could hear and see everything that was going on
+in his vicinity without much risk of detection.
+
+He glanced up.  Overhead were the boats swinging inboard on davits.
+Side by side with them, and resting on the booms or transverse steel
+girders, were some larger boats which could only be hoisted out by
+means of derricks.  Between were several planks and spars lashed to the
+girders.
+
+Awaiting a favourable chance, Denbigh nimbly ascended the iron ladder
+on the funnel casing that led to a platform just below the siren.
+After climbing a few rungs, he was able to swing himself across to the
+nearest boat, which was almost as large as a battleship's pinnace.  It
+was roughly forty feet in length, and weighed nearly four tons.
+
+"Look alive, men!" ordered Unter-leutnant Klick in his usual bullying
+tone.  "The whole of the stuff must be sent ashore within an hour."
+
+"Two boat-loads full, sir?" asked a petty officer.
+
+"No; one.  Get steam on the main hoist and lift out the pinnace."
+
+"Hulloa!" thought Denbigh.  "This looks like a proper jamboree.  I
+stand a chance of getting nabbed.  I wonder what the idea is of landing
+a quantity of gear on a sandbank like Latham Island?"
+
+He heard several men ascending to make ready the slings for hoisting
+out.  Promptly the sub retreated for'ard and crouched in the bows.
+Here, unless any material was likely to be stowed in his place of
+concealment, Denbigh had a fighting chance of escaping detection, for
+above him was a large grating that fitted between the bows and the
+for'ard thwart.
+
+"Now, then, Herr Major!" exclaimed Kapitan von Riesser.  "Are your men
+ready?  At least twenty with shovels will be necessary."
+
+"I cannot see that it is necessary," objected Major von Eckenstein.
+"It is a mere waste of time.  I protest against this useless labour,
+when we ought to be making for the Mohoro River."  And the Prussian
+officer clanked the tip of his scabbard loudly upon the deck, as if to
+emphasize his protest.
+
+Von Riesser, judging by the sound of his voice, lost his temper.
+
+"Once you are ashore, Herr Major, you are in sole command of these
+troops.  Here I am your superior.  If I choose to give orders to
+facilitate our retreat, should it be necessary, it is for you to carry
+them out.  If you refuse, I will place you under arrest and report the
+matter to the military governor of the colony."
+
+"If you would only explain what you propose to do, instead of giving
+orders that have no apparent reason, I am willing to assist you," said
+the major grumblingly.  "This business is evidently the result of a
+sudden inspiration on your part, and I think it is only just that you
+should take others into your confidence."
+
+"You are setting a bad example for the discipline of the ship,"
+declared the kapitan in a lower tone.  "It would be as well if we
+adjourned to my cabin.  When you have heard what is proposed to be
+done, I think you will agree with me that such a step is certainly
+necessary."
+
+"Carry on, Herr Klick," continued von Riesser as he moved away.  "See
+that every article enumerated on the list is sent ashore.  I hold you
+responsible."
+
+A bare-footed seaman, leaping upon the bow grating, prevented Denbigh
+hearing more of what was going on below.  The fellow bent and groped
+for the hook of the chain sling.  As he did so, his hand was within a
+couple of inches of the sub's face.  The man withdrew his hand so
+suddenly, that for the moment Denbigh imagined that he had been
+discovered.  Then came the metallic click of the hook engaging with the
+wire hawser from the derrick.
+
+To the accompaniment of the clank, clank, of the winch and the hiss of
+escaping steam, the pinnace rose from its resting-place.  Swaying
+gently, it swung outboard and was lowered rapidly into the water.
+
+For the next quarter of an hour the crew were feverishly employed in
+dumping stores and gear into the boat.  There were cans of petrol, that
+gave Denbigh food for reflection, boxes of provisions, water-beakers,
+arms and ammunition, sailcloth, and shipwright's tools.
+
+Then came an avalanche of picks and shovels, followed by a crowd of men
+who, perched in every available space, swarmed like ants over the
+deeply-laden boat.
+
+The pinnace was then cast off and taken in tow by a steam-boat.
+Denbigh knew this by the thud of the engines, but he was unaware that
+astern of the pinnace was a twenty-seven-foot whaler.
+
+The pinnace grounded on the lee side of a sandbank, for there was
+little swell, although on the outlying coral reefs the sea was breaking
+heavily.  Her work for the present done, the steam-boat cast off and
+returned to the _Pelikan_.
+
+Without loss of time, the crew set to work to unload, and as the
+pinnace rose higher out of the water during the course of operations,
+she was hauled closer to the land.
+
+"Everything out?" asked a voice.
+
+"I'll see, sir," replied a petty officer, and kneeling on the bottom
+boards, he peered under the row of thwarts.
+
+Denbigh shut his eyes and trusted to luck.  He knew that once his gaze
+met that of the searcher, the darkness would not screen him.  A
+long-drawn minute passed, and then the man reported that the boat was
+empty.
+
+"Good; leave a couple of boat-keepers in charge and join the party with
+the whaler," continued the officer.  "If you cannot manage her, ask for
+additional hands, but I think you will be able to drag her up.  The
+ground is hard and level."
+
+Away went the working-party, leaving the pinnace in charge of two
+seamen, who, having taken the strain off the bow cables, for the tide
+was rising, sat stolidly in the stern-sheets.
+
+Above the distant roar of the surf, Denbigh could distinguish the thud
+of the pickaxes and spades.  He would have given a lot to see what the
+diggers were doing, but the presence of the boat-keepers compelled him
+to crouch, cramped and cold in the bows.  Although the day had been
+exceedingly hot, the night air was decidedly chilly, the sand radiating
+the heat with great rapidity the moment the sun set.  Clad in light
+garments, Denbigh shivered and wished that he could stretch his limbs.
+
+The boat-keepers felt the cold, too, for after a little while they
+began to swing their arms.  Finally they jumped ashore and began to
+pace to and fro.  Having warmed themselves, the men sat upon the sand,
+and produced pipes and tobacco.  The sub distinctly heard the rasping
+of matches, and gradually the odour of South American tobacco assailed
+his nostrils.  The men had begun to talk, desultory conversation soon
+working up into an animated conversation.
+
+Cautiously Denbigh stretched his limbs.  Then waiting until the
+numbness had practically disappeared, he grasped the gunwale and slowly
+raised himself until his head was level with one of the rowlocks, the
+poppet of which had fortunately been removed.
+
+His range of vision was limited.  In the bright starlight he could
+discern the diggers.  Already the bulk of the stores were hidden, while
+at a distance of twenty yards from the cache, other men were excavating
+a long trench, by the side of which lay the whaler.  The depth of the
+hole was now about five feet, and only the heads of the workers were
+visible from the pinnace.
+
+The sub waited and watched, keeping a sharp look-out lest the
+boat-keepers should return.  Presently he became aware that his range
+of vision was changing.  The rising tide was swinging the pinnace
+diagonally with the shore.
+
+Denbigh promptly returned to his lair.  He was not a minute too soon,
+for just as he settled himself the boat-keepers returned and took up
+the strain on the bow ropes.
+
+"A good rise and fall for neap tides," remarked one of the men.  "If we
+get as much as this tomorrow we ought to be able to cross the bar.  I
+don't fancy having to remain at anchor in this lagoon until the new
+moon with those English cruisers prowling around."
+
+"Ach, we will take due precautions, Henrich," replied the other.  "Once
+we get inside the reefs we are perfectly safe.  It is the run across to
+the mainland that is the trouble.  Come on, let us go back to our snug
+seat and have another smoke.  It is indeed good to be able to tread dry
+land again, even if it is little better than a sandbank."
+
+The men scrambled over the gunwale, and as soon as they were gone
+Denbigh took up his former position by the rowlock.  He was just in
+time to see the whaler, lifted by a dozen brawny seamen and soldiers,
+topple bottom upwards into the trench.  Without loss of time the
+Germans commenced to shovel back the soil.  Others joined them, for the
+task of hiding the stores had been completed, and in a very short space
+of time the boat was quite covered, great care being taken to smooth
+the soft substratum until it showed no sign of having been disturbed.
+
+The sub retreated to his hiding-place, for the men were beginning to
+return, straggling up in groups of threes and fours.  The pinnace was
+backed out about half her own length and the men waded until they were
+able to climb on board.
+
+They rowed back to the _Pelikan_.  Once on the return journey the
+bowman, swinging his bare legs, caught Denbigh a blow on the forehead
+with his heel.  Fortunately the fellow did not trouble to investigate,
+but the sub realized that it was a narrow squeak.
+
+Arriving alongside the pinnace was hoisted out and stowed in its former
+place.  The workers were dismissed, the watch changed, and quietude
+brooded over the ship.
+
+"Now comes the rub," ejaculated the sub as he crept from his place of
+concealment.  As agilely as a monkey he made his way along the steel
+beam until he gained the funnel ladder.  Then he waited and listened.
+All was silence, save for the rumble of the surf and the subdued hiss
+of steam from the ship's boilers.
+
+Unseen and unheard Denbigh gained the companion and descended the
+aft-deck.  As he did so footsteps on deck told him he was barely in
+time.  Cautiously he lifted the curtain that served to screen the light
+from the hatchway.  The space beyond was deserted.
+
+Swiftly he tiptoed to the door of the cabin.  He tried the handle.  The
+door refused to move.  He knocked softly, thinking that O'Hara had
+fallen asleep.  There was no response.  Perhaps the Irishman had gone
+in search of him; but, if so, how could he have secured the door on the
+inside?  Before Denbigh could knock again a steady tread resounded
+along the alley-way.  The sentry on the aft-deck was coming towards him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+The Lagoon
+
+Almost in an instant Denbigh decided how to act.  He could have crept
+along the alley-way and surprised the sentry; but stunning the man
+would be of little use.  Nor could he hope to bluff the fellow, since
+there was too much light to attempt to pass himself off as one of the
+_Pelikan's_ officers.  To retreat was impracticable, for someone, he
+knew, was on deck in the immediate vicinity of the companion.
+
+Without hesitation the sub opened the door of the cabin adjoining his
+and entered quickly and silently.  The place was in darkness.  Whether
+it was tenanted or not he was unable to ascertain.  Closing the door he
+stood stock-still and listened.  He could hear no sound of a person
+breathing.  For five minutes he waited, then began to grope until he
+found the edge of one of the bunks.  The sleeping-place was empty.
+There were not even blankets and bedding.  This looked promising.
+
+He continued his exploration, testing the remaining bunks in turn,
+until he was able to come to the happy decision that by sheer good luck
+he had lighted upon an empty cabin.
+
+The glass scuttle in the port-hole was closed, but there was no
+dead-light in position over the opening.  In that case it would be too
+risky to switch on the light, until he had taken due precautions.
+
+The dead-light squeaked shrilly on its hinges as he drew it to.  He
+wondered whether the watch on deck heard the sound.  He waited again.
+There were many footsteps descending the companion.  He could detect
+von Langer's guttural tones, discussing some matter with one of the
+other officers.
+
+"Dash it all!" ejaculated Denbigh, a cold perspiration standing out on
+his forehead.  "What if I'm in that fellow's cabin?"
+
+The men stopped outside the cabin.  They were evidently indulging in
+horse-play, for once a heavy body struck the wall with a thud, followed
+by a chorus of boisterous laughter.
+
+Then, to Denbigh's intense relief, the officers went along the passage.
+Once again he had been lucky.
+
+Reassured he switched on the light.  The cabin was bare of furniture.
+In one corner lay a pile of books and a couple of sea-stained
+portmanteaux.  Hanging from a coat-hook was an officer's sword-belt.
+It was mildewed; the stitching of the holster had burst, the buckle was
+green with verdigris.  Attached to the belt was a small, circular
+leather case secured by a strap.
+
+Denbigh handled it gingerly.  There was something hard inside.
+Curiosity prompted him to unbuckle the strap and open the case.  Within
+was a pocket-compass.  What was more, it was a spirit one and seemingly
+in good order.  Without compunction the sub abstracted the compass and
+slipped it into his pocket.
+
+As he did so he was startled to hear a deep groan.  It seemed to sound
+close to his ear.  He wheeled abruptly and shot a glance in the
+direction of one of the bunks, thinking that he had made a mistake in
+deeming it untenanted.
+
+There was no one there.  Again the groan was repeated.  This time the
+sound seemed to come from the adjoining cabin--the one occupied by Pat
+O'Hara.
+
+A hole in the bulkhead attracted Denbigh's notice.  It was the aperture
+drilled by the Germans when they made their ineffectual attempt to
+chloroform the three British officers.
+
+Through it Denbigh could see but a very small portion of the next
+cabin, but sufficient to observe O'Hara lying on his back in his bunk.
+He was writhing and groaning.  His eyes were wide open and rolling in a
+horrifying manner.
+
+Outside all was quiet once more.
+
+"I say, old man," whispered Denbigh.  "What's wrong?"
+
+At the sound of his voice O'Hara raised himself.  He tried to speak,
+but could not.  With an effort he rolled out of his bunk and stood
+clinging to the edge for support.
+
+"Open the door," said Denbigh peremptorily.  "I cannot get in."
+
+"If he's not able to it's the last straw," he soliloquized.  "I'll have
+to give myself up and get assistance."
+
+With a great effort the Irishman lurched across the floor and removed
+the chair which had been wedged against the lock.  Then, unable to
+regain his bunk, he pitched inertly upon his face.
+
+Denbigh waited no longer.  He darted into the alley-way, not even
+waiting to see if everything were clear.  The door opened easily.  He
+entered, and lifting O'Hara as easily as a child placed him on his bunk.
+
+"Felt jolly rotten almost as soon as you cleared out," muttered the
+Irishman.  "Sorry, but I couldn't help it."
+
+"I don't suppose you could," replied Denbigh, for O'Hara's regret was
+genuine.  "I'll ring for assistance."
+
+He touched the electric bell.  Then, and only then, he remembered that
+he had to replace a portion of the lock.  Grasping the screw-driver he
+set to work, and had just driven home the last screw when the locked
+turned, and a petty officer entered.
+
+The man hurried off for the ship's surgeon.  It was nearly a quarter of
+an hour before the doctor arrived.  He came prepared to deal with a
+trifling case, but when he saw the Irishman he looked grave.
+
+Without expressing his opinion the surgeon went out.  Nor did he again
+put in an appearance.  He sent, however, some quinine and written
+directions as to treatment.
+
+For the rest of the night Denbigh sat up with his comrade.  As day
+broke O'Hara seemed easier.  The internal pains passed off.  His
+temperature fell.  He was able to talk rationally.  By noon he was
+practically well again.  The attack had been sharp and rapid, but once
+over it seemed to leave no ill-effects.
+
+Without being sighted by any of the British patrol vessels the
+_Pelikan_ and her prize arrived off the entrance to the Mohoro River.
+Here the two ships slowed down until there was sufficient water for
+them to cross the outer bar.
+
+During the interval Denbigh and O'Hara were peremptorily ordered to
+leave the _Pelikan_ and take up their quarters on the _Myra_, the
+reason being that von Riesser was terribly afraid of illness, and in
+spite of the doctor's assurances he had a firm belief that O'Hara was
+suffering from yellow fever, malaria, black-water fever, and every
+tropical disease under the sun.
+
+"Let him jolly well think so," said the Irishman joyfully.  "I feel as
+fit as a fiddle now; and I'm not sorry for the change."
+
+All the same O'Hara acted the invalid to perfection as he was rowed
+from the raider to her prize.  Denbigh accompanied him, taking good
+care to bring all their scanty personal property that they had been
+permitted to save from the _Nichi Maru_, excepting the gold that von
+Riesser had ordered to be confiscated.
+
+The _Myra_ was in charge of Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick and fifteen
+men.  There were also the skipper, officers, and crew of the tramp,
+numbering thirty-two persons.  The officers were given a fair amount of
+liberty, but the men were kept under hatches, to their no small
+discomfort in the tropical heat.
+
+"Sorry I'm not able to make your acquaintance under more favourable
+auspices," was the greeting of Captain Pennington, the master of the
+captured _Myra_, when the two subs introduced themselves.  "But I hope
+before many hours that we will be set at liberty."
+
+"We've been hoping that for weeks," said Denbigh.  "The luck those
+fellows get is astonishing."
+
+"So I should imagine," agreed Captain Pennington.  "I learnt at Cape
+Town that the _Pelikan_ was given up as lost, as some wreckage and one
+of her boats were picked up in the South Atlantic.  That is why our
+cruisers relaxed their patrol, and were ordered to rendezvous at
+Zanzibar.  There'll be a dozen or more on their way up."
+
+"And any monitors?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"Four, as far as I know," replied the _Myra's_ skipper.  "One was
+detained for repairs at Simon's Bay.  The others must be at Zanzibar by
+this time.  They will be invaluable for work inside the coral reefs."
+
+"And the _Pelikan_--or _Zwaan_, as we are accustomed to call her--hopes
+to ascend the Mohoro River.  Her draught is about twenty-two feet, and
+she may be able to lighten to eighteen."
+
+"She won't do it," declared Pennington decisively.  "It will be as much
+as she can manage to cross the outer bar.  She'll be nabbed before she
+does that."
+
+"When's high water?" enquired Denbigh.
+
+"Let me see.  New moon's on Friday.  To-day's Saturday.  High water,
+full and change, is at 4 p.m.  I take it that it's the top of the tide
+to-day at eleven or thereabouts.  They'll have to be pretty sharp about
+it to arrive off the entrance to the lagoon by that time."
+
+As a matter of fact von Riesser signalled for the prize to steam full
+speed ahead, the _Pelikan_ following at four cables' lengths astern.
+By 8.30 the _Myra_ slowed down off the entrance to the Mohoro River.
+
+There was a considerable amount of mist about, for the land breeze had
+not commenced to make its influence felt.
+
+All that could be seen was a long, irregular line of coral reefs
+against which the ground-swell broke with a sullen roar into masses of
+milk-white foam.  There were nearly a dozen visible gaps in the reef,
+the largest, bearing directly ahead, being marked by a couple of
+coco-nut palms.
+
+At this point an island was in course of formation, there being a few
+feet of soil accumulated upon the coral.  These trees marked the
+entrance to the lagoon, into which the Mohoro River made its way by
+means of three separate estuaries.
+
+The Germans left nothing to chance.  Way was taken off both vessels.  A
+boat was manned and lowered from the _Pelikan_ and rowed towards the
+entrance, soundings being taken methodically and frequently.
+
+Having found the deepest water the officers in the boat signalled to
+the _Myra_, and at half speed the captured tramp crept towards the
+narrow passage.
+
+Between the foam-swept barriers she made her way, until she lay quietly
+upon the peaceful waters of the lagoon.
+
+The _Pelikan_ prepared to follow.
+
+"Ten to one she'll bump," exclaimed Captain Pennington.  "There you
+are!  I said so," he added, as the raider touched the bottom with a
+dull grinding sound.  Still she carried way.  Scraping along for nearly
+her own length she slid into deep water.
+
+"Hope she's stove in her bottom," said O'Hara.  "See, they're using her
+bilge pumps."
+
+A signal was hoisted on the raider.  What it meant the British officers
+were unable to say, but it was evident from the expression of the face
+of Unter-leutnant Klick that the damage to the _Pelikan_ was but slight.
+
+By this time the mist was rising.  The mainland could now be discerned,
+low-lying ground densely covered with mangroves and backed by rugged
+hills at a distance of about ten miles from the coast.
+
+The lagoon was quite three miles in breadth and extended in a northerly
+direction beyond the range of vision.  Southward it gradually converged
+towards the coast, apparently joining it at a distance of five miles
+from where the ships lay.
+
+"An anchorage big enough to take the whole of the British Navy,"
+declared Denbigh.  "It's the bar that spoils the place, apart from the
+pestilential swamps.  Do you see that peculiar isolated tree?  It's a
+casuarina.  It marks the principal entrance to the Mohoro--or did when
+I was here last, but these African rivers have a peculiar knack of
+altering their course entirely in a night."
+
+"I suppose we are going straight up," remarked O'Hara.  "There's depth
+enough for us."
+
+"Goodness knows," replied his chum.  "At all events the _Pelikan_
+can't."
+
+Apparently the Germans had a good knowledge of the lagoon, for boldly
+closing with the land, the _Pelikan_ dropped anchor within three
+hundred yards of the highest part of the shore, where a cliff rose
+abruptly to the height of thirty or forty feet.  On the summit the
+ground shelved gently.  There were several native huts to be seen in
+the clearing between the mangroves, while farther back was a
+galvanized-iron shed with a whitewashed roof.
+
+Acting under von Riesser's instructions the _Myra's_ anchor was let go,
+the tramp bringing up at a cable's length from her captor, and so close
+to the shore that when she swung her stern was within forty yards of
+the cliff.  The water here was ten fathoms deep, the shore being
+steep-to, but in spite of the depth the bottom could be clearly seen.
+
+"Suppose you vant to go 'shore, hein?" asked Unter-leutnant Klick.  "No
+tricks.  Plenty of shark about."
+
+The German was right.  Already the surface of the lagoon in the
+vicinity of the two ships was furrowed with diverging lines of ripples
+as the black dorsal fins of numerous tigers of the deep cleft the water.
+
+"No, I don't think I want to bathe, lieutenant," remarked Captain
+Pennington.  "It hardly looks tempting."
+
+Kaspar Klick laughed boisterously.
+
+"You see even der shark is der ally of Zhermany," he said.
+
+"The information does not astonish me one little bit," rejoined the
+master of the _Myra_.
+
+"Vot you mean?" demanded the under-leutnant, instinctively guessing
+that he had made a verbal blunder.
+
+At that moment, when the German was beginning to exhibit signs of
+anger, another signal was made from the _Pelikan_, ordering the _Myra_
+to ship as much additional cargo from her captor as she could carry.
+
+Until sunset the work progressed.  Under threats from their captors the
+British crew were turned up from below and compelled to assist in
+handing and stowing the gear, for it was von Riesser's intention to
+lighten his vessel as much as possible, so as to attempt the inner bar
+at least a couple of days before the new moon.
+
+Night put an end to the day's work, for not a light that could be
+visible from seaward was shown.
+
+The two subs slept badly.  Their cabin accommodation was indifferent
+compared with that on board the _Pelikan_, for Unter-leutnant Klick had
+appropriated the skipper's quarters, and Pennington and his chief
+engineer were obliged to share the small space that had been the mate's
+cabin, while that officer was told to occupy the same cabin in which
+Denbigh and O'Hara were placed.
+
+They lacked the ventilating fan and the liberal air space.  The cabin
+was low and stuffy.  It had no direct communication with the outside
+air, as it opened into the state-room, where in normal times the
+_Myra's_ officers used to have their meals.  At present that limited
+space was still further restricted by the huge cases of military stores
+removed from the _Pelikan_.  These had been struck down the hatchway
+and carried aft, where they remained under the charge of an armed
+sentry.
+
+"Those fellows think they've got us safely under lock and key," said
+the mate, a burly North-countryman of the name of Armstrong.  "They
+don't know that each officer of this hooker has a duplicate key to his
+cabin.  I took jolly good care to keep mine, and I know where to put my
+hand on the key to this one.  To-morrow, now I know how we're berthed,
+I'll get that key."
+
+At daybreak the work of transhipping the cargo was proceeded with
+before the miasmic mists that hid the shore had dispersed.  Two boats
+were dispatched from the _Pelikan_ to the shore and returned laden with
+tops of coco-nut trees.  Before noon the foliage was stowed below out
+of sight.
+
+Just before high water the _Myra_, being loaded far below her Plimsoll
+mark, prepared to weigh and ascend the river.  Even in her deeply laden
+condition she drew a good nine feet less than the _Pelikan_, and could
+negotiate the bar without much risk.
+
+The cable was almost "up and down" and the anchor on the point of
+"breaking-out" when a warning shout came from one of the look-out men
+on the _Pelikan_.  A bugle call for "General Quarters" followed in
+quick succession.
+
+"Hulloa, that's great!" ejaculated Denbigh excitedly.  He pointed in
+the direction of the passage through the reef.  Heading for it was a
+small gunboat.  Although the distance was too great for the British
+officers on the _Myra_ to distinguish her ensign they had no doubts as
+to her nationality.
+
+"She's one of our gunboats," announced O'Hara.
+
+His assertion was confirmed by a flash, followed by a sharp bark as the
+_Pelikan_, unmasking her guns, opened fire upon the approaching vessel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Denbigh's Plan
+
+At the opening of the engagement the prize crew of the _Myra_ made a
+simultaneous rush to the tramp's rigging, in order to witness the
+destruction of the audacious but lightly-armed gunboat.  Unter-leutnant
+Klick and another junior officer hurried to the bridge.  Denbigh,
+O'Hara, and the officers of the _Myra_ found themselves in sole
+occupation of the deck.
+
+"Idiots!" exclaimed Denbigh.
+
+"Who?" asked Captain Pennington.
+
+"The _Pelikan's_ people.  If they had waited another five minutes, they
+would have found the gunboat jammed up on the bar.  As it is she has
+room to manoeuvre."
+
+Even as he spoke, the gunboat let fly with her puny 4-inch bow gun--the
+only one capable of being trained upon the powerfully-armed raider.
+Immediately a dense cloud of black smoke burst from the little craft,
+entirely hiding her from view.
+
+"She's got it properly," exclaimed Pennington.
+
+Slowly the smoke began to disperse.  Into the eddying vapour shell
+after shell poured from the _Pelikan_.  All around the sea was
+lacerated by the ricochetting projectiles, which threw columns of spray
+high into the air, the pure whiteness of the artificial waterspouts
+contrasting vividly with the dark background of smoke.
+
+The Germans were shouting madly.  It was their way of cheering, but it
+lacked the inspiring sound of a hearty British cheer.  Then, with
+remarkable suddenness, the uproar of voices trailed away into a
+silence, broken only by the desultory firing from the _Pelikan_.
+
+Under cover of the cloud of smoke purposely emitted from the gunboat,
+the British craft had swung round and was steaming away at her maximum
+of 13 knots, apparently undamaged by the salvoes that had been directed
+towards her.  The exultant shouts of the Germans were not renewed when
+they saw the small vessel turn tail.  Too late they realized that they
+had thrown away their advantages by being too premature.  The gunboat,
+having sea-room in which to manoeuvre, was speeding away, not in
+flight, but with the object of wirelessing the cruisers and destroyers.
+By letting their insignificant antagonist escape the Germans were
+bringing a hornet's nest about their ears.
+
+Somewhat disconsolately, the _Myra's_ prize crew descended the rigging
+and other coigns of vantage and regained the deck.  They, however, knew
+that a loophole for escape remained.  They were under orders to cross
+the inner bar and ascend the Mohoro River.  That course was denied the
+_Pelikan_ for the next four or five days.  A high spring-tide was an
+absolute necessity for her to cross the barrier, and long before that
+time the British blockading squadron would be off the reefs, ready to
+pulverize the raider into a mass of twisted scrap-iron.
+
+The time of high water had gone, and the tide was beginning to fall,
+when the _Myra_ essayed the task of crossing the inner bar.  There was
+no surf breaking at the mouth of the river, since the coral reef
+enclosing the lagoon effectually sheltered the shore.  Only a few
+ripples marked the spot where the down-current met the submerged
+barrier.  In a few minutes the great volume of water pouring down the
+river, having time to overcome the up tidal stream, would be surging
+furiously over the bar.
+
+"I wish to goodness we could crock the steering-gear," said O'Hara in a
+low voice.  "If the old hooker grounded on the bar she would prevent
+the _Pelikan_ from entering."
+
+"Not much use," objected Denbigh.  "In fact, it would be more of a help
+to her than a hindrance."
+
+"How's that?" asked the Irishman.
+
+"Simply because the river would dig itself another channel across the
+bar, and its width being restricted by the stranded vessel, its depth
+would be even greater than the existing one.  No, I think we can do
+nothing but sit tight and trust to luck, that the _Pelikan_ will be
+sent to the bottom before Friday."
+
+"And us?"
+
+"You can bet your bottom dollar that a couple of armed cutters will be
+sent after the _Myra_."
+
+Without touching even once the tramp crossed the dangerous patch, and
+was soon breasting the rapidly-increasing current.  The river at this
+point was about 180 yards in width, and carried a depth of 30 to 40
+feet for twelve miles from its mouth.  On either side the banks were
+overhung with mangroves and coco-nut palms, from which myriads of
+birds, aroused by the unfamiliar noise of the tramp, rose screeching in
+the sultry air.  The surface of the river was dotted with black objects
+resembling water-logged trunks of trees, but on the _Myra's_ approach
+the seemingly inanimate objects were endowed with life and activity.
+They were hippopotami, that literally swarmed in the turgid water.
+
+Having, as he imagined, navigated the _Myra_ beyond reach of the
+British cruisers, Unter-leutnant Klick ordered several of the crew of
+the captured tramp on deck, and informed them that they were in future
+to assist in working the ship.  Should any attempt to recover the
+vessel be made, the offence would be punishable with death.  He also
+pointed out the impracticability of escape, since the river was
+infested with hippopotami, and the forests with fierce animals.
+
+Just before sunset, the _Myra_ brought up at a distance of about seven
+miles from the mouth of the river.  The flood-tide, accompanied by a
+distinct bore, had now set in, and since the river was hardly wide
+enough to allow the tramp to swing, an anchor was let go astern and
+twice the amount of cable necessary paid out.  Then, directly the
+vessel's way was stopped, the bower-anchor was let go from the bows.
+The stern cable was then hove inboard until the ship lay evenly between
+the two anchors.
+
+The _Myra_ had no stockless anchors, but those of the old Admiralty
+pattern.
+
+"By Jove! how strong the current runs here!" remarked O'Hara, as the
+two subs watched the yellow stream surge past the ship.  "If the ground
+tackle carried away there would be a jamboree.  A new channel wouldn't
+form in a couple of days here."
+
+Denbigh did not reply.  He was mentally gauging the distance between
+the ship's side and the nearmost bank.
+
+"It's risky," he thought; "but there are no gains without pains.  I'll
+have a shot at it to-night."
+
+On being ordered to retire to their cabin the two officers found that
+the mate was already there.  As Denbigh and his chum entered, he
+hastily stowed something in his pocket, but finding that they were not
+any of the German crew he withdrew the article.
+
+It was a piece of soft wood about nine inches in length.
+
+"What's the game, Armstrong?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"I'm just knocking up a couple of dummy forelocks," explained the mate,
+opening his jack-knife once more.  "I gave our fellows in the fo'c'sle
+the tip, and they'll get them in position as soon as the anchors are
+catted.  I'm going to give these a coat of galvanized paint and I'll
+wager those German chumps won't notice the difference.  Next time they
+drop the hook the pins will snap under the strain, the stocks will
+slip, and the old hooker will drag at the rate of knots."
+
+"That's a good wheeze, Armstrong," said Denbigh.  "But look here.  I
+want you to do me a good turn.  Have you the duplicate key of this
+cabin?"
+
+"Sure I have," replied the mate.
+
+"I'm going to have a shot at getting ashore," declared the sub.
+
+"You'll be a fool if you try," said Armstrong bluntly and emphatically.
+"With this current running and the hippos barging about you wouldn't
+stand a dog's chance."
+
+"I'll wait till slack water and take my chance with the hippos,"
+rejoined Denbigh.  "If I succeed in getting ashore I'll make my way
+along the bank until I reach the entrance.  I'm rather curious to see
+what the _Pelikan_ is doing."
+
+"I'm with you," volunteered O'Hara.
+
+"You'll stop here, old man," said Denbigh firmly.
+
+"If I stop you stop too," was the Irishman's equally determined
+rejoinder.  "Look here, old bird; it's not like prowling around the
+upper-deck.  Once ashore we'll be all right.  One may be jolly useful
+in helping the other.  Besides, I've a loaded pistol."
+
+"Might be handy," admitted Denbigh, secretly glad to have a companion
+for his enterprise.  "But there's something you have which will be, I
+fancy, a jolly sight more handy."
+
+"What's that?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"The quinine the _Pelikan's_ medico gave you.  Our chief danger is, I
+fancy, the chance of getting miasmic fever, especially after landing in
+saturated togs.  A few grains will stave off a fatal illness."
+
+"All right," agreed O'Hara.  "Then it's settled I'm to go with you.
+What's your plan?"
+
+"Nothing more than I have outlined," replied Denbigh.  "We'll keep our
+eyes and ears open and see what steps the _Pelikan_ is taking for
+defence.  There'll be enough moonlight to see fairly clearly."
+
+"Suppose you wouldn't like me to go with you?" enquired the mate.
+
+Denbigh shook his head.
+
+"No, thanks, Armstrong; you'll serve a far better purpose by remaining
+on board and screening our movements.  Those fellows have set an anchor
+watch, I suppose?"
+
+"Only on the fo'c'sle," replied Armstrong.  "That is to say, they
+hadn't put a man on watch over the stern cable when I left the deck.
+But there's no knowing.  They imagine that they are safe from attack.
+I suppose they are so long as the _Pelikan_ remains afloat, so it's
+just likely that they'll be a bit lax.  How do you propose to take the
+water?"
+
+"By the stern cable," replied Denbigh.
+
+"I know a better way," said the mate.  "There's a rope ladder coiled up
+close to the engine-room fidley.  If you can lay hold of it without
+being spotted you can make one end fast outside the rail and let the
+rest go.  It won't be noticed before morning."
+
+Methodically the two subs went about their preparations, for there was
+as yet an hour and a half before slack water.  Denbigh knew that
+between the two periods of high and low tide there was an interval of
+six and a half hours, for the volume of fresh water descending the
+river retarded the rising tide by at least thirty or forty minutes.
+The chums had thus nearly seven hours at their disposal, of which there
+was moonlight until four in the morning.
+
+The cabin was not electrically lighted, illumination being provided by
+means of a smoky oil lamp.  Stripping to the buff the two subs blacked
+themselves all over by means of corks charred in the lamplight.  Their
+clothes they lashed into a compact bundle, Denbigh stowing the
+pocket-compass in his, while O'Hara placed his automatic pistol in the
+middle of his clothing.  Two handkerchiefs were retained in readiness
+to bind their bundles on the top of their heads.
+
+"We may get ashore with dry gear," said Denbigh.  "It's just a chance.
+We'll be lucky if we do.  Now, Armstrong, that key, if you please.
+I'll borrow it and lock you in after we've left.  It will disarm
+suspicion; and besides, we will be able to let ourselves in when we
+roll home in the small hours of the morning.  Don't wait up, Mr.
+Armstrong."
+
+The men smiled grimly.  Even on the brink of peril they jested.  Cheek
+by jowl with death they bantered each other.
+
+The hour of slack water arrived.  No longer the current surged noisily
+against the _Myra's_ wall-sides.  All was quiet save the occasional
+rasp of a huge amphibian along the ship's plating and the faint roar of
+a wild animal in the distant mangroves.
+
+Cautiously Denbigh applied the well-oiled key to the lock.  Softly the
+door was opened.  In the "state-room" an oil-lamp burned dimly and
+smelt abominably.  Its feeble rays were almost unable to penetrate into
+the recesses of the encumbered quarters.
+
+Giving a final look round Denbigh fastened his bundle on his head and
+slipped out, followed by O'Hara.  The door was closed and locked,
+Denbigh thrusting the key under the lashings of his bundle.
+
+The deck was wet with a heavy dew that struck cold to their bare feet.
+Overhead the crescent moon shone a dull yellow through the haze.  The
+shores were invisible.
+
+Crouching close to the low bulwarks the two officers made their way
+amidships.  Fore and aft awnings had been spread to protect the watch
+on deck from the noxious dew, but there were no signs of the seamen on
+duty.
+
+In the chart-room a light, imperfectly screened, threw a narrow glare
+into the mist.  The officer of the watch--one of the _Pelikan's_ petty
+officers--was doubtless indulging in slumber, since it was quite
+unlikely that Unter-leutnant Klick would have been out of his bunk to
+satisfy himself that all was well unless an alarm was raised by those
+on deck.
+
+Cautiously the two blackened figures glided from the shelter of the
+bulwarks to the raised coaming of the engine-room fidley.  Through the
+iron bars they could see the gleaming mechanism, now at rest, although
+steam was being kept at working pressure.
+
+Groping, Denbigh felt his fingers come in contact with a cylindrical
+bundle.  It was the rope-ladder enclosed in a canvas cover.
+
+Returning to the side the sub lashed one end of the ladder to the
+upright of one of the davits.  The other he allowed to drop.  It
+touched the surface of the water with hardly a splash.  Being too long
+for the purpose five or six feet of the ladder floated alongside.
+There was not sufficient current to trail it out.
+
+Swinging over the bulwark Denbigh felt with his foot for the rungs.
+The rope creaked under his weight.  He descended until his feet came in
+contact with the water, then he waited until he saw O'Hara's black form
+silhouetted against the moon-lit mist.
+
+Thank heaven there were no hippos to be seen, although a splashing
+sound at some distance off told the sub that some sort of large
+amphibians were sporting in the moonlight.
+
+The Irishman's foot lightly touching Denbigh's upheld hand that grasped
+one of the rungs aroused the sub to action.  Three steps down did he
+take, then he released his hold and struck out into the unknown.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A Perilous Journey
+
+Twenty slow, deliberate, and powerful strokes did Denbigh take, then,
+treading water, he turned his head to see how his companion was
+progressing.
+
+In that short distance the outlines of the _Myra_ looked vague and
+distorted in the eddying vapour.  Already the swimmers were practically
+safe from observation, since O'Hara, who was barely three yards away,
+looked indistinct in his cork-blackened disguise.
+
+A dozen strokes more and the two officers were in the midst of a
+sluggish, turgid stream, their horizon bounded by banks of mist.  Were
+it not for the moon, that shone dully through the haze, all sense of
+direction would have been lost.  The water was warm and
+sickly-smelling.  An odour like that of decaying flowers in an
+ill-ventilated room assailed their nostrils.
+
+Once O'Hara gave vent to a partly smothered yell as his naked foot came
+in contact with a slimy water-logged tree.  It was easy to imagine
+unpleasant things in that modern Styx.
+
+At the sound Denbigh turned.
+
+"What's wrong?" he asked in a whisper.
+
+"Nothing," replied the Irishman.  "Carry on."
+
+He was swimming rapidly.  His quick strokes betrayed his acute anxiety
+to traverse the stretch of water in as short a time as possible.
+
+"Steady; don't splash," cautioned Denbigh.
+
+A reply to his admonition came from another quarter, for almost in
+front of the swimmers rose a huge black object, quickly followed by
+another.  In the semi-light the two men could see that these were
+enormous hippopotami, distinguish even their thick lips and wire-like
+bristles, and hear the business-like snap of their formidable teeth,
+capable of biting the side of a boat and shaking the craft like a
+terrier does a rat.
+
+The two amphibians were gambolling.  So intent were they that the
+swimmers were unnoticed, but for half a minute after the hippos had
+passed Denbigh and O'Hara floated motionless, not trusting to swim
+forward another foot.
+
+At length, after a seemingly interminable space of time, the
+mangrove-covered shore loomed up against the moonlit sky.  The banks,
+thrown into deep shadow, were invisible, until O'Hara, who was now
+leading, felt his foot touch the slimy ooze that fringed the shore.
+
+With feelings of relief the Irishman waded to the bank and awaited
+Denbigh's emergence from the river.
+
+"Thank God," he muttered fervently as Denbigh joined him.  "Now, what's
+the move?"
+
+"Dress," replied his chum laconically.
+
+The two men unfastened their bundles, and proceeded to sacrifice one of
+their scanty stock of handkerchiefs as a towel.  To allow the foetid
+fresh water to dry on them would be courting a speedy attack of
+black-water fever.
+
+"We can't see the _Myra_," whispered O'Hara.  "How shall we know where
+to 'kick-off' when we return?"
+
+"Bend that damp handkerchief on to one of the bushes," replied Denbigh.
+"We'll have to take jolly good care to----"
+
+His words ended abruptly, and he found himself sitting on the soft
+ground.  In order to facilitate the dressing performance he had sat
+down upon what he imagined to be a log.  The "log" promptly lurched
+forward and overthrew him.  It was a healthy specimen of a crocodile.
+
+[Illustration: THE "LOG" WAS A HEALTHY SPECIMEN OF A CROCODILE]
+
+O'Hara gripped his chum's hand and literally lifted him to his feet.
+Both men took to their heels, with the now aroused saurian in pursuit.
+Luckily the animal was not quick at turning, and before it could do so
+the two subs placed a safe distance between them and their pursuer.
+
+"There may be others," gasped Denbigh, who half-dressed was clutching
+the rest of his clothing.  "The river bank is too jolly risky.  I had
+my doubts about it.  We'll cut inland and risk the forest.  It's high
+ground, as far as I could judge when we came up stream.  Therefore it
+ought not to be swampy.  What's more, we'll save half the distance."
+
+"And, possibly, take double the time," added O'Hara, who, although
+willing to risk the unknown perils of the mangrove forest to the
+partly-known adversities of the river banks, was rather doubtful as to
+his comrade's skill in navigation on dry land.
+
+They halted in a little clearing to complete their interrupted task of
+donning their clothes.  With their ears strained to catch the faintest
+suspicious sound, they struggled into their light cotton garments, that
+at the best of times were ill-adapted to the miasmic night-mists of the
+East African coast.
+
+"That's better," exclaimed Denbigh cheerfully.  "Feel a bit more
+civilized.  We might pass muster as a pair of Christy minstrels.  Now,
+then, a few grains of quinine, and we'll be on the move."
+
+O'Hara's reply was to release the safety-pin of his automatic pistol.
+Denbigh, who was studying the luminous face of the pocket-compass,
+smiled grimly.
+
+"Now I'll admit that little toy may come in handy, old man," he
+remarked.  "Since I lead the way, pray be careful how you finger the
+trigger.  Nor'east by east is the ticket."
+
+Before the adventurers had proceeded fifty yards, a rustling sound
+overhead brought them up all-standing.  Some heavy body was moving from
+tree-top to tree-top with great rapidity.
+
+"Doesn't sound very healthy," whispered Denbigh with a forced laugh.
+"I think I'll arm myself with a club."
+
+He wrenched at a stout sapling.  Instead of the stem coming out by the
+roots as he expected, it snapped off short.  The fractured part tapered
+to a chisel edge.  The wood was hard and close-grained.
+
+"No, I'll use this as a spear," continued the sub.  "It makes a nasty
+weapon to jab an animal with."
+
+In silence the chums proceeded on their way.  It was fair going between
+the trunks of the palms and mangroves, there being very little
+undergrowth.
+
+"'Ware mosquitoes," exclaimed O'Hara.  "There must be a swamp somewhere
+about."
+
+A swarm of these pestilential insects were buzzing around their heads,
+but, possibly owing to the protection afforded by the burnt cork, the
+mosquitoes did not press home the attack.  Fifty yards farther the two
+men were stopped by a deep morass.
+
+"Edge away to the left," suggested the Irishman.  "I think I can hear
+running water.  By Jove!  Look at those fireflies.  They're simply
+great."
+
+Denbigh merely grunted.  He was in no mood to study the beauties of
+nature.  The marsh meant loss of valuable time.
+
+Half a dozen small deer, disturbed in the act of drinking, came
+bounding towards them, until, finding themselves confronted by human
+beings, they stopped abruptly, then tore madly from the newest danger.
+
+"Be careful!" urged Denbigh.  "Those creatures have been driven towards
+us by some animal.  Stand by."
+
+Out of the deep shade ambled a huge unwieldy figure.  It looked like a
+giant armed with a club.  It was too big for a native: it was an
+enormous ape.
+
+In a trice Denbigh and his companion dodged behind a tree; but quick
+though they were, the movement had not escaped the notice of the
+animal.  Uttering a shrill cry, the ape bounded towards their place of
+concealment.
+
+Denbigh's first impulse was to fly, but calmer counsels prevailed.
+Dropping on one knee, he held his improvised spear pointed towards the
+enemy, the butt planted firmly into the ground.
+
+As well might a dog try conclusions with a motor-car.  The ape's
+muscular hand gripped the pole and wrenched it from the sub's grasp,
+while Denbigh's endeavour to retain his hold resulted in his being
+thrown prostrate at the creature's feet.
+
+Before the luckless man could realize his position there was a vivid
+flash and a sharp report, quickly followed by another and another.
+O'Hara had fired point-blank at the animal's head.
+
+The next instant Denbigh was pinned under the lifeless body of his
+antagonist, for a chance-directed shot had struck the ape in the eye,
+and had penetrated the brain.
+
+"Hurt?" asked the Irishman anxiously, as he assisted Denbigh to regain
+his feet.
+
+"Am I?" asked the sub blankly.
+
+"If you don't know I suppose no one else does," rejoined O'Hara.
+
+"I thought the brute had me that time.  Hulloa! where's my compass?"
+
+A prolonged search resulted in the recovery of the precious instrument.
+Anxiously Denbigh revolved the case; to his intense satisfaction he saw
+that the luminous card was still sensitive.
+
+"My word!" thought Denbigh, as the two men resumed their way.
+"Whatever possessed me to take this business on?  Idle curiosity and
+the love of doing something to pass away the time, I suppose.  After
+all, I can't see how we can help our squadron in the slightest.  And
+here are we running the risk of being stranded in a beastly forest, and
+perhaps being chawed up by some wild animal.  Well, we're half-way
+there, so I suppose we may as well carry on.  I won't be the one to
+suggest chucking up the sponge and making tracks for the _Myra_."
+
+The Irishman's soliloquies were on almost the identical lines, but as
+neither communicated his thought to the other, the consequence was that
+they both persisted in their hazardous adventure.
+
+It must have been about one in the morning, when, more by good luck
+than by good management, the two British officers stumbled upon the
+clearing on which stood the galvanized iron house that they had noticed
+when the _Myra_ lay at anchor in the lagoon.
+
+Although no light was visible, there were men within, for the subs
+could hear the rasping of a file and the sharp whirr of a hack-saw.
+
+"Steady!" whispered Denbigh.  "Bear away a little.  Remember we're
+close to the native village.  Ten to one there'll be a crowd of dogs
+about, and our clothes, in spite of ill-usage, are fairly conspicuous
+against the dark background."
+
+Twice they halted before they crossed a foot-track through the mangrove
+forest.  At the second path, they had to wait until a party of German
+bluejackets had passed.  The men were armed, and were accompanied by a
+score of blacks, who had been impressed to drag a small field-gun up
+the hill.
+
+Unsuspecting the Germans went on their way, and the subs, after a safe
+interval had elapsed, continued their way to the shore.
+
+Suddenly O'Hara gripped his companion's arm and pointed.  Fifty feet
+below them, and at a distance of two hundred yards, was the native
+village.  The huts were wrapped in silence.  Only the women and
+children remained, for the men had been compelled to throw up
+earthworks to defend the lagoon from the anticipated attack.  Outside
+the village stood two German soldiers armed with rifles and fixed
+bayonets, their duty being to prevent any of the inhabitants from
+leaving their huts during the night.
+
+"It's not healthy that way," he whispered.  "More to the left, old man.
+I can hear the surf."
+
+Ten minutes more found them at the edge of the forest, and on the brink
+of the two cliffs, immediately opposite which the _Pelikan_ had brought
+up and had fought her brief and unsatisfactory action with the British
+gunboat.
+
+Bathed in the slanting rays of the moon, which was now on the wane,
+were the placid waters of the lagoon.  Nothing could, it seemed, escape
+being detected up on that illuminated patch of sea.
+
+"By Jove!" exclaimed Denbigh excitedly.  "The _Pelikan's_ cleared out."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Nocturnal Investigations
+
+"We might have guessed that," remarked O'Hara.
+
+"Oh?"
+
+"Yes; don't you see, she was spotted by our gunboat.  She couldn't get
+away up the Mohoro River until Friday, and rather than run the risk of
+being sunk at anchor she's landed her mob of reservists and has put to
+sea again."
+
+"To be promptly snapped up?  No; I don't care to admit your reasoning,
+old man.  We haven't come all this way through that confounded forest
+for nothing.  Listen!"
+
+A faint, rapid throbbing was borne to their ears.  The sound came not
+from the sea but along the shore to their left, where a projecting
+tongue of land limited their range of vision.
+
+"Motor," announced O'Hara laconically.
+
+"And not a marine one," added Denbigh.  "Come on.  We'll follow this
+path; it's a jolly sight safer than keeping to the shore."
+
+Once again they plunged into the mangrove forest, following a beaten
+track that, judging by its well-worn condition, had been in existence
+long before the arrival of the _Pelikan_.
+
+Suddenly Denbigh halted and held up his hand.  Footsteps were
+approaching, not those of the naked feet of natives but the booted
+tramp of white men.
+
+The subs took cover and waited, fervently hoping that the oncomers had
+not a dog with them.  The party advanced slowly and haltingly, so much
+so that for the moment Denbigh imagined that their suspicions had been
+aroused.
+
+But without once glancing in the direction of the hidden officers the
+men passed by.  One was a petty officer of the _Pelikan_.  Denbigh
+recognized him by his bushy beard.  With him were four seamen, walking
+two abreast.  The leading pair carried a roll of something wrapped in a
+painted canvas cover; the others bore a large reel of wire, paying out
+the thin cable as they went.
+
+"H'm, telephone wire," muttered Denbigh.  "That doesn't look as if the
+ship has cleared out.  More than likely they've landed some of the guns
+to form a masked battery.  It strikes me pretty forcibly that we'll
+have to investigate at both ends of the wire."
+
+Not until the sound of the receding footsteps had died away--and it
+took an exasperating time--did the subs emerge from their place of
+concealment.  The air was now almost free from mist.  Occasionally
+patches of vapour drifted across their path, but generally speaking the
+miasmic belt ended at a distance of about half a mile from the sea.
+
+O'Hara stooped and lifted up the wire.
+
+"Let's cut the dashed line," he suggested.
+
+"All in good time," replied Denbigh.  "If we do so now they'll be
+buzzing around before we've made our investigations.  I think we're on
+to a good thing."
+
+Nearer and nearer grew the sound of the motor, until upon emerging from
+the grove the subs found themselves within a hundred yards of a German
+base.
+
+At this point the ground sloped gently to the edge of the lagoon.
+Without any apparent attempt at concealment two searchlights had been
+set in position.  A dozen men in naval uniforms were standing around
+the projectors.  The lights were "running" as was evident from the
+crackle of the carbons, but the shutters were closed, cutting off the
+rays.  The current was produced by a dynamo, the power being supplied
+by means of the petrol motor, the pulsations of which had given the
+subs a clue to its position.
+
+"What's the idea?" whispered O'Hara, indicating the unconcealed
+searchlight.
+
+"A blind," replied his companion.  "I guessed it.  We'll carry on a
+little farther before we retrace our steps."
+
+Another _détour_ was necessary, but on plunging into the mangrove
+forest on to the other side of the clearing the Irishman's foot tripped
+in the telephone wire.
+
+"Good!" he ejaculated.  "You're right, old man."
+
+Five hundred yards farther on the explorers almost tumbled into a deep
+pit, protected on the seaward side by sandbags, between which were
+stuck shrubs and branches of trees to screen the artificial work from
+seaward.
+
+In the pit were two quick-firers, with basket cases of ammunition in
+readiness.  Pacing up and down between the guns was a sentry, while
+under a tarpaulin supported by short poles were about a dozen sleeping
+men.  Farther on was another excavation, but what it contained the
+British officers were unable to ascertain.  The battery, it was
+evident, was manned by some of the reservists from the _San Matias_.
+
+Denbigh, having taken a compass bearing of the entrance of the lagoon,
+nudged his chum, and they began to retrace their steps.  Moving as
+rapidly as their sense of caution would permit, they again skirted the
+searchlight station and picked up the telephone wire trail in the woods
+beyond.
+
+"We must not forget the time," cautioned the Irishman.
+
+"By Jove, no!" replied Denbigh.  As a matter of fact he had.  The
+excitement of their discoveries had banished all thought of anything
+else.  Even the perils of their return journey to the _Myra_ had been
+lightly brushed aside.  "Hang it all, there's that confounded mist
+again."
+
+At a distance of a quarter of a mile from the searchlight position the
+path bent obliquely towards the lagoon.  Here the trees grew right to
+the water's edge, the cliff at this point being roughly twenty feet
+above the sea.
+
+"What's that?" whispered O'Hara.
+
+A cable's length from shore, and just visible through the mist, was a
+large indistinct shape.  At first sight it looked like a small island
+thickly covered with coco-nut palms.
+
+"The cunning blighters!" ejaculated Denbigh.  "That's the _Pelikan_."
+
+It was the raider.  Her masts and funnels were decked with branches;
+the whole tops of trees festooned her sides.  The outlines of her bow
+and stern were concealed by trailing masses of vegetation.  Viewed from
+seaward, against the tree-clad hillocks, the _Pelikan_ could not be
+distinguished from her natural background.  A short distance along the
+shore there was a gap in the line of cliffs.  Here a boat was lying,
+with her crew standing about on shore.
+
+"They're expecting someone," whispered Denbigh.  "Let's move."
+
+Not until the subs were a safe distance from the shore did they
+exchange opinions.
+
+"The _Pelikan_ is expecting an attack," said O'Hara.  "So she is
+disguised.  Some of her guns are taken ashore."
+
+"Why not all?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"I should not think so," was the reply.  "They would be almost certain
+to keep those in position on the port side.  They haven't abandoned the
+ship, otherwise the boat wouldn't be waiting to take somebody off to
+her.  Hulloa, there they go!"
+
+Two brilliant arcs of light swept across the lagoon.  The searchlights
+had been unmasked and were directed towards the narrow gap in the coral
+reef.
+
+"They've spotted something," continued O'Hara.
+
+"Not necessarily," replied Denbigh.  "Those lights are tantamount to a
+challenge.  Our fellows will go for the searchlight, thinking that they
+are being worked from the _Pelikan_.  Then the ship's guns and those of
+the masked battery will be able to open a converging fire.  We'll have
+to stop their little game, old man."
+
+"Can't see how," said O'Hara.
+
+"No more can I at present," added his companion.  "We've about three
+hours to daylight.  We must allow an hour and a half at the very
+outside to work our way back to the _Myra_."
+
+"If our fellows put the hat on the _Pelikan_, we may as well hang on
+and get them to pick us up.  You can bet your bottom dollar they'll
+take good care to see that the _Pelikan_ is properly done in."
+
+"My dear fellow," protested Denbigh, "are we fit to introduce ourselves
+as British officers, even suppose the cruisers send a landing party
+ashore?"
+
+"Don't care whether I am or not," replied the Irishman recklessly.
+"Whether I wear an evening dress of burnt cork plus a very disreputable
+uniform of white ducks, or whether I am immaculately arrayed in No. 1
+rig, makes little difference.  I am still Patrick O'Hara."
+
+"S'sh!" whispered Denbigh, for O'Hara had unconsciously raised his
+voice during the delivery of his protest.  "Let's have another look to
+seaward, and then we'll cut the telephone wire and clap on all sail for
+our involuntary home of rest.  By Jove, it's getting darker!  We'll be
+barging into something if we aren't very careful."
+
+Upon regaining the top of the cliffs the subs saw something that
+indicated the impending attack.  Lights were in position at the
+entrance to the lagoon.  The British vessels in the offing had sent
+boats to sound and drop calcium-light buoys in the narrow channel,
+preparatory to making a dash across the enclosed stretch of water.
+
+Even as the subs watched a masthead light blinked rapidly.  Since the
+vessels were equipped with wireless, light signals were unnecessary for
+communication.  Denbigh could only conclude that one of the attacking
+craft was ordering the boats to return.
+
+"I say, old man," whispered O'Hara.  "It's not going to be long-range
+gunnery.  I believe they're sending a couple of destroyers in.  If so,
+they're going to try a torpedo on the _Pelikan_."
+
+Before Denbigh could reply a faint gleam played upon the rock-strewn
+beach.  Lying at full length in the coarse grass on the top of the
+cliffs, which were here only about ten feet in height, the chums waited
+and watched.
+
+Coming towards them was a big-built man in the uniform of a German
+officer.  At intervals he flashed a torch upon the ground to guide his
+footsteps.  Behind him came a soldier with his rifle slung across his
+back, and carrying a heavy valise.
+
+"Von Eckenstein," whispered Denbigh, recognizing the bullying Prussian
+by his voice.  "And with an electric torch, too.  We'll bag those
+fellows, Pat.  No, not that pistol, you chump.  We'll jump on 'em."
+
+Cautiously the two subs crouched ready to spring.  Denbigh, grasping a
+stout stick that he had found in the place of the one broken by the
+ape, signed to his companion to use his powerful fists and tackle the
+major's servant.
+
+Unsuspectingly von Eckenstein passed by.  Just as he flashed the torch
+Denbigh leapt.  Before his feet touched the sand his stick descended
+heavily upon the German's head.  His sun-helmet was insufficient to
+save him.  Without a groan the major dropped.
+
+O'Hara had been equally successful in his share of the attack.  Taking
+Denbigh literally, he had alighted fairly on the German soldier's head.
+
+"I've killed him!" exclaimed the Irishman.
+
+"'Fraid so," agreed Denbigh.  "But it's war, you know.  Be sharp, drag
+them into the bushes.  Our dear friend the major won't recover his
+senses in a hurry."
+
+Taking possession of the torch Denbigh scaled the cliff and made his
+way through the mangroves until he was nearly twenty yards from the
+edge of the wood.  From this point he could see the masthead light of
+the destroyer--for destroyer he felt sure it must be.  He could now
+flash the torch with little risk of the glare being spotted from either
+the _Pelikan_ or the masked battery.
+
+He "called up", at first without meeting with success, but at length a
+steady white light gleamed from the offing.  It was not from the
+destroyer that had been using her masthead light, but from one farther
+out to sea.
+
+Rapidly Denbigh flashed the warning message:--
+
+"_Pelikan_ disguised, 400 yards to southward of searchlights.  Masked
+battery 400 yards to northward of searchlights.  Useless to attempt
+torpedo."
+
+The white light vanished.  With his nerves tingling with anxiety the
+sub waited.
+
+Then through the darkness the destroyer's signalling lamp spelt out the
+single word:
+
+"R-A-T-S."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A Neglected Warning
+
+"Idiot!" snapped Denbigh under his breath.  "Some irresponsible
+signalman acting the goat."
+
+"Perhaps they think that our signal is a faked message coming from the
+enemy," suggested O'Hara.  "Try them again: add your name and rank."
+
+Denbigh repeated the message, making the additions his companion had
+proposed; but there was no reply--not even a facetious one.
+
+The signalman of the destroyer was engaged in taking down another
+message from the shore, for the Germans, seeing the word 'rats' flashed
+from an enemy ship, came to the conclusion that it was a personal
+affront to themselves.  Consequently the searchlights had been
+temporarily shut off and a signalling lamp brought into play to frame a
+fitting reply to the Englishmen's single-worded challenge.
+
+"We must make a move," announced Denbigh, disappointed at his warning
+being ignored.  "It will be daylight before we get back, if we don't
+hurry.  I'd like to stop and watch the scrap, but we can't wait.  They
+may not attack until close on dawn."
+
+Already possessed of the German soldier's rifle, bayonet and
+ammunition, Denbigh led the way from the shore.  As the subs crossed
+the path along which the telegraph line had been laid, Denbigh severed
+the copper wire in two places, making the cuts quite fifty feet from
+each other.  The separated part he removed, rolling it into a small
+coil.
+
+"They'll have a bit of a bother to find that, I fancy," he remarked.
+"Unless they bring a spare length with them that telephone will be
+useless for the next couple of hours."
+
+"They'll know it has been deliberately cut, though," added the
+Irishman.  "If we had wrenched the wire apart they might have thought
+that some animal had barged into it.  There'll be some strafing over
+it."
+
+As he spoke the air was rent by a terrific detonation, followed almost
+immediately by the bark of numerous quick-firers.  The attack had
+commenced.
+
+Without a word both officers turned and raced recklessly towards the
+shore.
+
+As Denbigh had foreseen, two British destroyers took part in the
+attempt to settle the _Pelikan_.  Deceived by the position of the
+searchlight on shore both boats headed towards the glare like moths to
+a lighted candle.
+
+At a distance of five hundred yards from the edge of the lagoon the
+leading boat ported helm and let fly a couple of torpedoes from her
+midship deck-tubes.  Straight as arrows sped the two deadly missiles,
+but instead of striking the hull of the _Pelikan_ they exploded
+simultaneously against the rocks.
+
+Instantly the guns on the raider and those in the masked battery on
+shore opened a furious fire.  The leading destroyer, caught by the
+tornado of shell, was hulled again and again.  With her funnels riddled
+like sieves, her deck gear swept away, and in a sinking condition, she
+turned for the open sea.  Failing in that object her
+lieutenant-commander ran her aground on the outer reef just as she was
+on the point of foundering.
+
+The second destroyer, blinded by the glare of the searchlights, and
+finding that she was the target for two distinct batteries, neither of
+which was in the spot where the _Pelikan_ was supposed to be, turned
+about, screening her movements with smoke from her funnels.
+
+Slowing down outside the lagoon she picked up the survivors from her
+consort and steamed out to sea.
+
+From the Germans' point of view it was a victory: the British,
+undaunted by the loss of one of their boats, preferred to call it a
+"reconnaissance in force", with the object of compelling the enemy to
+unmask his batteries.  The main attack would be made by long-range
+gunnery, and to that end the three monitors, then lying in Zanzibar
+Harbour, were ordered to make for the mouth of the Mohoro River.
+
+Denbigh and O'Hara, having the mortification of seeing the destroyers
+repulsed with loss--the action was over in five minutes--again set out
+on their return journey.
+
+In spite of the aid afforded by the compass the subs found, on emerging
+from the forest, that they were a long way out of their reckoning.
+They had hit the banks of the Mohoro River right enough, but either a
+considerable distance above or below the spot where the _Myra_ lay
+moored.
+
+The mists had rolled away.  It was now very dark, yet had the tramp
+been anywhere in the vicinity the subs would have been able to discern
+her.  There were ominous sounds: those of huge creatures wading over
+the mud-flats.  Hippopotami and crocodiles were emerging from the river.
+
+"Up or down?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"Neither, by this bank," replied Denbigh, gripping his rifle.  "It
+doesn't sound healthy.  We'll cut inland a bit and try our luck
+up-stream."
+
+"Why up-stream?" asked the Irishman.
+
+"Because I think I've tumbled to it," answered his chum.  "I've been
+carrying this rifle on my left shoulder for the greater part of the
+last hour.  I have also been holding the compass within a few inches of
+the steel barrel.  It was a silly thing to do, I admit, but I didn't
+think of it at the time.  Consequently the needle deviated and threw us
+out of our course.  We've gone more to the left of our outward track,
+and that brings us down stream."
+
+"It's getting light, I believe," remarked O'Hara after a ten-minutes
+detour.
+
+"Yes," replied Denbigh.  "It's the false dawn.  It will get pitch-dark
+for a little while before the real daybreak.  Push on.  This light will
+serve us a good turn."
+
+Once more the adventurous twain gained the river bank.  This time their
+efforts met with success, for showing clearly in the half-light of the
+false dawn was the _Myra_.
+
+"Nearly slack water," announced Denbigh.  "We're in luck.  Keep under
+cover in case the watch are feeling particularly energetic."
+
+While awaiting the return of darkness, Denbigh retrieved the
+handkerchief he had left as a mark, and wrapping it round the breech of
+the captured rifle, buried the weapon in the soft earth.  It might, he
+argued, come in handy within the next few days.  Beyond that time the
+rifle would be rapidly attacked by rust, for on the East Coast of
+Africa the action of corrosion is almost as quick as in the moist air
+of the Gold Coast.
+
+He was dubious concerning the bayonet.  It had a much larger blade than
+the British article, and its back was furnished with a formidable
+double row of teeth to within six inches of the point.  With it a man
+might fell a fairly large-size tree in an hour.
+
+"Pity to waste it," declared Denbigh.  "Only it's too long to hide
+under my clothes without great risk of its being spotted.  On the other
+hand, it may come in jolly useful."
+
+"Break it in two," suggested his chum.  "Even four inches of the blade
+might be handy."
+
+Wrapping his coat round the end of the blade in order to protect his
+hands, the sub brought the flat of the steel smartly against his knee.
+To his disgust the bayonet did not snap, as he fully expected it to do.
+It bent, and instead of flying back when the pressure was released it
+remained bent.
+
+"Good old Solingen steel!" exclaimed Denbigh disgustedly.  "Same rotten
+stuff that our cutlass-bayonets were made of in the '85 Soudan
+campaign."
+
+All efforts to break the bayonet failed.  The metal was so non-elastic
+that the sub gave up the attempt and hurled it into the mud.
+
+"Time!" he exclaimed.  "It's getting dark again."
+
+The men stripped, and made their clothes into bundles as before.  To
+return to the _Myra_ with their garments shedding streams of turgid
+water would never do, since they had no other clothes.
+
+"Ugh!" ejaculated O'Hara as his feet touched the loathsome slime.  "I
+can't say I'm hankering after a mud bath.  Can't say I like the rotten
+turnip-smelling water any better."
+
+"Dry up!" cautioned Denbigh under his breath.
+
+"Wish I could," retorted the irrepressible Irishman.  "Sure I'm wet
+altogether."
+
+They swam side by side, making use of the "dog-stroke", as there was
+less risk of attracting attention by an involuntary splashing.
+
+It was a nerve-racking ordeal, for the darkness was now intense.
+Hippopotami were noisy not so very far off; there was imminent danger
+from crocodiles, that, floating like logs in the water, were
+practically invisible until one was almost within arm's length of them.
+But on top of these unpleasant possibilities, the haunting dread that
+the rope ladder might have been removed was uppermost in Denbigh's mind.
+
+As the swimmers approached mid-stream, they found there was still a
+strong current.  It was indeed a hard struggle to make the ship.
+Well-nigh exhausted, the two chums gained their goal.  Thank heaven the
+end of the ladder was still trailing in the water.
+
+For some minutes the subs contented themselves by hanging on to the
+ropes and regaining their breath.  Then Denbigh, assuring himself that
+the key to the cabin was still hanging from a cord round his neck,
+began to ascend.  When his head was level with the bulwarks he peered
+cautiously along the deck.  He could see or hear no one.  Had a sentry
+been standing for'ard, it would have been possible to discern his
+outlines against the gloom.  He would have much rather seen the fellow
+and made arrangements accordingly, than to be in ignorance of where the
+sentry was, since it was unlikely that all the watch on deck were
+skulking.
+
+Denbigh ascended another rung and waited again.  This time he heard
+voices speaking in low guttural tones.  The watch were sheltering in
+the fore-peak.
+
+Reassured on this point, the sub leapt lightly over the rail.  As he
+did so his bare feet came in contact with something soft.  He had
+pitched fairly upon a fat German, who, heedless of the risk of sleeping
+in the open air, had coiled himself up under the lee of the bulwarks.
+
+The shock threw Denbigh to the deck.  Quickly regaining his feet, he
+saw the astonished German struggling to rise.  Before he could do so
+the sub dealt him a powerful left-hander.  Missing the point of the
+Teuton's chin, Denbigh's clenched fist struck him heavily on the nose.
+
+Thoroughly scared by the apparition of a stalwart black, the man took
+to his heels.  Yelling with fear, his cries for assistance were
+rendered indistinguishable owing to the fact that he held both hands
+pressed tightly over his nose, which was leaving a purple trail on the
+deck.
+
+"Come on!" hissed Denbigh to his chum.
+
+O'Hara needed no second bidding.  Clearing the bulwarks, he quickly cut
+adrift the ladder and raced after Denbigh, who was making with all
+possible dispatch for the companion.
+
+For a brief instant Denbigh fumbled with the key; then inserting it in
+the lock he threw open the door.
+
+"Back again, Armstrong," he announced coolly, for now all immediate
+danger was over.  "Have you any clean water handy?  We could both do
+with a good wash."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+Armstrong's Part
+
+Restraining his curiosity, the mate of the _Myra_ poured out some water
+into a tin bowl, and handed Denbigh a small piece of yellow soap.
+
+"There'll be just time to scrub your figureheads," he remarked.
+"You'll have to turn in pretty sharp, or you'll be bowled out.  They're
+getting a little bit excited on deck."
+
+Realizing that it would be as well to act on Armstrong's advice, the
+subs, by dint of hard scrubbing and plenty of soap, succeeded in
+removing the burnt cork from their faces, necks, and hands.  This done
+they donned their pyjamas and scrambled into their bunks, while the
+mate obligingly unpacked their bundles and laid out the garments with
+methodical precision.
+
+Armstrong was not far wrong in his surmise.  The excitement on deck
+bordered on a state of panic.  Every man of the prize crew turned out.
+Unter-leutnant Klick, having heard a muddled version of what had taken
+place, ordered the man who had been jumped upon to state what he knew.
+
+The seaman, still shaken and frightened, could only affirm that he was
+pacing the deck as conscientiously as a sentry should do, when the
+black figure leapt upon him from behind and felled him.
+
+"From behind, say you?" repeated Unter-leutnant Klick.  "How, then,
+could you see that he was black?"
+
+"I must have spun round, sir, as I fell," replied the fellow.  "I
+distinctly remember seeing that he was black and without clothing.  He
+may be a native."
+
+"Where did he go after taking you unawares?" asked the prize-master of
+the _Myra_.
+
+"Over the side, sir, I think.  I believe I heard the splash."
+
+Kaspar Klick, however, had his suspicions.  Not for one moment did he
+imagine that anyone would be so utterly reckless as to attempt to swim
+ashore and back again.  The river, teeming with hippopotami and
+crocodiles, offered too formidable an obstacle.  On the other hand, the
+mysterious assailant of the sentry might be one of several of the
+English prisoners, intent upon recapturing the ship.  Had the faithful
+sentry been felled without uttering a sound, the plot may have
+succeeded; but when the seaman made enough bellowing to awaken the
+Seven Sleepers, the daring Englishmen probably thought better of it,
+and had retired speedily and discreetly.
+
+Ordering half a dozen armed men to accompany him, Unter-leutnant Klick
+went for'ard.  Over the hatchway leading to the forehold, where the
+_Myra's_ deck hands were under lock and key, he found a sentry on duty.
+The man was most emphatic that no one had attempted to come on deck.
+The state of the padlock proved that.
+
+Still dubious, the unter-leutnant descended the main hold.  Making his
+way over a pack of miscellaneous cargo, he came to the for'ard
+bulkhead.  A careful examination showed that no effort had been made to
+cut through the partition separating the two holds.  He could,
+therefore, feel reassured that the original crew of the _Myra_ had not
+attempted to put into execution a plot to recover the ship.
+
+"Perhaps it is those harebrained officers we took from the Japanese
+liner," soliloquized Klick.  "I'll go the rounds now I am about it, and
+see if those fellows have been up to any tricks."
+
+Had the unter-leutnant gone aft as soon as he commenced his
+investigations, he might have noticed the tell-tale prints of wet feet,
+left by Denbigh and his chum as they scurried to the cabin.  By this
+time the marks had almost vanished.  The slight traces of dampness that
+remained were hardly noticeable in the gloom, for it was still dark,
+and 'tween decks the lantern gave but a feeble glimmer.
+
+Klick inserted his key into the lock and threw open the door.  The
+cabin was in darkness, until one of his men flashed a lantern into it.
+The unter-leutnant sniffed suspiciously.
+
+"Anyone awake?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," replied Armstrong.
+
+"You haf been a lamp burning," said Kaspar Klick accusingly.  "It is
+again der regulations."
+
+Armstrong's reply told the listening subs that he was "up to snuff".
+The prize-master had sniffed the odour of burnt cork; but since he had
+suggested that it was the smell of an extinguished oil-lamp, the mate
+did not contradict.
+
+"Yes," he replied.  "Mr. O'Hara hasn't been very well.  I had to give
+him some quinine, and a fellow must have a light to see that he is
+giving the right dose."
+
+"Ach!  Is dat so?" asked the unter-leutnant.  "Now, tell me dis.  Herr
+O'Hara, did he go on deck since last hour ago?"
+
+"No," replied Armstrong with perfect truthfulness.  "I am certain he
+didn't.  I'm a very light sleeper, and if he had moved I should have
+heard.  Besides, how could he get out without a key?" asked the mate
+with well-feigned innocence.
+
+"I tell you dis----" began Klick; but before he could carry out his
+intention a loud shout of "Wer da?" came from the deck, followed by an
+unintelligible hail, coming from some distance down the river.
+
+Kaspar Klick waited no longer.  Hurriedly he left the cabin, slamming
+and locking the door, and rushed on deck.  Aft, a sentry at the ready
+was repeating his challenge.  The first blush of the short tropical
+dawn revealed the presence of a four-oared galley speeding up with the
+tide.
+
+"We're from the _Pelikan_, sir," announced the petty officer in charge,
+as the boat ran alongside.  Without attempting to board the man
+delivered his message.
+
+In spite of the closed dead-light Denbigh and his companions could hear
+all the fellow was saying.
+
+"Herr Kapitan von Riesser sends his compliments," continued the
+coxswain.  "He is anxious to know whether any of the English prisoners
+have escaped."
+
+"No, certainly not," replied Kaspar Klick with righteous indignation in
+his voice, "our precautions are too elaborate to give the dogs a chance
+of that.  But why has Kapitan von Riesser sent you with that question?"
+
+"We've been in action, sir," declared the man.
+
+"We heard the firing," remarked Klick.  "And the result?"
+
+"One English cruiser sunk, another driven on to the rocks," announced
+the coxswain, allowing his imagination to kick over the traces.  "There
+were others.  We would have captured or destroyed those, only----"
+
+"Only what?" asked the unter-leutnant sharply.
+
+"Someone cut our field telegraph.  'B' battery could not get in touch
+with the observation officer and so the rest of the enemy escaped."
+
+"How do you know that the wire has been cut?" asked the unter-leutnant.
+"It might have carried away."
+
+"A whole length of it has been removed, sir," reported the coxswain.
+
+"Then it was the natives.  They'll steal anything in the metal line.
+Kapitan von Riesser ought to have known that," replied Klick with
+asperity.  "We look after our prisoners here.  None of them has the
+faintest chance of getting out of the ship.  Anything more to report?"
+
+"Only that Major von Eckenstein is missing.  He left the observation
+station to go to the _Pelikan's_ landing stage and never arrived.
+Search parties were out when I left."
+
+Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick made no audible comment.  Inwardly he
+rejoiced, after the manner of mean-minded men when they hear of
+misfortune overtaking those they dislike; for there was no love lost
+between the two representatives of the Kaiser's forces.
+
+"Very well; carry on back," he ordered.  "You can reassure Kapitan von
+Riesser on the points he mentioned."
+
+"There's something else, sir," reported the petty officer, producing a
+linen envelope from under a cushion in the stern-sheets.  "I had to
+deliver this to you personally."
+
+The German officer took the envelope and went below to read its
+contents.  It was to the effect that the _Pelikan_ had been lightened
+still more and that at high water she would attempt the bar.  The
+_Myra_ was to return down stream and stand by to render assistance if
+necessary.
+
+Returning on deck the prize-master gave back to the coxswain the order,
+to which was added a notation that it would be complied with, and
+dismissed the boat.  Then, grumbling at being turned out so early in
+the morning, Kaspar Klick retired to his cabin.
+
+"Is that right about the sinking of one of our cruisers?" asked
+Armstrong, when Denbigh had translated the gist of the conversation,
+for in spite of the port-hole being closed every word had been audible.
+
+"Hardly," replied Denbigh.  "The Germans have a funny habit of
+magnifying the size and class of any and every vessel they sink.
+Unfortunately they sent one of our destroyers to the bottom.  By Jove!
+doesn't this burnt cork take a lot of shifting?"
+
+The two subs were busily engaged in scrubbing off their sooty coats, to
+make the rest of their bodies harmonize with their faces.  Fresh water
+being strictly limited and yellow soap microscopic in size their task
+was not an easy one.
+
+"Well, if they attempt to bring the _Pelikan_ up the river," commented
+the mate of the _Myra_, "I hope they'll pile her up on the bar.  If
+they succeed we'll have to try our hand.  Don't I wish they'd let me
+have charge of the wheel for five minutes.  Now what do you think of
+these?  I call them champion."
+
+He held out the two dummy forelocks, which he had completed in the
+absence of Denbigh and his chum.  They had been coated with aluminium
+paint, while to give them a worn appearance he had rubbed charcoal over
+the paint.  Only by actual handling, when the difference in weight
+between the real and the spurious article could be detected, could the
+deception be discovered.
+
+"Capital!" exclaimed O'Hara, suppressing a yawn.  "Oh, dash it all!
+This is the result of being out of bed when one ought to be enjoying
+one's beauty sleep.  I'm turning in again."
+
+"Also this child," added Denbigh; but before the chums could throw
+themselves upon their bunks a bugle sounded.  It was the signal that
+another working day had begun, and that the prisoners had to turn out
+and assist their captors.
+
+"Morning," was Captain Pennington's greeting as Denbigh and O'Hara came
+on deck.  Then, making sure that no German was within earshot, he
+asked, "And what little game were _you_ up to last night?"
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Denbigh in surprise.
+
+"Like you I have a liking for fresh air," replied the skipper of the
+captured tramp.  "The Huns screwed down the dead-light to the
+port-hole, but forgot to enquire if I had a spanner.  They saved
+themselves an unnecessary question, by the by, for I would not have
+owned up to being in possession of a very serviceable one.  So during
+the night I opened the port-hole to get a breather.  I was rather
+surprised to find a rope-ladder dropped over the side, and still more
+so to see two disreputable niggers, whom I recognized as you two, swarm
+down and take a cold bath.  Also I had the pleasure of seeing the same
+dusky pair return, and had the intense satisfaction of hearing a German
+bellow like a whipped child."
+
+"Then we weren't so smart as we imagined," observed O'Hara.  "Fortunate
+it was for us that you weren't a Hun."
+
+Before the subs could enlighten Captain Pennington as to the nature of
+the mystery the unter-leutnant came up.
+
+"You vill haf to vork, kapitan," he said without further preliminaries.
+"If you no keep your crew up to concert pitch trouble you vill haf.
+You men vill vork vatch and vatch, see?"
+
+Captain Pennington merely nodded in reply.  He realized that passivity
+was desirable; on the other hand, having heard of Armstrong's little
+plan, it would not do to show unwonted eagerness to assist in working
+the ship.
+
+"Turn up der men," ordered Klick.
+
+"One minute," interposed Captain Pennington.  "We are not at sea now.
+My men have insufficient head-gear.  It's risking sunstroke."
+
+The unter-leutnant considered the affair for a few minutes.  Personally
+he didn't care a rope's-end whether the strafed Englishmen had
+sunstroke or not, until it occurred to him that a number of invalids
+would hamper operations.  Finally he gave orders for a number of solar
+topees or sun-helmets to be issued to the British crew.
+
+It was eight o'clock in the morning when the _Myra_ weighed.  Already
+the sun was unpleasantly hot.  There was no wind.  Under the shade of
+the mangroves the mists still held, while the black mud left uncovered
+by the falling tide gave out a most noxious vapour.
+
+To Denbigh's satisfaction Armstrong had been sent for'ard to
+superintend the weighing and catting on the anchor.  The stern anchor
+had already been hove short.
+
+Under the action of the steam winch the cable came home.  Manoeuvred by
+means of the twin screws the _Myra_ swung round in mid-stream, and as
+the "hook" broke out from the muddy bottom the tramp forged slowly
+ahead.
+
+Half a dozen British seamen were on the fo'c'sle together with three
+Germans.  The latter took good care to leave most of the work to the
+prisoners, so that Armstrong had a clear opportunity to withdraw the
+real forelocks from the anchors and replace them with the wooden ones.
+
+"That's all serene," he whispered to Denbigh as he came aft.  "Now
+there'll be trouble for the Deutschers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+The Disaster to the _Myra_
+
+Arriving at the entrance to the Mohoro River the _Myra_ made no attempt
+to recross the inner bar.  Nor did she anchor, contenting herself with
+merely steaming ahead against the flood-tide at a slow speed that kept
+her stationary with the shore.
+
+Just before high water the _Pelikan_ hove in sight from behind a
+projecting tongue of land.  She still retained her garb of palm trees.
+The subs noticed that she had a decided list to starboard.  This,
+however, was not due to a leak but to the fact that her cargo had been
+trimmed so as to throw her on her bilge and thus lighten her draught.
+
+Slowly she approached the bar, and promptly took ground.  Gripped by
+the strong tide the stern portion swung round, throwing her almost
+broadside athwart the river.
+
+Great was the confusion on board.  Half a dozen officers were shouting
+simultaneously; men were rushing hither and thither, with no apparent
+object, while with her engines reversed, her propellers were throwing
+huge columns of mud and water.
+
+Before the officers realized the danger the starboard propeller had
+shed its blades owing to their coming into contact with the bottom,
+while the port propeller was stopped after two blades had been badly
+buckled.
+
+Cautiously the lighter-draughted _Myra_ was backed astern until a
+couple of stout hawsers were passed to her from the stranded vessel.
+
+Three times the tramp endeavoured without success to tow off the
+_Pelikan_, but on each occasion the hawsers snapped.  By this time it
+was close on high water.
+
+Meanwhile the raider's crew were working like men possessed, throwing
+overboard heavy gear that Kapitan von Riesser would have given
+thousands of marks to retain.  Military stores of the utmost importance
+had to be ruthlessly sacrificed, unless the _Pelikan_ was to remain a
+target for the guns of the British cruisers which were even now
+supposed to be on their way from Zanzibar.
+
+On the fourth occasion a hawser was sent off to the _Myra_, while in
+addition the pinnace was towed into midstream with a large anchor slung
+underneath her keel.
+
+The anchor having been dropped, the cable was led to the _Pelikan's_
+steam capstan.  Directly the chain took the strain the _Myra_ began to
+tow, with the result that the luckless raider scraped heavily across
+the bar into deep water.
+
+Kapitan von Riesser was delighted, in spite of the loss of stores and
+gear.  The damaged propellers mattered little, since the _Pelikan_
+would never again attempt to put to sea.  The _Myra_ could tow her up
+the Mohoro River until she was out of range of the British cruisers'
+guns, and from that point the reinforcements for the German Field Force
+could proceed to the Rhodesian border and attempt to check General
+Smut's advance.
+
+Amongst the troops was Major von Eckenstein, who had been discovered
+lying unconscious at the foot of the cliffs.  He was badly battered
+about the face, and severely hurt internally.  When he came to he was
+quite unable to account for his injuries.  It was quite evident that
+from a combatant point of view the arrogant major was out of the
+running.
+
+As soon as the _Pelikan_ was in comparative safety the German troops
+were re-embarked.  The quick-firers which had been landed, and which
+had served so good a purpose in repelling the British destroyers, were
+brought round by steamboats and again hoisted on board the _Pelikan_.
+
+This done the _Myra_ took her big consort in tow, and against the now
+strong ebb-tide slowly crawled up the turgid river.
+
+Before the tidal stream had turned the two vessels had passed the spot
+where the tramp had anchored on the previous night.  Without stopping
+they proceeded up-stream, the _Pelikan_ keeping well under control by
+means of her rudder and a supplementary steering device consisting of a
+long spar towed astern to prevent the ship from yawing.
+
+"By Jove! there's trouble ahead," observed Denbigh, pointing to a sharp
+bend in the river about a mile ahead.  Here the tidal portion of the
+stream extended nearly 500 yards from bank to bank, while the actual
+channel was a bare fifth of that distance.  On the starboard hand ran a
+long tongue of mud, round which the stream swept with great violence.
+
+By this time a strong breeze had sprung up, blowing athwart the
+channel.  The absence of trees close to the bank increased the
+difficulty, for there was no protection from the wind as it swept
+against the lofty side of the slowly-moving _Pelikan_.
+
+Already the raider's semaphore was signalling to the _Myra_ to cast off
+and anchor until the tide slackened.
+
+With a grim smile on his face Armstrong winked solemnly at the subs.
+He said not a word, for several of the German seamen were standing by.
+
+"Let go!" ordered Unter-leutnant Klick, directly he saw that the
+_Pelikan_ had dropped her anchor.
+
+Promptly the British seaman stationed at the compressor obeyed.  The
+bower anchor fell with a sullen splash.  Fathom after fathom of chain
+roared through the hawse-pipe.
+
+Klick raised his hand as a signal for the cable to be checked.  The
+_Myra_ was still making sternway and showed no decided tendency to
+bring up.  Another fifty fathoms of chain were paid out.  Still the
+tramp dropped astern.  She was now within half a cable's length of the
+_Pelikan_, which to prevent herself being in collision was obliged to
+veer out her cable.
+
+"The anchor's not holding, sir!" shouted the German petty officer in
+charge of the fo'c'sle party.
+
+"Then let go a second anchor," yelled Klick excitedly.  "Make them look
+sharp, or we'll be foul of the _Pelikan_."
+
+The unter-leutnant had no cause to complain of the lack of energy on
+the part of the prisoners.  With the utmost dispatch the second anchor
+was let go.  Before twenty fathoms, which alone ought to be sufficient
+to bring the _Myra_ to a standstill, were paid out the whole of the
+cable of the first anchor had been made use of.
+
+Suddenly a sullen roar was heard coming from down-stream.  The Mohoro
+River at certain intervals, especially at extraordinary spring-tides,
+is subject to a bore.  The bore is very erratic.  Sometimes it is very
+much in evidence, at other times it is hardly perceptible; but there
+was no doubt that now it was of unusual magnitude.
+
+Nearer and nearer came the wall of solid water, maintaining an unbroken
+wave towards the centre of the river.  Close to the banks it broke
+heavily.
+
+"Go full speed ahead or we'll be into you!" shouted Kapitan von Riesser
+frantically.
+
+The _Myra's_ engine-room telegraph clanged.  Either by accident or
+design the British engineers were slow in replying.  The tramp was only
+just forging ahead when the bore swept under the _Pelikan's_ counter.
+
+Round swept the raider, her stern just missing the _Myra's_ taffrail.
+Fortunately her cables held, but not so the tramp.
+
+With her engines going ahead and held tightly by the scope of her
+anchor-chain--for the anchors themselves, thanks to their dummy
+forelocks, were useless--the tramp headed uncontrollably towards the
+port-hand bank.  In the midst of the tumult of water as the bore broke
+over her she struck and struck heavily.
+
+In an instant the doomed vessel fell over on her beam-ends.  With an
+appalling crash her funnels and masts went by the board.  So sudden was
+the catastrophe that a dozen German seamen were trapped down below.
+Only by the narrowest margin did the British engine-room staff make
+their escape.
+
+Of what occurred during the next few moments neither Denbigh nor O'Hara
+had any clear recollection.  They found themselves standing on the side
+of the vessel.  Captain Pennington, Armstrong, and Unter-leutnant Klick
+were there, too.  Up for'ard the British seamen and half a dozen of the
+German prize crew were scrambling along the upturned sides, which were
+by this time barely three feet above the surface of the raging stream.
+
+It was evident that the survivors had found only a very temporary place
+of refuge.  The force of the current sweeping past the ship was wearing
+out a deep hole in the bed of the river, into which the _Myra_ was
+slowly subsiding.  To attempt to escape by swimming was almost an
+impossibility, as the water surged and eddied past, forming a dangerous
+whirlpool close to the stern of the vessel.
+
+"By Jove!" exclaimed Armstrong.  "This is a proper wash-out.  We've
+done the trick properly this time."
+
+"Yes, it's more than we bargained for," added the Irishman.  "I would
+never have believed that a craft of this size would be swallowed up so
+quickly."
+
+Meanwhile Denbigh could not help noticing the marked difference in the
+demeanour of the British and German seamen, who by this time were up to
+their knees in water, and were soon, unless help were forthcoming, to
+be swept off their feet by the rush of the flood-tide.
+
+The Huns were shouting dolorously for aid; the _Myra's_ men were either
+stoically silent or else inclined to indulge in grim jests at the
+expense of the bellowing Teutons.
+
+Denbigh looked in the direction of the _Pelikan_.  The crew were
+engaged in lowering boats, and taking an extraordinarily long time
+about it, owing to the pronounced list of the raider and also to the
+fact that her decks were encumbered with her disguise of vegetation.
+
+Unter-leutnant Klick was trembling violently.  He, of all the officers
+taking refuge on the side of the tramp, had managed to procure a
+life-belt.  Even the contemptuous glances of the _Myra's_ skipper
+failed to shame him.
+
+Presently the first of the _Pelikan's_ boats came tearing up-stream.
+It required all the strength of the oarsmen to check her way.  An
+ironical cheer from the British seamen greeted her arrival.
+
+"Women and children first!" they yelled derisively as the
+unter-leutnant and the surviving German seamen made a frantic rush for
+the boat.
+
+Two of the Huns jumped short.  Although good swimmers they were swirled
+away like pieces of straw, until, drawn into the vortex of the
+whirlpool, they disappeared.
+
+The second boat, backing towards the deadly whirlpool, awaited the
+men's reappearance, but in vain.  Then, attempting to run alongside the
+wreck, the frail craft bumped heavily upon a submerged part of the
+vessel and stove in a couple of planks.  While two of the crew began to
+bale, the boat was swept several hundred yards up the river, for the
+remaining rowers were helpless against the flood.
+
+Meanwhile the first boat, having rescued the unter-leutnant and the
+surviving German seamen, began to approach the wreck again; until
+Klick, in an agony of terror lest she, too, would meet with disaster,
+ordered the men to push off.
+
+A third boat--a whaler--came upon the scene.  Acting with great caution
+her coxswain brought her alongside and motioned to Denbigh and his
+companions to leap.
+
+"Those men first," cried Captain Pennington, pointing to those of his
+crew who were still maintaining a precarious hold.
+
+The coxswain understood and allowed his boat to drift down upon the
+handful of seamen.  Coolly the British crew scrambled into safety, and
+the whaler, urged under the powerful strokes of the oarsmen, began to
+make her way aft.
+
+Suddenly the almost submerged part on which Denbigh and his companions
+were standing gave a sickening shudder and disappeared beneath the
+surface.  A swirl of water, surging with irresistible force, swept the
+four officers off their feet.
+
+The next instant Denbigh found himself struggling for dear life in the
+foaming yellow water of Mohoro River.  In spite of his peril, he could
+not help contrasting his involuntary bath with that of the previous
+night.  Then the water was warm, tranquil, and evil-smelling.  Unseen
+dangers assailed him on every hand.  Now the same river was nothing
+less than a broiling cauldron.
+
+With almost superhuman strength Denbigh struck out.  Already he was
+within the influence of the deadly whirlpool.  Spinning round and round
+he kept his face from the vortex, striving, but in vain, to overcome
+the suction of the gigantic eddy.
+
+He could see no signs of his companions.  Either they had already
+disappeared, or else they had been thrown beyond the range of the
+inverted cone that marked the position of the whirlpool.
+
+Even in danger of imminent death, the sub recalled an incident in the
+Clarence Victualling Yard, several years ago.  He had been taken by his
+father to see the process of manufacturing ships' biscuits.  In one
+building he saw flour sliding down an inclined plane into a mixing
+machine.  Mingled with the flour were several large maggots, that gave
+the name to the creek that forms the approach by water to the
+Victualling Yard.  Finding themselves disturbed, the insects tried to
+wriggle back, but in vain.  Down they slid till caught in the mixer,
+finally to form part of the ingredients of ship's biscuits.
+
+"And I'm almost in the same boat as those weevils," thought Denbigh
+grimly, as he completed a circle for the twentieth time.
+
+He was nearing the vortex.  The spiral motion became quicker.  An
+irresistible force was dragging him down.
+
+Suddenly Denbigh threw up his arms.  He was physically played out.
+Like an arrow he shot into the pit in the centre of that mass of
+whirling water.  The blaze of the African sun gave place to intense
+darkness.  He held his breath, until his lungs seemed to be on the
+point of bursting.
+
+As rapidly as he had gone down the sub was shot to the surface.  Again
+he was within the range of the whirlpool, for its centre, instead of
+being stationary, was moving in an ellipse.
+
+Unable even to struggle, Denbigh was again sucked down.  This time,
+incapable of holding his breath, he swallowed a quantity of water.  The
+pressure on his chest was excruciating.  Then torture gave place to a
+strange calmness.  On an instant, recollections of practically the
+whole of his past life flashed across his mind.  The mental pictures
+faded away and all became blank.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A Bid for Freedom
+
+When Denbigh opened his eyes he found himself in the now familiar cabin
+on board the _Pelikan_.  There were several people in the limited
+space.  He did not feel any interest in them.  They irritated him.  He
+wanted to sleep.
+
+Gradually it dawned upon him that he had a narrow escape.  Then he
+remembered that O'Hara was with him when he was swept off the side of
+the _Myra_.
+
+"You there, Pat?" he asked, half afraid to put the question in case his
+chum was gone.
+
+"Sure," replied a deep voice from the opposite bunk.
+
+Denbigh attempted to sit up.  He felt horribly sick.  His head was
+whirling.  It reminded him very forcibly and unpleasantly of his spiral
+flight around the vortex of the whirlpool.
+
+"Lie still, Mr. Denbigh," said Captain Pennington.  "You'll be fit all
+in good time."
+
+"All right," agreed the sub.  He was not in a fit state to do
+otherwise.  "Where is the _Pelikan_ now?"
+
+The skipper of the _Myra_ lowered his voice.
+
+"Properly trapped.  She cannot go another fifty yards up the river.
+We've spoilt her little game."
+
+"Good business," murmured Denbigh, and turning on his side he fell
+asleep.
+
+His escape was little short of miraculous.  It was owing to the fact
+that he wore his solar topee fastened by a strong "chin-stay".  The
+air-space between the double thickness of the sun-helmet possessed
+sufficient buoyancy to bring him to the surface, after being twice
+taken down by the whirlpool.
+
+A few minutes previous to the disaster, the bore had exhausted itself
+at a point ten miles up the river, and the "rebound" had made itself
+felt just at the time when Denbigh made his second involuntary dive.
+The sudden slackening of the full force of the flood-tide had caused
+the whirlpool to cease, with the result that the sub floated
+unconscious on the surface of the river, when he was picked up by the
+_Pelikan's_ whaler.  O'Hara, Captain Pennington, and Armstrong had been
+more fortunate, for they had been swept clear of the influence of the
+eddy.
+
+The result of Armstrong's plot had rather exceeded his expectations.
+The _Myra_ lay athwart the channel, with less than twelve feet of water
+over her at high tide.  Until the Mohoro River cut itself a new bed
+round the submerged wreck--which might take twenty-four hours or as
+many days--the _Pelikan_ would be unable to proceed.  Even if the
+obstruction did not exist, the raider was unable to proceed owing to
+the loss of her propeller blades.
+
+The whole of the stores removed from the _Pelikan_ to the _Myra_, as
+well as those originally in the tramp's holds, were hopelessly lost,
+including the bulk of the ammunition and arms intended for the German
+colonial troops.  There were several hundred reservists still on board,
+with no facilities for their transfer up-country.  Even had there been
+boats available for them all, the voyage up the Mohoro was fraught with
+danger.
+
+On the other hand, to remain in the _Pelikan_ was to court disease and
+famine, even should the raider escape detection by the British cruisers.
+
+Kapitan von Riesser's position was far from enviable.  He soundly rated
+Unter-leutnant Klick, who in turn tried to shift the blame upon the
+British sailors for their dilatoriness in letting go the anchors.  Von
+Riesser had seen with his own eyes that the anchors had been let go
+promptly.  He could not, therefore, accuse the _Myra's_ original crew
+of conspiracy, since he had no evidence.  The prospect of capture, too,
+made him treat the prisoners with far more consideration than he would
+have done had his position been a secure one.
+
+The kapitan of the _Pelikan_ was not, however, going to "knuckle under"
+without another effort.  For the next three days all hands were kept
+hard at work, in spite of the blazing sunshine by day and the miasmic
+mists by night.
+
+The guns previously landed on the shores of the lagoon and afterwards
+taken on board again were once more sent ashore, and placed in position
+so as to command a wide stretch of river.  The _Pelikan_, being now
+moored fore and aft, had the remaining quick-firers mounted at the
+stern, so as to cooperate with the shore batteries in sweeping the
+approach by water.
+
+Two miles down-stream a steel-studded cable was thrown across from bank
+to bank, and supported by barrels lashed in pairs at frequent
+intervals.  The obstruction ought to prevent the dash by armed
+steamboats, even if unable to withstand the headlong charge of a
+destroyer.
+
+The most formidable objects of defence were the two torpedo-tubes,
+which were removed from the ship and placed in position on shore four
+hundred yards below the chain boom.  To enable the torpedoes to be
+fired, light piers were thrown out from the banks into twelve feet of
+water, the structure being hidden by boughs of trees and clumps of
+reeds.  On the high ground at the back of the torpedo station
+searchlights were mounted.  These were not to be used as a
+precautionary measure, but only to be switched on when an attack was
+visibly imminent.  Von Riesser's principal aim was to remain hidden.
+If his retreat were discovered then he would put up a fight, and
+failing to win would surrender with a good conscience.
+
+Long before the three days had elapsed Denbigh had quite recovered from
+the effects of his prolonged immersion.  He had, with the rest of the
+captured British officers, little opportunity of finding out the actual
+steps that were being taken for defence.  They knew that work was in
+progress, but during the removal of the torpedo-tubes and guns they had
+been sent below.
+
+One discovery Denbigh made, and that was through overhearing a chance
+conversation between two German petty officers.  It also accounted for
+the seemingly purposeless reluctance to confine the prisoners in the
+hold instead of attempting to chloroform them in their cabin.
+
+The _Pelikan_ was double-skinned, but the space between the double
+bottoms was far greater than is usual in marine construction.  It had
+practically two hulls, one within the other, and in the intervening
+space were stowed quantities of warlike stores.
+
+When the _Pelikan_ had been boarded by a British patrol officer the
+deception escaped detection.  Apparently the _Zwaan_ was a harmless
+Dutch liner.  The sub-lieutenant who acted as boarding-officer was not
+sufficiently versed in the ways of the wily Teuton.  An examination of
+the hold revealed nothing suspicious, and the vessel was accordingly
+released.
+
+Unfortunately for the Germans their plans had gone awry, for on
+grounding on the outer bar the ship had strained several of her plates,
+with the result that the space between the inner and the outer skin was
+flooded.  Not only were the stores spoilt, but, in order to lighten her
+draught in addition to compensating for lost buoyancy, cargo more than
+equivalent to that flooded had to be jettisoned.
+
+Having landed the quick-firers and torpedo-tubes, the crew of the
+_Pelikan_ proceeded to increase the disguise of the ship.  She was now
+a regular floating palm forest.  So thick was the foliage brought on
+board and secured to the masts and upper works that sun-awnings were
+unnecessary.  Even an observer in a seaplane, unless he were prepared
+for such a disguise, would fail to distinguish the raider in her garb
+of verdure.
+
+"How do you feel for another jaunt ashore?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"I can't say I am particularly keen on another swim," replied O'Hara.
+"Otherwise I've no objection to studying the fauna and flora of this
+delectable land.  But what's the object?"
+
+"It's about time we bade farewell to the _Pelikan_" replied Denbigh.
+"It's four days since that little affair with the destroyers, and our
+cruisers have apparently made no attempt to get even with von Riesser
+and his motley crowd.  I'm rather curious to know what's doing?"
+
+"I can't see how going ashore will help," objected the Irishman.
+
+"It will if we get to the mouth of the river.  If the cruisers are in
+the lagoon, well and good."
+
+"And if not?"
+
+"Then we'll have to exist as best we can till they do arrive."
+
+"H'm," muttered O'Hara.  "And the other fellows--Pennington and
+Armstrong?"
+
+"We'll ask them to join our merry throng," answered Denbigh.  "The more
+the better, once we get clear of the ship."
+
+That same afternoon the subs broached the matter to the master and mate
+of the lost _Myra_.
+
+"I must cry off, thanks all the same," was Captain Pennington's reply.
+"Happen what may my place is with my men.  I have no objection to
+Armstrong going with you, but I hope you have carefully weighed the
+matter.  If you miss being picked up by the boats of the squadron your
+plight will be an unenviable one.  The climate, the wild nature of the
+coast, and the natives, who are certainly under German influence, are
+all against you.  Personally I think you stand a better chance by
+remaining here and letting events take their course.  The _Pelikan_ is
+trapped.  Capture or destruction is but a matter of time."
+
+"True," admitted Denbigh.  "But these fellows evidently mean to put up
+a stiff fight.  They've been doing something down the river--probably
+throwing up masked batteries.  If we could manage to find out what they
+are up to and can communicate the intelligence to our ships it would
+help matters."
+
+"That's another consideration," said Captain Pennington.  "In fact,
+your duty lies that way."
+
+"Are you trying your luck with us, Armstrong?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"I'd be only too pleased to have a cut at it," replied the mate.
+"Especially as Captain Pennington has no objections.  How do you
+propose to get clear of the ship?  You can't swim ashore, because
+there's nothing but slimy mud on the bank for some distance."
+
+"There's a punt made fast alongside the port quarter," said Denbigh.
+"They don't hoist it on board at night, because it's there when we turn
+in and in the same place when we come on deck in the morning.  They
+only use it during the day."
+
+"And there's a sentry right aft," objected Armstrong.  "He'd spot us as
+sure as daylight."
+
+"Look here," declared the sub.  "If I succeed in getting her alongside
+amidships will you be ready to swarm down and into her?"
+
+Armstrong nodded in assent.  O'Hara also expressed his willingness to
+attempt the enterprise.
+
+The Irishman still had his pistol.  He had taken an early opportunity
+of cleaning it after his immersion.  The screw-driver had been lost in
+the _Myra_, but by this time the lock furniture was easy to remove, a
+coin doing duty for the hitherto indispensable tool.  The three men
+also contrived to reserve a small quantity of food and a glass bottle
+filled with soda-water.
+
+Captain Pennington and Armstrong had been berthed in the same cabin as
+the two subs.  That facilitated matters, since the master of the _Myra_
+could cover his companions' tracks.
+
+"They'll make it pretty hot for me when they find you've cleared out,"
+he remarked.  "I can stick that.  I don't think they'll go to extreme
+measures with me.  If they do they'll be sorry for it later on."
+
+At the usual hour the officer-prisoners were ordered below.  By ten
+o'clock all was still.  The crew of the raider were no longer working
+by night.  The bulk of the preparations completed they were given ample
+opportunities for rest, since it was necessary to conserve their
+energies for defence against the impending attack.
+
+On deck a strict watch was maintained, but the attention of the
+sentries was mainly directed downstream, whence the sudden switching on
+of the searchlights was to be the signal of the approach of the British
+flotillas.
+
+It was not until two bells (1 a.m.) that the three officers stole from
+their cabin.  On deck all was in darkness.  There was no moon.  Every
+light was extinguished.  A mist obscured the glimmer of the stars.  It
+was one of those nights when it was really impossible to see one's hand
+in front of one's face.
+
+Without interruption the three officers gained the shelter of one of
+the boats slung inboard with davits.  Here, eight feet above the deck,
+they were in comparative safety.  Groping in the stern-sheets Denbigh
+found what he expected--a hand lead-line.
+
+Keeping the weighted end in the boat he dropped the coils overboard.
+Caught by the swirling current the line trailed out astern.  His next
+task was to lower the boat's painter, which was to form a means of
+getting down into the punt.
+
+Stealthily the sub lowered himself hand over hand until his feet
+touched the water.
+
+"Good heavens, what a current!" he thought.  "Well, if the lead-line
+parts it will be an end to this little business.  Here goes!"
+
+He slipped softly into the river, striking out against the current, and
+at the same time allowing the rush of water to sweep him down across
+the bows of the punt, which was about a hundred feet from the place
+where he had descended.
+
+Suddenly something flicked across his head.  It was the trailing
+lead-line.  Grasping it he allowed himself to be carried past the side
+of the ship until he came within reach of the punt, which was made fast
+to the lizard of one of the swinging booms.
+
+Still retaining the line Denbigh clambered over the stern.  The punt
+was yawing in the tideway.  He could see that it would be impossible to
+haul it against the stream unless he kept well off.
+
+He groped for'ard.  In the bluff stem he found a metal ring-bolt.
+Through this he passed the lead-line, making fast to another ring-bolt
+in the transom.
+
+So far so good.  His next step was to cut adrift the unwieldy little
+craft.  Released from the hold of the two ropes the punt swung away
+from the ship's side, but showed little tendency to yaw.
+
+Slowly Denbigh began to haul in the lead-line.  Foot by foot the punt
+crept up-stream.  Trimmed well by the stern she towed lightly, but the
+securing line was none too strong.  His journey to the place where he
+had entered the water seemed interminable, but at length Denbigh felt
+the trailing painter of the boat in the davits.
+
+He made fast.  As he did so the punt swung in towards the ship's side,
+her gunwale making a resounding sound as it came in contact with the
+steel plating.
+
+He could hear men's footsteps approaching.  Through the darkness he
+heard a German sailor enquiring of his companion what the noise was.
+The fellow expressed his opinion that it was merely a hippopotamus, and
+the explanation being evidently satisfactory the men went aft once more.
+
+Grasping the painter Denbigh jerked it three times.  It was the
+prearranged signal for his comrades to rejoin him.  Silently Armstrong
+slid down the rope, followed by O'Hara.
+
+By this time they were growing accustomed to the darkness.  Denbigh
+could see the white uniforms of his companions.  He wondered whether
+they would be spotted once the punt drifted away from the ship's side.
+
+Just above his head was a cluster of palm branches, suspended in a line
+from the rail.
+
+"I'll take the liberty of removing some of their floral decorations,"
+mused Denbigh.  Then signing to his companions to lie down he covered
+them with the broad leaves, cut the log-line, and allowed the punt to
+drift at the mercy of the strong ebb-tide.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+Disappointment
+
+"Any oars on board?" asked O'Hara, after the frail craft had drifted a
+few hundred yards down the river.
+
+"Not a suspicion of one," replied Armstrong.  "And the bore will be due
+in about an hour."
+
+"Hands, lads!" exclaimed Denbigh cheerily.  "Let us imagine we're
+taking part in a Fleet regatta."
+
+Leaning over the sides the men paddled with their hands, steering a
+course obliquely with the left bank of the river.
+
+Once the punt tilted alarmingly as a dark heavy body rasped underneath.
+The denizens of the river were in evidence.  The officers prudently
+suspended operations until the unwelcome intruder had disappeared.
+
+"Hulloa, what's that?" whispered the Irishman.  "Hippos right across
+the river."
+
+The punt was bearing down upon a line of dark objects that were
+apparently forging ahead against the swift current.
+
+"Back starboard!" ordered Denbigh promptly.
+
+The punt, checked by the resistance of O'Hara's palms in the water,
+swung sideways.  As it did so Denbigh gathered up the slack of the
+severed lead-line that still remained on board.
+
+Retaining the ends he threw the bight across one of the black objects,
+at the same time lying at full length on the bottom of the boat.  With
+a jerk that wellnigh capsized the crank craft the punt's way was
+checked.
+
+"Your hippos are barrels, old man!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Mines, perhaps," suggested Armstrong.  "Be careful, for goodness sake."
+
+"Not mines," declared Denbigh.  "They wouldn't be floating on the
+surface.  But it's some infernal contrivance.  Haul closer and we'll
+investigate."
+
+Warding off the gunwale from the plunging barrel Denbigh dipped his arm
+into the water.  His hand came in contact with a heavy chain eighteen
+inches beneath the surface.
+
+"A boom!" he announced.  "By Jove!  If we had a slab of gun-cotton
+handy."
+
+"Hist!" exclaimed O'Hara warningly.  "I can hear voices."
+
+"It's time for us to go," whispered Armstrong.
+
+Denbigh cast off.  The barrel appeared to leap away from them, as the
+punt was swept down-stream.
+
+"Not much use attempting to land at this point," said Armstrong.
+
+"I don't know so much about that," rejoined Denbigh.  "Personally I'm
+rather anxious to see what these fellows are doing ashore.  Keep her
+going, Pat.  We'll strike the bank in less than half a mile."
+
+Paddling in silence the men pursued their tedious course athwart the
+current until a dull roar was borne to their ears.
+
+"The bore!" exclaimed Armstrong.
+
+"It will be quite ten minutes before it reaches us," replied Denbigh.
+"Stick to it, lads!"
+
+The amphibians, with the keen instinct that nature bestowed upon them,
+also were aware of the approach of the foaming mass of water, for the
+centre of the river was literally alive with hippopotami and saurians
+that had not gone ashore for a nocturnal ramble.  The crocodiles on the
+mud-flats were either making for deep water or else crawling higher up
+the banks out of the rush of the irresistible bore.
+
+"Aground!" exclaimed Denbigh as the punt's bows touched the mud.
+"Check her from swinging round."
+
+Armstrong promptly jumped overboard, to sink above his knees in the
+soft mud.  Only by holding on to the gunwale was he able to keep
+himself from sinking still deeper.
+
+"We can't land here," he announced.  "We'll be in up to our necks."
+
+"Must," declared Denbigh laconically, raising his voice to enable it to
+be heard above the now loud roar of the approaching bore.
+
+Seizing the lead-line and bending one end round his waist Denbigh leapt
+overboard, threw himself at full length upon the mud, and working with
+his hands drew himself laboriously over the slimy surface.  It was
+horribly exhausting work, but to his intense satisfaction he found
+himself making visible progress without sinking beyond a few inches in
+the ooze.
+
+Ahead he could discern the dark outlines of the mangrove forest.  It
+seemed an interminable distance away.
+
+Presently his hand came in contact with the trunk of a tree, that had
+fallen and had been partly embedded in the mud.  It afforded a
+precarious foothold, but proceeding carefully, Denbigh found that the
+farther end rested in comparatively firm soil.
+
+Planting his feet against the trunk, the sub hauled at the lead-line
+with all his might.  The flat-bottomed punt glided easily over the
+slime until its bows were within a yard of the fallen tree.  Then,
+unexpectedly, the rope that had rendered such good service parted like
+pack-thread.
+
+Denbigh, losing his balance, fell prostrate on the ground, which was
+here soft enough to break his fall but sufficiently stiff to prevent
+him from being swallowed up in the mud.
+
+Quickly O'Hara and Armstrong jumped, and grasping their fallen comrade
+hauled him to his feet.  They had barely time to gain the firm bank
+when the bore thundered past, sweeping the punt away like a straw.
+They had a momentary glimpse of its bows rearing high in the air on the
+crest of the foaming, breaking wall of water, then it vanished out of
+sight.
+
+"Phew!" exclaimed Armstrong.  "That was a narrow squeak."
+
+"I'm in a horrible mess," announced Denbigh.  "The mud of Portsmouth
+Harbour is eau de Cologne compared with this filthy slime."
+
+"Good heavens, man! you're shivering," declared O'Hara.  "That won't
+do.  Here, take my coat.  I don't want it.  I insist."
+
+Waving aside Denbigh's objections the Irishman made him take off his
+saturated garments, while the rest of the deficiency of the sub's
+wardrobe was temporarily made good by making use of Armstrong's silk
+scarf as a loin-cloth.  The men realized that in the deadly African
+climate dry clothing was of utmost importance.  The sub's saturated and
+mud-encaked garments were made up into a bundle to be washed and dried
+at the first opportunity.
+
+"Now," said Denbigh, "I feel like a giant refreshed.  We've plenty of
+time, for it's no use getting to the coast before sunrise.  If you
+fellows like to wait here I'll go up along the banks and see what is at
+the shore end of that chain."
+
+"It isn't going to be a one-man show," objected O'Hara.  "We'll all
+have a chip in.  You lead, if you will, old man.  I'll follow just far
+enough behind to keep you in view.  Armstrong, will you bring up the
+rear?"
+
+In single file and extended order the three officers made their way
+towards their objective.  Keeping just below high-water mark they found
+the ground easy to walk upon, and, with one exception, free from the
+presence of crocodiles.
+
+One huge brute barred their path, but on Denbigh hurling a heavy stick
+in its direction, the saurian turned and waddled towards the water.
+
+Noiselessly, for the soft ground effectually deadened the sound of
+their footsteps, the daring explorers advanced.
+
+Suddenly a hoarse voice broke the silence with a guttural "Wer da?"
+
+Without a moment's hesitation Denbigh dropped gently to the ground.
+His companions followed his example, holding their breath in momentary
+expectation of hearing a bullet whizzing over their heads.
+
+"It's all right, Schlutze," replied a voice.  "The leutnant sent me to
+bring some more hands down.  There's a boat broken adrift.  She's
+grinding against the end of the torpedo-station pier."
+
+"What boat?" asked the sentry, recovering his rifle.
+
+"I do not know.  It's empty."
+
+"Not an English boat?" asked the man anxiously.
+
+"When the English do venture they will attempt the attack with
+something bigger, my friend.  The bigger the better, for they will
+never be able to pass here, with our excellent torpedo-tubes trained
+across the river.  But I must be moving.  Herr leutnant is in a great
+hurry.  He does not want his piers damaged."
+
+Denbigh remained lying on the ground.  He waited until half a dozen
+Germans passed within twenty yards of him.  He could hear their heavy
+boots clattering on the planks of the foliage-screened pier, although
+the structure was invisible from where he lay.
+
+Finding that it would be too risky a business to attempt to pass the
+sentry, Denbigh crawled back to O'Hara, and by signs indicated that he
+was going into the forest.  The three comrades, keeping close together,
+turned their backs upon the river and were soon swallowed up in the
+dense foliage.
+
+Maintaining his direction by means of his spirit-compass, Denbigh held
+on until he came upon a clearing.  Here the ground was furrowed with
+deep ruts.  They had evidently been caused by the recent passage of
+heavy objects drawn upon rough sleighs.  The dew-steeped ground bore
+the impress of many booted feet as well as, to a lesser extent, those
+of natives.
+
+"They've been lugging up the quick-firers," mentally commented Denbigh.
+"I wonder where they've hidden them?  Wish to goodness they hadn't
+employed niggers.  I don't mind getting on the track of a Hun, but the
+blacks have an awkward trick of turning the tables upon a fellow when
+it comes to following a spoor."
+
+He waited, revolving in his mind the problem that confronted him.  His
+companions stood motionless and silent.  They, too, realized that
+danger lurked in the dense bush.
+
+Again Denbigh consulted his compass.  The track on his left hand lay in
+a north-westerly direction.  Assuming that it ran fairly straight, it
+would open out at the river banks in the vicinity of the temporary
+piers.  In the other direction it showed a tendency to curve to the
+north-east.
+
+"I'll try the right-hand track," decided the sub.  "I suppose it will
+be out of the question to get those two obstinate fellows to remain
+here."
+
+He put the proposal in dumb show, but both O'Hara and Armstrong
+vigorously protested against being left behind.
+
+The three officers again took shelter in the bush, keeping close and
+parallel to the beaten track.  Twenty minutes' steady progress brought
+them to the edge of a large clearing.  By the compass their direction
+was now due west, showing that they had described a large semicircle.
+They were now not far from the river.  They could hear the swirl of the
+flood-tide.  Towards the centre of the clearing were several indistinct
+objects that looked like gun-emplacements.  Through the darkness came
+the sound of men's voices.  A dog yelped, and was instantly told to be
+silent.
+
+"This is no place for us," thought Denbigh.  "Much as I should like to
+see what is over there, I think we'll shift.  I'll try and see how this
+clearing bears for the river."
+
+Fifty yards farther on progress was barred by a line of young trees.
+Groping, the sub attempted to find a gap, but to his surprise the stem
+he grasped gave way.  It was merely the top of a palm tree lopped off
+and forced into the ground.  The whole row was merely a screen to mask
+the guns from the river.
+
+As the sub scrambled through the gap his foot tripped against a
+concealed wire, and a spurt of red flame stabbed the darkness
+accompanied by the sharp crack of a rifle.
+
+Resisting the impulse to take to their heels the three officers backed
+cautiously into the forest.  Already numbers of men were hurrying to
+the spot.  Lights flashed upon the scene, revealing the presence of two
+searchlight projectors set up on platforms almost above the heads of
+the British fugitives.
+
+In the confusion, for the German officers and men were shouting and
+aimlessly running hither and thither, Denbigh and his companions
+withdrew, until they found themselves at the place where a couple of
+hours previously they had landed from the punt.
+
+"Full speed ahead!" exclaimed Denbigh.  "It will be dawn by the time we
+reach the shore of the lagoon.  I think we've seen enough to enable us
+to locate the enemy's shore defences."
+
+"Through the forest, or by the river?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"Both," replied his chum.  "Two miles farther down-stream is the spot
+where we landed from the _Myra_.  I can recognize it.  You remember
+what we buried there?"
+
+"Rather," replied the Irishman.  "The rifle and the ammunition we took
+from von Eckenstein's man."
+
+"It will come in jolly handy if we fall foul of more wild animals,"
+continued Denbigh.  "When we've recovered the rifle we'll follow the
+same track as we did previously.  Let's hope we'll be in time to warn
+our cruisers, for from all appearances von Riesser hasn't played
+himself out just yet."
+
+"You're taking into consideration the possibility that the Germans have
+left an observation post at the entrance to the river?" asked Armstrong.
+
+"Rather," replied Denbigh.  "Even if they hadn't posted a guard they'll
+have made arrangements with the natives to give them the tip.  Best leg
+forward, lads.  If we fail to see the White Ensign before another six
+hours have passed I shall be horribly disappointed."
+
+In spite of Denbigh's assurances the men had great difficulty in
+locating the spot where the rifle and ammunition had been hidden.  The
+lack of moonlight altered the appearance of the river completely.
+Landmarks and bearings were useless in the darkness; but at length the
+weapon was recovered little the worse for its experience.  Having
+cleaned the dirt from the muzzle, the breech-mechanism having been
+protected when it was buried, O'Hara took possession of the rifle and
+the journey was resumed.
+
+The short African dawn was breaking as the three officers reached the
+low cliffs overlooking the lagoon.
+
+A grunt of disappointment burst from Denbigh's lips.  The morning mists
+had dispersed.  The whole of the reef was plainly visible.  The horizon
+was unbroken by any object that could be recognized as a British
+warship.
+
+Unaccountably the blockading squadron had disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+"Our Luck's Out"
+
+"That's done it!" ejaculated O'Hara.
+
+"Perhaps," admitted Denbigh.  "We'll have some grub and discuss the
+situation.  It's good to sniff the open sea, after being cooped up in
+that pestilential river.  That's one consolation."
+
+The three chums ate sparingly, supplementing the provisions with the
+milk of a coco-nut.  The soda-water was by common consent kept intact.
+
+As soon as the sun's rays acquired strength Denbigh washed his
+mud-encrusted clothes in the sea and spread them out to dry.
+
+"What's the programme?" asked Armstrong.  "If we hang about here we
+stand a chance of getting nabbed.  Our flight will have been discovered
+by this time, and they'll naturally conclude that we've made off
+towards the mouth of the river."
+
+"Unless they conclude, from finding the punt jammed alongside the pier,
+that we've been slung out and drowned," rejoined Denbigh.  "But we'll
+take no needless chances.  We'll go north.  Once we pass the clearing
+where the native village stands the coast ought to be fairly clear, and
+we can still command a view of the entrance to the lagoon."
+
+Without incident the three officers made their way for nearly three
+miles along the coast.  By this time the intense heat was making itself
+felt, and at O'Hara's suggestion they retreated to the cool of the
+forest, taking turns at keeping watch.
+
+During the afternoon a native canoe appeared round a projecting bluff.
+The men had been fishing, for they brought a goodly haul on shore.
+Dragging the frail craft above high-water mark the blacks vanished in
+the direction of the village.
+
+O'Hara, who was keeping watch, astonished his companions by giving them
+each a violent shake.
+
+"What's wrong?" asked Denbigh, awake and alert in an instant.
+
+"Nothing," replied the imperturbable Irishman.
+
+"Then why this thusness?"
+
+"Are you keen on a sea voyage?"
+
+"A sea voyage?" repeated Denbigh.
+
+"To Latham Island."
+
+"Do you propose swimming there?" asked Armstrong with considerable
+asperity, for he had been disturbed in the midst of a much-needed sleep.
+
+"There's a canoe awaiting us," reported O'Hara.  "The sea's calm.
+To-night's the night.  You told me that the _Pelikan's_ people left a
+whaler and plenty of provisions and stores hidden on the island.  With
+luck we ought to be able to fetch there, resurrect the boat, and make a
+dash for Zanzibar.  We'd have the S.W. monsoon with us all the way, and
+if we fell in with one of our ships so much the better."
+
+"Where's your precious discovery?" asked Denbigh.
+
+Accompanying his chum to the edge of the cliff O'Hara pointed out the
+canoe.
+
+"H'm, not much of a craft to make a voyage to a sandbank twenty-three
+miles from land," remarked Denbigh.
+
+"We can work inside the lagoon for several miles and then keep close
+inshore until we reach Ras What's-its-name," continued O'Hara
+optimistically.  "I've seen these native canoes miles out to sea before
+to-day.  They seem pretty seaworthy."
+
+While daylight lasted the three chums rested, after taking the
+precaution of gathering a supply of coco-nuts and roots.  The subs eyed
+the latter with misgivings, in spite of Armstrong's assurances that
+they were both edible and nourishing.
+
+As soon as the sun had set behind the boundless mangrove forests the
+daring trio made their way to the spot where the canoe was lying.  The
+craft was about twenty-four feet in length, but only four in beam.
+With her half-dozen short paddles, a mast and sail, suitable only for
+running before the wind, and a stone jar half-full of water.  Owing to
+the porosity of the earthenware the liquid was remarkably cool.  A few
+lengths of net completed the equipment, but these were considerately
+left behind, since there was no need for unnecessary spoliation of the
+natives, even though they were, perhaps unwillingly, subjects of Kaiser
+Wilhelm II.
+
+The canoe was light enough to enable the three men to carry her down to
+the water's edge.  Without delay they pushed off and headed for the
+reef.
+
+Here, on the lee side of the extensive coral ledge, they were in
+comparative safety.  The long line of foaming breakers thundering up
+the reef afforded a guide to the position of the ledges; it deadened
+all other sounds, and since no native boats would be likely to indulge
+in night fishing, there was little risk of detection.
+
+"We have company, you see," remarked Armstrong, pointing to a
+phosphorescent swirl less than twenty yards astern.  The disturbance of
+the placid water was caused by the dorsal fin of a huge shark, that,
+scenting a possible prey, was zigzagging in the wake of the frail canoe.
+
+"'We do so want to lose you; and we think you ought to go'," misquoted
+O'Hara, laying down his paddle and grasping his rifle.
+
+"Hold on!" cautioned the mate.  "You'll not only bring up every shark
+in the lagoon to make a meal of this beauty, but you'll arouse every
+native within hearing distance.  Don't fire unless the brute gets too
+attentive; then use your pistol.  It makes much less of a flash and
+report."
+
+Hour after hour passed.  The men took turns at paddling, since there
+was not a breath of wind.  The shark still kept doggedly in company.
+As the canoe drew farther and farther away from the entrance to the
+Mohoro River the miasmic mists gradually dispersed, until the three
+officers found themselves under a bright starlit sky, and on the placid
+surface of the lagoon there seemed one blaze of reflected brilliance.
+
+"It looks as if we are nearing the northern limit of the lagoon,"
+remarked Denbigh.  "We'd better keep a sharp look-out for a passage
+through the reef."
+
+"What if we don't find one?" asked Armstrong.  "The last gap of any
+size we passed quite three miles astern."
+
+"There's an opening of sorts," announced O'Hara, pointing to a dark
+patch in the otherwise unbroken line of surf.  "My word!  I believe
+there's a spanking breeze outside."
+
+"Steady there!" cautioned Denbigh, as the frail craft approached the
+opening, through which long undulations sullenly rolled in from the
+vast expanse of the Indian Ocean.  "If we get capsized heaven help us.
+Our old friend has brought up a few more of his pals."
+
+The sub was justified in advising caution.  Half a dozen sharks were
+close to the canoe.  Emboldened by numbers, they swam around in
+ever-decreasing circles, until one monster, braver than the rest,
+rasped his skin along the side of the canoe.
+
+As the craft tilted O'Hara aimed a blow at the brute with his paddle.
+With a swift movement of its powerful tail the shark disappeared, only
+to rise again and resume its embarrassing attentions.
+
+"If those brutes' instinct isn't at fault there'll be a pretty
+mess-up," thought Denbigh.  "They evidently have seen native canoes
+upset in the channel through the reef before to-day."
+
+"Think it's worth while risking it?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"No, I don't," replied his chum bluntly.
+
+"We must hang on till daybreak, then," said Armstrong.  "At dead-low
+water there may be a trifle less swell."
+
+"Yes," assented Denbigh.  "We'll land on the lee side of the reef.
+Gently with her; we don't want to be stove in against a sharp branch of
+coral."
+
+Without accident the landing was accomplished.  The adventurers found
+themselves on a broad part of the reef that was barely three feet above
+the surface.  Seaweed and driftwood had already accumulated, showing
+that the coral was now only occasionally invaded by the sea.  Fifty
+yards away the surf broke heavily, but fortunately they were out of
+range of the falling spray.
+
+Almost in silence the three chums sat until the sun rose in a grey sky
+above the horizon.  Overhead a few large birds flew seaward--both
+circumstances presaging a fine day.
+
+The tide had now fallen, and, although there were several feet of water
+in the channel, a detached reef about a hundred yards from the main
+coral ledge, which had uncovered as the tide fell, completely broke the
+breakers for some distance on either side of its seaward end.
+
+"All aboard!" ordered Denbigh.  "With luck we'll fetch Latham Island
+well before sunset."
+
+Broad on the port bow rose Ras Kimbiji, which Denbigh recognized by a
+peculiarly-rounded and isolated hill rising two miles beyond the point.
+
+From this cape, he knew, Latham Island bore 23 miles due east.
+
+"Step the mast, Pat!" he exclaimed.  "The breeze is well in our favour.
+One thing, we are not over-canvassed."
+
+Therein he was mistaken, for the small spread of sail was more than
+sufficient to endanger the stability of the canoe.  Since there were no
+reef points recourse had to be made to a "Spanish reef", which consists
+in gathering in a generous amount of one corner of the canvas and tying
+it into a knot.  Even then the little craft literally bounded over the
+water.  Before the S.W. monsoon Denbigh calculated her speed at seven
+or eight knots.
+
+At the end of three hours the breeze increased, and the sail had to be
+still further reduced.  Not daring to stand upright, the sub's range of
+vision was considerably limited.  He was beginning to think that a
+slight error in the compass course had taken them past the low-lying
+and almost invisible sandbank for which they were steering.
+
+"Breakers ahead!" shouted Armstrong.
+
+For nearly five minutes the gaze of all three men was directed upon a
+patch of white foam in the midst of the dark-blue waters.
+
+Then Denbigh broke the silence.
+
+"We can finish off that soda-water now," he said.  "That's Latham
+Island."
+
+They drained the bottle.  There was now no need to husband their scanty
+resources.  Ahead lay the sandbank on which were hidden provisions in
+plenty.
+
+"Down rag and out paddles!" ordered Denbigh.
+
+The sail was quickly stowed and the mast unshipped.  Under paddles the
+canoe was urged towards the lee side of the island, where a landing was
+easily effected.
+
+Dragging the canoe above high-water mark the three chums, wellnigh
+"baked" by the heat, sat down upon the hard ground.  Shelter there was
+none.  The whole of the white surface simmered in the rays, both direct
+and reflected, of the tropical sun.
+
+"Honestly I don't feel like work," remarked O'Hara.  "It's too beastly
+hot.  Besides, we've anticipated our time-table considerably.  The
+sun's not crossed the meridian yet."
+
+"It's a toss-up whether we set to at once or wait.  In any case we
+stew," said Armstrong.  "I vote we dig for an hour and knock off for
+the early afternoon."
+
+"Yes," assented Denbigh.  "That will, I think, be the better way.  So
+bestir yourself, Pat."
+
+"Where's the spot?" asked the mate.
+
+"Almost at the other end of the island," replied Denbigh.  "I can
+recognize it from the position of that jagged reef.  Bring the paddles,
+they'll make excellent sand scoops."
+
+Across the glistening sand they made their way until the three men came
+simultaneously to a dead stop.
+
+Other diggers had preceded them, for where the whaler and the stores
+had been hidden was a large, partly-silted-up cavity.
+
+The versatile Irishman was the first to break the silence.
+
+Throwing his paddle to the ground he ejaculated:
+
+"Dash it all!  Our luck's out this time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+Adrift in the Indian Ocean
+
+"Wish to goodness we hadn't been so prodigal with our provisions," said
+Denbigh as the three chums ruefully surveyed the excavation.  "It will
+be short commons, unless----"
+
+"Unless what?" asked Armstrong.
+
+"Unless the fellows who have forestalled us have omitted to remove all
+the stuff."
+
+"It looks as if they've made a clean sweep of most of the gear and
+burnt what they couldn't move.  They've evidently poured petrol over
+the place and set fire to it.  Now, what was the object?"
+
+"Perhaps a landing-party from one of our ships destroyed the cache,"
+suggested O'Hara.
+
+"Possibly," replied his chum.  "But, on the other hand, unlikely.  It's
+my opinion that some of the Germans, finding that the _Pelikan_ was
+held up, have made a dash for the island.  In that case it is
+reasonable to suppose that they have fitted out the whaler, and are
+either making tracks for some navigable river lower down the coast or
+else they will attempt to capture the first tramp they fall in with."
+
+"Not much chance of escaping capture themselves," said Armstrong.
+
+"I don't know.  Remember the case of the _Ayesha_ with the _Emden's_
+landing-party.  They managed to fetch home all the way from the Cocos
+Keeling Islands.  These fellows, with luck, might reach Batavia and be
+interned by the Dutch Colonial Government."
+
+"And here are we stranded on a desolate sandbank, with precious little
+grub in the locker," remarked Armstrong.  "There's one consolation.  We
+have a boat."
+
+"Of sorts," rejoined the Irishman.  "Since she brought us here she
+ought to take us back to the mainland, although it will be dead to
+windward."
+
+"What's wrong with Zanzibar?" asked the mate.  "It's only about fifty
+miles to the nor'-west.  We've a breeze slightly abaft the beam.
+She'll do it all right, especially if we take some sand aboard as
+ballast."
+
+"Right," assented O'Hara.  "Let's make a start.  It's a howling pity to
+lose the breeze, and it's a jolly sight cooler on the water than on
+this sun-baked sandbank."
+
+Quickly the new plan was put into operation.  The canoe was launched,
+and about three hundred-weights of sand thrown into her.  On
+re-embarking the crew found that their frail craft was considerably
+"stiffer", and showed no great tendency to capsize when one of their
+number stood upright.  In her ballasted state more sail could be
+carried, and, what was more, she could be steered a point closer to the
+wind.
+
+All went well until about three in the afternoon, when, with
+disconcerting suddenness, the wind died utterly away.  The crisp,
+crested waves subsided into a long, sullen, oily swell.  The canoe,
+without steerage way, floated idly upon the water.
+
+"Out paddles!" ordered Denbigh.  "You and I, Pat, will take the first
+trick.  At every thousand strokes one man will be relieved.  Ready?"
+
+Counting, the sub knew, was the only means at their disposal for
+arriving at an equal division of labour.  It also gave them a rough
+indication of the progress made, since each stroke represented a
+distance of two yards through the water.
+
+"See anything?" asked Denbigh at length.
+
+O'Hara, who was by this time at the steering paddle, stood up, and
+shading his eyes looked ahead in the hope of seeing the friendly rising
+ground of Zanzibar Island peeping above the horizon.
+
+"Nothing," was the reply, "except that there's a breeze coming."
+
+As the freshening wind swept down the men thankfully laid aside their
+paddles and set up the mast and sail.  For a few minutes the breeze
+held true, then swiftly veering it blew dead ahead.
+
+Once more the sail was lowered and the paddles resumed.  With the wind
+dead in their teeth the work was trebly increased.
+
+Within half an hour it blew with considerable violence.
+
+"Force six, at least," declared Denbigh, referring to the Beaufort
+Notation method of indicating the wind-pressure.  "We're in for a
+dusting."
+
+It was as much as they could do to keep the lightly made craft head to
+wind.  Armstrong was busily engaged in throwing overboard the sand
+ballast.  Drifting before the wind the canoe was in danger either of
+being swamped or else carried out into the broad Indian Ocean.
+
+The men were already exhausted.  The canoe was drifting rapidly in
+spite of their strenuous efforts.  Yet she climbed the crest wave with
+an ease that gave them confidence.  The loss of "ground", made good
+only by hours of sheer hard work, was the circumstance that troubled
+them most.
+
+"We'll rig a sea-anchor," said the mate.  "Unfortunately we haven't any
+weights to keep the sail up and down, but that can't be helped."
+
+Quickly the foot of the sail was bent to the mast, the sheets were bent
+to the extremities of the spar by a span, and the halyard led from the
+centre of the span to the bows of the canoe.
+
+Watching their opportunity the men heaved their clumsy sea-anchor
+overboard and anxiously waited the result.
+
+To their intense satisfaction they found that directly the rope took
+the strain the canoe floated head to wind without any assistance on the
+part of the paddles.  The crew were, therefore, able to rest, but with
+the disquieting knowledge that every moment they were drifting farther
+and farther away from their desired haven.
+
+The three officers were in good spirits notwithstanding the privations
+they had undergone and were still experiencing.  They realized that
+this was part of the game.  They had taken chances, and fate, in the
+shape of a strong head wind, had been unkind to them.  The idea of
+mutual recriminations never occurred to them.  Their adventure was of
+the nature of a joint-stock concern.  They had done their best, and
+were ready to stand by each other till the end in whatever form it came.
+
+For some hours O'Hara and Armstrong dozed fitfully on the bottom of the
+canoe, regardless of the spray that dashed over their recumbent forms.
+Denbigh, crouched aft, kept an occasional look-out, while at intervals
+he baled with half a coco-nut shell.
+
+The sea showed no signs of moderating.  The prospect of spending a
+night afloat in a mere cockle-shell became imminent.
+
+Just then the sub heard a faint cry.  He looked in the direction from
+whence the shout came, but could see nothing.  He was about to put it
+down to a freak of his imagination when the cry was repeated.
+
+Fifty yards or more to leeward was a man hanging on to an upturned boat.
+
+"Wake up, you fellows!" exclaimed Denbigh.  "There's someone overboard."
+
+Seizing the paddles O'Hara and the mate checked the drift of the canoe
+until its course would bring it close to the upturned craft.
+
+"Steady!" cautioned Denbigh.  "As close as you can to her bows."
+
+His ready mind grasped the situation.  Could he but effect a
+communication with the waterlogged craft a double purpose might be
+served.
+
+Down swept the canoe.  As her quarter slipped past the boat Denbigh
+leant over the side.  With one hand he staved off the sharp stem, the
+metal-bound edge of which would have crushed the side of the canoe like
+an egg-shell.  With the other he grasped the painter, which was
+trailing from the bow ring-bolt.
+
+"Stand by and take a turn!" he shouted to the mate, throwing him the
+slack of the rope.
+
+Promptly Armstrong, who was up for'ard, made the running part of the
+painter fast to the rope of the sea-anchor.  With a jerk the canoe
+brought up fifty feet to leeward of the waterlogged boat.
+
+Here, sheltered by the latter, and with her drift apparently reduced,
+the canoe was in relatively smooth water.  The unfortunate seaman,
+rallying his remaining energies, struck out.  Almost exhausted, he was
+on the point of sinking when Denbigh seized him by the hair.
+
+It was a difficult matter to get the man into the canoe.  He was a
+great hulking fellow.  The safety of the three officers was gravely
+endangered, but proceeding with the utmost caution they hoisted him
+over the side.
+
+"Do you recognize him?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"Eh?" exclaimed his chum.  "No; do you?"
+
+"Rather," replied the sub.  "He's one of the _Pelikan's_ mob, and
+yonder craft is the whaler I saw buried on Latham Island.  I'm afraid
+they haven't had much of a run for their money.  But what's one man's
+meat is another man's poison.  The whaler may prove a godsend."
+
+"She will," rejoined Armstrong.  "See, she acts as a perfect
+breakwater.  We must be almost stationary, owing to her drag in the
+water."
+
+"Even more than that," added Denbigh.  "I propose when the weather
+moderates to have a shot at righting her.  Since they provisioned her
+we are bound to find some tinned food in her after locker, for I don't
+suppose the whole lot of her gear was slung out when she capsized."
+
+The sole survivor of the whaler's party was not long in recovering
+consciousness.  His surprise at finding that his rescuers were the
+British officers whom he had last seen as prisoners on board the
+_Pelikan_ was almost ludicrous.  Soon he became communicative, and
+confirmed the sub's surmise that the whaler was bent on a minor raiding
+expedition.
+
+The long night passed slowly.  The last of the food supply had been
+exhausted.  A few coco-nuts, which being freshly gathered contained
+liquid only, formed the sole sustenance of the four men.
+
+With the dawn the wind fell but the sea still ran high.  Eagerly the
+horizon was scanned, but nothing save a waste of tossing water met the
+eye.
+
+"In another hour or so we'll be able to have a shot at righting the
+whaler," said Denbigh.  "By that time the sea will have subsided.  If
+you don't mind, you fellows, I'll have a caulk.  I have more arrears to
+make up than you have."
+
+Quite worn out Denbigh stretched himself on the bottom of the canoe and
+dropped off into a sound sleep.  It seemed to him that he had not
+closed his eyes more than half a minute when the mate roused him.
+
+"What are those beacons on our starboard bow, do you think?" he asked.
+
+Denbigh was awake in an instant.  Looking in the direction indicated he
+saw three triangular objects at a distance of nearly three miles away.
+
+One glance was enough.
+
+"Pat, you chump!" he exclaimed.  "Do you mean to tell me you don't know
+what they are?  And you must needs make Armstrong wake me out of my
+beauty sleep."
+
+"Hanged if I can see hardly anything," announced the Irishman.  "The
+salt's bunged my eyes up completely.  What about it, then?"
+
+"Those beacons, as you call them, Armstrong," replied Denbigh joyously,
+"are the tripod masts of three of our monitors."
+
+"They are heading our way, then?" asked the mate.
+
+"Either that or they're stern on to us.  The former most likely.  Stand
+by with the rifle.  We must not let them miss us."
+
+In about half an hour the three warships had approached sufficiently
+for their outlines to be discerned.  They were moving at a slow
+pace--barely five knots.  All that was visible of each of the monitors
+consisted of a low-lying hull of great beam, on which was placed a
+turret mounting two gigantic guns.  Abaft the turret was a small
+superstructure, culminating in a bridge and chart-house.  Immediately
+behind the bridge rose a lofty tripod mast, its height being seemingly
+out of all proportion to those conforming to the recognized
+measurements of naval architecture.  Perched above the junction of the
+tripods was a large square structure whence the fire-control
+arrangements were conducted, while a stumpy topmast completed the
+incongruity.  Abaft the mast was a single funnel.  Two of the monitors
+were evidently sister-ships.  The third was of a much smaller tonnage,
+although her armament was identical with that of her consorts.
+
+"They're passing to windward of us," declared Denbigh.  "Give them a
+couple of rounds."
+
+Armstrong raised the rifle and fired.  Almost immediately following the
+second shot a signal was run up from the leading monitor.  Up fluttered
+the answering pendant to the mast of the smaller vessel, which
+immediately altered helm and bore down upon the canoe.
+
+Slowly the rescuing craft approached.  Her superstructure was crowded
+with interested spectators, while several of the crew, wading
+knee-deep, made their way to the submerged side of the monitor and
+stood by to pick up the derelicts.
+
+The operation required great care for the unwieldy craft was yawing
+horribly.  Being almost as broad in the beam as she was long, and
+snub-nosed in addition, she steered badly.  By good seamanship on the
+part of her captain the monitor lost way at a distance of half a cable
+from the canoe.
+
+"Cast off and out paddles!" ordered Denbigh.
+
+Five minutes later willing hands assisted the three British officers
+and the German sailor to the ladder leading to the superstructure.
+
+With feelings of thankfulness Denbigh, mustering his remaining
+energies, saluted the diminutive quarter-deck.  It seemed almost
+heavenly to be once more under the shadow of the White Ensign.  As he
+raised his hand to the brim of his weather-worn helmet a well-known
+voice exclaimed:
+
+"Cheer oh! old man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+Von Eckenstein's Surprise
+
+The speaker was Charles Stirling, now lieutenant and Acting-commander
+of H.M.S. _Crustacean_.
+
+Stirling had literally fallen on his feet after he had been rescued by
+H.M.S. _Actæon_.  Owing to his intimate knowledge of the East Coast of
+Africa and the Mozambique Channel, and having more than a nodding
+acquaintance with the troublesome raider now known to be in hiding in
+the Mohoro River, he had been given temporary command of the smallest
+of the three monitors sent from England to assist in the operations
+against German East Africa.
+
+Notwithstanding his natural anxiety to learn how his former shipmates
+came to be adrift in a canoe in the Indian Ocean, Stirling insisted on
+Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong being put into the sick-bay.  All three
+men were almost exhausted.  Even Denbigh's indomitable spirit had
+outworn his physical strength, while the Irishman was found to be
+affected with partial indistinctness of vision owing to prolonged
+exposure to the glare of the sun.
+
+"You take it easy," was Stirling's parting injunction.  "I promise I'll
+turn you out directly we sight the Mohoro Lagoon."
+
+Reassured, Denbigh and his comrades in peril capitulated.  Eighteen
+hours' solid sleep worked wonders, and although the Irishman was still
+suffering from painful inflammation of the optic nerve, the three
+officers had bathed, shaved, and changed into borrowed plumage before
+breakfast-time on the following morning.
+
+After scraps of mutual experiences had been exchanged Stirling invited
+his chums to the bridge.
+
+"The rummiest packet I ever set foot on," he admitted, "but she's a
+clinker.  We've as fine a pair of 14-inch guns as a fellow could wish
+for.  British made, too; they were manufactured in Canada.  The old
+_Crustacean_ does not belie her name.  She has a decided tendency to
+crawl crabwise, and she's as unhandy as a balsa-raft in a gale of wind."
+
+"Not very good points," remarked O'Hara.
+
+"But she has her qualifications, Pat.  She's said to be
+torpedo-proof----"
+
+"Do you want a practical test, old man?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"Um--no; that is, not particularly if it can be avoided.  Why?"
+
+"Because there are a pair of 60-centimetre tubes waiting to have a slap
+at you when you ascend the Mohoro River."
+
+"Steady, old man," protested Stirling with a hearty laugh.  "The
+river's not broad enough for the _Pelikan_ to be lying athwart the
+stream.  She must be quite twenty miles up the river."
+
+"Say ten and you'll be nearer the mark," declared Denbigh.  "She's
+trapped, and we have to thank Mr. Armstrong for doing the trick."
+
+"Good man!" exclaimed the young skipper of the _Crustacean_, bringing
+his hand down upon the shoulder of the bashful mate of the _Myra_,
+after Denbigh had related the circumstances in which the _Pelikan_ was
+prevented from ascending farther up the river.  "I'll have to inform
+Holloway, our senior officer.  He's under the same impression that I
+was.  But what did you say about those torpedo-tubes?"
+
+Concisely Denbigh explained the position and nature of the German shore
+defences.
+
+"It strikes me pretty forcibly that you'll come in most handy," said
+Stirling.  "It's not the _Pelikan_ that is now our principal objective.
+She, apparently, is done for, unless the river forms a fresh bed round
+the hull of the sunken tramp.  The batteries are our pigeon."
+
+"You were saying that the _Crustacean_ is practically torpedo-proof,"
+Denbigh reminded him.  "In what way?"
+
+"She's of very shallow draught.  Unless a torpedo were set to travel
+only a few feet beneath the surface--in which case much of the bursting
+power of the war-head would be wasted--the 'tin-fish' would pass
+harmlessly under her bottom.  If, however, a torpedo did explode,
+there's a cellular space of more than twenty feet between the outer and
+inner hulls.  These compartments are stuffed with something.  I can't
+tell you because I don't know myself what the stuff is.  All I know is
+that it's fireproof and its specific gravity is approximately the same
+as sea-water.  Hence, in the event of a hole being blown in the shell
+of the outer hull our stability will hardly be affected."
+
+At that moment a signalman approached and saluted.
+
+"Senior officer reports approach of sea-plane parent ship _Simplicita_,
+sir."
+
+"Very good," replied Stirling, then addressing his companions he added,
+"That's excellent.  We are having a couple of sea-planes to spot for
+us.  The _Simplicita_, an old light cruiser, has been fitted out as a
+floating base for aerial work.  With luck they've managed to stow a
+couple of 'planes on her."
+
+Before the _Simplicita_ joined the flotilla the senior ship hoisted
+another signal.  It ran:
+
+"Boat under sail four miles S.S.W.  _Crustacean_ to proceed and
+investigate."
+
+At her utmost speed, a bare six knots, the little monitor altered helm
+and stood off in the indicated direction.  The sea was now calm, and
+there was hardly a breath of wind.
+
+At Stirling's suggestion Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong ascended to the
+fire-control platform.  From this lofty perch a considerable expanse of
+sea could be swept by the aid of powerful glasses.
+
+Away on the starboard hand could be discerned the faint outlines of the
+African coast, almost hidden in a pale-blue haze.  Astern, but on a
+diverging course, were the monitors _Paradox_ and _Eureka_, the former
+flying the broad pendant of the senior officer, Captain Holloway.
+Ahead, a small patch of greyish-white canvas marked the position of the
+boat to which the _Crustacean_ was proceeding.
+
+"That's not a Service rig," declared Denbigh, proffering his binoculars
+to O'Hara.
+
+The Irishman waved them aside.
+
+"No, thanks, old man," said he.  "I'll wait.  I don't want to crock my
+eyes any more than they are at present.  I'll take your word for it
+that she's not one of our boats."
+
+"She's a merchantman's cutter," asserted Armstrong.  "I wouldn't mind
+laying odds that she's one of the _Pelikan's_ boats making for Latham
+Island."
+
+The mate was right, for on discovering the approach of the monitor the
+cutter altered her course, lowering her canvas and resorting to her
+oars in the vain hope that she had been unnoticed.
+
+Twenty minutes later, the difference in speed of the monitor and her
+quarry being very small, Stirling ordered one of the four quick-firers
+to be discharged.  The projectile, falling within fifty yards of the
+boat, had the desired result, for the men boated their oars and hoisted
+a square of white cloth as a signal of surrender.
+
+"We seem fated to fall in with our friends the Huns," remarked Denbigh.
+"Armstrong has scored a palpable hit; they are some of the _Pelikan's_
+crowd.  I recognize that fellow with a bandaged head as Major von
+Eckenstein."
+
+Most docilely the boat's crew came over the side.  There were, in
+addition to the major, a junior lieutenant of the _Pelikan_ and seven
+seamen; the rest, to the number of about a dozen, were reservists
+transhipped from the _San Matias_.  The military section had discarded
+their uniform and wore a motley collection of civilian garb.  They were
+unarmed, having thrown overboard their rifles and ammunition upon the
+shot being fired to compel them to abandon flight.
+
+The unter-leutnant had previously rehearsed a most plausible story with
+which to gull the Englishmen, but a look of comical dismay overspread
+his features when he recognized the officers who a short while ago had
+been prisoners on board the raider.
+
+At last he mustered up sufficient courage to demand, somewhat
+haughtily, that he and his men should be accorded honourable treatment
+as prisoners of war.
+
+"Certainly," replied Stirling blandly.  "I am sorry that you should
+imagine otherwise.  But, of course, the fact that Major von Eckenstein
+and his men have adopted civilian attire tends to put them on a
+different footing."
+
+Von Eckenstein's face, or as much of it as was visible between the
+swathed bandages, grew pale.  He remembered the incident when he
+slashed O'Hara across the face.  Visions of reprisals rendered him
+terror-stricken.
+
+"Forgive me, Herr O'Hara!" he almost shouted.
+
+The Irishman smiled affably.
+
+"Forgive?" he echoed.  "There is nothing to forgive.  You gave O'Hara a
+cut across the face.  It raised quite a small weal.  Judging by the
+state of your figurehead, I'm afraid my treatment of you on the shore
+of the lagoon rather disturbed the balance of exchange."
+
+"You did this?" asked the major, dumbfounded at the information.
+"Donnerwetter!  I thought----"
+
+Sheer astonishment rendered him incapable of completing the sentence.
+He could not understand why the British officer received him with
+unperturbed courtesy.  Evidently here was something adrift with the
+Teutonic gospel of hate.
+
+"So you were making for Latham Island to resurrect the hidden stores?"
+asked Denbigh, addressing the unter-leutnant.
+
+The young German officer was also completely taken aback.
+
+"Yes," he admitted.  "But how came you to know that we had stores
+buried there?"
+
+"That's a secret," replied the sub.  "But I'll tell you this.  You
+would have found yourselves forestalled.  Some of the _Pelikan's_ men
+made a dash for the island, fitted out the whaler, and left the place
+as bare as an empty house.  They did not get far.  The boat was
+capsized and all on board perished, except one man, who is now a
+prisoner on board this vessel."
+
+"Now, gentlemen," broke in Stirling briskly, addressing the major and
+the unter-leutnant, "I must ask you to go below, but before doing so I
+will take the liberty of examining the contents of Major von
+Eckenstein's pockets."
+
+"Himmel!" gasped the major.  "For why?  According to the rights of
+belligerents my personal property is not liable to be confiscated."
+
+"Your personal property--yes," replied Stirling.  "Come, sir, no fuss,
+if you please."
+
+Sullenly the German permitted a petty officer to remove the contents of
+his pockets.  There was an order-book, containing a few pencilled
+memoranda; a pocket-book in which were papers seemingly of purely
+personal interest; some notes on a South American bank.
+
+"Kindly remove your waistcoat," continued the inexorable Stirling.
+
+Von Eckenstein shrugged his shoulders.  If black looks could kill,
+Stirling was as good as booked to Davy Jones.
+
+"This is a needless indignity," almost howled the Hun.
+
+"On the contrary, a necessary precaution on our part," corrected the
+skipper of the _Crustacean_.
+
+Sullenly von Eckenstein removed his waistcoat and threw it on the deck.
+Deliberately opening a penknife Stirling ripped open the back and
+removed an envelope of oiled silk.
+
+"Thank you," he said gravely.  "That is all we require for the present,
+Herr Major."
+
+Gathering up the rest of his possessions, the major followed his
+companions in misfortune and disappeared below.
+
+"Confidential orders from Potsdam to the German Governor of the East
+African Colony," announced Stirling.  "Here, Denbigh, have a squint at
+it and see if I'm not right."
+
+"How ever did you discover this?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"Intuition, my dear old sport," replied Stirling with a laugh.  "You
+told me about the cache on Latham Island.  Also, you may remember
+relating a conversation between this von Eckenstein and Kapitan von
+Riesser, just before the stores were landed.  Von Eckenstein
+objected--why?  Because he thought the hiding-place ought to be on the
+mainland.  He had a rooted objection to making a voyage in a smallboat.
+Hence it was reasonable to suppose that the Latham Island depot was for
+the major's particular benefit.  The fact that he was forestalled has
+nothing to do with the main case.  The _Pelikan_ is in difficulties.
+Direct communication with the rest of the German land forces is out of
+the question.  So the major is sent off to Latham Island with the
+Imperial dispatches in his possession.  Then the unter-leutnant's
+instructions are to revictual and replenish stores, and take the major
+to the mainland, most likely to the Rufigi River.  There there is, I
+believe, fairly easy communication with Tabora, the head-quarters of
+the German Colonial forces.  Seeing us approach, von Eckenstein ought
+to have destroyed his paper, but he didn't--he trusted to his belief in
+our natural stupidity.  I wouldn't mind betting that now he's bemoaning
+his fate and admitting that Englishmen are not the fools he supposed
+them to be."
+
+Which was exactly what the battered and dejected von Eckenstein _was_
+doing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+The Monitors in Action
+
+All that night the monitors lay, with lights out, off the outer bar of
+the Mohoro Lagoon.  A council of war had been held on board the
+_Paradox_, when a fresh plan of action was drawn up.  This was in
+consequence of the information Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong had
+brought concerning the enemy's defences.
+
+"This chart is radically wrong," declared Denbigh, when a chart of that
+part of the coast was shown to him.  "The bend in which the _Pelikan_
+is lying is not shown.  Apparently the topography is from an old
+survey."
+
+"It is from the latest available information," remarked Captain
+Holloway, loath to deprecate the work of the Hydrographic Department of
+the Admiralty.
+
+"Available as far as the Germans would permit," corrected the sub
+deferentially.  "They've had full control here for years.  I'm not
+referring to the lagoon, but to the river.  The depths, too, are
+inaccurate."
+
+"I suppose you wouldn't object to a job to-morrow?" asked the senior
+officer, after he had listened intently to Denbigh's explanations and
+descriptions of the details of the Mohoro River.
+
+"Not in the least, sir," replied the sub promptly.
+
+"In a sea-plane?"
+
+"Just my mark, sir; but I've had no flying experience."
+
+"We would want you for registering duties," continued Captain Holloway.
+"You will have a flight sub-lieutenant as pilot.  With your knowledge
+of the shore batteries and torpedo stations you will be able to render
+further important service.  Very good; I'll arrange for the sea-plane
+to pick you up at dawn; that is, if it is not too misty.  These
+tropical mists play the deuce with aerial observations."
+
+It was arranged that the attack should open at seven on the following
+morning.  The _Crustacean_ was to lead the way over the inner bar, and
+devote her attention to the torpedo station.  The _Paradox_ was to
+shell the batteries concealed in the mangrove forest, while the
+_Eureka_ was to patrol the lagoon and to cut off any attempt at flight
+on the part of the German troops, whose line of retreat would be pretty
+certain to be along the coast, since the thick forests and marshes to
+the westward made retirement to the hinterland almost a matter of
+impossibility.
+
+Two hours before sunrise the crews of the monitors were called to
+"action" stations.  They had previously bathed and changed into clean
+clothes, and had been given ample time to enjoy their breakfast.
+Clearing ship for action took but little preparation, since the
+monitors carried only what was necessary as floating batteries.
+
+At the hour specified a sea-plane taxied gracefully to within fifty
+feet of the _Crustacean_.  A boat was lowered from the monitor, and
+into this Denbigh stepped, to the accompaniment of the somewhat
+irrelevant remarks of his brother officers.
+
+"Fine mornin'," was the flight-sub's greeting, as nonchalantly as if he
+were passing the time of day with a casual acquaintance.  "Hop in.
+You'll find a belt fixed to the back of your seat.  There's the
+wireless gear.  See that lever on your left?  That releases the
+paying-out gear of the aerial.  Don't pay out too smartly.  Ready?"
+
+The blades glittered in the morning light as the propeller revolved and
+rapidly increased the number of revolutions.  Slowly at first, then
+with accelerated movement, the sea-plane skimmed the placid surface of
+the lagoon.  Then, almost before Denbigh was aware of it, the machine
+leaped upwards.  The slight tilt of the seat was the only intimation
+that the sea-plane had parted company with the water, until the sub
+noticed the surface of the lagoon apparently receding with great
+rapidity.
+
+Round and round spiralled the frail contrivance, tilting with an easy
+swinging movement as it climbed.  Already the monitors looked no larger
+than toy boats upon an ornamental pond.  The irregular ground on either
+side of the river was merged into an expanse that betrayed no
+indication of height.  Far beneath him Denbigh could discern a
+ribbon-like strip of silvery-grey.  It was the Mohoro River.
+
+"Distance lends enchantment to the eye," thought the sub.  "And it is
+such a dirty river."
+
+He mused feelingly.  In his imagination he sniffed the foetid odours
+from the torrential yellow stream.  He had a mental vision of a swim in
+the dark, with hippos and crocodiles for company.  The reeking
+mud-flats, too, lay beneath him, their dismal and monotonous aspect
+obliterated by the charm of altitude.
+
+Above the land the rapidly increasing strength of the morning sun was
+causing great irregularities in the density of the air.  The sea-plane
+rolled violently.  Twice she dropped through a sheer distance of a
+couple of hundred feet, owing to "air pockets", but the pilot, with the
+utmost unconcern, held her on her course.
+
+Presently he turned and bawled something.  The rush of the wind made
+his words unintelligible, but he pointed to the aerial release.
+Denbigh understood, and depressing the lever allowed a hundred and
+fifty feet of wire to be run off the reel.
+
+Leaning over the side of the fuselage the sub brought his glasses to
+bear upon the waterway almost beneath him.  He could distinguish the
+fatal bend in the Mohoro River where the _Myra_ had turned turtle and
+had been swallowed up in the shifting sand.  He could even discern her
+outlines as she lay on her side with ten feet of water swirling
+overhead.
+
+Farther down-stream was something that looked exactly like an island
+covered with luxurious vegetation.  It was the _Pelikan_.  The disguise
+was really admirable.  Had Denbigh not known of the means her crew had
+taken to hide her he would never have detected her presence.
+
+But the _Pelikan's_ hour had not yet come.  Until the shore batteries
+and fortifications had been shelled out of existence she was to be left
+severely alone.  With the _Myra's_ crew confined on board the raider,
+the British monitors dare not open fire upon her.
+
+Round circled the sea-plane, gliding down to within five hundred feet
+of the summit of the mangroves.  Everything seemed quiet beneath.  The
+whir of the propeller and the rush of air deadened all other sounds.
+Here and there were clearings, like to one another as peas in a pod.
+For the first time in his life Denbigh felt uncertain.
+
+Again he swept the river with his binoculars.  Across the mud-flats,
+for the tide was now almost on the last of the ebb, he spotted two
+slender dark lines stretching towards the navigable channel.  A little
+way down was a series of small dark objects thrown athwart the stream.
+They were the torpedo-piers and the barrels supporting the chain boom.
+Almost abreast of them was the screened battery.
+
+At a sign from Denbigh the flight-sub trimmed the elevating planes.  Up
+climbed the machine till at an altitude of six thousand feet she was
+visible from the distant monitors.  Then she commenced to cut figures
+of eight, while Denbigh began to call up the _Paradox_ by wireless.
+
+Having made certain that the monitor had gauged the required distance
+the sea-plane volplaned to within a thousand feet of the ground.
+
+The receiving telephones fixed to Denbigh's ears began to emit faint
+sounds that in Morse spelt out the words, "Stand by to register".
+
+Twenty seconds later a lurid flash, followed by a terrific cloud of
+yellow and black smoke, leapt skywards from a spot in the mangroves.
+In spite of her altitude the sea-plane rocked violently in the torn
+air.  For a moment Denbigh thought that the machine was plunging
+helplessly to earth.
+
+The gentle tapping of the wireless receiver recalled him to a sense of
+duty.
+
+"How's that?" spelt the dot-and-dash message.
+
+Where the shell had burst a dozen or more trees had been literally
+pulverized.  Others, their trunks lacerated by the explosion, had
+toppled at various angles against those that had withstood the shock.
+The "hit" was roughly two hundred yards beyond the screened battery.
+
+From beneath the foliage covering the emplacements men peeped
+timorously.  A dull-grey figure, bent almost double, was running for
+shelter.  It was one of the German sentries.
+
+"Right direction; two hundred yards over," wirelessed Denbigh.
+
+Another heavy projectile screamed on its way, passing some hundreds of
+feet beneath the seaplane.  It burst; but the sound like that of its
+predecessor was inaudible to the pilot and observer.  The action of the
+detonating shells reminded Denbigh of an animated photograph, so
+effectually and silently did the work of destruction appear.
+
+"A hundred yards short," registered the sub.
+
+"Then how's this?" was the rejoinder.
+
+Fairly in the centre of an emplacement fell the twelve-hundred-pound
+shell.  High above the mushroom cloud of smoke flew fragments of wood
+and metal.  When the dense vapour had drifted away in the sultry air it
+was seen that the work of that gigantic missile was accomplished.
+
+A gaping hole fifty feet in diameter marked the place where the
+carefully-screened quick-firers had been.
+
+Round the edge of the crater were smouldering sand-bags hurled in all
+directions like small pebbles.  The two guns, dismounted, were sticking
+up at acute angles in the debris, their mountings shattered into
+fragments of scrap-iron metal.
+
+There was no sign of life in the crater, nor in the partly uncovered
+dug-outs in its vicinity, but from a neighbouring position poured
+swarms of Germans, half-dazed and terrified by the explosion that had
+shaken their subterranean retreat like a severe earthquake shock.
+
+The _Paradox_ had completed her particular job.
+
+Meanwhile a second sea-plane was registering for the _Crustacean_, her
+guns being directed upon the piers on which the _Pelikan's_
+torpedo-tubes had been placed.
+
+Without once coming within sight of her objective the little monitor
+effected her mission with two shots, blowing both torpedo-stations to
+smithereens.
+
+Nor was the _Eureka_ less successful.  A shell fired in front of the
+crowd of demoralized Germans as they fled through the mangroves
+literally roped them in.  Panic-stricken they doubled back and
+disappeared in the dug-outs close to the wrecked emplacements, and the
+_Eureka_, having been accordingly informed, ceased firing.
+
+"Now for the _Pelikan_!" exclaimed Stirling, as the sea-plane, having
+returned, put Denbigh on board the _Crustacean_.
+
+"It will be an affair of boats, I suppose," suggested O'Hara.  "With
+the flood-tide and on a dark night she ought to be captured with little
+loss to the boarding-party."
+
+Two of the monitors were lying at anchor in the river.  The _Eureka_,
+having to watch the coast, steamed slowly up and down the lagoon, her
+progress watched by hundreds of awe-stricken natives.
+
+The question of how to deal with the _Pelikan_ was under discussion,
+for Captain Holloway had convened another council of war at eight bells
+in the afternoon.
+
+The boats carried by the monitors were not fit for cutting-out work,
+and although a certain means of destruction was at the command of the
+senior officer, he was reluctant to put his terrible resources into
+force on account of the presence of the _Myra's_ crew on board the
+raider.
+
+While the discussion was in progress, the majority of officers
+favouring a suggestion that the light cruisers should be brought up by
+wireless, a steam launch was reported to be coming down the river.
+
+The launch bore a large white flag flying from a staff in the bows.  In
+her stern-sheets was Ober-leutnant von Langer.
+
+Received with naval honours, a guard being mounted on the quarter-deck
+of the senior monitor, von Langer came over the side, and announced
+himself as the representative of Kapitan von Riesser, of H.I.M. ship
+_Pelikan_.
+
+"Well, sir?" asked Captain Holloway briefly.
+
+"I am here to discuss terms," said the ober-leutnant.
+
+"Which must be unconditional surrender of men and material," added the
+skipper of the _Paradox_.
+
+"Excuse me," said von Langer.  "But we are not yet beaten."
+
+"You are precious near it," said Captain Holloway.  "Unless the German
+Ensign is hauled down on board the _Pelikan_ within an hour I will open
+fire."
+
+[Illustration: "UNLESS THE GERMAN ENSIGN IS HAULED DOWN ON BOARD THE
+_PELIKAN_ WITHIN AN HOUR, I OPEN FIRE."]
+
+"If you do you must remember that there are many English prisoners on
+board," declared the ober-leutnant with the air of a man who has thrown
+down his trump card.
+
+"Within one hour, unless the _Pelikan_ is surrendered in her present
+state, without further damage to her stores, equipment, and hull, we
+open fire," was the British officer's mandate.  "Return to your ship at
+once, Herr Leutnant, and inform Kapitan von Riesser that he must take
+immediate steps to safeguard his British prisoners, either by sending
+them down the river or else by placing them in a secure shelter on
+shore.  I shall hold your kapitan and officers morally responsible for
+any of the _Myra's_ crew who may be killed or injured in the
+forthcoming operations."
+
+"You have yet to find the _Pelikan_," spluttered the German officer.
+
+"Excuse me, sir, she is found," said Captain Holloway.  "To show that I
+am not in the habit of speaking at random I will produce proofs."
+
+He gave an order to a seaman, who doubled off to the quarter-deck
+companion-ladder.  Presently Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong, who during
+the interview had discreetly gone below, appeared on deck.
+
+The ober-leutnant's jaw dropped.  His podgy cheeks quivered with
+intense surprise.
+
+"Donnerwetter!" he exclaimed.  "This is a colossal shock."
+
+With an effort he pulled himself together, clicked his heels and
+saluted the British senior officer.  Then fumbling in his breast pocket
+he produced a document and handed it to the captain.
+
+It was a formal surrender.
+
+In it Kapitan von Riesser agreed to hand over the _Pelikan_ at the hour
+of nine on the following morning.
+
+"Very good," said Captain Holloway.  "We are willing to give you a few
+hours' respite, but you are to clearly understand that nothing must be
+done in that interval that will affect the _Pelikan_ from a military
+point of view.  You must also send the _Myra's_ men down by boat before
+sunset."
+
+"To that I agree," replied von Langer, and stiffly refusing the
+invitation to have a glass of wine the German officer went over the
+side.
+
+Von Langer's steam cutter was barely out of sight when a couple of
+German officers belonging to the land forces appeared on the bank,
+bearing a white flag.
+
+Their business was quickly transacted.  They desired to surrender
+forthwith and unconditionally the remaining troops under their command.
+Within an hour eighty-five men, many of them badly wounded, were
+shipped on board the sea-plane parent ship _Simplicita_.  Out of the
+three hundred reservists who had transhipped from the _San Matias_ to
+the _Pelikan_ but thirty-three were untouched by the British fire.
+
+Well before sunset the first of the conditions of the _Pelikan's_
+surrender was carried out.  The steam cutter returned towing a whaler
+in which were the crew of the _Myra_.  British reticence went by the
+board when they hove in sight.  They cheered frantically like delighted
+children.  Having been under the talons of the German Eagle, they
+realized more than ever before the world-wide power of Britain's
+sea-power.
+
+Amongst them was Captain Pennington, who was warmly greeted by the
+officers of the _Crustacean_.
+
+He reported that the _Pelikan_ was being prepared for surrender; that
+her garb of palms was being removed, but as far as he knew no attempt
+had been made to throw overboard the remaining guns, or to destroy the
+stores and munitions.
+
+"And to-morrow," remarked Stirling to his chum--"to-morrow we will
+redeem these."
+
+And he held out Kapitan von Riesser's receipt for the gold that he had
+taken from the three subs when they were captured on the _Nichi Maru_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+How the _Pelikan_ Surrendered
+
+As soon as darkness set in the monitors switched on their searchlights,
+the _Crustacean_, which was farthest up-stream, training her projectors
+on the channel in the direction of the distant _Pelikan_, while the
+_Paradox_ swept both banks with her powerful beams.  In the lagoon the
+_Eureka_ and the _Simplicita_ directed their searchlights upon the
+shore.
+
+About one bell in the middle watch the look-out on the _Crustacean_
+noticed two dark objects drifting down-stream.  At first he thought
+them to be a pair of hippopotami, but as their relative distance seemed
+constant and there was no sign of propulsion, he reported the matter to
+the officer of the watch.
+
+"It's only a part of the boom, smashed by our shell fire," he remarked
+casually.  "We'll get a lot of wreckage down with the ebb-tide."
+
+Nevertheless he gave orders for the helm to be starboarded.  The
+monitor, sheering to port under the force of the current until her
+cable was hard athwart her stem, missed the barrels, for such they
+were, by a good twenty yards.  Steadily they drifted by, eventually
+stranding in the mud at a distance of two hundred yards from the
+_Paradox_.  In half an hour they were high and dry, lying directly in
+the rays of the larger monitor's searchlight.
+
+Twenty minutes later another pair of barrels came drifting down.  The
+officer of the watch of the _Crustacean_ executed a similar manoeuvre,
+but before the monitor sheered out of the track of the derelicts, the
+barrels were hung up one on either side of the bows.
+
+"I can hear something ticking, sir," reported a seaman leaning over the
+low freeboard.
+
+The officer hastened for'ard and listened.
+
+"Nonsense!" he declared.  "It's the bull-frogs on shore that you can
+hear, or else the lap of the water.  They're only waterlogged
+barricoes.  Push them clear with a boat-hook."
+
+Three or four seamen tried to free the bows from the obstruction but
+without success.  The barrels afforded little or no grip, and pinned
+down by the rush of tide refused to be thrown clear.
+
+"Away sea-boat!" ordered the officer of the watch.
+
+Quickly the boat was manned, and rowing well ahead of the _Crustacean_,
+was allowed to drop stern foremost until the coxswain was able to bend
+a rope to one of the barrels.
+
+"Can you hear anything, Sanders?" asked the officer of the watch.
+
+"No, sir," replied the petty officer.
+
+As a matter of fact he was suffering from gun deafness, but from
+praiseworthy yet indiscreet motives he had kept the knowledge of his
+temporary physical defect to himself.
+
+Ordering the men to give way, the coxswain jerked the obstruction clear
+of the _Crustacean's_ hawse.
+
+"Shall I make this fast alongside, sir?" he asked.  "Perhaps you'd be
+likely to examine it in the morning."
+
+"No," was the reply, "Tow it clear of the _Paradox's_ hawse and cast it
+adrift."
+
+The boat pushed off.  The officer of the watch, returning to the
+bridge, watched the progress of the two barrels as they wobbled in her
+wake.
+
+Suddenly his attention was aroused in another direction by a loud shout
+of; "Vessel dead ahead, sir!"
+
+Sweeping round a bend in the river into the glare of the searchlights
+was the _Pelikan_.  She was drifting broadside on, her length appearing
+to occupy the whole breadth of the deep channel.
+
+"Action stations, there!" roared the officer of the watch.
+
+A bugle blared.  Up from below tumbled swarms of men dressed in motley
+array of a meagre description.  The officers, berthed in the after part
+of the superstructure, rushed out.  In thirty seconds the turret, with
+its pair of monster 14-inch guns, was surging round as a preliminary
+test of the turning mechanism.
+
+At a glance Stirling took in the situation.  The _Pelikan_, being not
+under control, had been turned adrift with the object of fouling and
+seriously damaging the British vessels lying in the strong tideway.
+
+He telegraphed for half-speed ahead.  The engine-room bell had not
+clanged a minute when the propellers began to churn.  Hurriedly the
+cable was slipped, and the anchor with eighty fathoms of studded steel
+chain was lost for ever in the muddy bed of the Mohoro.
+
+The youthful lieutenant-commander's first duty was to avoid the danger
+of being fouled.  He could not go astern until the _Paradox_ was safely
+under way.  Regarding the _Pelikan_ he was as yet uncertain whether to
+order the sea-boats to board her and drop anchor, if by chance her
+ground tackle were ready for instant use, or whether to sink the raider
+without further ado.
+
+His deliberations were cut short by a tremendous explosion on the bank
+of the river on the starboard quarter of the _Crustacean_.  Where the
+stranded barrels had been was a huge cavity in the mud, into which the
+water was pouring rapidly.
+
+A few seconds later another explosion occurred well astern of the
+_Paradox_.  The barrels were nothing more or less than deadly infernal
+machines.  Had they exploded close to the side of either of the
+monitors it would be doubtful whether, even with their elaborate
+protection against torpedoes, they would have kept afloat after the
+terrific concussion.
+
+Almost simultaneously the searchlights on the _Paradox_ went out.
+Fragments from the explosion had put the two projectors out of action.
+
+The echoes of the explosion had scarce died away when a shout was
+raised that the drifting _Pelikan_ was on fire.
+
+With startling suddenness lurid flames were belching from her decks.
+Spurts of red-tinged smoke eddied from her open scuttles.  In a few
+seconds she was a mass of fire from bow to stern.
+
+Slowly she drifted down-stream.  At intervals her stern hung up in the
+mud, till, caught by the current, she would swing round and slide away
+from the bank.  The flames reached well above her mastheads, yet there
+was comparatively little smoke.  The roar of the devouring elements
+out-voiced every other sound, even the terrified noises of the denizens
+of the mangrove forests as they fled from the glare that rivalled that
+of the sun.
+
+From the conning-tower Stirling ordered a shot to be fired from one of
+the huge turret-guns, but before the muzzle could be depressed a
+stupendous explosion shook sky, land, and water.
+
+Denbigh, gripping the bridge rail, felt himself borne backwards by the
+furious rush of air.  Temporarily blinded by the vividness of the
+flash, he was dimly aware of a series of crashes above and below him.
+The stanchion rails snapped off short.  In vain the sub strove to
+regain his balance; he subsided heavily against the side of the
+chart-room, stunned by the terrific thunder-clap that followed the
+explosion.
+
+Intense darkness succeeded the vivid brightness of the prolonged flash.
+The searchlights of the _Crustacean_ had failed.
+
+Slowly Denbigh sat up.  He became aware that debris was littering the
+partly wrecked bridge.  In vain he tried to pierce the darkness and
+discern the whereabouts of his companions.  A hot, pungent smoke
+drifted past, causing him to splutter almost to suffocation.
+
+Someone tripped across his legs.  It was Stirling emerging from the
+conning-tower.  He recognized the sub's very forcible language.
+
+"Hold on," cautioned Denbigh, "or you'll be overboard.  The bridge has
+gone to blazes."
+
+As he spoke the _Crustacean_ shuddered.  Her bows rose slightly.  With
+her hull still quivering under the pulsations of her engines she had
+run aground on a mud-bank on the port-hand side of the river.
+
+Treading warily Stirling groped till he found the engine-room
+telegraph.  Guessing the position of the lever he ordered "Stop".  In
+the pitch-dark engine-room, for every electric lamp in the ship had
+been shattered, the artificers, facing death amidst the whirring
+machinery, succeeded in carrying out his orders.
+
+Through the darkness came muttered exclamations and partly stifled
+groans.  Down-stream the _Paradox's_ siren, for want of better means of
+communication, was wailing in long and short blasts.
+
+"I have brought up to starboard," was the message.  "You may feel your
+way past me."
+
+"There's no may about it," thought Stirling grimly; then, leaning on
+the twisted bridge rails, he shouted in stentorian tones: "The hands
+will fall in on the port side of superstructure facing outboard.
+Bugler!"
+
+"Sir!" replied a boyish voice through the impenetrable gloom--a voice
+without a tremor save of excitement.
+
+"Sound the 'Still'."
+
+A silence brooded over the stricken monitor.  Even the wounded forbore
+to groan.  Then someone appeared from the superstructure bearing a
+couple of "battle lanterns".  Lights, too, began to glimmer through the
+hatchways, while with admirable promptness the electrical staff set to
+work to renew the carbons of the searchlights and to test the circuits
+of the internal lighting system.
+
+Already the wounded were being carried below by their messmates.  Four
+scorched and maimed forms lay motionless on the low fo'c'sle.  There
+was no need to bestow medical attention upon them.
+
+By this time Denbigh was aware that besides Stirling and himself only
+three persons remained on the bridge.  Neither of them was O'Hara.  Nor
+could he find the mate of the _Myra_, who on the first alarm had
+hurried with the others to the bridge.
+
+The sub made his way to the ladder.  Two steps did he descend, then his
+foot encountered nothingness.  The rest of the ladder had been swept
+out of existence.
+
+Grasping the still intact handrail Denbigh lowered himself to the
+superstructure.  Almost the first man he met was Armstrong, who was
+mopping his cheek with a blood-stained handkerchief.
+
+"It's nothing," replied the mate in answer to Denbigh's enquiry.
+"Didn't discover until I went below."
+
+"Seen anything of O'Hara?" asked the sub anxiously.
+
+"Yes, I've just carried him below, and I was on my way back to look for
+you."
+
+"Thanks," said Denbigh briefly.  "And what's happened to O'Hara?"
+
+"Only shaken, I believe.  He was blown off the bridge with the signal
+locker for company.  They both fetched up against a splinter screen.
+O'Hara swears it isn't much, but I have my doubts."
+
+The two officers made their way across heaps of debris to the
+diminutive ward-room.  Here lying on a cushion on the floor was O'Hara.
+
+He turned to smile as Denbigh entered but the attempt was a dismal
+failure.  His face was drawn and grey in spite of his tanned complexion.
+
+"My leg feels a bit queer," he said in answer to his chum's enquiry.
+"No, don't bother about the doctor.  He's got quite enough to do.  I
+say, old man, von Riesser's giving us a run for our money, isn't he?"
+
+O'Hara's sentiments were almost identical with those of the rest of the
+ship's company.  Not a word was said concerning the treachery of the
+kapitan of the _Pelikan_, whose method of handing over his ship was far
+from being in accordance with the terms of the capitulation.  The fact
+that von Riesser had outwitted them certainly gave them food for
+reflection, but the unanimous conclusion was that the fun was by no
+means over.
+
+The falling tide left the _Crustacean_ hard and fast aground on the
+slimy mud.  With daylight the actual state of affairs could be
+discerned.
+
+A quarter of a mile up-stream lay the remains of the much-sought-for
+raider.  Only a few bent and buckled ribs and plates showing just above
+the water's edge marked the spot whence the devastating explosion had
+emanated.  One of her funnels, looking like a distended concertina, had
+been hurled ashore and had lodged against a clump of palm trees.  The
+mud-flats and the adjoining banks were littered with fragments of metal
+twisted into weird and fantastic shapes.
+
+Down-stream lay the _Paradox_, now swinging to the young flood.  The
+bore was not now in evidence, since it was the period of neap-tides,
+and the alteration in the direction of the tidal stream was scarcely
+perceptible.
+
+The _Paradox_ had come off comparatively lightly.  To all outward
+appearances she was intact, with the exception of her wireless gear,
+the wreckage of which was already being cleared away.  Beyond a certain
+amount of breakage of glass and half a dozen of her crew sustaining
+slight wounds, the damage done was not in proportion to the danger to
+which she had been exposed.
+
+The _Crustacean_ had suffered severely.  Her fire-control platform and
+wireless gear had been swept out of existence.  There were four deep
+gashes in her funnel, which was only kept in position by the chain
+guys.  One half of the bridge had vanished; the remaining portion
+resembled a scrap-iron heap.
+
+Her boats had been badly shattered save one, and that exception was the
+sea-boat, which was on her way back to the monitor when the explosion
+took place and escaped injury.  Every bit of steel work exposed to the
+destroyed ship was pitted and blistered, while a heavy mass of plating
+from the _Pelikan_ had embedded itself in the monitor's quarterdeck.
+
+Below the water-line she was undamaged.  On taking soundings in her
+well no abnormal quantity of water was found.  With the assistance of
+the _Paradox_ it would be a comparatively easy matter to release her
+from her mud berth at high water.
+
+But other work was imminent.  Every minute Kapitan von Riesser and the
+remainder of the _Pelikan's_ crew were increasing the distance between
+them and their foes.  Without delay steps had to be taken to bring the
+treacherous Germans to bay.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+The Landing-Party
+
+No one could accuse Captain Holloway of tardiness.  He had the
+reputation of being an alert and promising officer, and on this
+occasion he excelled himself.  Within an hour after sunrise the
+landing-party from the flotilla was on its way to tackle the remnants
+of the _Pelikan's_ crew; for almost as soon as the raider had been
+swept out of existence the British senior officer was drawing up his
+orders that the unexpected turn of events had necessitated.
+
+Towed by the two steamboats of the _Simplicita_, four cutters from the
+_Paradox_, _Eureka_, and the seaplane parent ship set off up the river.
+Into the boats were packed one hundred and twenty officers and men
+drawn from each vessel of the little squadron.  Each boat carried a
+quick-firer in the bows and a Maxim, in addition to stores sufficient
+to last a week or ten days.
+
+The expedition was under the orders of Lieutenant-commander Bourne,
+while amongst the officers was Sub-lieutenant Frank Denbigh, with
+Armstrong in charge of stores.  Much to his disgust Pat O'Hara found
+himself "turned down" by the Principal Medical Officer; the former's
+assurances that his ankle would improve with a little exercise being
+brushed aside by the latter, who knew perfectly well that days would
+elapse before the Irishman could set foot upon the _Crustacean's_ deck,
+let alone the crowded stern-sheets of an armed cutter.
+
+Before the boats were out of sight of the still stranded _Crustacean_
+two sea-planes ascended and flew swiftly inland.  Without their aid the
+landing-party would be literally groping for their foes, since it was
+not known whether von Riesser and his men had taken to their boats or
+had set out through the mangroves towards the grass-grown hinterland.
+
+Denbigh having more knowledge of the Mohoro River than any of the other
+officers--and his knowledge was limited to a stretch of less than ten
+miles--was navigating officer in charge of the leading steamboat.
+
+While the other officers were sweeping the mudflat fringed banks with
+their glasses Denbigh directed his attention towards the turgid channel.
+
+Presently a line of bobbing objects caught his vision.  Ordering the
+leading stoker to ease down the engines he signalled by means of
+hand-flags to the steamboat astern to likewise reduce speed.
+
+The objects that had attracted his attention were the barrels forming
+the boom across the river almost abreast of the wrecked
+torpedo-station.  The _Pelikan_, he knew, had been moored above the
+obstruction.  She had drifted down past them before she took fire and
+blew up.  Unless the boom had been temporarily removed and afterwards
+replaced he could not understand how the raider could have descended
+with the ebb-tide without sweeping the line of barrels away.
+
+"What's wrong?" enquired Bourne.
+
+Briefly Denbigh explained.
+
+"It would be as well if we sent a shell into one of those barrels," he
+added.
+
+"Waste of good ammunition," objected the lieutenant-commander.  "The
+steamboat can take it bows on at full speed ahead.  She'll do it
+easily."
+
+"That I do not doubt," replied the sub.  "But I have an idea that those
+barricoes are filled with explosives, although we bumped into one of
+them when we were in a light punt."
+
+Just then the P.O. telegraphist for wireless duties, who was ensconced
+in a small insulated cage on the rearmost cutter, received a message
+from one of the sea-planes to the effect that the Germans had been
+located.  They had landed from the boats at a spot twenty miles above
+the former anchorage of the _Pelikan_ and were making their way towards
+the hills.
+
+"They're funking it," declared Bourne.  "Everything points to a hurried
+flight.  They may have swung the boom back in position, but I doubt the
+accuracy of your mine theory."
+
+"Very good, sir," replied Denbigh.  "Then you wish the steamboat to
+charge the obstruction?"
+
+"Yes, carry on," said Bourne.
+
+Denbigh was too accustomed to discipline to demur in the face of
+definite orders.  He prepared to cast off the tow, for the steamboat
+was to essay the feat alone.  The two cutters were to anchor until a
+passage had been cleared through the obstruction.
+
+"Well, I hope I'm wrong," thought the sub as he ordered the leading
+stoker to "let her rip for all she's worth."
+
+But before the boat could gather way there was a commotion in the water
+ahead.  A large hippo, frightened by the unusual noises that had
+disturbed the usually peaceful river, made off up-stream.
+
+Swerving neither to the right hand nor the left the huge animal bore
+down upon the line of floating barrels.  It passed between a pair of
+them.  For a moment it seemed that he had surmounted the massive chain,
+until the sudden displacement of the barrels showed that its body had
+fouled the hidden barrier.
+
+The hippo reared in fury and terror, bringing its whole weight down
+upon the chain.  Instantly a line of waterspouts shot high in the air
+accompanied by a simultaneous discharge of half a dozen mines.  The
+sudden strain had ignited tubes of fulminate of mercury, which in turn
+had exploded heavy charges of gun-cotton.  Had the boat been a hundred
+yards nearer not one of her crew would have escaped.
+
+In silence Denbigh brought the steamboat abreast of the first cutter
+and re-established communication.
+
+The lieutenant-commander stood up, and in a steady, clear voice
+exclaimed:
+
+"Well done, Mr. Denbigh!  My judgment was hopelessly at fault."
+
+"That's all right, sir," replied the sub.  He knew the effort that
+Bourne had had to make to tender his apologies.  Having given his order
+in the hearing of the men it was the only course open to him.  And
+Bourne was an officer who, although somewhat impetuous, was never
+afraid to acknowledge an error.
+
+With the flood-tide the flotilla made good progress.  Rounding the
+sharp bend where the _Myra_ had disappeared, the boats entered a gently
+curving reach that apparently made a long horseshoe sweep.  At this
+point the mangroves ceased.  The ground became higher, the banks being
+precipitous in places, and covered with long rank grass.
+
+"There are the _Pelikan's_ boats," reported Denbigh, pointing to two
+large pinnaces lying against the banks to which they had been carried
+by the tide.
+
+In answer to an enquiry the scouting sea-plane reported that further
+progress a mile round the next bend was barred by a series of rapids,
+and that the Germans had established a gain of nearly ten miles, and
+were approaching the bottle-neck formed by the extreme sinuosities of
+the river.
+
+"Can you check them?" asked Bourne anxiously.  He was not at all keen
+on a ten- or twenty-mile march through the rough grass.  If the
+sea-planes could command the narrow stretch of ground between the
+horseshoe bend von Riesser's men might be headed off.
+
+"We'll try," was the wirelessed reply.
+
+Meanwhile the steamboat had cast off the tow, and the cutters still
+carrying way were steered towards the bank.  Here, owing to the rush of
+the tide, there was fairly deep water close to the land, and
+fortunately an absence of mud.
+
+Grounding twenty feet apart the boats disgorged their loads, the seamen
+leaping ashore in spite of the weight of arms and accoutrements.  The
+Maxims, too, were landed and mounted upon light travelling carriages.
+The portable wireless apparatus was to accompany the landing-party,
+while the officers and men left behind were to land the quick-firers,
+since they could not command the ground from the boats owing to the
+height of the banks.
+
+Bourne realized that such things as reverses do happen, so he took
+precautions accordingly.  The men advanced in open order, with flankers
+thrown far and wide.
+
+From the top of a small hillock Denbigh watched the straw hats of the
+men out of sight as they marched through the long grass; then, knowing
+that some time must necessarily elapse before the landing-party came in
+touch with the enemy, he busied himself in preparing for the
+re-embarkation, should the operations prove to be shorter than Captain
+Holloway had anticipated.
+
+With the turn of the tide the boats were taken out into mid-stream and
+anchored.  Tripping lines were bent to the crowns of the anchors, the
+other end of each line being made fast to a watch-buoy, so that the
+operation of weighing would not be delayed by the fouling of the flukes
+in possible snags on the bed of the river.  Gang planks were prepared
+in order that no hitch might occur should the men return at or near
+dead-low water, when a stretch of ooze separated the dry ground from
+the river.
+
+For two hours Denbigh directed operations under the blazing sun.  His
+men worked like niggers, knowing that they, too, were doing their bit
+although not in the actual firing-line.
+
+At intervals came the faint detonations of a series of heavy
+explosions.  The sea-planes were at work, attempting by means of bombs
+to arrest the flight of von Riesser's men across the narrow neck of
+land.
+
+Late in the forenoon one of the sea-planes flew overhead.  Without
+essaying to make a landing on the river, it flew down-stream,
+presumably to take in a fresh supply of petrol and bombs.  In an hour's
+time it returned, and presently its opposite number flew overhead in
+the direction of its parent ship.
+
+Slowly the day wore on.  At frequent intervals Denbigh climbed the
+hillock and brought his glasses to bear upon the distant high ground.
+
+Once or twice he fancied he heard the sounds of musketry and Maxim
+firing in the sultry air.  Armstrong and several of the men were of the
+same opinion, agreeing that the firing was desultory and not constantly
+maintained.
+
+At length darkness fell.  No one had seen the sea-planes returning
+before sunset, and in addition to the great risk of making a night
+landing these craft are of little practical use except in daylight.
+
+With the approach of night Denbigh ordered double sentries to be
+posted, and cautioned the boat-keepers to be alert and watchful for
+signals.  Those of the men left behind slept or rested beside the
+quick-firers, protected from the heavy dew by boat awnings stretched on
+oars and boat-hooks.
+
+For Denbigh sleep was out of the question.  Muffled in a boat-cloak,
+for the off-shore wind blew chilly, he paced up and down with the mate
+of the _Myra_.
+
+"What's that over yonder?" asked Armstrong.
+
+"Flashes--musketry," replied Denbigh.  "It's strange that we cannot
+hear the reports, for the wind is in our favour."
+
+"Too steady for rifle-firing," suggested the mate.  "Looks to me like a
+bush fire."
+
+"By Jove, I hope not," said the sub earnestly.  "The grass will catch
+like tinder."
+
+A minute or so passed, then Denbigh lowered his binoculars.
+
+"You're right, Armstrong," he said.  "It is a fire.  Those brutes have
+set the grass ablaze to cover their retreat."
+
+"Hark!" exclaimed the mate.
+
+Overhead came the unmistakable buzzing of an aerial propeller.  One of
+the sea-planes, if not both, was returning.
+
+Seizing a flashing-lamp Denbigh directed it skywards.  It was the only
+means at his disposal for communication.
+
+"All right?" he asked.
+
+A light blinked through the darkness.
+
+"_Dash, dot_.  Pause.  _Dash, dash, dash_" it flashed; then it ceased
+abruptly.  Nevertheless the answer was to the point.  It was NO.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+Accounted For
+
+Before another quarter of an hour passed the long line of flames was
+visible to the naked eye.  Fanned by the strong breeze the fire spread
+rapidly.  It seemed as if its activity was by no means confined to the
+horseshoe loop formed by the river.  It appeared to have obtained a
+grip upon the grass on the opposite bank.  Once the flames attacked the
+mangroves there was no saying where the mischief might end.
+
+Denbigh could do little to aid his absent comrades, who, for aught he
+knew, might even now be overwhelmed by the swift advance of the
+devouring elements.  Turning out the men who remained he had the
+quick-firer ammunition removed to the boats.  Then setting fire to the
+grass around the bivouac he cleared a broad belt nearly a hundred yards
+in diameter.  At all events the main fire would be checked before the
+flotilla was seriously imperilled.
+
+By the time that this work was completed the flames were within three
+miles of the camp.  For a breadth of more than twice that distance the
+grass was blazing furiously.  Lurid red tongues of flame licked the
+dark cloud of smoke that overhung the devouring elements.  Already the
+air was reeking with pungent fumes.  Grey ashes, caught by the strong
+wind, whirled past the anxious watchers or dashed lightly into their
+faces.  Dark shapes, silhouetted against the red glare, tore madly from
+the advancing fire.  They were the denizens of the grass lands flying
+for their lives.  Undeterred by the water the panic-stricken animals
+plunged into the river, some of them in their terror frantically pawing
+the sides of the anchored boats.
+
+"Dash it all!" muttered Denbigh.  "Wish to goodness I'd cleared another
+hundred yards of the scrub.  We'll be shrivelled up with the heat.
+There's still time."
+
+Calling to his handful of men the sub ran into the open.  This time,
+since the inner circle offered no grip to the flames, they could work
+without fear of the fire getting the upper hand.
+
+In the midst of their preparations Denbigh heard a hoarse shout.
+
+Stumbling towards him, half-enveloped in the haze that was the
+forerunner of the roaring furnace, were two men.  One fell, picked
+himself up, and staggered after his companion.
+
+Outlined as they were against the ruddy glare it was impossible to
+distinguish them, but as the British seamen ran forward to bear them
+into safety the men raised their arms appealingly.
+
+"Help, kamarade, help!" they cried.
+
+"Germans!" ejaculated Armstrong.  "Where are our fellows?"
+
+Denbigh could not give an answer.  A glance in the direction of the
+wall of fire, now less than a quarter of a mile distant, told him that
+life was impossible in front of that barrier unless the fugitives were
+already in sight.  But they were not The sub set his jaw tightly.
+
+"Where are the others--and the British seamen?" he asked in German of
+one of the men.  The other was beyond speech.
+
+"All gone!  All gone!" replied the German.
+
+"There's another, sir!" exclaimed a petty officer.
+
+"Come on, stick it!" shouted half a dozen lusty voices in encouragement.
+
+The third man was evidently in the last stages of exhaustion.  He was
+gasping for breath as he ran, but the hot acrid air was fast choking
+him.  He flung his arms above his head and pitched upon his face, with
+the burning embers dropping all around him.
+
+A cloud of eddying smoke enveloped him.  Then a gust of wind cleared
+the pall of vapour.  The wretch was writhing.  His clothes were
+smouldering as he lay helpless in the withering grass.
+
+With a bound Denbigh cleared the shallow trench, and bending low rushed
+through the smoke.  Burning ashes stung his face.  What air he took in
+through his nose felt pungent and suffocating.  The heat seemed to gnaw
+into his eyes.
+
+How he covered that two hundred yards he never could explain, but at
+length, with a feeling of relief, he turned his broad back to the
+advancing flames and raised the now unconscious man from the ground.
+With almost superhuman strength he lifted the listless body upon his
+shoulder and began his bid for safety.
+
+Almost blindly he ran till his gait slowed down almost to a halting
+walk.  Dimly he realized that he was not alone.  Some of the devoted
+seamen had followed him into the edge of the inferno.
+
+Someone tried to shift the burden from his shoulders.  He resisted.
+Why he knew not.  Already his senses were forsaking him.
+
+With a crash he fell upon his knees.  He was up and staggering again,
+until, unable to withstand the strain, he rolled inertly upon the
+ground with his fingers gripping his throat.  Then all became a blank.
+
+He recovered consciousness to find himself lying on a pile of canvas in
+the stern-sheets of one of the boats.  It was broad daylight.  Overhead
+an awning had been spread to ward off the rays of the morning sun.
+
+Almost in an instant he recalled the incident of the night of horror.
+The air still smelt vilely of smouldering vegetable matter.  Wisps of
+smoke eddied betwixt the sun and the awning, throwing fantastic shadows
+upon the bellying canvas.  The fire, then, had practically burnt itself
+out.
+
+"Any signs of the others?" he asked.
+
+Armstrong shook his head.
+
+"The whole place is a mass of glowing cinders," he replied.  "It is
+impossible to see more than a quarter of a mile in that direction.  I'm
+afraid----"
+
+"Any more survivors?" asked Denbigh.  The mere movement of his facial
+muscles caused him exquisite pain, for his face was scorched and
+blistered.  His hair and eyebrows had been badly singed.  Altogether he
+looked a pitiable scarecrow.  It is only on the stage and on the
+cinematograph screen that heroes preserve an unruffled appearance.
+
+"No," replied the mate.  "Not one, after the fellow you brought in.
+Did you know who it was?"
+
+The sub shook his head, then winced, for the action sent a thrill of
+anguish through his body.
+
+"Unter-leutnant Klick," continued Armstrong in answer to his own
+question.  "He's still unconscious.  We dare not move him to the boats.
+His skin is literally peeling off all over his body.  Shall I have you
+sent down the river, old man?  The chief petty officer is now in
+charge.  Is he to withdraw the rest of the boats?"
+
+"No," replied Denbigh with sudden firmness.  "No; by no means.  We'll
+wait until we can send volunteers to find traces of our fellows.  Have
+the sea-planes passed over yet?"
+
+Armstrong replied in the negative.
+
+"How are the other Germans?"
+
+"One is practically fit.  The other is suffering from shock."
+
+"Then send the fit fellow to me, please."
+
+The man was brought to the boat.  He was one of the _Pelikan's_
+firemen.  Questioned in German he replied without hesitation.  The fire
+had been started, he declared, not by the raider's crew, but by bombs
+dropped by British sea-planes.  There was an action, but he and half a
+dozen more worked round by the two banks until they were almost cut off
+by the flames.  He had reason to suppose that both the British and the
+German forces had been overwhelmed by the onrushing flames.
+
+Throughout the afternoon Denbigh lay in torment in spite of the
+first-aid remedies applied by the only sick-berth attendant left with
+the base party.  Hardly ever before had he felt the sweltering heat so
+acutely.  The air under the awning was close and oppressive.  It reeked
+both of the odour of the river and of the fumes of the smouldering
+grass.  There was one compensation.  The fire had effectually driven
+off the swarms of mosquitoes that otherwise would have increased his
+torments.  He would have given almost anything to be back on board
+ship, with the sea breezes flung in through the open scuttle and the
+electric fans cooling the air.  But stop he must until he had obtained
+definite information as to the fate of the landing-party.
+
+"I doubt after all if there's much to grumble at," he soliloquized.  "I
+might have been born to become a Tommy, and I might be stuck up to my
+thighs in mud and water in a trench somewhere in France.  It's all part
+of one big business, and we're keeping our end up all right."
+
+Then his thoughts took a turn in another direction.  He was no longer a
+prisoner of war.  In another few months he hoped to be back in England.
+What plans he would make to spin out that long-deferred leave!  For the
+time being he was no longer in a vile African river, but in a pretty
+old-world garden in the homeland.
+
+Suddenly his train of thought was rudely interrupted by a hoarse,
+almost frenzied burst of cheering.  The boat-keeper, thrusting his head
+below the curtains to ascertain whether the sub was awake or otherwise,
+answered Denbigh's mute appeal.
+
+"It's orl right, sir," he announced.  "They've romped home; the whole
+bloomin' crush."
+
+Following the downward course of the river was the landing-party,
+bringing with them forty-three German prisoners, including Kapitan von
+Riesser.  Their own losses had been insignificant, for during the
+long-drawn-out action that was brought to an abrupt conclusion by the
+fire, one British officer and seven seamen had been slightly wounded.
+These were brought in by the stretcher-bearers.
+
+The escape of the little expedition was due to their resourcefulness in
+fighting fire by fire.  Finding that their retreat was not speedy
+enough to outpace the flames, Lieutenant-commander Bourne had given
+orders to set alight the long grass to leeward.
+
+By this means, though suffering agonies from thirst and heat, the
+British and their prisoners escaped.
+
+The career of the raider and her crew had been brought to a close, and
+before nightfall the boats of the flotilla had regained their
+respective ships.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+Frank Denbigh is sub-lieutenant no longer, but a full-fledged
+lieutenant with the letters D.S.O. tacked on to his name.  He has just
+received his appointment to a brand-new battle-cruiser, and is about to
+serve with the Grand Fleet.
+
+Pat O'Hara is still limping about on one foot somewhere in the Emerald
+Isle.  He, too, has gained a step in rank, but rather envies his chum's
+good luck.  Still, there is time for the light-headed Irishman to get
+fit again and be in at the death, when, it is to be hoped, the visions
+of the trident in the German fist will be shattered for good and aye.
+
+And Stirling?  In recognition of his services he is confirmed as
+lieutenant-commander of the monitor _Crustacean_.  He is still looking
+forward to his leave in the Highlands, but meanwhile he is doing good
+work in a remote portion of the globe in upholding the glorious
+tradition of the real Mistress of the Seas.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Rounding up the Raider, by Percy F. Westerman
+
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+The Project Gutenberg E-text of Rounding up the Raider, by Percy F. Westerman
+</TITLE>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rounding up the Raider, by Percy F. Westerman
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Rounding up the Raider
+       A Naval Story of the Great War
+
+Author: Percy F. Westerman
+
+Illustrator: E. S. Hodgson
+
+Release Date: June 23, 2011 [EBook #36499]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROUNDING UP THE RAIDER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="img-cover"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-cover.jpg" ALT="Cover art" BORDER="">
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="img-front"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="DENBIGH AND HIS COMPANIONS ARE RESCUED BY A MONITOR <I>Page</I> 207.  <I>Frontispiece</I>" BORDER="2">
+<H4 CLASS="h4center">
+DENBIGH AND HIS COMPANIONS ARE RESCUED BY A MONITOR <A HREF="#P207"><I>Page</I> 207</A>.  <I>Frontispiece</I>
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t1">
+ROUNDING UP
+<BR>
+THE RAIDER
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t3">
+A Naval Story of the Great War
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t4">
+BY
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="t3">
+PERCY F. WESTERMAN
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="t4">
+Author of "The Fight for Constantinople"<BR>
+"Sea Scouts All"<BR>
+&amp;c. &amp;c.<BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t3">
+<I>Illustrated by E. S. Hodgson</I>
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t3">
+BLACKIE &amp; SON LIMITED
+<BR>
+LONDON AND GLASGOW
+<BR>
+1916
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent" STYLE="margin-left: 10%">
+By Percy F. Westerman<BR>
+<BR>
+Haunted Harbour.<BR>
+His Unfinished Voyage.<BR>
+Midshipman Webb's Treasure<BR>
+Winged Might.<BR>
+Captain Flick.<BR>
+Tireless Wings.<BR>
+His First Ship.<BR>
+The Red Pirate.<BR>
+The Call of the Sea.<BR>
+Standish of the Air Police.<BR>
+Sleuths of the Air.<BR>
+Andy-All-Alone.<BR>
+The Westow Talisman.<BR>
+The White Arab.<BR>
+The Buccaneers of Boya.<BR>
+Rounding up the Raider.<BR>
+Captain Fosdyke's Gold.<BR>
+In Defiance of the Ban.<BR>
+The Senior Cadet.<BR>
+The Amir's Ruby.<BR>
+The Secret of the Plateau.<BR>
+Leslie Dexter, Cadet.<BR>
+All Hands to the Boats.<BR>
+A Mystery of the Broads.<BR>
+Rivals of the Reef.<BR>
+Captain Starlight.<BR>
+On the Wings of the Wind.<BR>
+Captain Blundell's Treasure.<BR>
+The Third Officer.<BR>
+Unconquered Wings.<BR>
+Pat Stobart in the "Golden Dawn".<BR>
+Ringed by Fire.<BR>
+Midshipman Raxworthy.<BR>
+Chums of the "Golden Vanity".<BR>
+Clipped Wings.<BR>
+Rocks Ahead.<BR>
+King for a Month.<BR>
+The Disappearing Dhow.<BR>
+The Luck of the "Golden Dawn".<BR>
+The Salving of the "Fusi Yama".<BR>
+Winning his Wings.<BR>
+The Good Ship "Golden Effort".<BR>
+East in the "Golden Gain".<BR>
+The Quest of the "Golden Hope".<BR>
+The Wireless Officer.<BR>
+The Submarine Hunters.<BR>
+The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge.<BR>
+With Beatty off Jutland.<BR>
+The Dispatch Riders.<BR>
+A Cadet of the Mercantile Marine.<BR>
+With the Last of the Buccaneers.<BR>
+A Lively Bit of the Front.<BR>
+<BR>
+The Westerman Omnibus Book<BR>
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t4">
+<I>Printed in Great Britain by Blackie &amp; Son, Ltd., Glasgow</I>
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t2">
+Contents
+</P>
+
+<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%">
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAP.</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap01">THE CAPTURED LINER</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap02">THE LAST OF THE <I>NICHI MARU</I></A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap03">ON BOARD THE RAIDER</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap04">THREATENED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap05">THE PURSUIT OF THE <I>PELIKAN</I></A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap06">THE DECOY</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap07">FOILED BY A COLLIER</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap08">REINFORCEMENTS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap09">THE MIDNIGHT LANDING</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap10">THE LAGOON</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap11">DENBIGH'S PLAN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap12">A PERILOUS JOURNEY</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap13">NOCTURNAL INVESTIGATIONS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap14">A NEGLECTED WARNING</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap15">ARMSTRONG'S PART</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap16">THE DISASTER TO THE <I>MYRA</I></A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap17">A BID FOR FREEDOM</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap18">DISAPPOINTMENT</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap19">"OUR LUCK'S OUT"</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap20">ADRIFT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap21">VON ECKENSTEIN'S SURPRISE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap22">THE MONITORS IN ACTION</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap23">HOW THE <I>PELIKAN</I> SURRENDERED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap24">THE LANDING PARTY</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap25">ACCOUNTED FOR</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+</TABLE>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<P CLASS="t2">
+Illustrations
+</P>
+
+<H4>
+<A HREF="#img-front">
+DENBIGH AND HIS COMPANIONS ARE PICKED UP BY A MONITOR . . . . . . <I>Frontispiece</I>
+</A>
+</H4>
+
+<H4>
+<A HREF="#img-054">
+"BY JOVE!" EJACULATED O'HARA. "SHE MUST BE ONE OF OUR MONITORS"
+</A>
+</H4>
+
+<H4>
+<A HREF="#img-128">
+THE 'LOG' WAS A HEALTHY SPECIMEN OF A CROCODILE
+</A>
+</H4>
+
+<H4>
+<A HREF="#img-226">
+"UNLESS THE GERMAN ENSIGN is HAULED DOWN ON BOARD THE <I>PELIKAN</I> WITHIN
+AN HOUR, I OPEN FIRE"
+</A>
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap01"></A>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+ROUNDING UP THE RAIDER
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER I
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Captured Liner
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"Fifteen days more and then Old England once again!" exclaimed Frank
+Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And bonnie Scotland for me!" added Charlie Stirling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You'll not be forgettin' 'tis Ould Oireland I'm bound for,"
+remonstrated Pat O'Hara, purposely dropping into the brogue.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The three chums had just been reading the "miles made good"
+announcement that, printed in English and Japanese, was daily exhibited
+in various parts of S.S. <I>Nichi Maru</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hostile submarines permitting," remarked Denbigh with a laugh, after
+he had taken good care that no lady passengers were within earshot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rot!" ejaculated Stirling.  "We've cleared them out of the Channel
+pretty well.  It's part of the work of the British Navy under&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stop it!" interrupted O'Hara good-humouredly.  "I know what you were
+going to say: that old tag from the Articles of War.  I propose that
+every time the word submarine is mentioned by anyone of us while on
+board this vessel the delinquent shall be suitably punished as soon as
+the sun's over the fore-yard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hear, hear!  I second that," agreed Stirling.  "No more 'shop'.  We'll
+get plenty of that in a few weeks' time.  I fancy My Lords won't let us
+kick our heels in idleness for long, and honestly, the sooner we settle
+down to business the better."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The three chums were Sub-lieutenants, homeward bound from a portion of
+a certain group of islands off the coast of New Guinea, having till
+recently the high-sounding title of the Bismarck Archipelago.  The
+youthful but none the less glorious Australian Navy had quickly changed
+the colour of that portion of the map, but the climate was a more
+formidable foe than the former German garrison.  Thus the three young
+officers, who had been "lent" to the recently-formed navy, had the
+misfortune to be stricken with fever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After a long convalescence, which by a pure coincidence lasted almost
+exactly the same time in each of the three cases, Denbigh, Stirling,
+and O'Hara were ordered to return to England and to resume their duties
+with the navy of the Motherland.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They had travelled by an intermediate boat to Singapore, whence, in
+order to save delay, they had proceeded by a Japanese liner, the <I>Nichi
+Maru</I>, bound from Nagasaki to London.  It was a case of misdirected
+zeal, for, owing to the torpedoing of a large Japanese liner in the
+Mediterranean, the <I>Nichi Maru</I> had been ordered to take the longer
+passage round the Cape instead of the usual route via the Suez Canal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hulloa!  What's the excitement?" enquired Denbigh, pointing in the
+direction of the bridge.  The chums had gained the promenade deck,
+whence most of the navigating bridge of the liner could be seen.  There
+was evidently something to warrant his exclamation, for the dapper
+little Japanese officer of the watch was steadily keeping his
+binoculars upon some distant object.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's a smudge of smoke away to the nor'east'ard," announced
+Stirling.  "The mild excitement of sighting a vessel will help to push
+the hands of the clock.  Now if someone will kindly suggest a
+sweepstake on the nationality of yonder craft&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The door of the wireless room opened.  The sharp peculiar cackle of the
+instruments announced that an exchange of messages was in progress.  A
+messenger made his way to the bridge.  Almost immediately after, the
+captain hurried from his cabin.  Evidently "something was in the wind",
+for the appearance of the imperturbable commander of the <I>Nichi Maru</I>
+at this time of day was rather unusual.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We're altering helm," declared O'Hara after a brief interval.  "Since
+we can speak with that vessel without the necessity of having to close,
+it points to something of the nature of a serious mishap."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The rest of the passengers were now making their way on deck.  By an
+inexplicable intuition the presence of the still invisible vessel had
+made itself felt.  None of the officers had communicated the news that
+the <I>Nichi Maru</I> was in touch with another craft, yet in five minutes
+the decks were crowded with a medley of Europeans and Asiatics.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know what is wrong, sir?" asked Denbigh, addressing one of the
+Japanese officers who happened to be making his way aft.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Jap shook his head.  Like most of the <I>Nichi Maru's</I> officers he
+spoke English.  The question was plain to him, but with Oriental
+reticence he politely evaded it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll get my glasses," announced O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And mine, while you are about it," said Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And mine, too," added the Scot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara quickly returned with the desired articles.  Bringing their
+binoculars to bear upon the smudge on the horizon the three Subs made
+the discovery that there was a two-masted, three-funnelled vessel lying
+apparently hove-to.  Smoke was issuing from her after-funnel in dense
+clouds, that rose slowly in the still sultry air.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's flying an ensign," remarked the Irishman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, straight up and down like a wet dishclout," added Stirling.  "For
+all the good it's doing it needn't be there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps her propeller shaft is broken," suggested one of the
+passengers, an English merchant who had given up a good position in
+Tokio to return home in order to "do his bit".
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hardly," replied Denbigh.  "She's bound to be a twin screw, and it
+isn't likely that both engines would break down."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't know so much about that," said O'Hara, pointing aft, where a
+crowd of Japanese seamen were engaged in preparing a large flexible
+steel hawser.  "It looks as if we were going to take her in tow.  And
+it's a long, long way to Las Palmas, worse luck."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's a Dutchman," declared Stirling.  "I can make out the red, white,
+and blue ensign.  I wouldn't mind betting she's one of the Rotterdam
+and Batavia liners."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The three British officers relapsed into silence, devoting their whole
+attention upon the disabled liner which was now momentarily looming
+larger and larger as the <I>Nichi Maru</I> hastened to her aid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently the engine-room telegraph bell clanged and the Japanese
+vessel's engines began to slow down.  Two of the boats were swung out
+ready to be lowered, while the four ship's surgeons stood by, ready to
+be taken to the helpless Dutchman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bad boiler-room accident," exclaimed one of the European passengers,
+who had learnt the news from a Japanese petty-officer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Boiler accident be hanged!" ejaculated Denbigh, excitedly.  "We're
+done in, you fellows.  That vessel's no Dutchman."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As if in confirmation of the Sub's announcement the tricolour of
+Holland was smartly lowered, its place being taken by that shame-faced
+and palpable imitation of the good old British White Ensign&mdash;the Black
+Cross of Germany.  Simultaneously portions of the vessel's plating
+swung outboard, revealing a battery of six fifteen-centimetre Krupp
+guns.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Nichi Maru</I>, ahoy!" shouted a guttural voice in English, for the two
+vessels were now within megaphone-hailing distance.  "Surrender
+instantly, or we send you to the bottom."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a pause, while the officer who had shouted the message was
+being prompted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Make no attempt to use your wireless," he continued.  "That will not
+save you.  It will make things very bad for you.  Stand by to receive a
+prize crew."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Although completely surprised by the dramatic turn of events, both the
+crew and passengers of the <I>Nichi Maru</I> remained perfectly calm.  The
+captain, a descendant of the knightly Samurai of Old Japan, was on the
+point of ordering full speed ahead, with the object of ramming the
+perfidious vessel and sending both ships to a common destruction; but
+the knowledge that the safety of nearly a thousand non-combatants, many
+of them women and children, would be in dire peril through such an act
+compelled him to submit to the inevitable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Humanity, not fear, had conquered the courteous and lion-hearted yellow
+skipper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Boats were lowered from the German auxiliary cruiser&mdash;for such she
+undoubtedly was.  Into them clambered a number of motley-garbed men
+armed with rifles and automatic pistols.  But for their modern weapons
+the boat's crew might have come from the deck of an Eighteenth-Century
+buccaneering craft.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I say, you fellows," said O'Hara, "I'm off below."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What for?" asked his companions in surprise.  Not for one moment did
+they imagine that the Irishman was showing the white feather, but at
+the same time they were mystified by his announcement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To get into uniform," he replied.  "Those skunks won't find me in
+mufti."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Right oh!" declared Denbigh.  "We'll slip into ours, too."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a few minutes the chums had changed into their naval uniforms.  By
+the time they regained the promenade deck the Germans were in
+possession of the ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A fat ober-leutnant, backed up by half a dozen armed seamen, held the
+bridge, the Japanese captain and deck officers being compelled to
+retire to the chart-room.  A couple of arrogant unter-leutnants with
+much sabre-rattling, were herding the European male passengers on the
+port side of the promenade deck.  The Japanese passengers they drove
+forward with every insulting expression they could make use of.  It was
+the German officers' idea of revenge, for the fall of Kiau Chau, where
+the boasted Teutonic fortress had succumbed to Oriental valour, rankled
+in the breasts of the subjects of the All-Highest War Lord.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two German officers, apparently of the Accountant branch, had possessed
+themselves of the passenger list of the captured vessel, and were
+proceeding to call the names it contained.  Each person on hearing his
+name had to step forward.  "Denbigh, Frank," exclaimed one of the
+officers.  Denbigh, standing erect, faced his captors.  "Ah!  Englander
+officer, hein?" queried the Teuton insolently.  "Goot!  More to say
+soon.  Step there over, quick."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Sub obeyed.  He realized that at times even passive resistance was
+indiscreet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stirling, Charles," continued the German.  "Ach, yet anoder Englander.
+Unter-leutnant?  Goot, a goot capture of Englanders we haf."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm a Scot&mdash;not an Englishman," protested Stirling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No matter.  The one is as bad as odder, if nod worse.  Over dere," and
+he pointed to the place where Denbigh was standing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We're marked down for something, old man," whispered Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, but listen.  They're tackling O'Hara now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sub-lieutenant O'Hara faced his inquisitor with a broad smile on his
+face.  The Germans could not understand why a man should look pleasant
+in time of adversity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Irish?  Ach, goot!" declared the Teuton.  "Der Irish not like
+Englischmans.  When we Germans take London, Ireland free country will
+be."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You haven't got to London yet," remarked O'Hara with the perplexing
+smile still on his lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Already our Zeppelins hab there been.  It is matter of time.  Ach?
+Brussels, Warsaw, Bukharest, Cettigne&mdash;five capitals&mdash;all conquered."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How about Paris?" enquired O'Hara.  "To say nothing of Calais.  And
+who commands the sea?  You Germans haven't a vessel afloat outside your
+own territorial waters."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Vot is dis?" asked the Teuton, pointing to the armed liner.  His voice
+rose to a crescendo of triumph.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara was temporarily non-plussed.  Evidently something was at fault
+somewhere.  How could a large vessel like that evade the strong cordon
+of British warships?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You're at the end of your tether, old sport," he said after a brief
+hesitation.  "That ship will be at the bottom before another
+twenty-four hours."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You tink so?" almost howled the exasperated German.  "You vill see.
+If she sink, den you sink mit her.  Over dere."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara rejoined his chums.  A couple of armed seamen mounted guard over
+them while the work of investigation and pillage continued.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We're marked down as hostages," began the Irishman; but one of the
+seamen, bringing the butt end of his rifle down on the deck within a
+couple of inches of O'Hara's toes, rendered unnecessary the guttural
+"Verboten" that accompanied the action.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In silence the three Subs watched the proceedings.  Under the orders of
+their captors the Japanese seamen were compelled to transfer bullion
+stores from the <I>Nichi Maru</I> into the boats.  German seamen brought
+charges of explosives and placed them below.  It was apparent that the
+destruction of the captured vessel was already decided.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length all preparations were completed.  One of the <I>Nichi Maru's</I>
+officers, acting under the authority of the ober-leutnant gave the
+order&mdash;first in Japanese and then in English&mdash;to abandon the ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fifteen minutes only are allowed.  Boats to be provisioned and manned.
+No personal property is to be taken.  Women and children first."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Japanese captain was expostulating, firmly and in a dignified
+manner.  He pointed out the inhumanity of sending women and children
+adrift in mid-Atlantic and under a tropical sun.  His protests were in
+vain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We will send a small vessel to pick up the boats," retorted the German
+lieutenant.  "We will not sink a small one purposely.  A little
+discomfort will do these English good.  You yellow apes are used to it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Japanese accepted the direct insult without signs of emotion.  The
+disguise of his feelings was a national trait, but it would have gone
+hard with the arrogant Prussian had the captain of the <I>Nichi Maru</I> not
+been hampered with a crowd of non-combatants.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now, Englishmen," exclaimed the German.  "Into that boat.  Any trouble
+make and you dead men.  Ach!  You smile now: your trouble it only has
+just commenced."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap02"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER II
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Last of the <I>Nichi Maru</I>
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+In silence the three Subs left the doomed <I>Nichi Maru</I> and entered the
+waiting boat.  At the word of command the men pushed off and rowed
+towards the modern pirate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The disguised vessel had now swung round and was lying motionless at a
+distance of two cables' length from her prize.  The hull was painted a
+light yellow, with a broad black band.  Her funnels were buff with
+black tops.  On her stern were the words, <I>Zwaan</I>&mdash;Rotterdam.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's no more the <I>Zwaan</I> of Rotterdam than I am," cogitated Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was right in his surmise.  The vessel was originally the
+<I>Pelikan</I>&mdash;a supplementary Hamburg-Amerika Line boat.  On the outbreak
+of the war she was homeward bound from South America, with, as was the
+case with all liners flying the German flag, an armament of
+quick-firers stowed away in her hold.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unfortunately for Kaiser Wilhelm's plans the abrupt entry of Great
+Britain into the arena of war had nipped in the bud the activities of
+German commerce raiders.  A few ran amok until promptly rounded up and
+settled by the ubiquitous British cruisers.  Others fled for neutral
+ports.  Amongst them was the <I>Pelikan</I>, whose captain, with
+considerable astuteness, contrived to make for a harbour belonging to
+an obscure South American Republic.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before doing so he had fallen in with the light cruiser <I>Karlsruhe</I>&mdash;a
+craft doomed shortly afterwards to end her career at the hands of her
+own crew rather than face an action that would end either in
+destruction or ignominious capture&mdash;and from her received a number of
+additional officers and men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a twelvemonth or more the <I>Pelikan</I> lay hidden.  Lavish sums
+expended in bribery sealed the mouths of the grasping officials of the
+port, in addition to procuring coal and stores to enable the German
+vessel to put to sea whenever an opportunity offered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length the chance came.  Acting under wireless orders from Berlin
+the <I>Pelikan</I> was to make a dash for the Atlantic, do as much damage as
+she possibly could to shipping of the Allies, and finally attempt to
+reach Dar es Salaam, the principal port of German East Africa.  Here,
+should she succeed in evading the British patrols, she was to transfer
+her crew, armament, and munitions to shore to assist the land forces of
+the Colony against a threatened advance from Rhodesia.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Accordingly the <I>Pelikan</I> became the <I>Zwaan</I>.  Disguised by a different
+colour paint and supplied with forged ship's papers she easily evaded
+the lax authority of the neutral port and made for the open sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A course was shaped to cut the Dutch East Indies liners' route in the
+latitude of Cape Verde.  Then, following in a parallel direction, the
+track usually taken by the vessels she was impersonating, the pseudo
+<I>Zwaan</I> headed due south.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kapitan von Riesser, her commanding officer, was a resourceful and
+crafty Hun.  He was steeped in the doctrine of "frightfulness", but in
+the present instance there were limits.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Had he been the commander of a U boat he would not have hesitated to
+send the <I>Nichi Maru</I> to the bottom without warning, for a German
+submarine could strike a fatal blow and not show herself during the
+attack.  The <I>Pelikan</I>&mdash;-to revert to her original name&mdash;was not
+capable of emulating the methods of German unterseebooten without risk
+of subsequent capture.  And as the possibility of being taken by a
+British warship always loomed upon von Riesser's mental horizon, he was
+determined to tread warily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fear of reprisals alone kept him within the bounds of discretion as
+laid down by up-to-date rules of warfare.  He might sink any
+merchant-vessel that fell into his clutches, provided he gave the
+passengers and crew time to take to their boats.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Three days before sighting the <I>Nichi Maru</I> the <I>Pelikan</I> had been
+stopped and examined by a British cruiser.  The boarding-officer knew
+neither German nor Dutch, and conversation had to be conducted in
+English.  The ship's papers were apparently in order.  The British
+lieutenant failed to pay sufficient attention to the bulky deck-gear
+that concealed the raider's quick-firers; nor did he discover that,
+hidden between double bulkheads abaft the engine-room, two
+torpedo-tubes, removed from the <I>Karlsruhe</I>, were ready for instant use
+should occasion arise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cruiser had, indeed, a very narrow escape of sharing the fate of a
+British battleship that was torpedoed in the Channel on a dark and
+stormy night, the deadly missile being launched from a vessel sailing
+under the Dutch flag.  Only Kapitan von Riesser's doubts as to the
+immediate success of a torpedo attack prevented him putting his
+treacherous design into effect.  A stricken cruiser, he knew, could use
+her guns with tremendous results, and he had no wish to lay down his
+life for the Fatherland while an easier course lay open to him.
+Accordingly the boarding officer, with many apologies for having
+detained a neutral vessel, returned to the cruiser, which immediately
+steamed northwards, while the <I>Pelikan</I> proceeded on her course.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having assumed that the British cruiser was well out of her way, the
+raider began to send out wireless calls, limiting the radius of action
+to about fifty miles.  She did not call in vain, for the <I>Nichi Maru</I>,
+picking up the appeal for aid, hastened to the <I>Pelikan's</I> assistance
+and, all unsuspecting, fell a victim to her captor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the "round-up" of the passengers, Kapitan von Riesser had been
+informed by signal of the presence of three British naval officers on
+board the <I>Nichi Maru</I>, and instructions were asked as to their
+disposal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The kapitan resolved the problem in his mind.  He could not murder the
+prisoners without the news being conveyed by the rest of the passengers
+of the Japanese liner.  If they were brought on board the <I>Pelikan</I>,
+they would be a source of danger should the ship again be overhauled by
+a patrolling cruiser, unless&mdash;&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He consulted the ship's surgeon.  Apparently the latter's advice was
+satisfactory.  In addition, should the <I>Pelikan</I> arrive at Dar es
+Salaam with three British naval officers on board as prisoners, well
+and good.  If, on the other hand, the vessel were captured on the high
+seas, the prisoners would no doubt be willing to testify to the fact
+that Kapitan von Riesser had committed no unpardonable breach of the
+usages of war.  From which it will be seen that von Riesser was always
+considering how to save his own skin in the event of capture.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Up&mdash;at once!" ordered the unter-leutnant as the boat containing
+Denbigh and his companions ran alongside the lowered
+accommodation-ladder of the <I>Pelikan</I>.  The German did not hesitate to
+show his arrogance; but he was severely snubbed by his kapitan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must apologize, gentlemen," began von Riesser in good English as the
+British officers came over the side.  "My subordinate, Herr Klick, has
+allowed his zeal to outrun his discretion.  It is necessary for me to
+detain you.  I know you will bow to the inevitable and recognize that
+it is the fortune of war.  I will speak to you again shortly!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The kapitan hurried off, leaving Denbigh and his fellow-prisoners
+standing close to the head of the accommodation-ladder.  Beyond the
+fact that a sentry stood within ten feet of them, no attempt was made
+to place them under restraint.  They were free to speak, and to watch
+the scene that was being enacted a few hundred yards from the vessel to
+which they had been removed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Nichi Maru</I> was lowering her boats rapidly yet with admirable
+discipline.  Without accident the heavy lifeboats with their human
+freights took the water.  As soon as the falls were cast off, the crews
+rowed to a safe distance, where they lay on their oars and awaited the
+end of the huge liner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With some minutes to spare, the work of abandoning the vessel was
+completed.  The captain was the last to leave, the imperturbable look
+upon his olive features masking the rage and grief that gripped his
+mind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two German boats still lay alongside.  Presently half a dozen
+Teutons hurriedly scrambled into the waiting craft, which without delay
+were rowed quickly toward the <I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Three muffled reports came almost simultaneously from the interior of
+the doomed liner.  These were followed by two more at comparatively
+long intervals.  The <I>Nichi Maru</I> heeled slightly, and began to settle
+slowly by the bows.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ship took her time.  The wreaths of fleecy steam mingled with
+denser columns of smoke that issued from 'tween decks.  Then, as the in
+rushing water came in contact with the furnaces, the vessel was
+enveloped in a cloud of eddying pungent fumes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the cloud dispersed, the <I>Nichi Maru's</I> bows were level with the
+water, while her stern was raised until the blades of her now
+motionless propellers were clear of the agitated sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lower and lower sank the doomed ship.  At frequent intervals, small
+explosions of compressed air took place.  The sea was strewn with
+fragments of floating wreckage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's going!" whispered Stirling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The liner recovered herself.  For a moment it seemed as if she were
+floating on an even keel.  Then, with a convulsive effort, she flung
+her stern high out of the water and slid rapidly to her ocean grave.
+Almost the last to be seen of her was the mercantile flag of Japan,
+still floating proudly from the ensign staff.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the liner's crowded boats the Japanese officers were standing erect
+and at the salute as the vessel disappeared from view.  They, too, were
+of a breed that is not to be intimidated by Teutonic frightfulness.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap03"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER III
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+On Board the Raider
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"I wish to call attention to the fact, gentlemen, that we acted in
+strict accordance with the rights of belligerents," remarked Kapitan
+von Riesser.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Pelikan's</I> captain was seated in his cabin.  On either side of him
+stood von Langer, the ober-leutnant who had been in charge of the
+boarding-party, and Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick.  Facing him stood
+Denbigh, Stirling, and O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am afraid we cannot agree with you," replied Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Possibly not," retorted von Riesser, "but on what grounds?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is hardly a humane act to turn those people adrift in open boats,"
+continued the Sub.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What else could I do?  Surely you would not expect us to receive a
+thousand people on board this ship?  They will be picked up, without
+doubt, within a few hours."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps," declared Denbigh.  "But there is always a risk.  Your action
+in sinking that ship is unjustifiable.  I am not here to argue the
+point, but I will merely state a case in which one of your captains did
+not think it advisable to go to the lengths you did.  When, in the
+early part of the war, the <I>Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse</I> compelled the
+British liners <I>Galicia</I> and <I>Arlanza</I> to heave-to, these ships were
+subsequently allowed to proceed&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, but at that time you English were not attempting to starve us out
+by a blockade," interrupted the kapitan excitedly, as men do when
+cornered in argument.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh shrugged his shoulders.  He had made his protest and had scored
+a point.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have done with the past," continued von Riesser.  "My object in
+sending for you is to explain your position.  You are, of course,
+prisoners of war.  It is my intention to accord you treatment as your
+rank demands.  In ordinary circumstances you are at liberty to leave
+your cabins and come on deck whenever you wish during hours of
+daylight.  There may be times when it will be necessary for you to be
+locked in&mdash;perhaps taken below.  But, understand: if you attempt to
+jeopardize the safety of the ship, or to communicate with any passing
+vessel, or, in short, to behave other than officers on parole&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But we are not on parole," interrupted O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It matters not," declared the kapitan.  "If I choose to consider that
+you are equivalent to being on parole that is my affair.  If, then, you
+break any of the conditions I have mentioned you will be tried by a
+properly constituted court consisting of officers of the ship, and if
+found guilty you will be shot.  Is that perfectly clear?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The three prisoners signified their assent.  After all, the German's
+stipulations were reasonable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser turned and conversed for a few minutes with his
+ober-leutnant.  O'Hara, being ignorant of German, and Stirling having
+but a slight knowledge of the language, were unable to understand the
+drift of the conversation.  Denbigh, on the other hand, was a fluent
+linguist, but he had already decided to keep that knowledge from his
+captors.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently Kapitan von Riesser produced a British Navy List.  Somewhat
+to the British officers' surprise they noticed that it was dated "April
+1916", or more than a twelvemonth since the last list had been
+obtainable by the public.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have qualified as an interpreter, I see," remarked von Riesser.
+"For what languages?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hindustani, Swahili, and Arabic," replied Denbigh promptly.  He did
+not think it necessary to add that German was amongst his
+qualifications, and he thanked his lucky stars that the recent Navy
+Lists do not specify the language in which officer-interpreters are
+expert.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are evidently considered a promising young officer," continued the
+kapitan.  He could not refrain from adding, with a thinly-veiled sneer,
+"I am afraid your services will be lost to the English Admiralty for
+some time to come."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps," drawled Denbigh, with such well-feigned indifference that
+von Riesser glanced keenly at the young officer's clear-cut features.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having subjected Stirling and O'Hara to an examination&mdash;in which the
+Irishman scored more than once by his smart repartees&mdash;the prisoners
+were dismissed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The first meal on board the raider was served in the cabin allotted
+them.  Judging by the nature of the repast provisions were neither
+scarce nor unvaried.  Having finished, they went on deck.  No one
+offered to interfere with them.  The seamen affected to ignore them.
+Once Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick passed, and gave them such a look that
+O'Hara afterwards remarked he would like to have a quiet five minutes
+with the German.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder they haven't searched us," said Stirling in a low voice.
+"Now I wish I had put my small revolver into my coat pocket.  I thought
+it would have been too risky."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For the same reason I practically emptied my pockets before we left
+the <I>Nichi Maru</I>," declared Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And so did I," added O'Hara, "but I took jolly good care to hide that
+little automatic pistol&mdash;you know the one: I collared it from a German
+officer in that little scrap at Herbertshöhe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For goodness sake be careful," protested the cautious and level-headed
+Scot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll try to be," replied O'Hara non-committedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is the pistol?" asked Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Inside the lining of my cap," replied the Irishman.  "Can you see any
+sign of a bulge under the cap-cover?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not a trace," declared Denbigh.  "Only, old man, remember you are
+rather hot-headed.  Let's hope there won't be a premature explosion."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There won't," said O'Hara emphatically.  "Because I've no cartridges."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's something to be thankful for," remarked Stirling.  "But what,
+might I ask, is the use of an automatic pistol, if you haven't any
+cartridges?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You never know your luck," replied O'Hara.  "I may manage to pick up
+some on board.  Whist!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Langer, the fat ober-leutnant who had been in charge of the
+boarding-party, was approaching.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Possibly at a hint from his chief he had dropped his overbearing
+manner, for he addressed the prisoners in a mild tone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is nearly sunset," he remarked.  "You vos go below.  I am sorry to
+tell you dis, but dese are orders.  Wir mussen vorsichtig zu Werke
+gehen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh gave no sign that he understood.  Von Langer had hoped to trip
+the Englishman, but he had failed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What was that Johnny spouting about?" asked Stirling, when the three
+chums had retired to the cabin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That they had to be very careful," replied Denbigh.  "That I don't
+doubt.  I'll give them a week at the very outside.  If we are not free
+men then, I reckon we're booked to Davy Jones his locker."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cabin was plainly furnished.  An electric light was burning, but
+the porthole had been previously closed and locked.  Overhead an
+electric fan was buzzing, while fresh air was admitted by means of
+ventilation pipes communicating with the open air.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We might do worse," remarked O'Hara as he proceeded to undress.  "The
+rotten part of it is, we can't see what's going on outside.  The
+beggars have cooped us up pretty well."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They are evidently busy," said Stirling, as the bustling of some
+hundreds of men was plainly audible above the hum of the fan.  "Perhaps
+they do the worst of their dirty work during the hours of darkness."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The three officers proceeded to make an examination of their quarters.
+The walls were of pitch-pine, but upon O'Hara sacrificing one of his
+razors, it was found that the woodwork merely formed a casing to a thin
+steel bulkhead.  The ceiling, too, was of steel, coated with a patent
+cement to preserve the metal and to prevent "sweating".  The door was
+of steel, and was fitted with a "jalousie" or latticed shutter; but
+their captors had taken the precaution of bolting a solid metal plate
+over the opening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not much chance for anyone who happens to be a somnambulist," said
+Denbigh.  "Well, it's no use kicking against the pricks when you're
+barefooted.  I'm going to turn in.  By Jove, I do feel horribly sleepy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And so do I," added Stirling, unable to stifle a terrific yawn.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I believe I'm asleep already," muttered O'Hara drowsily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A moment later the three chums were lost in oblivion.  An opiate
+secretly administered by the doctor had been mixed with their food.  So
+soundly did they sleep that they were unaware of a terrific crash that
+took place during the middle watch&mdash;the explosion of a torpedo launched
+from the supposed Dutch liner at a large French vessel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser had risked an example of frightfulness.  The huge,
+heavily-charged missile&mdash;powerful enough to sink the largest battleship
+afloat within a couple of hours from the moment of impact&mdash;had
+literally torn to pieces the lightly-built hull of its victim.  Before
+the luckless passengers and crew rushed for the boats&mdash;and these were
+for the most part shattered&mdash;the French craft sunk like a stone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was not until the sun was almost overhead that Pat O'Hara awoke.
+The deadlight of the porthole had been unshipped and the cabin was
+flooded with dazzling sunlight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He sat up in his bunk.  His head seemed to be splitting.  Everything in
+view was slowly moving to and fro with a semicircular motion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What the deuce have I been up to?" he soliloquized.  "Where was I last
+night?  By Jove, I must have had another touch of that rotten malaria."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently the erratic movements of his surroundings quieted down.  He
+became aware that Denbigh and Stirling, lying in their bunks on the
+other side of the cabin, were still sleeping and breathing stertorously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now how in the name of goodness did those fellows get into my cabin?"
+asked the puzzled Irishman, for he was under the impression that he was
+on board the <I>Nichi Maru</I>.  "Has someone been having a rag?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From the alley-way came the sound of voices.  He listened.  The
+speakers were making use of a foreign language.  It was not the soft,
+pleasing Japanese tongue&mdash;something harsh and guttural.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"German!" ejaculated O'Hara.  "By my blessed namesake I remember it all
+now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He leapt from his bunk and, crossing the cabin, shook Denbigh by the
+shoulders.  The Sub's only reply was a grunt of semi-conscious
+expostulation.  O'Hara turned his attentions to the Scot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fore!" muttered Stirling, engrossed in the joys of a round of golf in
+dreamland.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"More like twelve, be jabbers," retorted O'Hara.  "The sun's well over
+the fore-yard.  Show a leg and shine, you lazy bounder."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The discipline imbued in the old Dartmouth College was too strong to
+resist the nautical invitation to get up.  Stirling rolled from his
+bunk&mdash;fortunately it was the underneath one&mdash;and subsided heavily upon
+the floor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pull yourself together, man," counselled O'Hara.  "Those rotten Huns
+have been hocussing our grub."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If they have, they have," muttered the imperturbable Stirling.
+"That's no reason why you should bellow into my ear like a
+ninety-thousand horse-power siren."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Leaving the Sub huddled upon the floor O'Hara proceeded to dress.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly he exclaimed:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The dirty spalpeens!  They've been to my pockets while I was asleep."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This announcement literally electrified his companion, for Stirling
+remembered that he had over twenty pounds in Australian sovereigns in
+his purse.  Alas!  The gold had vanished.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your pistol?" asked Stirling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Irishman whipped his uniform cap from a hat-peg.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's there," he reported.  "And might you be wanting it to let
+daylight into the fellow who collared your cash?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not much use without cartridges," replied Stirling savagely.  "It
+might have got us into hot water if they had found it.  Better pitch it
+through the port-hole, old man, before it lands you in queer street."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No fear," declared O'Hara.  "It may come in handy some day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some time elapsed before the two men were able to rouse Denbigh from
+his stupor.  He, too, discovered that a small amount of gold that he
+happened to have on him at the time of the capture of the <I>Nichi Maru</I>
+had been taken from him.  Some silver and a few Japanese coins had been
+left.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We've been drugged right enough," said Denbigh.  "I wonder why?
+There's some underhand game afoot during the hours of darkness.
+To-night we'll do without wine at dinner, and see how that acts."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having completed their toilet the three Subs left the cabin, for the
+door was now unlocked and the metal covering to the jalousie removed.
+Without stood a seaman on sentry duty.  He drew himself up stiffly as
+the British officers passed, but made no salute, nor did he attempt to
+bar their progress.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the foot of the companion-ladder a petty-officer stopped them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Breakfast awaits you in this cabin," he said in German.  Neither
+Stirling nor O'Hara understood, while Denbigh was sufficiently on his
+guard to feign ignorance of the nature of the announcement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Der vos a meal for you in dere," announced von Langer, stepping from
+behind the shaft of a ventilator.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you!" replied the three Subs in unison.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But it's nearly lunch time, isn't it?" added O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dey vos tell me der Englische are very fond of sleep," retorted von
+Langer with a laugh.  "Himmel!  I tink dot is very true."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The meal over, the prisoners went on deck.  Out of curiosity Denbigh
+walked to the rail and leant over the side.  He was not surprised at
+what he saw.  The ship's sides had been painted during the night.  The
+black band still remained, but the yellow paint had been replaced with
+a coat of blue.  Already the tropical sun was blistering the still wet
+paint, revealing patches of the original hue underneath.  The funnels,
+too, had been redecorated.  They were now red with black tops.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some minutes later Kapitan von Riesser descended from the bridge and
+walked aft.  Seeing the British officer he crossed the deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You like our new colour scheme?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh did not reply to the question.  He asked another.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Stirling and I both lost some gold during the night.  Our cabin
+was entered while we were asleep and the money taken from our pockets.
+Was the&mdash;er&mdash;theft committed at your instigation?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a moment von Riesser hesitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There was no theft," he replied.  "The gold was taken from you
+prisoners&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Contrary to&mdash;&mdash;" began Stirling hotly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In accordance with my instructions," continued the Kapitan.  "Gold is
+of no use to you.  Instead, you will be furnished with Notes to its
+equivalent as soon as we arrive."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You may as well get your purser to write out a receipt," said O'Hara.
+"It will come in handy when the <I>Zwaan</I>&mdash;if that's her proper name&mdash;is
+captured."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser laughed boisterously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Captured?" he repeated.  "Ach!  I don't think there is much danger
+now.  South of the Line there is not a solitary British cruiser that
+can touch us in speed.  There are plenty of them, I admit, but that is
+your English all over.  Three swift vessels would be worth all your
+East India fleet put together, yet you pack highly-trained crews into
+slow and out-of-date tubs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Possibly the captain of the <I>Emden</I> thought the same as you do,"
+remarked Stirling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Müller had difficulties that I have not," replied von Riesser.  "He
+was known to be in the Indian Ocean and swift cruisers were dispatched
+from England and Australia to hunt for him.  Our presence on the High
+Seas will not be known to your Admiralty until it is too late.  So,
+gentlemen, I must ask you to seriously consider the possibility of
+finding yourselves prisoners of war in our well-defended Colony of
+German East Africa."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap04"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+Threatened
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+That night, according to their pre-arranged plans, the captive
+sub-lieutenants avoided taking any of the wines that were placed before
+them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They dined alone in a small cabin placed at least fifty feet from their
+sleeping quarters.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As it was now after sunset the porthole was closed and locked.  The
+door, too, was shut, but not secured.  Outside, a sentry paced to and
+fro.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here, you fellows!" exclaimed Denbigh after the man deputed to
+attend to their needs had gone.  "It's all very well knocking off the
+fizz, but they'll notice we haven't drunk any."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pour it into the grate," suggested Pat O'Hara recklessly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Won't do," he objected, giving a glance in the direction of the small
+"bogie" stove.  "I suppose there isn't any possibility of prizing open
+the port-lid?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You'd be spotted even if you could.  There are plenty of men on deck,"
+said O'Hara, glad of the opportunity of countering Denbigh's objection
+with another.  "Come along, old bird; what do you suggest?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Stirling, to whom the invitation was addressed, thrust his hand into
+the breast pocket of his coat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What would you do if I weren't here to look after you?" he enquired,
+at the same time producing three sponges.  "I took them from our cabin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For dessert?" queried O'Hara, lifting his eyebrows in surprise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, if you are a goat," said Stirling with asperity.  "Goats are, I
+believe, rather partial to this sort of tack."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coolly the Scot poured out a wineglassful of sherry&mdash;it was from the
+same decanter that they had taken some the previous evening&mdash;and slowly
+spilt the liquid on the sponge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fill your glass first," cautioned Stirling.  "Then they'll think we
+have had some of the poisonous stuff.  Slip your sponge into your
+pocket, Denbigh.  Don't squeeze it.  I am presuming you'll want it
+again later.  Of course if Pat wishes, he can chew his."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dinner over, the chums retired to their sleeping cabin.  In fact they
+had no option, since they were forbidden to go on deck after sunset.
+Here they talked and looked at the illustrations of some old Spanish
+newspapers until lights out; then, turning in, they lay awake awaiting
+possible developments.  Eight bells struck.  The <I>Pelikan</I> was no
+longer moving through the water.  Outside the cabin men were talking.
+Springing from his bunk Denbigh approached the door, putting his ear to
+the covered jalousie.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose those English swine are sound asleep," said a voice which
+the sub recognized as that of Kapitan von Riesser.  "I cannot hear them
+grunting&mdash;we did last night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nor can I, sir," replied Unter-leutnant Klick, who as officer of the
+watch was accompanying the captain on his rounds.  "But they must be.
+They went for that doctored sherry like fishes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Himmel!  That is good news," exclaimed von Riesser.  "It will be quite
+safe to settle that vessel.  When she first answered our call she was
+only forty kilometres away.  In twenty minutes&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The listener fancied he could hear the kapitan rubbing his hands with
+glee.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is much the better way," continued von Riesser: "'Lost with all
+hands' is quite a plausible theory.  I am almost sorry we didn't wait
+until night when we tackled the Japanese ship.  We run a good risk of
+being made a quarry for a dozen or more of those accursed cruisers.
+Those English may even send some swift destroyers on our track.  You
+are sure those fellows are quite insensible?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As quiet as the grave, sir," assured the unter-leutnant.  "They will
+hear nothing.  Even that terrific explosion when our torpedo took the
+Frenchman by surprise never disturbed them.  But, of course, sir, I'll
+make doubly sure.  We'll squirt some chloroform into the cabin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then be sharp about it," said von Riesser.  "There's no time to be
+lost.  That English vessel ought to be in sight within the next quarter
+of an hour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The German officer moved away.  In a trice Denbigh communicated the
+news to his companions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh for a respirator!" whispered O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't worry," said Stirling.  "The electric fan will carry off the
+fumes as quickly as they pump them in."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even as he spoke the fan ceased to revolve.  The current actuating the
+ventilating gear had been switched off.  Already Unter-leutnant Klick
+was putting his scheme into effect.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Those voice tubes," hissed Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They lead nowhere," protested Stirling.  "They are blocked.  I tried
+them some time ago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cabin had previously been used as the purser's office, and from it
+voice-tubes had communicated with the captain's cabin, the head
+steward's quarters, and the clerk's office.  The metal pipes had been
+removed, but three lengths of flexible tubing had been left.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a sharp tug Denbigh wrenched one of the tubes from the flange
+securing it to the bulkhead.  The second gave more trouble.  As he was
+straining at it a sharp rasping sound fell upon his ear.  In the
+adjoining cabin someone was at work drilling a hole through the metal
+partition.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Smearing the bell-shaped mouth-pieces of two of the detached pipes with
+soap from the wash-basin, Denbigh clapped them together.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hold on here, Pat," he whispered.  "Press 'em tightly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara obeyed unhesitatingly.  Instinctively he realized that this was
+Denbigh's pigeon, and once Denbigh undertook a task he was pretty
+certain of the result.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Stirling was then told to hold one end of the second and third
+sections.  The united length of tubing was now nearly nine feet.  One
+end Denbigh wedged into the opening in the ceiling for the electric
+fan.  The other he held in his hand in readiness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length, after a tedious wait, Denbigh saw the tip of the drill
+emerging from the bulkhead.  Marking the spot he instantly switched off
+the light.  A dull thud announced that the boring tool had made a
+complete perforation and that the handle had struck home against the
+steelwork.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The drill was withdrawn.  In its place a small metal tube was inserted.
+Deftly and noiselessly Denbigh slipped the lower end of the flexible
+piping over the projecting nozzle.  Then he waited.  He could hear the
+Irishman breathing heavily.  The portion of the tube that he was
+holding quivered in his excitable grasp.  Stirling, cool and collected,
+gave no sign of the potential alertness that possessed him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A gentle hissing sound, repeated at short intervals, announced that the
+Germans were injecting the stupefying fumes by means of a bellows.  A
+faint, sickly odour assailed Denbigh's nostrils.  He had to fight hard
+to refrain from gasping.  Grimly he stood by until the hissing noise
+ceased.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His plan had been successful.  Save for a slight leakage the fumes had
+travelled through the pipe and had been carried through the louvres of
+the ventilator, while the hot air of the cabin was sufficient to create
+an up-draught to disperse the noxious vapour.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh removed his end of the tube.  As he did so he heard a voice
+exclaim:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is enough.  More will kill them.  You had better enter the cabin,
+Herr Doktor, and see that they are still breathing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sub drew the piping from his companions' grasp.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Turn in and pretend you're insensible," he whispered, fearful lest the
+sound should be heard through the newly-made hole in the bulkhead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was less than five minutes later when the door was unlocked and a
+dim figure cautiously entered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not half so bad as I expected," said a guttural voice.  The smell of
+the anæsthetic had almost dispersed.  "Where is the switch?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here, Herr Doktor," replied a petty officer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The next instant the cabin was bathed in brilliant light.  In spite of
+their efforts to the contrary the three supposed sleepers twitched
+their eyelids.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ship's surgeon bent over O'Hara.  A short scrutiny confirmed his
+suspicions.  He turned to the bunk on which Stirling was lying, and,
+lifting the sub's eyelid, placed the tip of his forefinger upon the
+eyeball.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ach, is it so?" ejaculated the German, for Stirling had been compelled
+to contract his eyelids.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A similar test bore the same result in Denbigh's case; then, without
+another word, the doctor hurried from the cabin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The old pillbox has tumbled to it," muttered Denbigh.  "Now what will
+their little game be?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sub was not left long in doubt.  Ober-leutnant von Langer, who had
+followed the doctor into the cabin, made his presence known by bawling
+out an order to half a dozen of the crew who were waiting without:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come!  Out mit you!" he exclaimed, addressing the sham sleepers.  "It
+is that I know your little pretend.  Ach! you tink you smart?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yet Denbigh and his companions kept still, half-hoping that the
+doctor's test had not been successful and von Langer was trying his
+hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ober-leutnant gave another order.  Unceremoniously the three
+British officers were hauled out of the bunks by the seamen, who seemed
+to take a delight in roughly handling anyone of commissioned rank.
+Perhaps, if von Langer did but know it, his men would have been only
+too pleased to use him in the same way, for the ober-leutnant was a
+Prussian and a Junker, while the crew were for the most part from
+Schleswig-Holstein.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With as much dignity as their dishevelled appearance would permit,
+Denbigh and his companions allowed themselves to be taken on deck,
+where they had to cool their heels at the pleasure of their captors.
+It was a bright moonlight night.  The air was decidedly chilly for the
+Tropics.  A heavy dew was falling.  The lightly-clad men&mdash;for the
+sub-lieutenants were in pyjamas&mdash;realized that there was a grave risk
+of tropical fever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ship was once more under way.  With a true seaman's instinct
+Denbigh glanced aloft.  By the relative position of the moon&mdash;since no
+stars were visible&mdash;he was able to fix the approximate course of the
+vessel.  She was steering roughly sou'-sou'-east.  Far away to the
+nor'ard a masthead lamp was blinking&mdash;calling in Morse to know why they
+had been summoned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh gave a grunt of satisfaction.  For once von Riesser's plan had
+gone awry.  He had feared to treacherously torpedo an unsuspecting
+merchantman since there were hostile eye-witnesses on board the
+<I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently the kapitan, clad in a greatcoat over his white uniform,
+appeared at the head of the bridge-ladder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You there, von Langer?" he called.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir," replied the ober-leutnant.  "Shall I bring the prisoners to
+you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I'll see them in my cabin," replied von Riesser.  "Tell off a
+couple of hands to guard the prisoners and another half-dozen to wait
+outside in case there is any trouble.  I'll be there in a few minutes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The kapitan's quarters were situated aft on the upper deck.  They
+comprised a large cabin, used for meals and recreation, and a sleeping
+cabin opening from it.  Denbigh and his companions were marched into
+the outer cabin and told to take up a position facing von Riesser's
+empty arm-chair and separated from it by a long mahogany table.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cabin was plainly furnished.  In addition to the arm-chair and
+table there were two sideboards, a large book-rack, and half a dozen
+cane chairs.  On the table lay a pile of Dutch charts.  Books for
+navigation and sailing directions in the same language occupied the
+shelves in company with a few American novels.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Everything German, with one exception, had been studiously eliminated,
+in order to baffle the curiosity of a British boarding-officer in the
+event of the supposed <I>Zwaan</I> being held up.  The exception was a large
+oil painting of the Kaiser in the uniform of a German Admiral of the
+Fleet.  The portrait was framed in a massive oak frame securely fixed
+to the bulkhead between the two cabins.  The only other picture was a
+sepia-toned photograph of the Queen of Holland, in a narrow, plain gilt
+frame.  When it became necessary to hide the features of the All
+Highest War Lord from the eyes of the strafed English, who had
+practically contrived to drive the War Lord's battleships from the face
+of the five oceans, von Riesser took the risk of committing lese
+majesté by placing the portrait of Queen Wilhelmina over that of the
+Emperor Wilhelm II.  Then, to all appearances, the captain's cabin of
+the <I>Zwaan</I> was loyally adorned by a photograph of the Queen of the
+Netherlands in a deep oak frame with a thin gold slip.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the circumstances, however, it was not considered necessary to
+eclipse the All Highest War Lord, so the three British subs found
+themselves confronted by the painted features of the modern Attila.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The door was thrown open.  Von Langer and the two seamen clicked their
+heels and saluted as von Riesser entered with the dramatic effect of
+which Prussians are so fond.  Gravely saluting the Emperor's portrait
+and then returning his subordinates' mark of respect the kapitan took
+his seat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know why you are here?" asked von Riesser abruptly, lowering his
+brows and looking sternly at the three British officers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We do not," replied Denbigh.  "In fact, it is rather unusual to turn a
+fellow out of his bunk at one in the morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do not bandy words, Herr Denbigh," snapped the kapitan.  "You have
+been causing trouble."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is it causing trouble to take steps to avoid being gassed or
+chloroformed?" asked O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," almost shouted the kapitan.  "If we think it desirable that our
+prisoners should be put to sleep it is not for them to resist."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In that case there's no more to be said," declared the Irishman.  "You
+are top-dog&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You call me a dog, you English swine!" almost howled the now
+infuriated Prussian.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara burst out into violent laughter.  Denbigh smiled broadly, while
+around Stirling's firm lips hovered the suspicion of a grim smile.
+Their utter indifference to the ravings of their captor took von
+Riesser by surprise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I may as well tell you," began Denbigh, seizing his opportunity, "that
+I can speak German perhaps as well as you can speak English.  I
+overheard your conversation outside our cabin an hour or so ago, and we
+know what you proposed to do to the ship which you were luring.  I
+suppose you call those tactics frightfulness.  I call them low-down,
+skulking treachery.  How a man who professes to be a sailor, who has
+lived a free and healthy life upon the sea, could belittle himself to
+act as you propose to do, and possibly have done, passes my
+understanding.  I give you fair warning, Kapitan von Riesser, that,
+should we be set free by an English cruiser, you will have a grave
+indictment to answer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser did not reply for a few moments.  He was greatly agitated.
+Once or twice he glanced anxiously at his ober-leutnant, as if curious
+to know whether von Langer understood Denbigh's words.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then he, too, laughed, but it was not a natural outburst of an
+unburdened and evenly-balanced mind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You threaten?" he asked.  "Well, I can threaten also.  Suppose I
+decide to put into operation the principle of your worthy Prime
+Minister?  One of his maxims, oft quoted in the Press, is, I believe,
+'Wait and see'?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It ought to be particularly applicable in your case," rejoined Denbigh
+coolly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ach!  And in yours.  What is to prevent me from ordering a weight to
+be put about your neck and cast you into the sea?  Weight and sea.
+Himmel, that is great!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He roared at his own joke, while von Langer, although unable to
+comprehend the significance, showed his servile approbation by laughing
+in a minor key.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't think that it would make very much difference if you did,"
+replied Denbigh.  "You see, the <I>Nichi Maru's</I> people know that you
+carried us off.  Some day you will have to answer some rather searching
+questions if you could not produce us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again von Riesser pondered.  He was beginning to feel horribly annoyed
+with himself for having ever received the three British officers on
+board the <I>Pelikan</I>.  He was plunging deeper and deeper into the mire.
+He lacked the determination to cut the Gordian Knot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By way of an excuse he scribbled a note and tossed it to von Langer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Take that to the officer of the watch," he said carelessly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ober-leutnant quitted the cabin.  The two impassive seamen
+remained.  They, fortunately, knew no English, save a few catch phrases
+picked up when lying in dock in that dim period before the War.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Suppose we cry quits," resumed von Riesser.  "I am ready to apologize
+for having exceeded my rights in dealing with you.  After all there's
+no great harm done.  I'll admit I planned to trap yonder vessel.  You
+must have misunderstood me when I said that I had intended to torpedo
+her.  We use our torpedoes only in cases of extreme necessity.  Are you
+willing to forget this night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We would like to talk the matter over between ourselves," replied
+Denbigh.  "If you have no objection, we will give our reply at noon
+to-morrow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I agree," said von Riesser, with a meekness that quite surprised
+Denbigh and his companions.  He gave an order to the two seamen.  They
+turned and left the cabin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two minutes later the British officers were back in their own quarters.
+Time had been called after the first round, and the Prussian had not
+come out top-dog.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap05"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER V
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Pursuit of the <I>Pelikan</I>
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"One thing that puzzles me," remarked Stirling during the following
+forenoon, "is why they didn't clap us below under hatches, instead of
+trying to stupefy us.  It would have been far less trouble."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must say that I share your thoughts," said Denbigh.  "These Germans
+are no fools.  They are pretty thorough in whatever they take up,
+whether it's a diabolical scheme or otherwise.  It might be that
+there's something below that they don't want us to see, and rather than
+run a risk in that direction, they prefer to lock us up in the cabin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's all very well," rejoined O'Hara.  "But it won't wash.  Old von
+Langer let it out in the course of conversation that this ship has
+already been examined by one of our cruisers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then perhaps the boarding-officer wasn't cute enough.  It's a tribute
+to our sagacity, old man," said Stirling.  "However, time and events
+will prove.  By Jove, the fateful hour approaches!  What will von
+Riesser say to our decision?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At eight bells the three British officers were told to proceed to the
+kapitan's cabin.  This time von Riesser was alone.  He looked flustered
+and worried.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sit down, gentlemen," he began.  "You must look upon this as a private
+and confidential chat.  Now, to go straight to the point: are you
+prepared, in the event of your being given honourable treatment and
+allowed the greatest liberty possible, to maintain silence upon last
+night's affair?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh, as spokesman, did not think it advisable to give a direct
+reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you, on your part, promise to refrain from treacherous attacks upon
+Allied merchantmen?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think I can give that guarantee," replied von Riesser.  "If I do so,
+will you write a certificate to the effect that, to the best of your
+belief, I, as commander of the ship, am acting in accordance with the
+present accepted rules of naval warfare?  That, I think, will square
+matters."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We cannot do that," declared Denbigh.  "We are willing to give a
+certificate to the effect that you acted with discretion."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The kapitan smiled grimly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is a certain amount of latitude in that," he replied.  "I
+suppose you will then say nothing of last night's business."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Since we have no direct evidence of what you have done, we cannot very
+well state a case," said Denbigh.  "The thing is this: are you going to
+torpedo any merchantmen without warning?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," replied von Riesser.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well.  We have forgotten last night," declared Denbigh.  "Should
+occasion arise we will give you the required certificate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And should occasion not arise," thought von Riesser, "I will make it
+pretty hot for these young cubs.  Once safely in port in our African
+colony, I will show them what it means to thwart a Prussian officer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With these sentiments in his mind and a smile on his face the kapitan
+dismissed his prisoners.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the afternoon there was a thick haze.  It was impossible to
+distinguish anything beyond a distance of about a mile from the ship.
+Sea and sky were merged into an ill-defined blurr.  The glass, too, was
+falling rapidly.  That and the presence of the mist betokened an
+imminent change in the weather.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly there was a rift in the curtain of vapour.  At less than two
+miles away on the <I>Pelikan's</I> port bow were two vessels, one being in
+tow of the other.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The subs were quick to recognize the leading craft.  She was a British
+cruiser of the "Eclipse" class&mdash;a vessel of 5600 tons, and with a
+nominal speed of 19 knots.  But the craft in tow was a puzzle to them.
+She was low-lying, with a raised superstructure amidships, one funnel,
+and a tall mast fitted with a fire-control platform.  From her for'ard
+turret two huge guns, seemingly out of all proportion to the rest of
+the ship, protruded.  The muzzles, instead of being inclined upwards,
+were depressed.  Although Denbigh and his companions could not
+distinguish details owing to the distance of the vessel, the German
+officers, by means of their telescopes and binoculars, could see that
+the muzzles of the guns were resting on large chocks bolted to the
+deck, while the protruding part of the weapons were additionally
+secured by stout hawsers.  The mysterious craft was apparently
+deserted.  Everything was battened down, for the decks were swept by
+the long Atlantic waves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove!" ejaculated O'Hara.  "She must be one of our monitors.  Now,
+where is she off to, I should like to know?  There's something in the
+wind."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-054"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-054.jpg" ALT="&quot;BY JOVE!&quot; EJACULATED O'HARA, &quot;SHE MUST BE ONE OF OUR MONITORS.&quot;" BORDER="2">
+<H4 CLASS="h4center">
+&quot;BY JOVE!&quot; EJACULATED O'HARA, &quot;SHE MUST BE ONE OF OUR MONITORS.&quot;
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Kapitan von Riesser could have answered the question.  He stood on the
+bridge, glasses glued to his face and rage in his heart.  There could
+be but one solution.  The monitor was bound for the Indian Ocean, to
+take part in the forthcoming operations against the Germans in East
+Africa.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Donnerwetter!" muttered von Riesser.  "These accursed English.  They
+may throw away their opportunities on land, but they know how to do
+things at sea."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Shall I carry on, sir?" asked the officer of the watch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, port helm," ordered the kapitan.  Then realizing that the carrying
+out of this command might arouse the suspicions of the British cruiser,
+he had the <I>Pelikan</I> steadied on her helm.  The course would bring her
+within a mile of the cruiser and her tow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The cheek!" exclaimed Stirling.  "Old von Riesser's going to play a
+game of bluff."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I vote we semaphore," suggested O'Hara impulsively.  "We'd do the
+trick before they could stop us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Irishman, however, had no opportunity of putting his plan into
+effect, for at that moment a petty-officer informed the subs that it
+was the kapitan's pleasure they should go below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They found the port-hole closed and locked.  Von Riesser was not a man
+to take needless risks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A hoist of bunting fluttered from the cruiser's signal yard-arm.  It
+was a message in the International Code: "E C&mdash;what ship is that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Promptly the Dutch ensign was hoisted, while simultaneously the
+"number" of the real <I>Zwaan</I> was made.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From the cruiser came another signal.  Von Riesser had no occasion to
+consult the code-book.  It was "I D&mdash;Heave-to, or I fire."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hard a-port!" he shouted, and telegraphed for full speed ahead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Round swung the <I>Pelikan</I>, listing until five feet of her underbody
+showed clear.  Even as she did so a couple of 12-pounders spat
+venomously, the shells passing perilously close to the towering hull.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Down fluttered the Dutch ensign.  The British cruiser ceased firing.
+Ahead lay a bank of fog.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser knew that he was in a tight corner, and it was in tight
+corners that the better qualities of the man showed themselves.  For a
+few moments he stood motionless.  Every second the <I>Pelikan</I> was
+slipping farther and farther away from the cruiser, which, hampered by
+her tow, was unable to stand in pursuit.  Her skipper was somewhat
+mystified.  According to the rules of the game the <I>Pelikan</I> had
+struck, yet he knew that of necessity the immense bulk must carry
+considerable way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The British cruiser had no doubts of the blue liner with the broad
+black band, for the survivors of the <I>Nichi Maru</I> had been picked up by
+one of the patrolling vessels.  Once more that mixed blessing, wireless
+telegraphy, had been brought into service, and a description of the
+raider sent far and wide.  Already a number of light cruisers were on
+their way from Simon's Bay to intercept the <I>Pelikan</I>, while the
+blockading squadron off the east coast of Africa had been warned of the
+likely attempt on the part of the fugitive to gain one of the
+little-known and unfrequented rivers of the last of Germany's overseas
+possessions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser alternately kept glancing ahead and astern.  The haze was
+beginning to envelop the monitor and her escort.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He shouted an order to a petty officer.  The man doubled aft, bawling
+as he ran.  Then from the ensign staff fluttered the Black Cross of the
+Imperial German Navy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cruiser's reply was a salvo from her quick-firers.  Two shells
+struck home, one bursting on the poop and blowing the emblem of Germany
+to atoms, besides causing considerable damage to the deck.  A second
+burst amidships, shattering a couple of ventilators, splintering one of
+the boats, and destroying the greater portion of the bridge.  Fragments
+of metal and splinters of wood flew in all directions.  Kapitan von
+Riesser narrowly escaped being hit.  As it was, one of his officers and
+two seamen were killed outright, five others being seriously wounded,
+while the kapitan was thrown to the deck by the concussion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a few minutes the <I>Pelikan</I> was enveloped in smoke and spray thrown
+up by the shells that exploded on either side; but before the cruiser
+could get in another effective shot the raider was lost in the mist.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser guessed, and rightly, that the cat was out of the bag,
+otherwise the cruiser would not have hoisted that peremptory demand to
+heave-to.  He realized that his position was a hazardous one.
+Thousands of miles from a friendly port, sought by perhaps a score of
+British cruisers, and, moreover, running short of coal, the <I>Pelikan</I>
+stood a very small chance of dropping anchor in East African waters,
+except as a prize.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the other hand, Fate, in the guise of the mist, had dealt kindly
+with the <I>Pelikan</I>.  For the rest of the day she steamed westward.
+Down below the firemen toiled like Trojans, shovelling coal into the
+glowing furnaces.  On deck the crew worked hard, clearing away the
+debris left by the British cruiser's shells.  The wireless staff were
+busy "jamming" the numerous messages thrown out from various vessels,
+that were converging on the monitor and her escort for the purpose of
+cutting off the audacious <I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About an hour before sunset the mist cleared.  The sea was still calm,
+although high overhead the ragged and greasy clouds betokened the
+approach of a southerly gale.  The setting sun, a ball of bright
+yellow, set in a pale greenish-yellow sky, threw its slanting rays
+across the damaged bridge, almost blinding the look-out with its
+brilliance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sail on the starboard bow," reported one of the watchers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser, who had practically recovered from the shock of being
+capsized by the explosion, had not left the bridge.  He immediately
+gave orders to starboard the helm.  At the present juncture he would
+not risk meeting even an unarmed tramp laden with military stores.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The stranger was the British light cruiser <I>Actæon</I>, of 3000 tons, and
+with a speed of slightly over 20 knots.  Pelting towards the scene of
+the encounter between the <I>Pelikan</I> and her foiled antagonist, the
+<I>Actæon</I> was unwittingly approaching the fugitive.  She, having the
+advantage of the light, recognized the German liner almost before the
+latter had noticed her presence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the <I>Pelikan</I> swung round, the <I>Actæon</I> followed suit, both vessels
+being now on slightly converging courses and about six miles apart.  It
+was a question as to which of the two was the speediest ship&mdash;a
+question, seemingly, that events only could prove.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sun set.  The short period of tropical twilight gave place to
+pitch-black night, for the moon, now two days after the full, had not
+yet risen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On board the <I>Pelikan</I> all lights that might be visible from outside
+were extinguished, save for one white light shown aft.  The pursuing
+vessel displayed no lights, but her approximate position could be fixed
+by means of the dull-red glow of the flames that issued from her three
+funnels.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you think she's gaining, von Langer?" asked the kapitan anxiously,
+after an interval of almost unbroken silence as far as the officers on
+the <I>Pelikan's</I> bridge were concerned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am not sure," replied the ober-leutnant.  "We do not appear to be
+gaining on her.  It may be that we are just holding our own."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unless we can shake her off completely before sunrise we stand little
+chance," said von Riesser moodily.  "We cannot stand up to her.  Those
+guns would send us to the bottom in a quarter of an hour, long before
+we came within torpedo range."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If we had but a dozen mines, sir&mdash;&mdash;" began Unter-leutnant Klick.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is no use wishing for what we haven't got," snapped the kapitan.
+"And what is more, yon English ship is taking good care not to follow
+directly in our wake in case we were dropping mines."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was silence for some moments.  Von Riesser was deep in thought,
+his eyes fixed the while upon the lurid red tint on the horizon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ach!" he exclaimed.  "I think I have it.  Here, Herr Klick, see that
+the motor launch is cleared ready for lowering."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap06"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Decoy
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Wondering at the inexplicable nature of Kapitan von Riesser's order the
+unter-leutnant hurried off.  In a few minutes the sea-boat's crew,
+drilled for such emergencies, had provisioned and watered the
+twenty-five-foot motor-launch that hung in davits abreast of the
+after-funnel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The securing chocks were removed, the falls manned, and the davits
+swung outboard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Motor-launch ready, sir!" reported the unter-leutnant.  "Water and
+provisions are on board, and a hundred litres of petrol."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I gave no orders for the boat to be victualled," exclaimed the
+kapitan.  "No matter: it will waste too much valuable time to remove
+the stuff.  Now, listen, Herr Klick.  Everything depends upon the
+strict carrying out of my instructions.  Place two men on board the
+launch&mdash;one to tend each of the lower blocks of the falls.  Have ready
+a white light.  See that the helm is lashed.  I will slow down the
+ship, and turn her so that the launch will be slightly to leeward.  At
+the word, see that the motor is started and the light exhibited.  Then
+lower away smartly, and tell the men to hang on to the falls when they
+are disengaged unless they want to be a target for the English cannon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I understand, sir.  You are using the boat as a decoy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Precisely, Herr Klick.  Now, be sharp.  With a vessel pursuing us at a
+rate equal to our utmost speed we cannot afford to lose precious
+moments in lying-to."
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center">
+<SPAN STYLE="letter-spacing: 4em">*****</SPAN><BR>
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I say, you fellows, I think I'll go on deck and see what's doing,"
+announced Sub-lieutenant Stirling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His companions looked at him with feelings akin to amazement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What the deuce are you babbling about, old man?" asked O'Hara.  "You
+know as well as we do that we are locked in."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+None of the three prisoners had any thought of turning in.  They had
+heard the crash of the British shells as the cruiser sought to wing the
+German raider.  In spite of the danger of being hit, and what was
+infinitely worse, being drowned like rats in a trap in a foundering
+vessel&mdash;since it was more than possible that the crew of the <I>Pelikan</I>
+would take no steps to liberate the captives&mdash;the subs were in high
+spirits.  They took it for granted that their release would be a matter
+of a few minutes only, since the lightly-built <I>Pelikan</I> would stand no
+earthly chance against the vastly-superior ordnance of the pursuing
+vessel.  Then came a sudden cessation of the firing; yet the prisoners
+knew by the thud of the engines that the German ship was still pelting
+on her bid for safety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hours passed.  There was no doubt in the minds of the three men that
+the <I>Pelikan</I> was being hotly pursued.  The pulsations of the engines
+under forced draught was conclusive evidence on that point.  The
+captive officers sat and talked, drawing conclusions as to what was
+taking place, until Stirling suddenly hurled a verbal bomb-shell by
+announcing his intention of going on deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't be so rash with your assertions, Pat," replied Stirling in mock
+reproof.  "It is certainly true that we are locked in.  It is also a
+fact that I possess a very efficient screw-driver.  I took the liberty
+of annexing it, as one of the carpenter's crew has been guilty of
+negligence.  On board a British ship that screw-driver would, in the
+usual course of routine, find itself in the scran-bag; but since I'm
+not at all certain that such a visible cure for forgetfulness exists in
+the German navy, I have and hold the article in question."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No need to brag about it, old man," said O'Hara.  "You are not the
+only light-fingered gentleman of our little coterie.  As these Germans
+had no compunction in entering the cabin and sneaking out hard-earned
+cash, I repaid the compliment by entering one of the officer's cabins,
+and this is what I annexed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He held up a dark-green paper packet containing a dozen rounds of
+ammunition that fitted the automatic pistol.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Steady!" exclaimed Denbigh.  "You're looking for trouble with that
+thing, Pat.  It's as dangerous as a shillelagh at Donnybrook Fair.  And
+what's the object in breaking out?" he continued, addressing Stirling,
+who was fondling the screw-driver in anticipation.  "If you're detected
+there'll be a rumpus.  I don't suppose you'll do any good, and if you
+possess your soul in patience a little longer you'll be let out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hanged if I can," retorted Stirling.  "I must have a look round.  I
+didn't ask you fellows to come.  In fact, there's less risk for one
+than three."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have your own way, then," said Denbigh, who knew that when the Scot
+once made up his mind there would be no turning aside.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The lock was secured to the inside of the door.  It was sufficient to
+keep out intruders, but quite inadequate to resist the application of
+the screwdriver.  Working swiftly yet silently, Stirling removed the
+brass staple.  Only the pressure of his boot against the door kept it
+shut.  Cautiously he drew the door ajar.  There was a light switched on
+in the passage.  At the far end of the alley-way was the sentry on the
+aft-deck.  The rest of the cabins were deserted, since the excitement
+of the chase kept all officers on deck.  Having, then, no fear of
+detection the sentry was sitting on the lid of a chest, his face buried
+in a book.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All clear," whispered Stirling.  "S'long, you fellows.  Expect me when
+you see me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He gave another glance in the direction of the sentry.  The man had not
+stirred.  Softly Stirling crept out and tiptoed along the passage in
+the direction of the ladder leading to the upper-deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The noise of the engines, audible throughout the length and breadth of
+the ship, and the tramp of feet on deck, deadened the slight sound of
+his movements.  At the end of the alley-way a curtain had been
+stretched in order to screen the light from the companion-way.  Beyond,
+although there were men standing about, the place was in darkness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Stirling took the risk.  He knew that in the gloom there would be great
+difficulty to distinguish the uniforms of the German officers from his
+own.  Lifting aside the curtain, he stepped forward with the
+self-confidence of a man accustomed to command.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The knot of seamen separated, the men clicking their heels and standing
+rigidly at the salute.  In the darkness they recognized the officer but
+not the individual.  Not for one moment did they suspect that he was
+one of the strafed Englishmen, whom they had every reason to suppose to
+be under lock and key.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without interruption Stirling gained the deck.  The shattered woodwork,
+just discernible in the darkness, showed him the result of the British
+cruiser's shells.  He glanced aft.  Far astern, the red blur that had
+so disturbed the equanimity of Kapitan von Riesser came as a solace to
+his mind.  His surmises were correct.  The <I>Pelikan</I>&mdash;or, as he knew
+her, the <I>Zwaan</I>&mdash;was being chased, but he could not quite understand
+why the pursuing vessel should be so far astern, since a few hours ago
+she was within range.  He, of course, knew nothing of the event that
+led to the <I>Actæon</I> taking up the chase.  Nor could he suggest any
+reason why the German liner should show a white light astern.  It
+seemed contrary to every precaution necessary to shake off pursuit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May as well get for'ard," soliloquized the sub.  "There seems a bit of
+a hullabaloo.  I'll see what it is about.  I don't suppose I'll be
+spotted if I keep clear of the crush.  Hulloa!  They're getting the
+boats out.  Are they going to abandon ship, I wonder, or is it merely a
+matter of discretion, should the old hooker get plugged?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With little difficulty Stirling took up his position under the lee of a
+ventilator.  As he waited he heard fragments of the conversation
+between von Riesser and his subordinate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Stirling was a poor German scholar; so much so that he was ashamed of
+the little German he knew.  By sheer good luck, however, he recognized
+several of the words&mdash;sufficient to enable him to guess shrewdly the
+nature of the kapitan's order.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Stirling was very often lucky in that way.  Even while he was hiding
+behind the ventilator he recalled a similar instance.  It was on the
+occasion of his entry examination to Osborne, and Stirling was in those
+days an atrocious speller even for a youth of thirteen and a half.  In
+the dictation subject the lad found himself balked by the word
+"adaptable".  He was on the point of writing "adaptible" when he caught
+sight of some letters stamped upon the pen he was using: "The Adaptable
+Pen".  When the result of the examination was announced Stirling found
+that he had only just attained the minimum marks in English to qualify.
+Afterwards he was apt to remark that he owed his commission to a
+twopenny pen which might, for aught he knew, have been made in Germany.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove, they're going to use that boat as a decoy," soliloquized the
+sub.  "I'll risk it.  Hang it all!  If I'm spotted there can only be a
+shindy.  With our cruiser pelting up astern and Denbigh and O'Hara
+below, they won't dare to try any of their kultur tricks."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The launch was now level with the rail.  The men told off to attend to
+the disengaging gear were already on board, while down below an
+artificer was trying to coax the motor.  Apparently he had trouble, for
+he called out to one of his mates to pass something to him.  At that
+moment Kapitan von Riesser gave an order, and the unter-leutnant and
+his men faced for'ard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a trice Stirling slipped quietly over the rail at the heels of one
+of the crew.  While the latter made his way for'ard to the motor-room
+the sub entered the little cabin.  It was, as he expected, empty.  Not
+knowing whether any of the launch's crew would remain, Stirling crept
+under the seat and waited.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Pelikan</I> was losing way.  Her engines had been reversed in order
+to bring her almost to a standstill in the least possible time.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lower away!" shouted a voice in German which Stirling recognized as
+that of Unter-leutnant Klick.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The racing of the motor, which the artificer had at length succeeded in
+starting, drowned all other sounds.  The propeller, racing in the air,
+was revolving at terrific speed.  Unless the launch were quickly put
+into the water the motor would soon be overheated, since no cooling
+device was possible until the pump sucked water into the jackets
+surrounding the cylinders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The artificer, his task accomplished, swung himself on to the
+<I>Pelikan's</I> deck, while directly the falls were cast off the two seamen
+swarmed up the ropes.  Almost before Stirling was aware of it, the
+launch was speeding forward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Time I made a move," muttered the sub.  With the utmost caution he
+emerged from his hiding-place and made his way to the well.  The bright
+rays of the lamp lashed to the ensign-staff enabled him to see
+everything on deck.  One glance told him that he was the only member of
+the crew.  Already the <I>Pelikan</I> was lost to sight in the darkness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Stirling's first act upon taking command was to cut the lashings of the
+helm and to turn the launch in the same direction as the <I>Pelikan</I> had
+been travelling.  He then looked for the supposed position of the
+pursuing cruiser.  On the horizon were two glints of red light at,
+roughly, 15 degrees apart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two of them," said the sub to himself.  "The more the merrier.
+Another ten minutes and it will be seen whether I am smashed to
+smithereens by a British 6-inch shell."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As a matter of precaution he cast off the lashings of the lamp, placing
+it on a seat just inside the cabin.  There it was within arm's reach,
+while the sub was not in danger of being temporarily blinded by the
+glare.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's the rising moon," continued Stirling, referring to the light to
+the east'ard.  "The other glare is from the cruiser's funnels.
+Allowing her speed to be 20 knots, and this hooker's 12 or 15, she's
+gaining on me at about eight miles an hour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently the newly-risen moon appeared in a rift of clouds.  Its
+slanting rays silhouetted the outlines of a large four-funnelled
+cruiser, now less than a couple of miles astern.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Time!" ejaculated Stirling laconically.  Leaving the helm he made for
+the motor-room and switched off the ignition.  Then, returning to the
+well, he raised and lowered the lamp several times in succession,
+dipping it behind the coaming in order to signal the "General Call".
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A light flashed from the cruiser.  Thank heavens it was not the spurt
+of a quick-firer but a steady white flare, to signify that the ship was
+in readiness to receive the message.  "<I>Zwaan</I> has sent decoy adrift,"
+signalled Stirling.  "Probably altered course to south'ard.  Please
+return and pick me up after end of chase."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A searchlight was switched on from the cruiser's after-bridge.  For a
+few moments it played upon the now motionless motor-launch.  Then,
+somewhat to Stirling's surprise and to his not altogether complete
+satisfaction, the cruiser began to slow down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's all right for me," soliloquized the sub.  "But it's hard lines on
+Denbigh and Pat.  I'm afraid von Riesser has given our fellows the
+slip."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap07"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+Foiled by a Collier
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+For the rest of the night Denbigh and O'Hara awaited in vain for their
+comrade's return.  They had no idea of the flight of time since, during
+the chase, the ship's bell had not been struck.  In the screened cabin
+they sat, with the electric light switched on, for after their
+interview with Kapitan von Riesser on the subject of the attempted
+chloroforming, the current was not cut off after ten o'clock as was
+formerly the case.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Faith!  I'll go and see what he's up to," exclaimed O'Hara, removing
+the chair from the door.  It was the only way to keep the door closed,
+since the replacing of the staple of the lock would have barred
+Stirling's return.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Better not," objected Denbigh.  "Either he's all right or he's all
+wrong.  In the former case it wouldn't do to meddle with his business.
+Two stand double the risk of detection that one fellow runs.  In the
+latter case, our going to look for him won't help matters in the least,
+because if they've collared him they will be on the look-out for us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"S'pose you're right," grudgingly assented Pat.  "We must stick it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The chums "stuck it" for another two hours, then the sound of six bells
+(7 a.m.) announced the fact that it was daylight, and that precautions
+in the matter of noise were no longer necessary.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The flunky will be here presently to open the port-hole," remarked
+Denbigh.  "I think we had better screw on that chunk of metal.
+Stirling won't be coming now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then what has happened to him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Goodness only knows.  Look here; we won't open the ball.  Let's see if
+they know anything about his disappearance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The man will notice that the moment he comes into the cabin," objected
+O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For answer, Denbigh crossed over to Stirling's cot, placed the bolster
+longwise and covered it with the blankets.  Then, partly drawing the
+curtains, he stood back and surveyed the result of his handiwork.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dash it all!" he exclaimed.  "It would take a lynx-eyed detective to
+spot the game, especially when the port-hole is opened, because the
+bunk is dead against the light.  Let's turn in.  Old Fritz will smell a
+rat if he finds us up and dressed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two subs had barely settled themselves in their bunks and had
+switched off the light, when a key clicked in the lock and the German
+sailor deputed to attend to them stumbled in.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was a taciturn fellow.  Perhaps it was because he understood no word
+of English, and was unaware of the fact that Denbigh spoke German.  He
+had, however, a habit of conversing with himself during the performance
+of his duties, and more than once Denbigh picked up information from
+the fellow's unguarded babbling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This time Fritz was silent.  Setting down a jug of hot water, he
+unlocked and opened the port-hole.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having washed, shaved, and dressed, Denbigh and O'Hara made their way
+to the cabin in which was served their meals.  Covers for three lay on
+the table.  The steward was standing by in his customary manner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without a word the subs seated themselves.  Presently Fritz came in to
+deliver a message from one of the ship's officers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where's the third Englander?" asked the steward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Apparently Fritz was fond of a joke at the messman's expense.  Without
+a word he stooped and looked under the table; then drawing himself up,
+he replied:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I cannot see him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fool!" ejaculated the steward.  "Don't try to be an idiot; you are one
+already.  Where is the schwein-hund?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Too lazy to get up and have his breakfast, I suppose," replied Fritz
+indifferently.  "He was fast asleep when I went in."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having asked in broken English if the subs required anything further,
+and receiving a negative reply, the steward went out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Deucedly strange," said Denbigh in a low voice.  "Those fellows know
+nothing.  I wonder if von Riesser and his cheerful ober-leutnant have
+been up to mischief."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was not until one bell in the forenoon watch that Stirling's absence
+was discovered.  Denbigh and O'Hara were immediately sent for and
+closely questioned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The interview was unsatisfactory, the British officers affecting
+ignorance of the time of their comrade's disappearance; while von
+Riesser, rightly guessing that Denbigh and O'Hara imagined he was
+responsible and was trying to cloak suspicion, was so emphatic in his
+assurances that he knew nothing of Stirling's whereabouts that his very
+earnestness caused the subs to misjudge him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A thorough search was instituted, but, naturally, without the hoped-for
+result.  Reluctantly, Denbigh and O'Hara came to the conclusion that
+their chum had either fallen in or had been thrown overboard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kapitan von Riesser was genuinely perturbed, not on account of the loss
+of the British officer, but for the additional complication that might
+ensue if the <I>Pelikan</I> should be captured.  The idea of being taken
+prisoner obsessed the German commander.  It loomed up in front of him
+like a gaunt spectre day and night.  It spoke volumes for the fact that
+Great Britain was Mistress of the Seas.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He showed little or no elation at having evaded the cruiser that had
+doggedly held in pursuit until long after midnight.  His pessimism was
+beginning to become infectious.  Officers and men were downcast.
+Several times on the lower deck remarks were heard to the effect that
+it was an unlucky day when the <I>Pelikan</I> escaped from her nominal state
+of internment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For the next three days Denbigh and O'Hara were "off colour".  The
+mystery of Stirling's disappearance affected them deeply; but on the
+fourth day they cheered up considerably, for the <I>Pelikan</I> had
+intercepted a wireless message from a British cruiser.  The message was
+in code, but one word occurred that shed a different light upon the
+mystery.  The word was "Stirling".  Von Riesser lost no time in
+informing the two British officers, and although the latter were unable
+to decipher the message it was evident that Stirling had been picked up
+by one of our patrols.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Shortly after daybreak on the fifth day of Stirling's absence, the
+<I>Pelikan</I> overhauled a large collier, outward bound from Penarth to
+Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, with a valuable cargo of steam
+coal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was evident that the skipper of the collier had received no warning
+that a German raider was at large, for he allowed the <I>Pelikan</I> to get
+within three cables' length without exciting any suspicion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the latter peremptorily ordered the collier to heave-to and
+surrender, however, the stalwart old merchant captain showed the stuff
+he was made of, for without complying, he suddenly ported helm and bore
+down upon the liner, which had now hoisted German colours.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a forlorn hope, for the <I>Pelikan</I> could steam twice as fast as
+the collier and was much quicker on her helm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove! that fellow has some pluck," exclaimed O'Hara admiringly,
+for, anticipating no resistance on the part of the would-be prize,
+Kapitan von Riesser had not ordered the British officers below.  "But
+he's asking for trouble."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, poor chap, he's put himself out of court," agreed Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Manoeuvring so that the <I>Pelikan's</I> guns could be brought to bear upon
+the collier without danger of carrying away her masts, von Riesser gave
+the order to fire.  Two shells did the mischief.  Both burst amidships,
+sweeping away the bridge and chart-house, and with them the rash and
+gallant skipper and three of the crew.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Further resistance being out of the question the collier struck her
+flag.  Splendidly handled the <I>Pelikan</I> ranged up alongside, and
+without delay the work of transferring the cargo commenced.  Although
+the sturdy Britons who formed the collier's crew refused to lift as
+much as a little finger to help there were plenty of hands available
+from the <I>Pelikan</I>.  The steam winches were manned, skips and whips
+brought into play, and sacks and sacks of badly wanted fuel were
+toppled down the liner's chutes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stand by there, you men!" shouted Kapitan von Riesser, observing that
+the crew of the collier were provisioning and swinging out their boats.
+"I haven't said I was going to sink your ship.  Come and bear a hand
+and we'll let you go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Somewhere from the vicinity of the wrecked bridge came a hoarse voice:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We want no favours from strafed Germans.  Get your coal yourself if
+you want it.  You'll have to jolly well look sharp, for the hooker'll
+be on her way to Davy Jones in half an hour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Himmel!" gasped the astonished kapitan, completely taken aback by the
+bull-dog audacity of the collier's men.  "Quick, Herr Klick.  Sound the
+well."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Accompanied by a couple of armed seamen the unter-leutnant hurried
+below.  In a few minutes he reappeared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They've opened the valves, sir," he reported.  "The sea is rushing in
+like a sluice.  It is already up to the floor of the engine-room."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser leant over the bridge rail and surveyed the deck of the
+collier forty feet below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unless you close those valves I'll smash every boat you have!" he
+shouted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A chorus of gibes was the only reply.  The engine-room staff alone knew
+the position of the valves.  It would take a stranger a couple of hours
+to locate them, and the men knew it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Smash away," they replied derisively.  "Smashing private property is
+the only thing you Germans can do properly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a full minute Kapitan von Riesser lost all control of himself.  He
+stormed and raved, cursing both in German and English, until he
+realized that during that minute the collier had sunk deeper in the
+water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a rush on the part of the <I>Pelikan's</I> men who were loading
+the sacks in the vessel's holds, so fierce was the influx of the sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Above their shouts of anger and surprise arose the ceaseless taunts of
+the British crew.  Having fully made up their minds that no quarter
+would be given the stalwart men decided to die game, and in their
+opinion the spirit of independence was best shown in heaping sarcasm
+upon the baffled Teutons.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Already the hawsers and springs holding the two vessels were straining
+almost to breaking point.  Reluctantly von Riesser gave the order to
+cast off, at the same time telegraphing to the engine-room for
+half-speed ahead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Somewhat to the surprise of the collier's crew no attempt was made by
+the <I>Pelikan</I> to interfere with them.  Taking to the boats they hoisted
+sail and in twenty minutes the little flotilla was lost to sight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a long time before von Riesser got over his fit of bad temper.
+Precious time had been all but wasted, for the only result of the
+enterprise was the addition of roughly seventy tons of coal to the
+<I>Pelikan's</I> sorely-depleted bunkers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove! that was a nasty knock," remarked O'Hara to his chum.  "It's
+a wonder old von Riesser hadn't ordered those boats to be stove-in.
+The lip those fellows gave him was enough to make a British admiral
+commit an act of frightfulness."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The old chap's frightened about something," replied Denbigh.  "He's
+literally on toast.  You see, what with Stirling's escape&mdash;for I feel
+confident that code message referred to his rescue&mdash;he's got to mind
+his p's and q's until he's through the cordon.  Then, if he does, I
+guess he'll make it mighty hot for us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh was right in his surmise, for as soon as Stirling had been
+taken on board H.M.S. <I>Actæon</I> and had made a report to the captain,
+the cruiser communicated with each of her consorts, giving the position
+of the <I>Pelikan</I> when last seen and the probable course.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Following this message another was transmitted to the Admiralty
+announcing the safety of Sub-lieutenant Charles Stirling, captured
+while on a passage home in the Japanese liner <I>Nichi Maru</I>.
+Instructions were asked as to the "disposal" of that officer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Promptly came the reply temporarily appointing Stirling to H.M.S.
+<I>Actæon</I> as supernumerary, since it was recognized that his knowledge
+of the elusive raider might be of great assistance to the pursuing ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Within two hours of the <I>Actæon's</I> wireless message additional small
+cruisers, armed auxiliaries, and destroyers left Table Bay, while
+others were ordered from the Pacific Station to proceed to the vicinity
+of Cape Horn and guard both the passage to the southward of that place
+and also the intricate Straits of Magellan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the event of the <I>Pelikan</I> eluding the cordon in the Atlantic, and
+since it was known that her desired destination was German East Africa,
+the squadron operating in conjunction with the British military
+expedition was warned to exercise a particularly sharp look-out, both
+in the Mozambique Channel and off the East African coast between 4° S.
+and 11° S. lat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Four swift destroyers of the Australian Navy were also given
+instructions to proceed to Mauritius and await orders.  Thus the net
+was being swiftly tightened around the fugitive liner that alone flew
+the Black Cross ensign of Germany outside European waters.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap08"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+Reinforcements
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Under reduced speed, in order to economize her coal, the <I>Pelikan</I> held
+on her southerly course.  By dint of careful stoking, her funnels
+emitted little or no smoke that might betray her position.  At night
+every light was screened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Fortune seemed to be favouring her, for without sighting a single
+vessel she reached the fortieth parallel, or considerably farther to
+the south'ard than she need do in ordinary circumstances in order to
+round the Cape of Good Hope.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The air was rapidly becoming colder, and her crew, being unprovided
+with warm garments, suffered acutely after coming straight from the
+Tropics.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While the work of repairing the damage done by the British cruiser's
+shells was progressing as well as the limited means at the disposal of
+the ship would permit, one of the crew slipped, and striking his head
+against the edge of an iron plate, was so severely injured that he died
+within two hours of the accident.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was then that Denbigh and O'Hara had yet another example of the
+thoroughness of the German system.  The usual practice would have been
+to sew the body up in a shotted hammock and throw it overboard, but
+Kapitan von Riesser had another plan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One of the boats, with the name "<I>Zwaan</I>&mdash;Rotterdam" painted on the
+stern, was lowered.  In it the corpse was placed and the boat turned
+adrift.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In due course, the kapitan hoped&mdash;and the crew, realizing that
+necessity knows no law, agreed with him&mdash;that the boat would be sighted
+by one of the British cruisers, and thus give the impression that the
+raider had sunk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About four on the following morning the two subs were roused by the
+sudden increase of the revolutions of the propellers, and the frantic
+tramp of feet on deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hulloa, what's wrong now?" asked O'Hara.  "They've got a move on for
+something."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One of our ships in chase, I think," replied Denbigh.  "As we are
+locked in we may just as well go to sleep again.  I'd like to wake up
+and find the hooker hove-to and a prize."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not bad advice," rejoined the Irishman, turning over and rolling
+himself in his blankets.  "Thank goodness it's not our watch.  If these
+fellows carry on much farther we'll find ourselves on the way to the
+South Pole."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sleep, however, was out of the question.  The two chums talked at
+intervals until the appearance of Fritz warned them that it was time to
+dress for breakfast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After the meal the subs found, somewhat to their surprise, that they
+were not prohibited from going on deck, as was generally the case when
+another vessel was sighted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was piercingly cold.  A heavy dew had frozen as it fell, rendering
+the decks very slippery.  Several of the crew were at work with hoses,
+washing down the planks with salt water in order to clear away the thin
+coating of ice.  So keen was the wind that Denbigh and his companion
+were glad to take shelter under the lee of the deck-houses.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Astern, at a distance of about two miles, was a long, rakish-looking
+craft, with two short masts and two funnels.  She was painted a dark
+grey, almost appearing black.  She flew no flag, but a signal fluttered
+from the foremast.  Owing to the direction of the wind it was
+impossible, even with the aid of powerful glasses, to distinguish the
+flags, since the vessel was steaming directly in the wake of the
+runaway <I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Several of the latter's officers were aft keeping the mysterious craft
+under observation, while on the after-bridge Kapitan von Riesser and
+the officers of the watch were engaged upon a similar task.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seeing the British officers appear the kapitan descended the bridge and
+strolled aft.  Affecting surprise at finding Denbigh and the Irishman
+on deck he asked:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you make of that vessel, Herr Denbigh?  Is she one of yours?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sub shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I really cannot say," he replied.  "You see we've added considerably
+to our fleet since the outbreak of war, and I haven't been in Home
+Waters since October, 1913.  She's coming up pretty fast, I should
+imagine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She is," agreed Kapitan von Riesser dryly.  "But not so fast as you
+would like, perhaps.  It is somewhat strange that she hasn't opened
+fire before now.  Perhaps it is because your compatriots are afraid of
+hitting you," he added with a slight sneer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And for similar humanitarian reasons you have refrained from using
+your quick-firers, I presume?" retorted O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's hoisting Argentine colours, sir," reported one of the
+<I>Pelikan's</I> officers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was right, for altering helm slightly the pursuing vessel enabled
+the flag to blow athwartships.  At the same moment the signal that had
+been kept flying at the masthead could be distinguished.  It read:
+"What ship is that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Those colours may be an English trick," said the kapitan.  "I'll carry
+on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove, old man!" he whispered to his chum.  "It looks as if we are
+dished this time.  We were a little too premature in chipping the Old
+Man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In an hour the pursuing craft had closed to slightly less than a mile.
+Still she made no attempt to open fire.  There were, in fact, no guns
+visible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hoist our proper colours," ordered Kapitan von Riesser at length.  "It
+will be all the same in another twenty minutes' time whether we use our
+own ensign or any other."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Black Cross ensign was run up.  Its appearance was greeted by a
+prolonged blast on the stranger's siren, then from the extremity of the
+pursuing craft's bridge a man began semaphoring.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Although skilled in semaphore, neither Denbigh nor O'Hara could
+understand the message.  The British system differs from the German,
+which again varies with the French and Spanish.  Yet, peculiarly, the
+officers and men of the <I>Pelikan</I> could read the signal with ease.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grave, anxious looks gave place to smiles, while one of the crew began
+to cheer&mdash;a demonstration that the kapitan quickly suppressed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser had now ascended the bridge.  Still suspicious he ordered
+the torpedo tubes to be charged and the engines to be reversed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Directly the overtaking craft noticed the falling off of the liner's
+speed her decks were black with humanity, and the air was rent with
+cries of "Hoch!"  Then came the strains of "Deutschland uber alles", in
+which the <I>Pelikan's</I> crew joined lustily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good heavens!" ejaculated Denbigh.  "What does it all mean?  There's a
+small German colony afloat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Fraid so," agreed O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As there was hardly any sea running the two vessels ran alongside each
+other.  The new-comer had the name <I>San Matias</I> painted on her stern
+and on her boats and life-buoys.  She carried no guns except a couple
+of small brass signalling pieces.  Her officers and a few of her crew
+were South Americans, beyond doubt, but the rest of the crowded
+complement were of marked Teutonic origin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The British subs stood at the rail watching the unwonted sight.  No one
+offered to order them below.  It was part of the business to let them
+see what was going on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No time was lost.  While a party of officers from the <I>San Matias</I> were
+being entertained by von Riesser in his cabin the Germans from her
+transferred themselves and their belongings to the <I>Pelikan</I>&mdash;nearly
+three hundred men of military age and bearing.  Then came the work of
+transhipping stores from the capacious holds of the South American
+vessel.  Carcass after carcass of oxen and sheep were brought on deck.
+From the oxen were produced long bundles wrapped in cloth.  Every
+bundle contained four modern magazine rifles.  Enclosed with the frozen
+mutton were small shells and rifle ammunition.  As fast as the
+munitions were taken from their strange places of concealment most of
+the carcasses were dumped overboard, a few hundred being retained for
+food and stored in the <I>Pelikan's</I> refrigerators.  Then came bundles of
+hides, each containing parts of machine-guns, until it looked as if the
+ship had enough material to equip an army corps.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Long before the <I>San Matias</I> had disgorged her warlike stores Denbigh
+had overheard enough conversation to enable him to solve the mystery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>San Matias</I> had been chartered by a number of wealthy German
+merchants in Buenos Ayres for the purpose of sending some hundreds of
+reservists to German East Africa.  The presence of the <I>Pelikan</I> in the
+South Atlantic had been expected, and her progress, based upon reports
+from British cruisers and duly transmitted by spies to Buenos Ayres,
+reached the projectors of the scheme with remarkable promptitude.  The
+arms and ammunition had been purchased sometime previously from a
+pro-German firm in New York, and sent to the Argentine to fulfil a
+fictitious contract for the Government of that republic.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>San Matias</I> was then chartered, her owner, captain, and crew being
+heavily bribed to undertake the risk, comparative immunity being
+afforded by means of forged ship's papers and certificates of
+nationality of the "passengers".  At the same time the report was
+spread in Buenos Ayres and Monte Video that the <I>Pelikan</I> had been
+sighted making for Bahia&mdash;a matter of two thousand miles N.N.E. of the
+estuary of the La Plata.  British agents swallowed the bait and
+telegraphed the news to London, whence, in turn, the false information
+was transmitted to the patrol vessels specially detailed to search for
+the daring raider.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This report had literally done the trick.  The northernmost group of
+British cruisers instantly converged upon the Brazilian coast in the
+neighbourhood of Bahia.  The southern patrol remained in the vicinity
+of the Falklands.  Thus the <I>Pelikan</I> had the chance of a free and
+uninterrupted run eastwards until she approached the vicinity of the
+Cape of Good Hope.  Although her adventures were by no means over, one
+source of danger had been removed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The German reservists were certainly optimists.  They firmly believed
+that Egypt had been wrested from the British, and that their role was
+to join the large army concentrating in German East Africa and march
+victoriously down the valley of the Nile and crush the remnant of the
+English in the vicinity of Khartoum.  According to their idea and
+belief South Africa was in rebellion, and that German South-West Africa
+was once more a Teutonic colony.  India, too, had revolted and joined
+the Turks, who had occupied Persia and Beluchistan.  Mention was also
+made of the impending advance of the Turco-Germanic armies through
+Tibet and China to establish a vast empire from the Atlantic to the
+Pacific, and to avenge upon Japan the loss of Kiau-Chau.  In short, the
+German armies were everywhere triumphant, although they could hardly
+understand why they should have to be smuggled out to sea when the
+German High Seas Fleet roamed unchallenged and the British navy skulked
+in harbours.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length the last of the <I>San Mathias's</I> cargo was transhipped.  The
+two vessels parted company, the Argentine returning to Buenos Ayres
+while the <I>Pelikan</I> headed eastward on her perilous passage round the
+Cape of Good Hope.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap09"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Midnight Landing
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The sanguine spirits of the German reservists had the effect of
+cheering up the crew of the <I>Pelikan</I>.  To confirm their assertions the
+former produced copies of newspapers printed under Teutonic auspices
+for the benefit of the South American republics.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Taking advantage of the information concerning the dispositions of the
+British cruisers the kapitan of the <I>Pelikan</I> stopped another collier
+at a distance of four hundred miles east of Buenos Ayres.  For eighteen
+hours the two vessels lay side by side while the coal was being
+transhipped to the almost empty bunkers of the raider.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For certain reasons von Riesser did not sink the tramp after having
+depleted her cargo.  Perhaps it was because the crew had offered no
+resistance; but it was just possible that the kapitan of the <I>Pelikan</I>
+had sufficient humanity to see that the turning adrift of a couple of
+boat-loads in the desolate South Atlantic meant practically slow and
+certain death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From the time of the arrival of the German reservists von Riesser's
+demeanour towards Denbigh and O'Hara underwent a marked change.  Rarely
+did he enter into conversation with them.  He treated them with
+aloofness.  This the subs minded but little; it was the restrictions
+placed upon their movements that riled them.  They were now allowed
+only two periods of exercise on deck during the day&mdash;from ten till noon
+and from two till five&mdash;and kept within strict limits.  A sentry was
+posted to see that they remained within boundaries specified, and
+orders had been given for none of the reservists, many of whom spoke
+English, to enter into conversation with them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the fifth day after falling in with the <I>San Matias</I> the ship's
+course was changed to S.S.E.  This she held until further progress was
+barred by the presence of a large field of pack ice.  Von Riesser, in
+order to avoid any possible chance of meeting any of the Cape Squadron,
+had elected to go south into the vast and desolate Antarctic before
+entering the Indian Ocean.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length came the welcome order to steer north.  Gradually the
+temperature rose as the <I>Pelikan</I> left the frozen seas astern.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maintaining a steady progress the ship reached the vicinity of
+Mauritius, keeping well to the eastward of that island.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Pelikan</I> now underwent another change.  From truck to water-line
+she was repainted&mdash;black on the starboard side and a light-grey on the
+port.  An additional funnel, a dummy one made out of canvas stretched
+on a framework of hoop iron and wood, was set up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It looks as if this craft is going to get through after all," remarked
+O'Hara, as the <I>Pelikan</I> reached Equatorial waters without having so
+much as sighted another vessel of any description.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, rotten luck," said Denbigh.  "I heard von Langer telling that fat
+major that another twenty-four hours would bring us in sight of land.
+I notice these fellows are preparing for their jaunt ashore."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The reservists were discarding their motley civilian attire and were
+being provided with drill uniforms that had at one time been white but
+were now dyed to a colour nearly approaching khaki.  Each man wore a
+sun helmet, but instead of puttees, jack-boots of dark undressed
+leather were served out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the midst of these preparations a sail was reported on the starboard
+bow.  Hurriedly arms were served out to the troops, the quick-firers
+were manned, and machine-guns placed out of sight but in a position
+that would enable them to be used with deadly effect should occasion
+arise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Down to your cabins, you Englishmen!" snarled the fat major, von
+Eckenstein, who had previously been in conversation with the
+ober-leutnant of the <I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you in charge of this ship, Herr Major?" asked O'Hara.  "Hitherto
+our orders have come from Kapitan von Riesser."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The major's only reply was to raise a cane that he held in his hand and
+to strike the Irishman sharply across the cheek.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara's hot Hibernian blood surged at the insult.  Fortunately he
+managed to keep himself under control, but for an instant Denbigh felt
+certain that his comrade's hard fist would come violently in contact
+with von Eckenstein's podgy nose.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm afraid that bounder will have cause to be sorry for this,"
+remarked O'Hara, when the chums had retired to their cabin.  He
+critically examined in the glass the reflection of his face, on which a
+weal was rapidly developing.  "By Jove, it was lucky for him that you
+were there, otherwise I would have given him something by which to
+remember me to the rest of his days."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps it is as well," rejoined Denbigh.  "It hardly pays in the
+circumstances to argue the point with a Prussian."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Of what occurred during the next two hours the subs had only a vague
+idea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser realized that flight was out of the question.  To attempt
+to do so would arouse suspicion, and since several swift cruisers were
+known to be off the coast, a wireless message would bring half a dozen
+speedy British warships upon the scene.  He therefore decided to carry
+on, escape by a stratagem if possible, if not, fight in a final bid for
+liberty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Since the waters adjacent to German East Africa had been declared to be
+in a state of blockade it was useless to hoist the mercantile flag of
+any nation, so the Blue Ensign of the British Reserve was displayed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In less than half an hour the strange craft was plainly visible.  She
+was a small tramp, also displaying the Blue Ensign.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser heaved a sigh of relief.  She was not an armed auxiliary,
+otherwise the White Ensign would have been used.  More than likely she
+was one of the fleet of subsidized merchantmen carrying stores and
+munitions for the British Expeditionary Force operating against the
+sole remaining German colony.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The stranger hoisted a signal.  It was in code and consequently
+unintelligible to the <I>Pelikan</I>.  Von Riesser promptly replied by
+another hoist, the flags meaning nothing, but simply to puzzle the
+tramp.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Pelikan</I> held on her course, which, in defiance of the Rule of the
+Road at Sea, would bring across the bows of the other.  That in itself
+was suspicious, but any alteration of helm would reveal the <I>Pelikan's</I>
+piebald sides.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At a distance of less than a mile the German vessel gave three blasts
+upon her siren, signifying that her engines were going astern.
+Nevertheless she was steaming ahead as hard as she could until
+deception was no longer possible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+An order from the bridge and the screens surrounding the guns were
+lowered revealing her formidable quick-firers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Heave-to, or I'll sink you!" shouted the kapitan through a megaphone,
+for the tramp was now less than two cables' lengths away and broad on
+the starboard beam.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The tramp, which proved to be S.S. <I>Myra</I> of South Shields, had no
+option but to surrender.  She was unarmed and of slow speed.  Having
+left Simon's Bay with a convoy under escort she had encountered the
+tail of a cyclone.  Detained by temporary engine-room defects during
+the storm she had fallen out of station, and was now a couple of
+hundred miles astern of the rest of the convoy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly the Blue Ensign was lowered, and way taken off the ship.  Within
+ten minutes a prize crew in charge of Unter-leutnant Klick was on
+board.  The officers and crew were locked up below, and warned that any
+attempt at resistance would result in the instant destruction of the
+<I>Myra</I> with all on board.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The boarding-officer's report was to the effect that the tramp was
+heavily laden with warlike stores.  He asked instructions as to the
+disposal of the prize.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kapitan von Riesser's mind was very active now.  With a successful
+issue in sight he was not inclined to send such a valuable prize to the
+bottom.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can you get the <I>Myra's</I> engine-room and stokehold staff to work, Herr
+Klick?" asked the kapitan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can, sir," replied the unter-leutnant grimly; and he did, for by
+dint of threats he compelled the luckless men to undertake to carry on
+under his orders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good," continued the kapitan of the <I>Pelikan</I>, receiving an
+affirmative reply.  "Follow me at two cables' lengths astern.  I'll
+slow down to enable you to keep station.  Be prepared to abandon ship
+instantly should occasion arise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Later in the afternoon the <I>Pelikan</I> and her prize arrived off Latham
+Island, under the lee of which von Riesser had decided to remain the
+night, since it was too hazardous to enter the harbour he had selected
+during the hours of darkness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh, who had been allowed on deck, recognized the island.  He had
+served a commission on the flagship of the East Indies India Station
+when he was a midshipman, and was fairly well conversant with the
+African coast in the vicinity of Zanzibar and Dar-es-Salaam.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Latham Island is a dangerous, low-lying patch of coral and sand, of
+oval form, being barely 350 yards in length and 180 yards broad.  In no
+place does it rise more than 10 feet above the sea.  Its surface is
+quite flat, having been made so by the constant treading of myriads of
+sea-fowl, that have consolidated the sand collected on the coral
+substratum into a soft sandstone, which shines very white in the sun,
+but is difficult to discern at night or in a bad light.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When visited and surveyed by H.M.S. <I>Shearwater</I> in 1873, a stone
+beacon was erected on the island, but owing to the absence of mortar
+used in its construction, it was blown down by the wind.  Coco-nut
+trees were planted at the same time, but the result was unsatisfactory,
+as the birds destroyed them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Owing to the dangerous vicinity of the islands it was unlikely that any
+vessel would pass within several miles of it during the night, so the
+<I>Pelikan</I> stood a chance of remaining at the anchorage without fear of
+detection.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are not far from the Rufigi River, are we?" asked O'Hara.  "Do you
+think that the <I>Pelikan</I> is going to run for there?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hardly," replied Denbigh.  "With the <I>Königsberg</I> as a warning I think
+she'll give the Rufigi a wide berth.  It's my opinion that she'll have
+a show at getting into the Mohoro River.  It's fairly close, and once
+we can pass the bar there's deep water for nearly twenty miles.  I'm
+curious to know what we are doing off Latham Island, however.  I think
+I'll try the Stirling trick and have a prowl round on deck during the
+night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only don't leave me in the lurch, old man," protested the Irishman,
+with an assumed look of consternation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I won't," replied Denbigh laughingly.  "So don't lock me out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just before midnight the sub set to work with the screw-driver and
+succeeded in opening the door.  Fortunately there was no sentry on the
+aft-deck on this occasion.  Overhead there was a considerable amount of
+noise going on.  It conveyed the impression that there were scores of
+men hard at work and trying to perform their various tasks with as
+little noise as possible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unseen and unheard, Denbigh gained the deck and mingled with the
+throng.  There were seamen and reservists all hard at it, buckling to
+in the starlight.  Cautiously the sub looked about for a place of
+concealment, where he could hear and see everything that was going on
+in his vicinity without much risk of detection.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He glanced up.  Overhead were the boats swinging inboard on davits.
+Side by side with them, and resting on the booms or transverse steel
+girders, were some larger boats which could only be hoisted out by
+means of derricks.  Between were several planks and spars lashed to the
+girders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Awaiting a favourable chance, Denbigh nimbly ascended the iron ladder
+on the funnel casing that led to a platform just below the siren.
+After climbing a few rungs, he was able to swing himself across to the
+nearest boat, which was almost as large as a battleship's pinnace.  It
+was roughly forty feet in length, and weighed nearly four tons.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look alive, men!" ordered Unter-leutnant Klick in his usual bullying
+tone.  "The whole of the stuff must be sent ashore within an hour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two boat-loads full, sir?" asked a petty officer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No; one.  Get steam on the main hoist and lift out the pinnace."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hulloa!" thought Denbigh.  "This looks like a proper jamboree.  I
+stand a chance of getting nabbed.  I wonder what the idea is of landing
+a quantity of gear on a sandbank like Latham Island?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He heard several men ascending to make ready the slings for hoisting
+out.  Promptly the sub retreated for'ard and crouched in the bows.
+Here, unless any material was likely to be stowed in his place of
+concealment, Denbigh had a fighting chance of escaping detection, for
+above him was a large grating that fitted between the bows and the
+for'ard thwart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now, then, Herr Major!" exclaimed Kapitan von Riesser.  "Are your men
+ready?  At least twenty with shovels will be necessary."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I cannot see that it is necessary," objected Major von Eckenstein.
+"It is a mere waste of time.  I protest against this useless labour,
+when we ought to be making for the Mohoro River."  And the Prussian
+officer clanked the tip of his scabbard loudly upon the deck, as if to
+emphasize his protest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Riesser, judging by the sound of his voice, lost his temper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Once you are ashore, Herr Major, you are in sole command of these
+troops.  Here I am your superior.  If I choose to give orders to
+facilitate our retreat, should it be necessary, it is for you to carry
+them out.  If you refuse, I will place you under arrest and report the
+matter to the military governor of the colony."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you would only explain what you propose to do, instead of giving
+orders that have no apparent reason, I am willing to assist you," said
+the major grumblingly.  "This business is evidently the result of a
+sudden inspiration on your part, and I think it is only just that you
+should take others into your confidence."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are setting a bad example for the discipline of the ship,"
+declared the kapitan in a lower tone.  "It would be as well if we
+adjourned to my cabin.  When you have heard what is proposed to be
+done, I think you will agree with me that such a step is certainly
+necessary."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Carry on, Herr Klick," continued von Riesser as he moved away.  "See
+that every article enumerated on the list is sent ashore.  I hold you
+responsible."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A bare-footed seaman, leaping upon the bow grating, prevented Denbigh
+hearing more of what was going on below.  The fellow bent and groped
+for the hook of the chain sling.  As he did so, his hand was within a
+couple of inches of the sub's face.  The man withdrew his hand so
+suddenly, that for the moment Denbigh imagined that he had been
+discovered.  Then came the metallic click of the hook engaging with the
+wire hawser from the derrick.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To the accompaniment of the clank, clank, of the winch and the hiss of
+escaping steam, the pinnace rose from its resting-place.  Swaying
+gently, it swung outboard and was lowered rapidly into the water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For the next quarter of an hour the crew were feverishly employed in
+dumping stores and gear into the boat.  There were cans of petrol, that
+gave Denbigh food for reflection, boxes of provisions, water-beakers,
+arms and ammunition, sailcloth, and shipwright's tools.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then came an avalanche of picks and shovels, followed by a crowd of men
+who, perched in every available space, swarmed like ants over the
+deeply-laden boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The pinnace was then cast off and taken in tow by a steam-boat.
+Denbigh knew this by the thud of the engines, but he was unaware that
+astern of the pinnace was a twenty-seven-foot whaler.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The pinnace grounded on the lee side of a sandbank, for there was
+little swell, although on the outlying coral reefs the sea was breaking
+heavily.  Her work for the present done, the steam-boat cast off and
+returned to the <I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without loss of time, the crew set to work to unload, and as the
+pinnace rose higher out of the water during the course of operations,
+she was hauled closer to the land.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Everything out?" asked a voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll see, sir," replied a petty officer, and kneeling on the bottom
+boards, he peered under the row of thwarts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh shut his eyes and trusted to luck.  He knew that once his gaze
+met that of the searcher, the darkness would not screen him.  A
+long-drawn minute passed, and then the man reported that the boat was
+empty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good; leave a couple of boat-keepers in charge and join the party with
+the whaler," continued the officer.  "If you cannot manage her, ask for
+additional hands, but I think you will be able to drag her up.  The
+ground is hard and level."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Away went the working-party, leaving the pinnace in charge of two
+seamen, who, having taken the strain off the bow cables, for the tide
+was rising, sat stolidly in the stern-sheets.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Above the distant roar of the surf, Denbigh could distinguish the thud
+of the pickaxes and spades.  He would have given a lot to see what the
+diggers were doing, but the presence of the boat-keepers compelled him
+to crouch, cramped and cold in the bows.  Although the day had been
+exceedingly hot, the night air was decidedly chilly, the sand radiating
+the heat with great rapidity the moment the sun set.  Clad in light
+garments, Denbigh shivered and wished that he could stretch his limbs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The boat-keepers felt the cold, too, for after a little while they
+began to swing their arms.  Finally they jumped ashore and began to
+pace to and fro.  Having warmed themselves, the men sat upon the sand,
+and produced pipes and tobacco.  The sub distinctly heard the rasping
+of matches, and gradually the odour of South American tobacco assailed
+his nostrils.  The men had begun to talk, desultory conversation soon
+working up into an animated conversation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Cautiously Denbigh stretched his limbs.  Then waiting until the
+numbness had practically disappeared, he grasped the gunwale and slowly
+raised himself until his head was level with one of the rowlocks, the
+poppet of which had fortunately been removed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His range of vision was limited.  In the bright starlight he could
+discern the diggers.  Already the bulk of the stores were hidden, while
+at a distance of twenty yards from the cache, other men were excavating
+a long trench, by the side of which lay the whaler.  The depth of the
+hole was now about five feet, and only the heads of the workers were
+visible from the pinnace.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sub waited and watched, keeping a sharp look-out lest the
+boat-keepers should return.  Presently he became aware that his range
+of vision was changing.  The rising tide was swinging the pinnace
+diagonally with the shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh promptly returned to his lair.  He was not a minute too soon,
+for just as he settled himself the boat-keepers returned and took up
+the strain on the bow ropes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A good rise and fall for neap tides," remarked one of the men.  "If we
+get as much as this tomorrow we ought to be able to cross the bar.  I
+don't fancy having to remain at anchor in this lagoon until the new
+moon with those English cruisers prowling around."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ach, we will take due precautions, Henrich," replied the other.  "Once
+we get inside the reefs we are perfectly safe.  It is the run across to
+the mainland that is the trouble.  Come on, let us go back to our snug
+seat and have another smoke.  It is indeed good to be able to tread dry
+land again, even if it is little better than a sandbank."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The men scrambled over the gunwale, and as soon as they were gone
+Denbigh took up his former position by the rowlock.  He was just in
+time to see the whaler, lifted by a dozen brawny seamen and soldiers,
+topple bottom upwards into the trench.  Without loss of time the
+Germans commenced to shovel back the soil.  Others joined them, for the
+task of hiding the stores had been completed, and in a very short space
+of time the boat was quite covered, great care being taken to smooth
+the soft substratum until it showed no sign of having been disturbed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sub retreated to his hiding-place, for the men were beginning to
+return, straggling up in groups of threes and fours.  The pinnace was
+backed out about half her own length and the men waded until they were
+able to climb on board.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They rowed back to the <I>Pelikan</I>.  Once on the return journey the
+bowman, swinging his bare legs, caught Denbigh a blow on the forehead
+with his heel.  Fortunately the fellow did not trouble to investigate,
+but the sub realized that it was a narrow squeak.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Arriving alongside the pinnace was hoisted out and stowed in its former
+place.  The workers were dismissed, the watch changed, and quietude
+brooded over the ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now comes the rub," ejaculated the sub as he crept from his place of
+concealment.  As agilely as a monkey he made his way along the steel
+beam until he gained the funnel ladder.  Then he waited and listened.
+All was silence, save for the rumble of the surf and the subdued hiss
+of steam from the ship's boilers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unseen and unheard Denbigh gained the companion and descended the
+aft-deck.  As he did so footsteps on deck told him he was barely in
+time.  Cautiously he lifted the curtain that served to screen the light
+from the hatchway.  The space beyond was deserted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Swiftly he tiptoed to the door of the cabin.  He tried the handle.  The
+door refused to move.  He knocked softly, thinking that O'Hara had
+fallen asleep.  There was no response.  Perhaps the Irishman had gone
+in search of him; but, if so, how could he have secured the door on the
+inside?  Before Denbigh could knock again a steady tread resounded
+along the alley-way.  The sentry on the aft-deck was coming towards him.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap10"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER X
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Lagoon
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Almost in an instant Denbigh decided how to act.  He could have crept
+along the alley-way and surprised the sentry; but stunning the man
+would be of little use.  Nor could he hope to bluff the fellow, since
+there was too much light to attempt to pass himself off as one of the
+<I>Pelikan's</I> officers.  To retreat was impracticable, for someone, he
+knew, was on deck in the immediate vicinity of the companion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without hesitation the sub opened the door of the cabin adjoining his
+and entered quickly and silently.  The place was in darkness.  Whether
+it was tenanted or not he was unable to ascertain.  Closing the door he
+stood stock-still and listened.  He could hear no sound of a person
+breathing.  For five minutes he waited, then began to grope until he
+found the edge of one of the bunks.  The sleeping-place was empty.
+There were not even blankets and bedding.  This looked promising.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He continued his exploration, testing the remaining bunks in turn,
+until he was able to come to the happy decision that by sheer good luck
+he had lighted upon an empty cabin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The glass scuttle in the port-hole was closed, but there was no
+dead-light in position over the opening.  In that case it would be too
+risky to switch on the light, until he had taken due precautions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The dead-light squeaked shrilly on its hinges as he drew it to.  He
+wondered whether the watch on deck heard the sound.  He waited again.
+There were many footsteps descending the companion.  He could detect
+von Langer's guttural tones, discussing some matter with one of the
+other officers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dash it all!" ejaculated Denbigh, a cold perspiration standing out on
+his forehead.  "What if I'm in that fellow's cabin?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The men stopped outside the cabin.  They were evidently indulging in
+horse-play, for once a heavy body struck the wall with a thud, followed
+by a chorus of boisterous laughter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then, to Denbigh's intense relief, the officers went along the passage.
+Once again he had been lucky.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Reassured he switched on the light.  The cabin was bare of furniture.
+In one corner lay a pile of books and a couple of sea-stained
+portmanteaux.  Hanging from a coat-hook was an officer's sword-belt.
+It was mildewed; the stitching of the holster had burst, the buckle was
+green with verdigris.  Attached to the belt was a small, circular
+leather case secured by a strap.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh handled it gingerly.  There was something hard inside.
+Curiosity prompted him to unbuckle the strap and open the case.  Within
+was a pocket-compass.  What was more, it was a spirit one and seemingly
+in good order.  Without compunction the sub abstracted the compass and
+slipped it into his pocket.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As he did so he was startled to hear a deep groan.  It seemed to sound
+close to his ear.  He wheeled abruptly and shot a glance in the
+direction of one of the bunks, thinking that he had made a mistake in
+deeming it untenanted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no one there.  Again the groan was repeated.  This time the
+sound seemed to come from the adjoining cabin&mdash;the one occupied by Pat
+O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A hole in the bulkhead attracted Denbigh's notice.  It was the aperture
+drilled by the Germans when they made their ineffectual attempt to
+chloroform the three British officers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Through it Denbigh could see but a very small portion of the next
+cabin, but sufficient to observe O'Hara lying on his back in his bunk.
+He was writhing and groaning.  His eyes were wide open and rolling in a
+horrifying manner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Outside all was quiet once more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I say, old man," whispered Denbigh.  "What's wrong?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the sound of his voice O'Hara raised himself.  He tried to speak,
+but could not.  With an effort he rolled out of his bunk and stood
+clinging to the edge for support.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Open the door," said Denbigh peremptorily.  "I cannot get in."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If he's not able to it's the last straw," he soliloquized.  "I'll have
+to give myself up and get assistance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a great effort the Irishman lurched across the floor and removed
+the chair which had been wedged against the lock.  Then, unable to
+regain his bunk, he pitched inertly upon his face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh waited no longer.  He darted into the alley-way, not even
+waiting to see if everything were clear.  The door opened easily.  He
+entered, and lifting O'Hara as easily as a child placed him on his bunk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Felt jolly rotten almost as soon as you cleared out," muttered the
+Irishman.  "Sorry, but I couldn't help it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't suppose you could," replied Denbigh, for O'Hara's regret was
+genuine.  "I'll ring for assistance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He touched the electric bell.  Then, and only then, he remembered that
+he had to replace a portion of the lock.  Grasping the screw-driver he
+set to work, and had just driven home the last screw when the locked
+turned, and a petty officer entered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man hurried off for the ship's surgeon.  It was nearly a quarter of
+an hour before the doctor arrived.  He came prepared to deal with a
+trifling case, but when he saw the Irishman he looked grave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without expressing his opinion the surgeon went out.  Nor did he again
+put in an appearance.  He sent, however, some quinine and written
+directions as to treatment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For the rest of the night Denbigh sat up with his comrade.  As day
+broke O'Hara seemed easier.  The internal pains passed off.  His
+temperature fell.  He was able to talk rationally.  By noon he was
+practically well again.  The attack had been sharp and rapid, but once
+over it seemed to leave no ill-effects.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without being sighted by any of the British patrol vessels the
+<I>Pelikan</I> and her prize arrived off the entrance to the Mohoro River.
+Here the two ships slowed down until there was sufficient water for
+them to cross the outer bar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the interval Denbigh and O'Hara were peremptorily ordered to
+leave the <I>Pelikan</I> and take up their quarters on the <I>Myra</I>, the
+reason being that von Riesser was terribly afraid of illness, and in
+spite of the doctor's assurances he had a firm belief that O'Hara was
+suffering from yellow fever, malaria, black-water fever, and every
+tropical disease under the sun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let him jolly well think so," said the Irishman joyfully.  "I feel as
+fit as a fiddle now; and I'm not sorry for the change."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All the same O'Hara acted the invalid to perfection as he was rowed
+from the raider to her prize.  Denbigh accompanied him, taking good
+care to bring all their scanty personal property that they had been
+permitted to save from the <I>Nichi Maru</I>, excepting the gold that von
+Riesser had ordered to be confiscated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Myra</I> was in charge of Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick and fifteen
+men.  There were also the skipper, officers, and crew of the tramp,
+numbering thirty-two persons.  The officers were given a fair amount of
+liberty, but the men were kept under hatches, to their no small
+discomfort in the tropical heat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sorry I'm not able to make your acquaintance under more favourable
+auspices," was the greeting of Captain Pennington, the master of the
+captured <I>Myra</I>, when the two subs introduced themselves.  "But I hope
+before many hours that we will be set at liberty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We've been hoping that for weeks," said Denbigh.  "The luck those
+fellows get is astonishing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So I should imagine," agreed Captain Pennington.  "I learnt at Cape
+Town that the <I>Pelikan</I> was given up as lost, as some wreckage and one
+of her boats were picked up in the South Atlantic.  That is why our
+cruisers relaxed their patrol, and were ordered to rendezvous at
+Zanzibar.  There'll be a dozen or more on their way up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And any monitors?" asked O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Four, as far as I know," replied the <I>Myra's</I> skipper.  "One was
+detained for repairs at Simon's Bay.  The others must be at Zanzibar by
+this time.  They will be invaluable for work inside the coral reefs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And the <I>Pelikan</I>&mdash;or <I>Zwaan</I>, as we are accustomed to call her&mdash;hopes
+to ascend the Mohoro River.  Her draught is about twenty-two feet, and
+she may be able to lighten to eighteen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She won't do it," declared Pennington decisively.  "It will be as much
+as she can manage to cross the outer bar.  She'll be nabbed before she
+does that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When's high water?" enquired Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let me see.  New moon's on Friday.  To-day's Saturday.  High water,
+full and change, is at 4 p.m.  I take it that it's the top of the tide
+to-day at eleven or thereabouts.  They'll have to be pretty sharp about
+it to arrive off the entrance to the lagoon by that time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As a matter of fact von Riesser signalled for the prize to steam full
+speed ahead, the <I>Pelikan</I> following at four cables' lengths astern.
+By 8.30 the <I>Myra</I> slowed down off the entrance to the Mohoro River.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was a considerable amount of mist about, for the land breeze had
+not commenced to make its influence felt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All that could be seen was a long, irregular line of coral reefs
+against which the ground-swell broke with a sullen roar into masses of
+milk-white foam.  There were nearly a dozen visible gaps in the reef,
+the largest, bearing directly ahead, being marked by a couple of
+coco-nut palms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this point an island was in course of formation, there being a few
+feet of soil accumulated upon the coral.  These trees marked the
+entrance to the lagoon, into which the Mohoro River made its way by
+means of three separate estuaries.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Germans left nothing to chance.  Way was taken off both vessels.  A
+boat was manned and lowered from the <I>Pelikan</I> and rowed towards the
+entrance, soundings being taken methodically and frequently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having found the deepest water the officers in the boat signalled to
+the <I>Myra</I>, and at half speed the captured tramp crept towards the
+narrow passage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Between the foam-swept barriers she made her way, until she lay quietly
+upon the peaceful waters of the lagoon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Pelikan</I> prepared to follow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ten to one she'll bump," exclaimed Captain Pennington.  "There you
+are!  I said so," he added, as the raider touched the bottom with a
+dull grinding sound.  Still she carried way.  Scraping along for nearly
+her own length she slid into deep water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hope she's stove in her bottom," said O'Hara.  "See, they're using her
+bilge pumps."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A signal was hoisted on the raider.  What it meant the British officers
+were unable to say, but it was evident from the expression of the face
+of Unter-leutnant Klick that the damage to the <I>Pelikan</I> was but slight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By this time the mist was rising.  The mainland could now be discerned,
+low-lying ground densely covered with mangroves and backed by rugged
+hills at a distance of about ten miles from the coast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The lagoon was quite three miles in breadth and extended in a northerly
+direction beyond the range of vision.  Southward it gradually converged
+towards the coast, apparently joining it at a distance of five miles
+from where the ships lay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An anchorage big enough to take the whole of the British Navy,"
+declared Denbigh.  "It's the bar that spoils the place, apart from the
+pestilential swamps.  Do you see that peculiar isolated tree?  It's a
+casuarina.  It marks the principal entrance to the Mohoro&mdash;or did when
+I was here last, but these African rivers have a peculiar knack of
+altering their course entirely in a night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose we are going straight up," remarked O'Hara.  "There's depth
+enough for us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Goodness knows," replied his chum.  "At all events the <I>Pelikan</I>
+can't."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Apparently the Germans had a good knowledge of the lagoon, for boldly
+closing with the land, the <I>Pelikan</I> dropped anchor within three
+hundred yards of the highest part of the shore, where a cliff rose
+abruptly to the height of thirty or forty feet.  On the summit the
+ground shelved gently.  There were several native huts to be seen in
+the clearing between the mangroves, while farther back was a
+galvanized-iron shed with a whitewashed roof.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Acting under von Riesser's instructions the <I>Myra's</I> anchor was let go,
+the tramp bringing up at a cable's length from her captor, and so close
+to the shore that when she swung her stern was within forty yards of
+the cliff.  The water here was ten fathoms deep, the shore being
+steep-to, but in spite of the depth the bottom could be clearly seen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Suppose you vant to go 'shore, hein?" asked Unter-leutnant Klick.  "No
+tricks.  Plenty of shark about."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The German was right.  Already the surface of the lagoon in the
+vicinity of the two ships was furrowed with diverging lines of ripples
+as the black dorsal fins of numerous tigers of the deep cleft the water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I don't think I want to bathe, lieutenant," remarked Captain
+Pennington.  "It hardly looks tempting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kaspar Klick laughed boisterously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You see even der shark is der ally of Zhermany," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The information does not astonish me one little bit," rejoined the
+master of the <I>Myra</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Vot you mean?" demanded the under-leutnant, instinctively guessing
+that he had made a verbal blunder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At that moment, when the German was beginning to exhibit signs of
+anger, another signal was made from the <I>Pelikan</I>, ordering the <I>Myra</I>
+to ship as much additional cargo from her captor as she could carry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Until sunset the work progressed.  Under threats from their captors the
+British crew were turned up from below and compelled to assist in
+handing and stowing the gear, for it was von Riesser's intention to
+lighten his vessel as much as possible, so as to attempt the inner bar
+at least a couple of days before the new moon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Night put an end to the day's work, for not a light that could be
+visible from seaward was shown.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two subs slept badly.  Their cabin accommodation was indifferent
+compared with that on board the <I>Pelikan</I>, for Unter-leutnant Klick had
+appropriated the skipper's quarters, and Pennington and his chief
+engineer were obliged to share the small space that had been the mate's
+cabin, while that officer was told to occupy the same cabin in which
+Denbigh and O'Hara were placed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They lacked the ventilating fan and the liberal air space.  The cabin
+was low and stuffy.  It had no direct communication with the outside
+air, as it opened into the state-room, where in normal times the
+<I>Myra's</I> officers used to have their meals.  At present that limited
+space was still further restricted by the huge cases of military stores
+removed from the <I>Pelikan</I>.  These had been struck down the hatchway
+and carried aft, where they remained under the charge of an armed
+sentry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Those fellows think they've got us safely under lock and key," said
+the mate, a burly North-countryman of the name of Armstrong.  "They
+don't know that each officer of this hooker has a duplicate key to his
+cabin.  I took jolly good care to keep mine, and I know where to put my
+hand on the key to this one.  To-morrow, now I know how we're berthed,
+I'll get that key."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At daybreak the work of transhipping the cargo was proceeded with
+before the miasmic mists that hid the shore had dispersed.  Two boats
+were dispatched from the <I>Pelikan</I> to the shore and returned laden with
+tops of coco-nut trees.  Before noon the foliage was stowed below out
+of sight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just before high water the <I>Myra</I>, being loaded far below her Plimsoll
+mark, prepared to weigh and ascend the river.  Even in her deeply laden
+condition she drew a good nine feet less than the <I>Pelikan</I>, and could
+negotiate the bar without much risk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cable was almost "up and down" and the anchor on the point of
+"breaking-out" when a warning shout came from one of the look-out men
+on the <I>Pelikan</I>.  A bugle call for "General Quarters" followed in
+quick succession.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hulloa, that's great!" ejaculated Denbigh excitedly.  He pointed in
+the direction of the passage through the reef.  Heading for it was a
+small gunboat.  Although the distance was too great for the British
+officers on the <I>Myra</I> to distinguish her ensign they had no doubts as
+to her nationality.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's one of our gunboats," announced O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His assertion was confirmed by a flash, followed by a sharp bark as the
+<I>Pelikan</I>, unmasking her guns, opened fire upon the approaching vessel.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap11"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+Denbigh's Plan
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+At the opening of the engagement the prize crew of the <I>Myra</I> made a
+simultaneous rush to the tramp's rigging, in order to witness the
+destruction of the audacious but lightly-armed gunboat.  Unter-leutnant
+Klick and another junior officer hurried to the bridge.  Denbigh,
+O'Hara, and the officers of the <I>Myra</I> found themselves in sole
+occupation of the deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Idiots!" exclaimed Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who?" asked Captain Pennington.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The <I>Pelikan's</I> people.  If they had waited another five minutes, they
+would have found the gunboat jammed up on the bar.  As it is she has
+room to manoeuvre."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even as he spoke, the gunboat let fly with her puny 4-inch bow gun&mdash;the
+only one capable of being trained upon the powerfully-armed raider.
+Immediately a dense cloud of black smoke burst from the little craft,
+entirely hiding her from view.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's got it properly," exclaimed Pennington.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly the smoke began to disperse.  Into the eddying vapour shell
+after shell poured from the <I>Pelikan</I>.  All around the sea was
+lacerated by the ricochetting projectiles, which threw columns of spray
+high into the air, the pure whiteness of the artificial waterspouts
+contrasting vividly with the dark background of smoke.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Germans were shouting madly.  It was their way of cheering, but it
+lacked the inspiring sound of a hearty British cheer.  Then, with
+remarkable suddenness, the uproar of voices trailed away into a
+silence, broken only by the desultory firing from the <I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Under cover of the cloud of smoke purposely emitted from the gunboat,
+the British craft had swung round and was steaming away at her maximum
+of 13 knots, apparently undamaged by the salvoes that had been directed
+towards her.  The exultant shouts of the Germans were not renewed when
+they saw the small vessel turn tail.  Too late they realized that they
+had thrown away their advantages by being too premature.  The gunboat,
+having sea-room in which to manoeuvre, was speeding away, not in
+flight, but with the object of wirelessing the cruisers and destroyers.
+By letting their insignificant antagonist escape the Germans were
+bringing a hornet's nest about their ears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Somewhat disconsolately, the <I>Myra's</I> prize crew descended the rigging
+and other coigns of vantage and regained the deck.  They, however, knew
+that a loophole for escape remained.  They were under orders to cross
+the inner bar and ascend the Mohoro River.  That course was denied the
+<I>Pelikan</I> for the next four or five days.  A high spring-tide was an
+absolute necessity for her to cross the barrier, and long before that
+time the British blockading squadron would be off the reefs, ready to
+pulverize the raider into a mass of twisted scrap-iron.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The time of high water had gone, and the tide was beginning to fall,
+when the <I>Myra</I> essayed the task of crossing the inner bar.  There was
+no surf breaking at the mouth of the river, since the coral reef
+enclosing the lagoon effectually sheltered the shore.  Only a few
+ripples marked the spot where the down-current met the submerged
+barrier.  In a few minutes the great volume of water pouring down the
+river, having time to overcome the up tidal stream, would be surging
+furiously over the bar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wish to goodness we could crock the steering-gear," said O'Hara in a
+low voice.  "If the old hooker grounded on the bar she would prevent
+the <I>Pelikan</I> from entering."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not much use," objected Denbigh.  "In fact, it would be more of a help
+to her than a hindrance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How's that?" asked the Irishman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Simply because the river would dig itself another channel across the
+bar, and its width being restricted by the stranded vessel, its depth
+would be even greater than the existing one.  No, I think we can do
+nothing but sit tight and trust to luck, that the <I>Pelikan</I> will be
+sent to the bottom before Friday."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And us?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You can bet your bottom dollar that a couple of armed cutters will be
+sent after the <I>Myra</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without touching even once the tramp crossed the dangerous patch, and
+was soon breasting the rapidly-increasing current.  The river at this
+point was about 180 yards in width, and carried a depth of 30 to 40
+feet for twelve miles from its mouth.  On either side the banks were
+overhung with mangroves and coco-nut palms, from which myriads of
+birds, aroused by the unfamiliar noise of the tramp, rose screeching in
+the sultry air.  The surface of the river was dotted with black objects
+resembling water-logged trunks of trees, but on the <I>Myra's</I> approach
+the seemingly inanimate objects were endowed with life and activity.
+They were hippopotami, that literally swarmed in the turgid water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having, as he imagined, navigated the <I>Myra</I> beyond reach of the
+British cruisers, Unter-leutnant Klick ordered several of the crew of
+the captured tramp on deck, and informed them that they were in future
+to assist in working the ship.  Should any attempt to recover the
+vessel be made, the offence would be punishable with death.  He also
+pointed out the impracticability of escape, since the river was
+infested with hippopotami, and the forests with fierce animals.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just before sunset, the <I>Myra</I> brought up at a distance of about seven
+miles from the mouth of the river.  The flood-tide, accompanied by a
+distinct bore, had now set in, and since the river was hardly wide
+enough to allow the tramp to swing, an anchor was let go astern and
+twice the amount of cable necessary paid out.  Then, directly the
+vessel's way was stopped, the bower-anchor was let go from the bows.
+The stern cable was then hove inboard until the ship lay evenly between
+the two anchors.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Myra</I> had no stockless anchors, but those of the old Admiralty
+pattern.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove! how strong the current runs here!" remarked O'Hara, as the
+two subs watched the yellow stream surge past the ship.  "If the ground
+tackle carried away there would be a jamboree.  A new channel wouldn't
+form in a couple of days here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh did not reply.  He was mentally gauging the distance between
+the ship's side and the nearmost bank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's risky," he thought; "but there are no gains without pains.  I'll
+have a shot at it to-night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On being ordered to retire to their cabin the two officers found that
+the mate was already there.  As Denbigh and his chum entered, he
+hastily stowed something in his pocket, but finding that they were not
+any of the German crew he withdrew the article.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a piece of soft wood about nine inches in length.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's the game, Armstrong?" asked Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm just knocking up a couple of dummy forelocks," explained the mate,
+opening his jack-knife once more.  "I gave our fellows in the fo'c'sle
+the tip, and they'll get them in position as soon as the anchors are
+catted.  I'm going to give these a coat of galvanized paint and I'll
+wager those German chumps won't notice the difference.  Next time they
+drop the hook the pins will snap under the strain, the stocks will
+slip, and the old hooker will drag at the rate of knots."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's a good wheeze, Armstrong," said Denbigh.  "But look here.  I
+want you to do me a good turn.  Have you the duplicate key of this
+cabin?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sure I have," replied the mate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm going to have a shot at getting ashore," declared the sub.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You'll be a fool if you try," said Armstrong bluntly and emphatically.
+"With this current running and the hippos barging about you wouldn't
+stand a dog's chance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll wait till slack water and take my chance with the hippos,"
+rejoined Denbigh.  "If I succeed in getting ashore I'll make my way
+along the bank until I reach the entrance.  I'm rather curious to see
+what the <I>Pelikan</I> is doing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm with you," volunteered O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You'll stop here, old man," said Denbigh firmly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If I stop you stop too," was the Irishman's equally determined
+rejoinder.  "Look here, old bird; it's not like prowling around the
+upper-deck.  Once ashore we'll be all right.  One may be jolly useful
+in helping the other.  Besides, I've a loaded pistol."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Might be handy," admitted Denbigh, secretly glad to have a companion
+for his enterprise.  "But there's something you have which will be, I
+fancy, a jolly sight more handy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's that?" asked O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The quinine the <I>Pelikan's</I> medico gave you.  Our chief danger is, I
+fancy, the chance of getting miasmic fever, especially after landing in
+saturated togs.  A few grains will stave off a fatal illness."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right," agreed O'Hara.  "Then it's settled I'm to go with you.
+What's your plan?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing more than I have outlined," replied Denbigh.  "We'll keep our
+eyes and ears open and see what steps the <I>Pelikan</I> is taking for
+defence.  There'll be enough moonlight to see fairly clearly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Suppose you wouldn't like me to go with you?" enquired the mate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, thanks, Armstrong; you'll serve a far better purpose by remaining
+on board and screening our movements.  Those fellows have set an anchor
+watch, I suppose?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only on the fo'c'sle," replied Armstrong.  "That is to say, they
+hadn't put a man on watch over the stern cable when I left the deck.
+But there's no knowing.  They imagine that they are safe from attack.
+I suppose they are so long as the <I>Pelikan</I> remains afloat, so it's
+just likely that they'll be a bit lax.  How do you propose to take the
+water?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By the stern cable," replied Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know a better way," said the mate.  "There's a rope ladder coiled up
+close to the engine-room fidley.  If you can lay hold of it without
+being spotted you can make one end fast outside the rail and let the
+rest go.  It won't be noticed before morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Methodically the two subs went about their preparations, for there was
+as yet an hour and a half before slack water.  Denbigh knew that
+between the two periods of high and low tide there was an interval of
+six and a half hours, for the volume of fresh water descending the
+river retarded the rising tide by at least thirty or forty minutes.
+The chums had thus nearly seven hours at their disposal, of which there
+was moonlight until four in the morning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cabin was not electrically lighted, illumination being provided by
+means of a smoky oil lamp.  Stripping to the buff the two subs blacked
+themselves all over by means of corks charred in the lamplight.  Their
+clothes they lashed into a compact bundle, Denbigh stowing the
+pocket-compass in his, while O'Hara placed his automatic pistol in the
+middle of his clothing.  Two handkerchiefs were retained in readiness
+to bind their bundles on the top of their heads.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We may get ashore with dry gear," said Denbigh.  "It's just a chance.
+We'll be lucky if we do.  Now, Armstrong, that key, if you please.
+I'll borrow it and lock you in after we've left.  It will disarm
+suspicion; and besides, we will be able to let ourselves in when we
+roll home in the small hours of the morning.  Don't wait up, Mr.
+Armstrong."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The men smiled grimly.  Even on the brink of peril they jested.  Cheek
+by jowl with death they bantered each other.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hour of slack water arrived.  No longer the current surged noisily
+against the <I>Myra's</I> wall-sides.  All was quiet save the occasional
+rasp of a huge amphibian along the ship's plating and the faint roar of
+a wild animal in the distant mangroves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Cautiously Denbigh applied the well-oiled key to the lock.  Softly the
+door was opened.  In the "state-room" an oil-lamp burned dimly and
+smelt abominably.  Its feeble rays were almost unable to penetrate into
+the recesses of the encumbered quarters.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Giving a final look round Denbigh fastened his bundle on his head and
+slipped out, followed by O'Hara.  The door was closed and locked,
+Denbigh thrusting the key under the lashings of his bundle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The deck was wet with a heavy dew that struck cold to their bare feet.
+Overhead the crescent moon shone a dull yellow through the haze.  The
+shores were invisible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Crouching close to the low bulwarks the two officers made their way
+amidships.  Fore and aft awnings had been spread to protect the watch
+on deck from the noxious dew, but there were no signs of the seamen on
+duty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the chart-room a light, imperfectly screened, threw a narrow glare
+into the mist.  The officer of the watch&mdash;one of the <I>Pelikan's</I> petty
+officers&mdash;was doubtless indulging in slumber, since it was quite
+unlikely that Unter-leutnant Klick would have been out of his bunk to
+satisfy himself that all was well unless an alarm was raised by those
+on deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Cautiously the two blackened figures glided from the shelter of the
+bulwarks to the raised coaming of the engine-room fidley.  Through the
+iron bars they could see the gleaming mechanism, now at rest, although
+steam was being kept at working pressure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Groping, Denbigh felt his fingers come in contact with a cylindrical
+bundle.  It was the rope-ladder enclosed in a canvas cover.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Returning to the side the sub lashed one end of the ladder to the
+upright of one of the davits.  The other he allowed to drop.  It
+touched the surface of the water with hardly a splash.  Being too long
+for the purpose five or six feet of the ladder floated alongside.
+There was not sufficient current to trail it out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Swinging over the bulwark Denbigh felt with his foot for the rungs.
+The rope creaked under his weight.  He descended until his feet came in
+contact with the water, then he waited until he saw O'Hara's black form
+silhouetted against the moon-lit mist.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thank heaven there were no hippos to be seen, although a splashing
+sound at some distance off told the sub that some sort of large
+amphibians were sporting in the moonlight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Irishman's foot lightly touching Denbigh's upheld hand that grasped
+one of the rungs aroused the sub to action.  Three steps down did he
+take, then he released his hold and struck out into the unknown.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap12"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A Perilous Journey
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Twenty slow, deliberate, and powerful strokes did Denbigh take, then,
+treading water, he turned his head to see how his companion was
+progressing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In that short distance the outlines of the <I>Myra</I> looked vague and
+distorted in the eddying vapour.  Already the swimmers were practically
+safe from observation, since O'Hara, who was barely three yards away,
+looked indistinct in his cork-blackened disguise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A dozen strokes more and the two officers were in the midst of a
+sluggish, turgid stream, their horizon bounded by banks of mist.  Were
+it not for the moon, that shone dully through the haze, all sense of
+direction would have been lost.  The water was warm and
+sickly-smelling.  An odour like that of decaying flowers in an
+ill-ventilated room assailed their nostrils.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once O'Hara gave vent to a partly smothered yell as his naked foot came
+in contact with a slimy water-logged tree.  It was easy to imagine
+unpleasant things in that modern Styx.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the sound Denbigh turned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's wrong?" he asked in a whisper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing," replied the Irishman.  "Carry on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was swimming rapidly.  His quick strokes betrayed his acute anxiety
+to traverse the stretch of water in as short a time as possible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Steady; don't splash," cautioned Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A reply to his admonition came from another quarter, for almost in
+front of the swimmers rose a huge black object, quickly followed by
+another.  In the semi-light the two men could see that these were
+enormous hippopotami, distinguish even their thick lips and wire-like
+bristles, and hear the business-like snap of their formidable teeth,
+capable of biting the side of a boat and shaking the craft like a
+terrier does a rat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two amphibians were gambolling.  So intent were they that the
+swimmers were unnoticed, but for half a minute after the hippos had
+passed Denbigh and O'Hara floated motionless, not trusting to swim
+forward another foot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length, after a seemingly interminable space of time, the
+mangrove-covered shore loomed up against the moonlit sky.  The banks,
+thrown into deep shadow, were invisible, until O'Hara, who was now
+leading, felt his foot touch the slimy ooze that fringed the shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With feelings of relief the Irishman waded to the bank and awaited
+Denbigh's emergence from the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank God," he muttered fervently as Denbigh joined him.  "Now, what's
+the move?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dress," replied his chum laconically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two men unfastened their bundles, and proceeded to sacrifice one of
+their scanty stock of handkerchiefs as a towel.  To allow the foetid
+fresh water to dry on them would be courting a speedy attack of
+black-water fever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We can't see the <I>Myra</I>," whispered O'Hara.  "How shall we know where
+to 'kick-off' when we return?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bend that damp handkerchief on to one of the bushes," replied Denbigh.
+"We'll have to take jolly good care to&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His words ended abruptly, and he found himself sitting on the soft
+ground.  In order to facilitate the dressing performance he had sat
+down upon what he imagined to be a log.  The "log" promptly lurched
+forward and overthrew him.  It was a healthy specimen of a crocodile.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-128"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-128.jpg" ALT="THE &quot;LOG&quot; WAS A HEALTHY SPECIMEN OF A CROCODILE" BORDER="2">
+<H4 CLASS="h4center">
+THE &quot;LOG&quot; WAS A HEALTHY SPECIMEN OF A CROCODILE
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara gripped his chum's hand and literally lifted him to his feet.
+Both men took to their heels, with the now aroused saurian in pursuit.
+Luckily the animal was not quick at turning, and before it could do so
+the two subs placed a safe distance between them and their pursuer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There may be others," gasped Denbigh, who half-dressed was clutching
+the rest of his clothing.  "The river bank is too jolly risky.  I had
+my doubts about it.  We'll cut inland and risk the forest.  It's high
+ground, as far as I could judge when we came up stream.  Therefore it
+ought not to be swampy.  What's more, we'll save half the distance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And, possibly, take double the time," added O'Hara, who, although
+willing to risk the unknown perils of the mangrove forest to the
+partly-known adversities of the river banks, was rather doubtful as to
+his comrade's skill in navigation on dry land.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They halted in a little clearing to complete their interrupted task of
+donning their clothes.  With their ears strained to catch the faintest
+suspicious sound, they struggled into their light cotton garments, that
+at the best of times were ill-adapted to the miasmic night-mists of the
+East African coast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's better," exclaimed Denbigh cheerfully.  "Feel a bit more
+civilized.  We might pass muster as a pair of Christy minstrels.  Now,
+then, a few grains of quinine, and we'll be on the move."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara's reply was to release the safety-pin of his automatic pistol.
+Denbigh, who was studying the luminous face of the pocket-compass,
+smiled grimly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now I'll admit that little toy may come in handy, old man," he
+remarked.  "Since I lead the way, pray be careful how you finger the
+trigger.  Nor'east by east is the ticket."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before the adventurers had proceeded fifty yards, a rustling sound
+overhead brought them up all-standing.  Some heavy body was moving from
+tree-top to tree-top with great rapidity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Doesn't sound very healthy," whispered Denbigh with a forced laugh.
+"I think I'll arm myself with a club."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He wrenched at a stout sapling.  Instead of the stem coming out by the
+roots as he expected, it snapped off short.  The fractured part tapered
+to a chisel edge.  The wood was hard and close-grained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I'll use this as a spear," continued the sub.  "It makes a nasty
+weapon to jab an animal with."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In silence the chums proceeded on their way.  It was fair going between
+the trunks of the palms and mangroves, there being very little
+undergrowth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Ware mosquitoes," exclaimed O'Hara.  "There must be a swamp somewhere
+about."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A swarm of these pestilential insects were buzzing around their heads,
+but, possibly owing to the protection afforded by the burnt cork, the
+mosquitoes did not press home the attack.  Fifty yards farther the two
+men were stopped by a deep morass.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Edge away to the left," suggested the Irishman.  "I think I can hear
+running water.  By Jove!  Look at those fireflies.  They're simply
+great."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh merely grunted.  He was in no mood to study the beauties of
+nature.  The marsh meant loss of valuable time.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Half a dozen small deer, disturbed in the act of drinking, came
+bounding towards them, until, finding themselves confronted by human
+beings, they stopped abruptly, then tore madly from the newest danger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Be careful!" urged Denbigh.  "Those creatures have been driven towards
+us by some animal.  Stand by."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Out of the deep shade ambled a huge unwieldy figure.  It looked like a
+giant armed with a club.  It was too big for a native: it was an
+enormous ape.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a trice Denbigh and his companion dodged behind a tree; but quick
+though they were, the movement had not escaped the notice of the
+animal.  Uttering a shrill cry, the ape bounded towards their place of
+concealment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh's first impulse was to fly, but calmer counsels prevailed.
+Dropping on one knee, he held his improvised spear pointed towards the
+enemy, the butt planted firmly into the ground.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As well might a dog try conclusions with a motor-car.  The ape's
+muscular hand gripped the pole and wrenched it from the sub's grasp,
+while Denbigh's endeavour to retain his hold resulted in his being
+thrown prostrate at the creature's feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before the luckless man could realize his position there was a vivid
+flash and a sharp report, quickly followed by another and another.
+O'Hara had fired point-blank at the animal's head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The next instant Denbigh was pinned under the lifeless body of his
+antagonist, for a chance-directed shot had struck the ape in the eye,
+and had penetrated the brain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hurt?" asked the Irishman anxiously, as he assisted Denbigh to regain
+his feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Am I?" asked the sub blankly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you don't know I suppose no one else does," rejoined O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thought the brute had me that time.  Hulloa! where's my compass?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A prolonged search resulted in the recovery of the precious instrument.
+Anxiously Denbigh revolved the case; to his intense satisfaction he saw
+that the luminous card was still sensitive.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My word!" thought Denbigh, as the two men resumed their way.
+"Whatever possessed me to take this business on?  Idle curiosity and
+the love of doing something to pass away the time, I suppose.  After
+all, I can't see how we can help our squadron in the slightest.  And
+here are we running the risk of being stranded in a beastly forest, and
+perhaps being chawed up by some wild animal.  Well, we're half-way
+there, so I suppose we may as well carry on.  I won't be the one to
+suggest chucking up the sponge and making tracks for the <I>Myra</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Irishman's soliloquies were on almost the identical lines, but as
+neither communicated his thought to the other, the consequence was that
+they both persisted in their hazardous adventure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It must have been about one in the morning, when, more by good luck
+than by good management, the two British officers stumbled upon the
+clearing on which stood the galvanized iron house that they had noticed
+when the <I>Myra</I> lay at anchor in the lagoon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Although no light was visible, there were men within, for the subs
+could hear the rasping of a file and the sharp whirr of a hack-saw.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Steady!" whispered Denbigh.  "Bear away a little.  Remember we're
+close to the native village.  Ten to one there'll be a crowd of dogs
+about, and our clothes, in spite of ill-usage, are fairly conspicuous
+against the dark background."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Twice they halted before they crossed a foot-track through the mangrove
+forest.  At the second path, they had to wait until a party of German
+bluejackets had passed.  The men were armed, and were accompanied by a
+score of blacks, who had been impressed to drag a small field-gun up
+the hill.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unsuspecting the Germans went on their way, and the subs, after a safe
+interval had elapsed, continued their way to the shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly O'Hara gripped his companion's arm and pointed.  Fifty feet
+below them, and at a distance of two hundred yards, was the native
+village.  The huts were wrapped in silence.  Only the women and
+children remained, for the men had been compelled to throw up
+earthworks to defend the lagoon from the anticipated attack.  Outside
+the village stood two German soldiers armed with rifles and fixed
+bayonets, their duty being to prevent any of the inhabitants from
+leaving their huts during the night.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's not healthy that way," he whispered.  "More to the left, old man.
+I can hear the surf."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ten minutes more found them at the edge of the forest, and on the brink
+of the two cliffs, immediately opposite which the <I>Pelikan</I> had brought
+up and had fought her brief and unsatisfactory action with the British
+gunboat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bathed in the slanting rays of the moon, which was now on the wane,
+were the placid waters of the lagoon.  Nothing could, it seemed, escape
+being detected up on that illuminated patch of sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove!" exclaimed Denbigh excitedly.  "The <I>Pelikan's</I> cleared out."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap13"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+Nocturnal Investigations
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"We might have guessed that," remarked O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes; don't you see, she was spotted by our gunboat.  She couldn't get
+away up the Mohoro River until Friday, and rather than run the risk of
+being sunk at anchor she's landed her mob of reservists and has put to
+sea again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To be promptly snapped up?  No; I don't care to admit your reasoning,
+old man.  We haven't come all this way through that confounded forest
+for nothing.  Listen!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A faint, rapid throbbing was borne to their ears.  The sound came not
+from the sea but along the shore to their left, where a projecting
+tongue of land limited their range of vision.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Motor," announced O'Hara laconically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And not a marine one," added Denbigh.  "Come on.  We'll follow this
+path; it's a jolly sight safer than keeping to the shore."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once again they plunged into the mangrove forest, following a beaten
+track that, judging by its well-worn condition, had been in existence
+long before the arrival of the <I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly Denbigh halted and held up his hand.  Footsteps were
+approaching, not those of the naked feet of natives but the booted
+tramp of white men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The subs took cover and waited, fervently hoping that the oncomers had
+not a dog with them.  The party advanced slowly and haltingly, so much
+so that for the moment Denbigh imagined that their suspicions had been
+aroused.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But without once glancing in the direction of the hidden officers the
+men passed by.  One was a petty officer of the <I>Pelikan</I>.  Denbigh
+recognized him by his bushy beard.  With him were four seamen, walking
+two abreast.  The leading pair carried a roll of something wrapped in a
+painted canvas cover; the others bore a large reel of wire, paying out
+the thin cable as they went.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"H'm, telephone wire," muttered Denbigh.  "That doesn't look as if the
+ship has cleared out.  More than likely they've landed some of the guns
+to form a masked battery.  It strikes me pretty forcibly that we'll
+have to investigate at both ends of the wire."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Not until the sound of the receding footsteps had died away&mdash;and it
+took an exasperating time&mdash;did the subs emerge from their place of
+concealment.  The air was now almost free from mist.  Occasionally
+patches of vapour drifted across their path, but generally speaking the
+miasmic belt ended at a distance of about half a mile from the sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara stooped and lifted up the wire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let's cut the dashed line," he suggested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All in good time," replied Denbigh.  "If we do so now they'll be
+buzzing around before we've made our investigations.  I think we're on
+to a good thing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nearer and nearer grew the sound of the motor, until upon emerging from
+the grove the subs found themselves within a hundred yards of a German
+base.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At this point the ground sloped gently to the edge of the lagoon.
+Without any apparent attempt at concealment two searchlights had been
+set in position.  A dozen men in naval uniforms were standing around
+the projectors.  The lights were "running" as was evident from the
+crackle of the carbons, but the shutters were closed, cutting off the
+rays.  The current was produced by a dynamo, the power being supplied
+by means of the petrol motor, the pulsations of which had given the
+subs a clue to its position.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's the idea?" whispered O'Hara, indicating the unconcealed
+searchlight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A blind," replied his companion.  "I guessed it.  We'll carry on a
+little farther before we retrace our steps."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another <I>détour</I> was necessary, but on plunging into the mangrove
+forest on to the other side of the clearing the Irishman's foot tripped
+in the telephone wire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good!" he ejaculated.  "You're right, old man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Five hundred yards farther on the explorers almost tumbled into a deep
+pit, protected on the seaward side by sandbags, between which were
+stuck shrubs and branches of trees to screen the artificial work from
+seaward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the pit were two quick-firers, with basket cases of ammunition in
+readiness.  Pacing up and down between the guns was a sentry, while
+under a tarpaulin supported by short poles were about a dozen sleeping
+men.  Farther on was another excavation, but what it contained the
+British officers were unable to ascertain.  The battery, it was
+evident, was manned by some of the reservists from the <I>San Matias</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh, having taken a compass bearing of the entrance of the lagoon,
+nudged his chum, and they began to retrace their steps.  Moving as
+rapidly as their sense of caution would permit, they again skirted the
+searchlight station and picked up the telephone wire trail in the woods
+beyond.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must not forget the time," cautioned the Irishman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove, no!" replied Denbigh.  As a matter of fact he had.  The
+excitement of their discoveries had banished all thought of anything
+else.  Even the perils of their return journey to the <I>Myra</I> had been
+lightly brushed aside.  "Hang it all, there's that confounded mist
+again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At a distance of a quarter of a mile from the searchlight position the
+path bent obliquely towards the lagoon.  Here the trees grew right to
+the water's edge, the cliff at this point being roughly twenty feet
+above the sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's that?" whispered O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A cable's length from shore, and just visible through the mist, was a
+large indistinct shape.  At first sight it looked like a small island
+thickly covered with coco-nut palms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The cunning blighters!" ejaculated Denbigh.  "That's the <I>Pelikan</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was the raider.  Her masts and funnels were decked with branches;
+the whole tops of trees festooned her sides.  The outlines of her bow
+and stern were concealed by trailing masses of vegetation.  Viewed from
+seaward, against the tree-clad hillocks, the <I>Pelikan</I> could not be
+distinguished from her natural background.  A short distance along the
+shore there was a gap in the line of cliffs.  Here a boat was lying,
+with her crew standing about on shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They're expecting someone," whispered Denbigh.  "Let's move."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Not until the subs were a safe distance from the shore did they
+exchange opinions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The <I>Pelikan</I> is expecting an attack," said O'Hara.  "So she is
+disguised.  Some of her guns are taken ashore."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not all?" asked Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I should not think so," was the reply.  "They would be almost certain
+to keep those in position on the port side.  They haven't abandoned the
+ship, otherwise the boat wouldn't be waiting to take somebody off to
+her.  Hulloa, there they go!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two brilliant arcs of light swept across the lagoon.  The searchlights
+had been unmasked and were directed towards the narrow gap in the coral
+reef.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They've spotted something," continued O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not necessarily," replied Denbigh.  "Those lights are tantamount to a
+challenge.  Our fellows will go for the searchlight, thinking that they
+are being worked from the <I>Pelikan</I>.  Then the ship's guns and those of
+the masked battery will be able to open a converging fire.  We'll have
+to stop their little game, old man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can't see how," said O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No more can I at present," added his companion.  "We've about three
+hours to daylight.  We must allow an hour and a half at the very
+outside to work our way back to the <I>Myra</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If our fellows put the hat on the <I>Pelikan</I>, we may as well hang on
+and get them to pick us up.  You can bet your bottom dollar they'll
+take good care to see that the <I>Pelikan</I> is properly done in."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My dear fellow," protested Denbigh, "are we fit to introduce ourselves
+as British officers, even suppose the cruisers send a landing party
+ashore?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't care whether I am or not," replied the Irishman recklessly.
+"Whether I wear an evening dress of burnt cork plus a very disreputable
+uniform of white ducks, or whether I am immaculately arrayed in No. 1
+rig, makes little difference.  I am still Patrick O'Hara."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"S'sh!" whispered Denbigh, for O'Hara had unconsciously raised his
+voice during the delivery of his protest.  "Let's have another look to
+seaward, and then we'll cut the telephone wire and clap on all sail for
+our involuntary home of rest.  By Jove, it's getting darker!  We'll be
+barging into something if we aren't very careful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Upon regaining the top of the cliffs the subs saw something that
+indicated the impending attack.  Lights were in position at the
+entrance to the lagoon.  The British vessels in the offing had sent
+boats to sound and drop calcium-light buoys in the narrow channel,
+preparatory to making a dash across the enclosed stretch of water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even as the subs watched a masthead light blinked rapidly.  Since the
+vessels were equipped with wireless, light signals were unnecessary for
+communication.  Denbigh could only conclude that one of the attacking
+craft was ordering the boats to return.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I say, old man," whispered O'Hara.  "It's not going to be long-range
+gunnery.  I believe they're sending a couple of destroyers in.  If so,
+they're going to try a torpedo on the <I>Pelikan</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before Denbigh could reply a faint gleam played upon the rock-strewn
+beach.  Lying at full length in the coarse grass on the top of the
+cliffs, which were here only about ten feet in height, the chums waited
+and watched.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coming towards them was a big-built man in the uniform of a German
+officer.  At intervals he flashed a torch upon the ground to guide his
+footsteps.  Behind him came a soldier with his rifle slung across his
+back, and carrying a heavy valise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Von Eckenstein," whispered Denbigh, recognizing the bullying Prussian
+by his voice.  "And with an electric torch, too.  We'll bag those
+fellows, Pat.  No, not that pistol, you chump.  We'll jump on 'em."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Cautiously the two subs crouched ready to spring.  Denbigh, grasping a
+stout stick that he had found in the place of the one broken by the
+ape, signed to his companion to use his powerful fists and tackle the
+major's servant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unsuspectingly von Eckenstein passed by.  Just as he flashed the torch
+Denbigh leapt.  Before his feet touched the sand his stick descended
+heavily upon the German's head.  His sun-helmet was insufficient to
+save him.  Without a groan the major dropped.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara had been equally successful in his share of the attack.  Taking
+Denbigh literally, he had alighted fairly on the German soldier's head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I've killed him!" exclaimed the Irishman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Fraid so," agreed Denbigh.  "But it's war, you know.  Be sharp, drag
+them into the bushes.  Our dear friend the major won't recover his
+senses in a hurry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Taking possession of the torch Denbigh scaled the cliff and made his
+way through the mangroves until he was nearly twenty yards from the
+edge of the wood.  From this point he could see the masthead light of
+the destroyer&mdash;for destroyer he felt sure it must be.  He could now
+flash the torch with little risk of the glare being spotted from either
+the <I>Pelikan</I> or the masked battery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He "called up", at first without meeting with success, but at length a
+steady white light gleamed from the offing.  It was not from the
+destroyer that had been using her masthead light, but from one farther
+out to sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Rapidly Denbigh flashed the warning message:&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Pelikan</I> disguised, 400 yards to southward of searchlights.  Masked
+battery 400 yards to northward of searchlights.  Useless to attempt
+torpedo."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The white light vanished.  With his nerves tingling with anxiety the
+sub waited.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then through the darkness the destroyer's signalling lamp spelt out the
+single word:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"R-A-T-S."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap14"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A Neglected Warning
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"Idiot!" snapped Denbigh under his breath.  "Some irresponsible
+signalman acting the goat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps they think that our signal is a faked message coming from the
+enemy," suggested O'Hara.  "Try them again: add your name and rank."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh repeated the message, making the additions his companion had
+proposed; but there was no reply&mdash;not even a facetious one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The signalman of the destroyer was engaged in taking down another
+message from the shore, for the Germans, seeing the word 'rats' flashed
+from an enemy ship, came to the conclusion that it was a personal
+affront to themselves.  Consequently the searchlights had been
+temporarily shut off and a signalling lamp brought into play to frame a
+fitting reply to the Englishmen's single-worded challenge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must make a move," announced Denbigh, disappointed at his warning
+being ignored.  "It will be daylight before we get back, if we don't
+hurry.  I'd like to stop and watch the scrap, but we can't wait.  They
+may not attack until close on dawn."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Already possessed of the German soldier's rifle, bayonet and
+ammunition, Denbigh led the way from the shore.  As the subs crossed
+the path along which the telegraph line had been laid, Denbigh severed
+the copper wire in two places, making the cuts quite fifty feet from
+each other.  The separated part he removed, rolling it into a small
+coil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They'll have a bit of a bother to find that, I fancy," he remarked.
+"Unless they bring a spare length with them that telephone will be
+useless for the next couple of hours."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They'll know it has been deliberately cut, though," added the
+Irishman.  "If we had wrenched the wire apart they might have thought
+that some animal had barged into it.  There'll be some strafing over
+it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As he spoke the air was rent by a terrific detonation, followed almost
+immediately by the bark of numerous quick-firers.  The attack had
+commenced.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without a word both officers turned and raced recklessly towards the
+shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Denbigh had foreseen, two British destroyers took part in the
+attempt to settle the <I>Pelikan</I>.  Deceived by the position of the
+searchlight on shore both boats headed towards the glare like moths to
+a lighted candle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At a distance of five hundred yards from the edge of the lagoon the
+leading boat ported helm and let fly a couple of torpedoes from her
+midship deck-tubes.  Straight as arrows sped the two deadly missiles,
+but instead of striking the hull of the <I>Pelikan</I> they exploded
+simultaneously against the rocks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Instantly the guns on the raider and those in the masked battery on
+shore opened a furious fire.  The leading destroyer, caught by the
+tornado of shell, was hulled again and again.  With her funnels riddled
+like sieves, her deck gear swept away, and in a sinking condition, she
+turned for the open sea.  Failing in that object her
+lieutenant-commander ran her aground on the outer reef just as she was
+on the point of foundering.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The second destroyer, blinded by the glare of the searchlights, and
+finding that she was the target for two distinct batteries, neither of
+which was in the spot where the <I>Pelikan</I> was supposed to be, turned
+about, screening her movements with smoke from her funnels.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowing down outside the lagoon she picked up the survivors from her
+consort and steamed out to sea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From the Germans' point of view it was a victory: the British,
+undaunted by the loss of one of their boats, preferred to call it a
+"reconnaissance in force", with the object of compelling the enemy to
+unmask his batteries.  The main attack would be made by long-range
+gunnery, and to that end the three monitors, then lying in Zanzibar
+Harbour, were ordered to make for the mouth of the Mohoro River.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh and O'Hara, having the mortification of seeing the destroyers
+repulsed with loss&mdash;the action was over in five minutes&mdash;again set out
+on their return journey.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In spite of the aid afforded by the compass the subs found, on emerging
+from the forest, that they were a long way out of their reckoning.
+They had hit the banks of the Mohoro River right enough, but either a
+considerable distance above or below the spot where the <I>Myra</I> lay
+moored.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The mists had rolled away.  It was now very dark, yet had the tramp
+been anywhere in the vicinity the subs would have been able to discern
+her.  There were ominous sounds: those of huge creatures wading over
+the mud-flats.  Hippopotami and crocodiles were emerging from the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Up or down?" asked O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Neither, by this bank," replied Denbigh, gripping his rifle.  "It
+doesn't sound healthy.  We'll cut inland a bit and try our luck
+up-stream."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why up-stream?" asked the Irishman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because I think I've tumbled to it," answered his chum.  "I've been
+carrying this rifle on my left shoulder for the greater part of the
+last hour.  I have also been holding the compass within a few inches of
+the steel barrel.  It was a silly thing to do, I admit, but I didn't
+think of it at the time.  Consequently the needle deviated and threw us
+out of our course.  We've gone more to the left of our outward track,
+and that brings us down stream."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's getting light, I believe," remarked O'Hara after a ten-minutes
+detour.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," replied Denbigh.  "It's the false dawn.  It will get pitch-dark
+for a little while before the real daybreak.  Push on.  This light will
+serve us a good turn."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once more the adventurous twain gained the river bank.  This time their
+efforts met with success, for showing clearly in the half-light of the
+false dawn was the <I>Myra</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nearly slack water," announced Denbigh.  "We're in luck.  Keep under
+cover in case the watch are feeling particularly energetic."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While awaiting the return of darkness, Denbigh retrieved the
+handkerchief he had left as a mark, and wrapping it round the breech of
+the captured rifle, buried the weapon in the soft earth.  It might, he
+argued, come in handy within the next few days.  Beyond that time the
+rifle would be rapidly attacked by rust, for on the East Coast of
+Africa the action of corrosion is almost as quick as in the moist air
+of the Gold Coast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was dubious concerning the bayonet.  It had a much larger blade than
+the British article, and its back was furnished with a formidable
+double row of teeth to within six inches of the point.  With it a man
+might fell a fairly large-size tree in an hour.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pity to waste it," declared Denbigh.  "Only it's too long to hide
+under my clothes without great risk of its being spotted.  On the other
+hand, it may come in jolly useful."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Break it in two," suggested his chum.  "Even four inches of the blade
+might be handy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Wrapping his coat round the end of the blade in order to protect his
+hands, the sub brought the flat of the steel smartly against his knee.
+To his disgust the bayonet did not snap, as he fully expected it to do.
+It bent, and instead of flying back when the pressure was released it
+remained bent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good old Solingen steel!" exclaimed Denbigh disgustedly.  "Same rotten
+stuff that our cutlass-bayonets were made of in the '85 Soudan
+campaign."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All efforts to break the bayonet failed.  The metal was so non-elastic
+that the sub gave up the attempt and hurled it into the mud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Time!" he exclaimed.  "It's getting dark again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The men stripped, and made their clothes into bundles as before.  To
+return to the <I>Myra</I> with their garments shedding streams of turgid
+water would never do, since they had no other clothes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ugh!" ejaculated O'Hara as his feet touched the loathsome slime.  "I
+can't say I'm hankering after a mud bath.  Can't say I like the rotten
+turnip-smelling water any better."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dry up!" cautioned Denbigh under his breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wish I could," retorted the irrepressible Irishman.  "Sure I'm wet
+altogether."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They swam side by side, making use of the "dog-stroke", as there was
+less risk of attracting attention by an involuntary splashing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a nerve-racking ordeal, for the darkness was now intense.
+Hippopotami were noisy not so very far off; there was imminent danger
+from crocodiles, that, floating like logs in the water, were
+practically invisible until one was almost within arm's length of them.
+But on top of these unpleasant possibilities, the haunting dread that
+the rope ladder might have been removed was uppermost in Denbigh's mind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the swimmers approached mid-stream, they found there was still a
+strong current.  It was indeed a hard struggle to make the ship.
+Well-nigh exhausted, the two chums gained their goal.  Thank heaven the
+end of the ladder was still trailing in the water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For some minutes the subs contented themselves by hanging on to the
+ropes and regaining their breath.  Then Denbigh, assuring himself that
+the key to the cabin was still hanging from a cord round his neck,
+began to ascend.  When his head was level with the bulwarks he peered
+cautiously along the deck.  He could see or hear no one.  Had a sentry
+been standing for'ard, it would have been possible to discern his
+outlines against the gloom.  He would have much rather seen the fellow
+and made arrangements accordingly, than to be in ignorance of where the
+sentry was, since it was unlikely that all the watch on deck were
+skulking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh ascended another rung and waited again.  This time he heard
+voices speaking in low guttural tones.  The watch were sheltering in
+the fore-peak.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Reassured on this point, the sub leapt lightly over the rail.  As he
+did so his bare feet came in contact with something soft.  He had
+pitched fairly upon a fat German, who, heedless of the risk of sleeping
+in the open air, had coiled himself up under the lee of the bulwarks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The shock threw Denbigh to the deck.  Quickly regaining his feet, he
+saw the astonished German struggling to rise.  Before he could do so
+the sub dealt him a powerful left-hander.  Missing the point of the
+Teuton's chin, Denbigh's clenched fist struck him heavily on the nose.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thoroughly scared by the apparition of a stalwart black, the man took
+to his heels.  Yelling with fear, his cries for assistance were
+rendered indistinguishable owing to the fact that he held both hands
+pressed tightly over his nose, which was leaving a purple trail on the
+deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come on!" hissed Denbigh to his chum.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara needed no second bidding.  Clearing the bulwarks, he quickly cut
+adrift the ladder and raced after Denbigh, who was making with all
+possible dispatch for the companion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a brief instant Denbigh fumbled with the key; then inserting it in
+the lock he threw open the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Back again, Armstrong," he announced coolly, for now all immediate
+danger was over.  "Have you any clean water handy?  We could both do
+with a good wash."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap15"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+Armstrong's Part
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Restraining his curiosity, the mate of the <I>Myra</I> poured out some water
+into a tin bowl, and handed Denbigh a small piece of yellow soap.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There'll be just time to scrub your figureheads," he remarked.
+"You'll have to turn in pretty sharp, or you'll be bowled out.  They're
+getting a little bit excited on deck."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Realizing that it would be as well to act on Armstrong's advice, the
+subs, by dint of hard scrubbing and plenty of soap, succeeded in
+removing the burnt cork from their faces, necks, and hands.  This done
+they donned their pyjamas and scrambled into their bunks, while the
+mate obligingly unpacked their bundles and laid out the garments with
+methodical precision.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Armstrong was not far wrong in his surmise.  The excitement on deck
+bordered on a state of panic.  Every man of the prize crew turned out.
+Unter-leutnant Klick, having heard a muddled version of what had taken
+place, ordered the man who had been jumped upon to state what he knew.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The seaman, still shaken and frightened, could only affirm that he was
+pacing the deck as conscientiously as a sentry should do, when the
+black figure leapt upon him from behind and felled him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"From behind, say you?" repeated Unter-leutnant Klick.  "How, then,
+could you see that he was black?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must have spun round, sir, as I fell," replied the fellow.  "I
+distinctly remember seeing that he was black and without clothing.  He
+may be a native."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where did he go after taking you unawares?" asked the prize-master of
+the <I>Myra</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Over the side, sir, I think.  I believe I heard the splash."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kaspar Klick, however, had his suspicions.  Not for one moment did he
+imagine that anyone would be so utterly reckless as to attempt to swim
+ashore and back again.  The river, teeming with hippopotami and
+crocodiles, offered too formidable an obstacle.  On the other hand, the
+mysterious assailant of the sentry might be one of several of the
+English prisoners, intent upon recapturing the ship.  Had the faithful
+sentry been felled without uttering a sound, the plot may have
+succeeded; but when the seaman made enough bellowing to awaken the
+Seven Sleepers, the daring Englishmen probably thought better of it,
+and had retired speedily and discreetly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ordering half a dozen armed men to accompany him, Unter-leutnant Klick
+went for'ard.  Over the hatchway leading to the forehold, where the
+<I>Myra's</I> deck hands were under lock and key, he found a sentry on duty.
+The man was most emphatic that no one had attempted to come on deck.
+The state of the padlock proved that.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Still dubious, the unter-leutnant descended the main hold.  Making his
+way over a pack of miscellaneous cargo, he came to the for'ard
+bulkhead.  A careful examination showed that no effort had been made to
+cut through the partition separating the two holds.  He could,
+therefore, feel reassured that the original crew of the <I>Myra</I> had not
+attempted to put into execution a plot to recover the ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps it is those harebrained officers we took from the Japanese
+liner," soliloquized Klick.  "I'll go the rounds now I am about it, and
+see if those fellows have been up to any tricks."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Had the unter-leutnant gone aft as soon as he commenced his
+investigations, he might have noticed the tell-tale prints of wet feet,
+left by Denbigh and his chum as they scurried to the cabin.  By this
+time the marks had almost vanished.  The slight traces of dampness that
+remained were hardly noticeable in the gloom, for it was still dark,
+and 'tween decks the lantern gave but a feeble glimmer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Klick inserted his key into the lock and threw open the door.  The
+cabin was in darkness, until one of his men flashed a lantern into it.
+The unter-leutnant sniffed suspiciously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Anyone awake?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," replied Armstrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You haf been a lamp burning," said Kaspar Klick accusingly.  "It is
+again der regulations."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Armstrong's reply told the listening subs that he was "up to snuff".
+The prize-master had sniffed the odour of burnt cork; but since he had
+suggested that it was the smell of an extinguished oil-lamp, the mate
+did not contradict.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," he replied.  "Mr. O'Hara hasn't been very well.  I had to give
+him some quinine, and a fellow must have a light to see that he is
+giving the right dose."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ach!  Is dat so?" asked the unter-leutnant.  "Now, tell me dis.  Herr
+O'Hara, did he go on deck since last hour ago?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," replied Armstrong with perfect truthfulness.  "I am certain he
+didn't.  I'm a very light sleeper, and if he had moved I should have
+heard.  Besides, how could he get out without a key?" asked the mate
+with well-feigned innocence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I tell you dis&mdash;&mdash;" began Klick; but before he could carry out his
+intention a loud shout of "Wer da?" came from the deck, followed by an
+unintelligible hail, coming from some distance down the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kaspar Klick waited no longer.  Hurriedly he left the cabin, slamming
+and locking the door, and rushed on deck.  Aft, a sentry at the ready
+was repeating his challenge.  The first blush of the short tropical
+dawn revealed the presence of a four-oared galley speeding up with the
+tide.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We're from the <I>Pelikan</I>, sir," announced the petty officer in charge,
+as the boat ran alongside.  Without attempting to board the man
+delivered his message.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In spite of the closed dead-light Denbigh and his companions could hear
+all the fellow was saying.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Herr Kapitan von Riesser sends his compliments," continued the
+coxswain.  "He is anxious to know whether any of the English prisoners
+have escaped."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, certainly not," replied Kaspar Klick with righteous indignation in
+his voice, "our precautions are too elaborate to give the dogs a chance
+of that.  But why has Kapitan von Riesser sent you with that question?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We've been in action, sir," declared the man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We heard the firing," remarked Klick.  "And the result?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One English cruiser sunk, another driven on to the rocks," announced
+the coxswain, allowing his imagination to kick over the traces.  "There
+were others.  We would have captured or destroyed those, only&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only what?" asked the unter-leutnant sharply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Someone cut our field telegraph.  'B' battery could not get in touch
+with the observation officer and so the rest of the enemy escaped."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How do you know that the wire has been cut?" asked the unter-leutnant.
+"It might have carried away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A whole length of it has been removed, sir," reported the coxswain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then it was the natives.  They'll steal anything in the metal line.
+Kapitan von Riesser ought to have known that," replied Klick with
+asperity.  "We look after our prisoners here.  None of them has the
+faintest chance of getting out of the ship.  Anything more to report?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only that Major von Eckenstein is missing.  He left the observation
+station to go to the <I>Pelikan's</I> landing stage and never arrived.
+Search parties were out when I left."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick made no audible comment.  Inwardly he
+rejoiced, after the manner of mean-minded men when they hear of
+misfortune overtaking those they dislike; for there was no love lost
+between the two representatives of the Kaiser's forces.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well; carry on back," he ordered.  "You can reassure Kapitan von
+Riesser on the points he mentioned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's something else, sir," reported the petty officer, producing a
+linen envelope from under a cushion in the stern-sheets.  "I had to
+deliver this to you personally."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The German officer took the envelope and went below to read its
+contents.  It was to the effect that the <I>Pelikan</I> had been lightened
+still more and that at high water she would attempt the bar.  The
+<I>Myra</I> was to return down stream and stand by to render assistance if
+necessary.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Returning on deck the prize-master gave back to the coxswain the order,
+to which was added a notation that it would be complied with, and
+dismissed the boat.  Then, grumbling at being turned out so early in
+the morning, Kaspar Klick retired to his cabin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is that right about the sinking of one of our cruisers?" asked
+Armstrong, when Denbigh had translated the gist of the conversation,
+for in spite of the port-hole being closed every word had been audible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hardly," replied Denbigh.  "The Germans have a funny habit of
+magnifying the size and class of any and every vessel they sink.
+Unfortunately they sent one of our destroyers to the bottom.  By Jove!
+doesn't this burnt cork take a lot of shifting?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two subs were busily engaged in scrubbing off their sooty coats, to
+make the rest of their bodies harmonize with their faces.  Fresh water
+being strictly limited and yellow soap microscopic in size their task
+was not an easy one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, if they attempt to bring the <I>Pelikan</I> up the river," commented
+the mate of the <I>Myra</I>, "I hope they'll pile her up on the bar.  If
+they succeed we'll have to try our hand.  Don't I wish they'd let me
+have charge of the wheel for five minutes.  Now what do you think of
+these?  I call them champion."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He held out the two dummy forelocks, which he had completed in the
+absence of Denbigh and his chum.  They had been coated with aluminium
+paint, while to give them a worn appearance he had rubbed charcoal over
+the paint.  Only by actual handling, when the difference in weight
+between the real and the spurious article could be detected, could the
+deception be discovered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Capital!" exclaimed O'Hara, suppressing a yawn.  "Oh, dash it all!
+This is the result of being out of bed when one ought to be enjoying
+one's beauty sleep.  I'm turning in again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Also this child," added Denbigh; but before the chums could throw
+themselves upon their bunks a bugle sounded.  It was the signal that
+another working day had begun, and that the prisoners had to turn out
+and assist their captors.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Morning," was Captain Pennington's greeting as Denbigh and O'Hara came
+on deck.  Then, making sure that no German was within earshot, he
+asked, "And what little game were <I>you</I> up to last night?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What do you mean?" asked Denbigh in surprise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Like you I have a liking for fresh air," replied the skipper of the
+captured tramp.  "The Huns screwed down the dead-light to the
+port-hole, but forgot to enquire if I had a spanner.  They saved
+themselves an unnecessary question, by the by, for I would not have
+owned up to being in possession of a very serviceable one.  So during
+the night I opened the port-hole to get a breather.  I was rather
+surprised to find a rope-ladder dropped over the side, and still more
+so to see two disreputable niggers, whom I recognized as you two, swarm
+down and take a cold bath.  Also I had the pleasure of seeing the same
+dusky pair return, and had the intense satisfaction of hearing a German
+bellow like a whipped child."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then we weren't so smart as we imagined," observed O'Hara.  "Fortunate
+it was for us that you weren't a Hun."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before the subs could enlighten Captain Pennington as to the nature of
+the mystery the unter-leutnant came up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You vill haf to vork, kapitan," he said without further preliminaries.
+"If you no keep your crew up to concert pitch trouble you vill haf.
+You men vill vork vatch and vatch, see?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Pennington merely nodded in reply.  He realized that passivity
+was desirable; on the other hand, having heard of Armstrong's little
+plan, it would not do to show unwonted eagerness to assist in working
+the ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Turn up der men," ordered Klick.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One minute," interposed Captain Pennington.  "We are not at sea now.
+My men have insufficient head-gear.  It's risking sunstroke."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The unter-leutnant considered the affair for a few minutes.  Personally
+he didn't care a rope's-end whether the strafed Englishmen had
+sunstroke or not, until it occurred to him that a number of invalids
+would hamper operations.  Finally he gave orders for a number of solar
+topees or sun-helmets to be issued to the British crew.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was eight o'clock in the morning when the <I>Myra</I> weighed.  Already
+the sun was unpleasantly hot.  There was no wind.  Under the shade of
+the mangroves the mists still held, while the black mud left uncovered
+by the falling tide gave out a most noxious vapour.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To Denbigh's satisfaction Armstrong had been sent for'ard to
+superintend the weighing and catting on the anchor.  The stern anchor
+had already been hove short.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Under the action of the steam winch the cable came home.  Manoeuvred by
+means of the twin screws the <I>Myra</I> swung round in mid-stream, and as
+the "hook" broke out from the muddy bottom the tramp forged slowly
+ahead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Half a dozen British seamen were on the fo'c'sle together with three
+Germans.  The latter took good care to leave most of the work to the
+prisoners, so that Armstrong had a clear opportunity to withdraw the
+real forelocks from the anchors and replace them with the wooden ones.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's all serene," he whispered to Denbigh as he came aft.  "Now
+there'll be trouble for the Deutschers."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap16"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Disaster to the <I>Myra</I>
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Arriving at the entrance to the Mohoro River the <I>Myra</I> made no attempt
+to recross the inner bar.  Nor did she anchor, contenting herself with
+merely steaming ahead against the flood-tide at a slow speed that kept
+her stationary with the shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just before high water the <I>Pelikan</I> hove in sight from behind a
+projecting tongue of land.  She still retained her garb of palm trees.
+The subs noticed that she had a decided list to starboard.  This,
+however, was not due to a leak but to the fact that her cargo had been
+trimmed so as to throw her on her bilge and thus lighten her draught.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly she approached the bar, and promptly took ground.  Gripped by
+the strong tide the stern portion swung round, throwing her almost
+broadside athwart the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Great was the confusion on board.  Half a dozen officers were shouting
+simultaneously; men were rushing hither and thither, with no apparent
+object, while with her engines reversed, her propellers were throwing
+huge columns of mud and water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before the officers realized the danger the starboard propeller had
+shed its blades owing to their coming into contact with the bottom,
+while the port propeller was stopped after two blades had been badly
+buckled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Cautiously the lighter-draughted <I>Myra</I> was backed astern until a
+couple of stout hawsers were passed to her from the stranded vessel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Three times the tramp endeavoured without success to tow off the
+<I>Pelikan</I>, but on each occasion the hawsers snapped.  By this time it
+was close on high water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile the raider's crew were working like men possessed, throwing
+overboard heavy gear that Kapitan von Riesser would have given
+thousands of marks to retain.  Military stores of the utmost importance
+had to be ruthlessly sacrificed, unless the <I>Pelikan</I> was to remain a
+target for the guns of the British cruisers which were even now
+supposed to be on their way from Zanzibar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the fourth occasion a hawser was sent off to the <I>Myra</I>, while in
+addition the pinnace was towed into midstream with a large anchor slung
+underneath her keel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The anchor having been dropped, the cable was led to the <I>Pelikan's</I>
+steam capstan.  Directly the chain took the strain the <I>Myra</I> began to
+tow, with the result that the luckless raider scraped heavily across
+the bar into deep water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kapitan von Riesser was delighted, in spite of the loss of stores and
+gear.  The damaged propellers mattered little, since the <I>Pelikan</I>
+would never again attempt to put to sea.  The <I>Myra</I> could tow her up
+the Mohoro River until she was out of range of the British cruisers'
+guns, and from that point the reinforcements for the German Field Force
+could proceed to the Rhodesian border and attempt to check General
+Smut's advance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Amongst the troops was Major von Eckenstein, who had been discovered
+lying unconscious at the foot of the cliffs.  He was badly battered
+about the face, and severely hurt internally.  When he came to he was
+quite unable to account for his injuries.  It was quite evident that
+from a combatant point of view the arrogant major was out of the
+running.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As soon as the <I>Pelikan</I> was in comparative safety the German troops
+were re-embarked.  The quick-firers which had been landed, and which
+had served so good a purpose in repelling the British destroyers, were
+brought round by steamboats and again hoisted on board the <I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This done the <I>Myra</I> took her big consort in tow, and against the now
+strong ebb-tide slowly crawled up the turgid river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before the tidal stream had turned the two vessels had passed the spot
+where the tramp had anchored on the previous night.  Without stopping
+they proceeded up-stream, the <I>Pelikan</I> keeping well under control by
+means of her rudder and a supplementary steering device consisting of a
+long spar towed astern to prevent the ship from yawing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove! there's trouble ahead," observed Denbigh, pointing to a sharp
+bend in the river about a mile ahead.  Here the tidal portion of the
+stream extended nearly 500 yards from bank to bank, while the actual
+channel was a bare fifth of that distance.  On the starboard hand ran a
+long tongue of mud, round which the stream swept with great violence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By this time a strong breeze had sprung up, blowing athwart the
+channel.  The absence of trees close to the bank increased the
+difficulty, for there was no protection from the wind as it swept
+against the lofty side of the slowly-moving <I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Already the raider's semaphore was signalling to the <I>Myra</I> to cast off
+and anchor until the tide slackened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a grim smile on his face Armstrong winked solemnly at the subs.
+He said not a word, for several of the German seamen were standing by.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let go!" ordered Unter-leutnant Klick, directly he saw that the
+<I>Pelikan</I> had dropped her anchor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Promptly the British seaman stationed at the compressor obeyed.  The
+bower anchor fell with a sullen splash.  Fathom after fathom of chain
+roared through the hawse-pipe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Klick raised his hand as a signal for the cable to be checked.  The
+<I>Myra</I> was still making sternway and showed no decided tendency to
+bring up.  Another fifty fathoms of chain were paid out.  Still the
+tramp dropped astern.  She was now within half a cable's length of the
+<I>Pelikan</I>, which to prevent herself being in collision was obliged to
+veer out her cable.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The anchor's not holding, sir!" shouted the German petty officer in
+charge of the fo'c'sle party.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then let go a second anchor," yelled Klick excitedly.  "Make them look
+sharp, or we'll be foul of the <I>Pelikan</I>."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The unter-leutnant had no cause to complain of the lack of energy on
+the part of the prisoners.  With the utmost dispatch the second anchor
+was let go.  Before twenty fathoms, which alone ought to be sufficient
+to bring the <I>Myra</I> to a standstill, were paid out the whole of the
+cable of the first anchor had been made use of.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly a sullen roar was heard coming from down-stream.  The Mohoro
+River at certain intervals, especially at extraordinary spring-tides,
+is subject to a bore.  The bore is very erratic.  Sometimes it is very
+much in evidence, at other times it is hardly perceptible; but there
+was no doubt that now it was of unusual magnitude.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nearer and nearer came the wall of solid water, maintaining an unbroken
+wave towards the centre of the river.  Close to the banks it broke
+heavily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go full speed ahead or we'll be into you!" shouted Kapitan von Riesser
+frantically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Myra's</I> engine-room telegraph clanged.  Either by accident or
+design the British engineers were slow in replying.  The tramp was only
+just forging ahead when the bore swept under the <I>Pelikan's</I> counter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Round swept the raider, her stern just missing the <I>Myra's</I> taffrail.
+Fortunately her cables held, but not so the tramp.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With her engines going ahead and held tightly by the scope of her
+anchor-chain&mdash;for the anchors themselves, thanks to their dummy
+forelocks, were useless&mdash;the tramp headed uncontrollably towards the
+port-hand bank.  In the midst of the tumult of water as the bore broke
+over her she struck and struck heavily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In an instant the doomed vessel fell over on her beam-ends.  With an
+appalling crash her funnels and masts went by the board.  So sudden was
+the catastrophe that a dozen German seamen were trapped down below.
+Only by the narrowest margin did the British engine-room staff make
+their escape.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Of what occurred during the next few moments neither Denbigh nor O'Hara
+had any clear recollection.  They found themselves standing on the side
+of the vessel.  Captain Pennington, Armstrong, and Unter-leutnant Klick
+were there, too.  Up for'ard the British seamen and half a dozen of the
+German prize crew were scrambling along the upturned sides, which were
+by this time barely three feet above the surface of the raging stream.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was evident that the survivors had found only a very temporary place
+of refuge.  The force of the current sweeping past the ship was wearing
+out a deep hole in the bed of the river, into which the <I>Myra</I> was
+slowly subsiding.  To attempt to escape by swimming was almost an
+impossibility, as the water surged and eddied past, forming a dangerous
+whirlpool close to the stern of the vessel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove!" exclaimed Armstrong.  "This is a proper wash-out.  We've
+done the trick properly this time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, it's more than we bargained for," added the Irishman.  "I would
+never have believed that a craft of this size would be swallowed up so
+quickly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile Denbigh could not help noticing the marked difference in the
+demeanour of the British and German seamen, who by this time were up to
+their knees in water, and were soon, unless help were forthcoming, to
+be swept off their feet by the rush of the flood-tide.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Huns were shouting dolorously for aid; the <I>Myra's</I> men were either
+stoically silent or else inclined to indulge in grim jests at the
+expense of the bellowing Teutons.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh looked in the direction of the <I>Pelikan</I>.  The crew were
+engaged in lowering boats, and taking an extraordinarily long time
+about it, owing to the pronounced list of the raider and also to the
+fact that her decks were encumbered with her disguise of vegetation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unter-leutnant Klick was trembling violently.  He, of all the officers
+taking refuge on the side of the tramp, had managed to procure a
+life-belt.  Even the contemptuous glances of the <I>Myra's</I> skipper
+failed to shame him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently the first of the <I>Pelikan's</I> boats came tearing up-stream.
+It required all the strength of the oarsmen to check her way.  An
+ironical cheer from the British seamen greeted her arrival.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Women and children first!" they yelled derisively as the
+unter-leutnant and the surviving German seamen made a frantic rush for
+the boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two of the Huns jumped short.  Although good swimmers they were swirled
+away like pieces of straw, until, drawn into the vortex of the
+whirlpool, they disappeared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The second boat, backing towards the deadly whirlpool, awaited the
+men's reappearance, but in vain.  Then, attempting to run alongside the
+wreck, the frail craft bumped heavily upon a submerged part of the
+vessel and stove in a couple of planks.  While two of the crew began to
+bale, the boat was swept several hundred yards up the river, for the
+remaining rowers were helpless against the flood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile the first boat, having rescued the unter-leutnant and the
+surviving German seamen, began to approach the wreck again; until
+Klick, in an agony of terror lest she, too, would meet with disaster,
+ordered the men to push off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A third boat&mdash;a whaler&mdash;came upon the scene.  Acting with great caution
+her coxswain brought her alongside and motioned to Denbigh and his
+companions to leap.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Those men first," cried Captain Pennington, pointing to those of his
+crew who were still maintaining a precarious hold.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The coxswain understood and allowed his boat to drift down upon the
+handful of seamen.  Coolly the British crew scrambled into safety, and
+the whaler, urged under the powerful strokes of the oarsmen, began to
+make her way aft.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly the almost submerged part on which Denbigh and his companions
+were standing gave a sickening shudder and disappeared beneath the
+surface.  A swirl of water, surging with irresistible force, swept the
+four officers off their feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The next instant Denbigh found himself struggling for dear life in the
+foaming yellow water of Mohoro River.  In spite of his peril, he could
+not help contrasting his involuntary bath with that of the previous
+night.  Then the water was warm, tranquil, and evil-smelling.  Unseen
+dangers assailed him on every hand.  Now the same river was nothing
+less than a broiling cauldron.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With almost superhuman strength Denbigh struck out.  Already he was
+within the influence of the deadly whirlpool.  Spinning round and round
+he kept his face from the vortex, striving, but in vain, to overcome
+the suction of the gigantic eddy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He could see no signs of his companions.  Either they had already
+disappeared, or else they had been thrown beyond the range of the
+inverted cone that marked the position of the whirlpool.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even in danger of imminent death, the sub recalled an incident in the
+Clarence Victualling Yard, several years ago.  He had been taken by his
+father to see the process of manufacturing ships' biscuits.  In one
+building he saw flour sliding down an inclined plane into a mixing
+machine.  Mingled with the flour were several large maggots, that gave
+the name to the creek that forms the approach by water to the
+Victualling Yard.  Finding themselves disturbed, the insects tried to
+wriggle back, but in vain.  Down they slid till caught in the mixer,
+finally to form part of the ingredients of ship's biscuits.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And I'm almost in the same boat as those weevils," thought Denbigh
+grimly, as he completed a circle for the twentieth time.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was nearing the vortex.  The spiral motion became quicker.  An
+irresistible force was dragging him down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly Denbigh threw up his arms.  He was physically played out.
+Like an arrow he shot into the pit in the centre of that mass of
+whirling water.  The blaze of the African sun gave place to intense
+darkness.  He held his breath, until his lungs seemed to be on the
+point of bursting.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As rapidly as he had gone down the sub was shot to the surface.  Again
+he was within the range of the whirlpool, for its centre, instead of
+being stationary, was moving in an ellipse.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unable even to struggle, Denbigh was again sucked down.  This time,
+incapable of holding his breath, he swallowed a quantity of water.  The
+pressure on his chest was excruciating.  Then torture gave place to a
+strange calmness.  On an instant, recollections of practically the
+whole of his past life flashed across his mind.  The mental pictures
+faded away and all became blank.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap17"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A Bid for Freedom
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+When Denbigh opened his eyes he found himself in the now familiar cabin
+on board the <I>Pelikan</I>.  There were several people in the limited
+space.  He did not feel any interest in them.  They irritated him.  He
+wanted to sleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Gradually it dawned upon him that he had a narrow escape.  Then he
+remembered that O'Hara was with him when he was swept off the side of
+the <I>Myra</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You there, Pat?" he asked, half afraid to put the question in case his
+chum was gone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sure," replied a deep voice from the opposite bunk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh attempted to sit up.  He felt horribly sick.  His head was
+whirling.  It reminded him very forcibly and unpleasantly of his spiral
+flight around the vortex of the whirlpool.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lie still, Mr. Denbigh," said Captain Pennington.  "You'll be fit all
+in good time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right," agreed the sub.  He was not in a fit state to do
+otherwise.  "Where is the <I>Pelikan</I> now?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The skipper of the <I>Myra</I> lowered his voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Properly trapped.  She cannot go another fifty yards up the river.
+We've spoilt her little game."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good business," murmured Denbigh, and turning on his side he fell
+asleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His escape was little short of miraculous.  It was owing to the fact
+that he wore his solar topee fastened by a strong "chin-stay".  The
+air-space between the double thickness of the sun-helmet possessed
+sufficient buoyancy to bring him to the surface, after being twice
+taken down by the whirlpool.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few minutes previous to the disaster, the bore had exhausted itself
+at a point ten miles up the river, and the "rebound" had made itself
+felt just at the time when Denbigh made his second involuntary dive.
+The sudden slackening of the full force of the flood-tide had caused
+the whirlpool to cease, with the result that the sub floated
+unconscious on the surface of the river, when he was picked up by the
+<I>Pelikan's</I> whaler.  O'Hara, Captain Pennington, and Armstrong had been
+more fortunate, for they had been swept clear of the influence of the
+eddy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The result of Armstrong's plot had rather exceeded his expectations.
+The <I>Myra</I> lay athwart the channel, with less than twelve feet of water
+over her at high tide.  Until the Mohoro River cut itself a new bed
+round the submerged wreck&mdash;which might take twenty-four hours or as
+many days&mdash;the <I>Pelikan</I> would be unable to proceed.  Even if the
+obstruction did not exist, the raider was unable to proceed owing to
+the loss of her propeller blades.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The whole of the stores removed from the <I>Pelikan</I> to the <I>Myra</I>, as
+well as those originally in the tramp's holds, were hopelessly lost,
+including the bulk of the ammunition and arms intended for the German
+colonial troops.  There were several hundred reservists still on board,
+with no facilities for their transfer up-country.  Even had there been
+boats available for them all, the voyage up the Mohoro was fraught with
+danger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the other hand, to remain in the <I>Pelikan</I> was to court disease and
+famine, even should the raider escape detection by the British cruisers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kapitan von Riesser's position was far from enviable.  He soundly rated
+Unter-leutnant Klick, who in turn tried to shift the blame upon the
+British sailors for their dilatoriness in letting go the anchors.  Von
+Riesser had seen with his own eyes that the anchors had been let go
+promptly.  He could not, therefore, accuse the <I>Myra's</I> original crew
+of conspiracy, since he had no evidence.  The prospect of capture, too,
+made him treat the prisoners with far more consideration than he would
+have done had his position been a secure one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The kapitan of the <I>Pelikan</I> was not, however, going to "knuckle under"
+without another effort.  For the next three days all hands were kept
+hard at work, in spite of the blazing sunshine by day and the miasmic
+mists by night.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The guns previously landed on the shores of the lagoon and afterwards
+taken on board again were once more sent ashore, and placed in position
+so as to command a wide stretch of river.  The <I>Pelikan</I>, being now
+moored fore and aft, had the remaining quick-firers mounted at the
+stern, so as to cooperate with the shore batteries in sweeping the
+approach by water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two miles down-stream a steel-studded cable was thrown across from bank
+to bank, and supported by barrels lashed in pairs at frequent
+intervals.  The obstruction ought to prevent the dash by armed
+steamboats, even if unable to withstand the headlong charge of a
+destroyer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The most formidable objects of defence were the two torpedo-tubes,
+which were removed from the ship and placed in position on shore four
+hundred yards below the chain boom.  To enable the torpedoes to be
+fired, light piers were thrown out from the banks into twelve feet of
+water, the structure being hidden by boughs of trees and clumps of
+reeds.  On the high ground at the back of the torpedo station
+searchlights were mounted.  These were not to be used as a
+precautionary measure, but only to be switched on when an attack was
+visibly imminent.  Von Riesser's principal aim was to remain hidden.
+If his retreat were discovered then he would put up a fight, and
+failing to win would surrender with a good conscience.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Long before the three days had elapsed Denbigh had quite recovered from
+the effects of his prolonged immersion.  He had, with the rest of the
+captured British officers, little opportunity of finding out the actual
+steps that were being taken for defence.  They knew that work was in
+progress, but during the removal of the torpedo-tubes and guns they had
+been sent below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One discovery Denbigh made, and that was through overhearing a chance
+conversation between two German petty officers.  It also accounted for
+the seemingly purposeless reluctance to confine the prisoners in the
+hold instead of attempting to chloroform them in their cabin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Pelikan</I> was double-skinned, but the space between the double
+bottoms was far greater than is usual in marine construction.  It had
+practically two hulls, one within the other, and in the intervening
+space were stowed quantities of warlike stores.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the <I>Pelikan</I> had been boarded by a British patrol officer the
+deception escaped detection.  Apparently the <I>Zwaan</I> was a harmless
+Dutch liner.  The sub-lieutenant who acted as boarding-officer was not
+sufficiently versed in the ways of the wily Teuton.  An examination of
+the hold revealed nothing suspicious, and the vessel was accordingly
+released.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unfortunately for the Germans their plans had gone awry, for on
+grounding on the outer bar the ship had strained several of her plates,
+with the result that the space between the inner and the outer skin was
+flooded.  Not only were the stores spoilt, but, in order to lighten her
+draught in addition to compensating for lost buoyancy, cargo more than
+equivalent to that flooded had to be jettisoned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having landed the quick-firers and torpedo-tubes, the crew of the
+<I>Pelikan</I> proceeded to increase the disguise of the ship.  She was now
+a regular floating palm forest.  So thick was the foliage brought on
+board and secured to the masts and upper works that sun-awnings were
+unnecessary.  Even an observer in a seaplane, unless he were prepared
+for such a disguise, would fail to distinguish the raider in her garb
+of verdure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How do you feel for another jaunt ashore?" asked Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can't say I am particularly keen on another swim," replied O'Hara.
+"Otherwise I've no objection to studying the fauna and flora of this
+delectable land.  But what's the object?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's about time we bade farewell to the <I>Pelikan</I>" replied Denbigh.
+"It's four days since that little affair with the destroyers, and our
+cruisers have apparently made no attempt to get even with von Riesser
+and his motley crowd.  I'm rather curious to know what's doing?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can't see how going ashore will help," objected the Irishman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will if we get to the mouth of the river.  If the cruisers are in
+the lagoon, well and good."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And if not?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then we'll have to exist as best we can till they do arrive."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"H'm," muttered O'Hara.  "And the other fellows&mdash;Pennington and
+Armstrong?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We'll ask them to join our merry throng," answered Denbigh.  "The more
+the better, once we get clear of the ship."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That same afternoon the subs broached the matter to the master and mate
+of the lost <I>Myra</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must cry off, thanks all the same," was Captain Pennington's reply.
+"Happen what may my place is with my men.  I have no objection to
+Armstrong going with you, but I hope you have carefully weighed the
+matter.  If you miss being picked up by the boats of the squadron your
+plight will be an unenviable one.  The climate, the wild nature of the
+coast, and the natives, who are certainly under German influence, are
+all against you.  Personally I think you stand a better chance by
+remaining here and letting events take their course.  The <I>Pelikan</I> is
+trapped.  Capture or destruction is but a matter of time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"True," admitted Denbigh.  "But these fellows evidently mean to put up
+a stiff fight.  They've been doing something down the river&mdash;probably
+throwing up masked batteries.  If we could manage to find out what they
+are up to and can communicate the intelligence to our ships it would
+help matters."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's another consideration," said Captain Pennington.  "In fact,
+your duty lies that way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you trying your luck with us, Armstrong?" asked O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'd be only too pleased to have a cut at it," replied the mate.
+"Especially as Captain Pennington has no objections.  How do you
+propose to get clear of the ship?  You can't swim ashore, because
+there's nothing but slimy mud on the bank for some distance."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's a punt made fast alongside the port quarter," said Denbigh.
+"They don't hoist it on board at night, because it's there when we turn
+in and in the same place when we come on deck in the morning.  They
+only use it during the day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And there's a sentry right aft," objected Armstrong.  "He'd spot us as
+sure as daylight."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look here," declared the sub.  "If I succeed in getting her alongside
+amidships will you be ready to swarm down and into her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Armstrong nodded in assent.  O'Hara also expressed his willingness to
+attempt the enterprise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Irishman still had his pistol.  He had taken an early opportunity
+of cleaning it after his immersion.  The screw-driver had been lost in
+the <I>Myra</I>, but by this time the lock furniture was easy to remove, a
+coin doing duty for the hitherto indispensable tool.  The three men
+also contrived to reserve a small quantity of food and a glass bottle
+filled with soda-water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Pennington and Armstrong had been berthed in the same cabin as
+the two subs.  That facilitated matters, since the master of the <I>Myra</I>
+could cover his companions' tracks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They'll make it pretty hot for me when they find you've cleared out,"
+he remarked.  "I can stick that.  I don't think they'll go to extreme
+measures with me.  If they do they'll be sorry for it later on."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the usual hour the officer-prisoners were ordered below.  By ten
+o'clock all was still.  The crew of the raider were no longer working
+by night.  The bulk of the preparations completed they were given ample
+opportunities for rest, since it was necessary to conserve their
+energies for defence against the impending attack.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On deck a strict watch was maintained, but the attention of the
+sentries was mainly directed downstream, whence the sudden switching on
+of the searchlights was to be the signal of the approach of the British
+flotillas.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was not until two bells (1 a.m.) that the three officers stole from
+their cabin.  On deck all was in darkness.  There was no moon.  Every
+light was extinguished.  A mist obscured the glimmer of the stars.  It
+was one of those nights when it was really impossible to see one's hand
+in front of one's face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without interruption the three officers gained the shelter of one of
+the boats slung inboard with davits.  Here, eight feet above the deck,
+they were in comparative safety.  Groping in the stern-sheets Denbigh
+found what he expected&mdash;a hand lead-line.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Keeping the weighted end in the boat he dropped the coils overboard.
+Caught by the swirling current the line trailed out astern.  His next
+task was to lower the boat's painter, which was to form a means of
+getting down into the punt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Stealthily the sub lowered himself hand over hand until his feet
+touched the water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good heavens, what a current!" he thought.  "Well, if the lead-line
+parts it will be an end to this little business.  Here goes!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He slipped softly into the river, striking out against the current, and
+at the same time allowing the rush of water to sweep him down across
+the bows of the punt, which was about a hundred feet from the place
+where he had descended.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly something flicked across his head.  It was the trailing
+lead-line.  Grasping it he allowed himself to be carried past the side
+of the ship until he came within reach of the punt, which was made fast
+to the lizard of one of the swinging booms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Still retaining the line Denbigh clambered over the stern.  The punt
+was yawing in the tideway.  He could see that it would be impossible to
+haul it against the stream unless he kept well off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He groped for'ard.  In the bluff stem he found a metal ring-bolt.
+Through this he passed the lead-line, making fast to another ring-bolt
+in the transom.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So far so good.  His next step was to cut adrift the unwieldy little
+craft.  Released from the hold of the two ropes the punt swung away
+from the ship's side, but showed little tendency to yaw.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly Denbigh began to haul in the lead-line.  Foot by foot the punt
+crept up-stream.  Trimmed well by the stern she towed lightly, but the
+securing line was none too strong.  His journey to the place where he
+had entered the water seemed interminable, but at length Denbigh felt
+the trailing painter of the boat in the davits.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He made fast.  As he did so the punt swung in towards the ship's side,
+her gunwale making a resounding sound as it came in contact with the
+steel plating.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He could hear men's footsteps approaching.  Through the darkness he
+heard a German sailor enquiring of his companion what the noise was.
+The fellow expressed his opinion that it was merely a hippopotamus, and
+the explanation being evidently satisfactory the men went aft once more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grasping the painter Denbigh jerked it three times.  It was the
+prearranged signal for his comrades to rejoin him.  Silently Armstrong
+slid down the rope, followed by O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By this time they were growing accustomed to the darkness.  Denbigh
+could see the white uniforms of his companions.  He wondered whether
+they would be spotted once the punt drifted away from the ship's side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just above his head was a cluster of palm branches, suspended in a line
+from the rail.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll take the liberty of removing some of their floral decorations,"
+mused Denbigh.  Then signing to his companions to lie down he covered
+them with the broad leaves, cut the log-line, and allowed the punt to
+drift at the mercy of the strong ebb-tide.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap18"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+Disappointment
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"Any oars on board?" asked O'Hara, after the frail craft had drifted a
+few hundred yards down the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not a suspicion of one," replied Armstrong.  "And the bore will be due
+in about an hour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hands, lads!" exclaimed Denbigh cheerily.  "Let us imagine we're
+taking part in a Fleet regatta."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Leaning over the sides the men paddled with their hands, steering a
+course obliquely with the left bank of the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once the punt tilted alarmingly as a dark heavy body rasped underneath.
+The denizens of the river were in evidence.  The officers prudently
+suspended operations until the unwelcome intruder had disappeared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hulloa, what's that?" whispered the Irishman.  "Hippos right across
+the river."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The punt was bearing down upon a line of dark objects that were
+apparently forging ahead against the swift current.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Back starboard!" ordered Denbigh promptly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The punt, checked by the resistance of O'Hara's palms in the water,
+swung sideways.  As it did so Denbigh gathered up the slack of the
+severed lead-line that still remained on board.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Retaining the ends he threw the bight across one of the black objects,
+at the same time lying at full length on the bottom of the boat.  With
+a jerk that wellnigh capsized the crank craft the punt's way was
+checked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your hippos are barrels, old man!" he exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mines, perhaps," suggested Armstrong.  "Be careful, for goodness sake."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not mines," declared Denbigh.  "They wouldn't be floating on the
+surface.  But it's some infernal contrivance.  Haul closer and we'll
+investigate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Warding off the gunwale from the plunging barrel Denbigh dipped his arm
+into the water.  His hand came in contact with a heavy chain eighteen
+inches beneath the surface.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A boom!" he announced.  "By Jove!  If we had a slab of gun-cotton
+handy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hist!" exclaimed O'Hara warningly.  "I can hear voices."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's time for us to go," whispered Armstrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh cast off.  The barrel appeared to leap away from them, as the
+punt was swept down-stream.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not much use attempting to land at this point," said Armstrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't know so much about that," rejoined Denbigh.  "Personally I'm
+rather anxious to see what these fellows are doing ashore.  Keep her
+going, Pat.  We'll strike the bank in less than half a mile."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Paddling in silence the men pursued their tedious course athwart the
+current until a dull roar was borne to their ears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The bore!" exclaimed Armstrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be quite ten minutes before it reaches us," replied Denbigh.
+"Stick to it, lads!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The amphibians, with the keen instinct that nature bestowed upon them,
+also were aware of the approach of the foaming mass of water, for the
+centre of the river was literally alive with hippopotami and saurians
+that had not gone ashore for a nocturnal ramble.  The crocodiles on the
+mud-flats were either making for deep water or else crawling higher up
+the banks out of the rush of the irresistible bore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Aground!" exclaimed Denbigh as the punt's bows touched the mud.
+"Check her from swinging round."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Armstrong promptly jumped overboard, to sink above his knees in the
+soft mud.  Only by holding on to the gunwale was he able to keep
+himself from sinking still deeper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We can't land here," he announced.  "We'll be in up to our necks."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Must," declared Denbigh laconically, raising his voice to enable it to
+be heard above the now loud roar of the approaching bore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seizing the lead-line and bending one end round his waist Denbigh leapt
+overboard, threw himself at full length upon the mud, and working with
+his hands drew himself laboriously over the slimy surface.  It was
+horribly exhausting work, but to his intense satisfaction he found
+himself making visible progress without sinking beyond a few inches in
+the ooze.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ahead he could discern the dark outlines of the mangrove forest.  It
+seemed an interminable distance away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently his hand came in contact with the trunk of a tree, that had
+fallen and had been partly embedded in the mud.  It afforded a
+precarious foothold, but proceeding carefully, Denbigh found that the
+farther end rested in comparatively firm soil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Planting his feet against the trunk, the sub hauled at the lead-line
+with all his might.  The flat-bottomed punt glided easily over the
+slime until its bows were within a yard of the fallen tree.  Then,
+unexpectedly, the rope that had rendered such good service parted like
+pack-thread.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh, losing his balance, fell prostrate on the ground, which was
+here soft enough to break his fall but sufficiently stiff to prevent
+him from being swallowed up in the mud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Quickly O'Hara and Armstrong jumped, and grasping their fallen comrade
+hauled him to his feet.  They had barely time to gain the firm bank
+when the bore thundered past, sweeping the punt away like a straw.
+They had a momentary glimpse of its bows rearing high in the air on the
+crest of the foaming, breaking wall of water, then it vanished out of
+sight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Phew!" exclaimed Armstrong.  "That was a narrow squeak."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm in a horrible mess," announced Denbigh.  "The mud of Portsmouth
+Harbour is eau de Cologne compared with this filthy slime."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good heavens, man! you're shivering," declared O'Hara.  "That won't
+do.  Here, take my coat.  I don't want it.  I insist."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Waving aside Denbigh's objections the Irishman made him take off his
+saturated garments, while the rest of the deficiency of the sub's
+wardrobe was temporarily made good by making use of Armstrong's silk
+scarf as a loin-cloth.  The men realized that in the deadly African
+climate dry clothing was of utmost importance.  The sub's saturated and
+mud-encaked garments were made up into a bundle to be washed and dried
+at the first opportunity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now," said Denbigh, "I feel like a giant refreshed.  We've plenty of
+time, for it's no use getting to the coast before sunrise.  If you
+fellows like to wait here I'll go up along the banks and see what is at
+the shore end of that chain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It isn't going to be a one-man show," objected O'Hara.  "We'll all
+have a chip in.  You lead, if you will, old man.  I'll follow just far
+enough behind to keep you in view.  Armstrong, will you bring up the
+rear?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In single file and extended order the three officers made their way
+towards their objective.  Keeping just below high-water mark they found
+the ground easy to walk upon, and, with one exception, free from the
+presence of crocodiles.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One huge brute barred their path, but on Denbigh hurling a heavy stick
+in its direction, the saurian turned and waddled towards the water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Noiselessly, for the soft ground effectually deadened the sound of
+their footsteps, the daring explorers advanced.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly a hoarse voice broke the silence with a guttural "Wer da?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without a moment's hesitation Denbigh dropped gently to the ground.
+His companions followed his example, holding their breath in momentary
+expectation of hearing a bullet whizzing over their heads.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's all right, Schlutze," replied a voice.  "The leutnant sent me to
+bring some more hands down.  There's a boat broken adrift.  She's
+grinding against the end of the torpedo-station pier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What boat?" asked the sentry, recovering his rifle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not know.  It's empty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not an English boat?" asked the man anxiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When the English do venture they will attempt the attack with
+something bigger, my friend.  The bigger the better, for they will
+never be able to pass here, with our excellent torpedo-tubes trained
+across the river.  But I must be moving.  Herr leutnant is in a great
+hurry.  He does not want his piers damaged."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh remained lying on the ground.  He waited until half a dozen
+Germans passed within twenty yards of him.  He could hear their heavy
+boots clattering on the planks of the foliage-screened pier, although
+the structure was invisible from where he lay.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Finding that it would be too risky a business to attempt to pass the
+sentry, Denbigh crawled back to O'Hara, and by signs indicated that he
+was going into the forest.  The three comrades, keeping close together,
+turned their backs upon the river and were soon swallowed up in the
+dense foliage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maintaining his direction by means of his spirit-compass, Denbigh held
+on until he came upon a clearing.  Here the ground was furrowed with
+deep ruts.  They had evidently been caused by the recent passage of
+heavy objects drawn upon rough sleighs.  The dew-steeped ground bore
+the impress of many booted feet as well as, to a lesser extent, those
+of natives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They've been lugging up the quick-firers," mentally commented Denbigh.
+"I wonder where they've hidden them?  Wish to goodness they hadn't
+employed niggers.  I don't mind getting on the track of a Hun, but the
+blacks have an awkward trick of turning the tables upon a fellow when
+it comes to following a spoor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He waited, revolving in his mind the problem that confronted him.  His
+companions stood motionless and silent.  They, too, realized that
+danger lurked in the dense bush.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again Denbigh consulted his compass.  The track on his left hand lay in
+a north-westerly direction.  Assuming that it ran fairly straight, it
+would open out at the river banks in the vicinity of the temporary
+piers.  In the other direction it showed a tendency to curve to the
+north-east.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll try the right-hand track," decided the sub.  "I suppose it will
+be out of the question to get those two obstinate fellows to remain
+here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He put the proposal in dumb show, but both O'Hara and Armstrong
+vigorously protested against being left behind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The three officers again took shelter in the bush, keeping close and
+parallel to the beaten track.  Twenty minutes' steady progress brought
+them to the edge of a large clearing.  By the compass their direction
+was now due west, showing that they had described a large semicircle.
+They were now not far from the river.  They could hear the swirl of the
+flood-tide.  Towards the centre of the clearing were several indistinct
+objects that looked like gun-emplacements.  Through the darkness came
+the sound of men's voices.  A dog yelped, and was instantly told to be
+silent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is no place for us," thought Denbigh.  "Much as I should like to
+see what is over there, I think we'll shift.  I'll try and see how this
+clearing bears for the river."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Fifty yards farther on progress was barred by a line of young trees.
+Groping, the sub attempted to find a gap, but to his surprise the stem
+he grasped gave way.  It was merely the top of a palm tree lopped off
+and forced into the ground.  The whole row was merely a screen to mask
+the guns from the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the sub scrambled through the gap his foot tripped against a
+concealed wire, and a spurt of red flame stabbed the darkness
+accompanied by the sharp crack of a rifle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Resisting the impulse to take to their heels the three officers backed
+cautiously into the forest.  Already numbers of men were hurrying to
+the spot.  Lights flashed upon the scene, revealing the presence of two
+searchlight projectors set up on platforms almost above the heads of
+the British fugitives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the confusion, for the German officers and men were shouting and
+aimlessly running hither and thither, Denbigh and his companions
+withdrew, until they found themselves at the place where a couple of
+hours previously they had landed from the punt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Full speed ahead!" exclaimed Denbigh.  "It will be dawn by the time we
+reach the shore of the lagoon.  I think we've seen enough to enable us
+to locate the enemy's shore defences."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Through the forest, or by the river?" asked O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Both," replied his chum.  "Two miles farther down-stream is the spot
+where we landed from the <I>Myra</I>.  I can recognize it.  You remember
+what we buried there?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rather," replied the Irishman.  "The rifle and the ammunition we took
+from von Eckenstein's man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will come in jolly handy if we fall foul of more wild animals,"
+continued Denbigh.  "When we've recovered the rifle we'll follow the
+same track as we did previously.  Let's hope we'll be in time to warn
+our cruisers, for from all appearances von Riesser hasn't played
+himself out just yet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You're taking into consideration the possibility that the Germans have
+left an observation post at the entrance to the river?" asked Armstrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rather," replied Denbigh.  "Even if they hadn't posted a guard they'll
+have made arrangements with the natives to give them the tip.  Best leg
+forward, lads.  If we fail to see the White Ensign before another six
+hours have passed I shall be horribly disappointed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In spite of Denbigh's assurances the men had great difficulty in
+locating the spot where the rifle and ammunition had been hidden.  The
+lack of moonlight altered the appearance of the river completely.
+Landmarks and bearings were useless in the darkness; but at length the
+weapon was recovered little the worse for its experience.  Having
+cleaned the dirt from the muzzle, the breech-mechanism having been
+protected when it was buried, O'Hara took possession of the rifle and
+the journey was resumed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The short African dawn was breaking as the three officers reached the
+low cliffs overlooking the lagoon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A grunt of disappointment burst from Denbigh's lips.  The morning mists
+had dispersed.  The whole of the reef was plainly visible.  The horizon
+was unbroken by any object that could be recognized as a British
+warship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Unaccountably the blockading squadron had disappeared.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap19"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+"Our Luck's Out"
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"That's done it!" ejaculated O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps," admitted Denbigh.  "We'll have some grub and discuss the
+situation.  It's good to sniff the open sea, after being cooped up in
+that pestilential river.  That's one consolation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The three chums ate sparingly, supplementing the provisions with the
+milk of a coco-nut.  The soda-water was by common consent kept intact.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As soon as the sun's rays acquired strength Denbigh washed his
+mud-encrusted clothes in the sea and spread them out to dry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's the programme?" asked Armstrong.  "If we hang about here we
+stand a chance of getting nabbed.  Our flight will have been discovered
+by this time, and they'll naturally conclude that we've made off
+towards the mouth of the river."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unless they conclude, from finding the punt jammed alongside the pier,
+that we've been slung out and drowned," rejoined Denbigh.  "But we'll
+take no needless chances.  We'll go north.  Once we pass the clearing
+where the native village stands the coast ought to be fairly clear, and
+we can still command a view of the entrance to the lagoon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without incident the three officers made their way for nearly three
+miles along the coast.  By this time the intense heat was making itself
+felt, and at O'Hara's suggestion they retreated to the cool of the
+forest, taking turns at keeping watch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the afternoon a native canoe appeared round a projecting bluff.
+The men had been fishing, for they brought a goodly haul on shore.
+Dragging the frail craft above high-water mark the blacks vanished in
+the direction of the village.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara, who was keeping watch, astonished his companions by giving them
+each a violent shake.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's wrong?" asked Denbigh, awake and alert in an instant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing," replied the imperturbable Irishman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then why this thusness?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you keen on a sea voyage?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A sea voyage?" repeated Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To Latham Island."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you propose swimming there?" asked Armstrong with considerable
+asperity, for he had been disturbed in the midst of a much-needed sleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's a canoe awaiting us," reported O'Hara.  "The sea's calm.
+To-night's the night.  You told me that the <I>Pelikan's</I> people left a
+whaler and plenty of provisions and stores hidden on the island.  With
+luck we ought to be able to fetch there, resurrect the boat, and make a
+dash for Zanzibar.  We'd have the S.W. monsoon with us all the way, and
+if we fell in with one of our ships so much the better."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where's your precious discovery?" asked Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Accompanying his chum to the edge of the cliff O'Hara pointed out the
+canoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"H'm, not much of a craft to make a voyage to a sandbank twenty-three
+miles from land," remarked Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We can work inside the lagoon for several miles and then keep close
+inshore until we reach Ras What's-its-name," continued O'Hara
+optimistically.  "I've seen these native canoes miles out to sea before
+to-day.  They seem pretty seaworthy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While daylight lasted the three chums rested, after taking the
+precaution of gathering a supply of coco-nuts and roots.  The subs eyed
+the latter with misgivings, in spite of Armstrong's assurances that
+they were both edible and nourishing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As soon as the sun had set behind the boundless mangrove forests the
+daring trio made their way to the spot where the canoe was lying.  The
+craft was about twenty-four feet in length, but only four in beam.
+With her half-dozen short paddles, a mast and sail, suitable only for
+running before the wind, and a stone jar half-full of water.  Owing to
+the porosity of the earthenware the liquid was remarkably cool.  A few
+lengths of net completed the equipment, but these were considerately
+left behind, since there was no need for unnecessary spoliation of the
+natives, even though they were, perhaps unwillingly, subjects of Kaiser
+Wilhelm II.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The canoe was light enough to enable the three men to carry her down to
+the water's edge.  Without delay they pushed off and headed for the
+reef.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Here, on the lee side of the extensive coral ledge, they were in
+comparative safety.  The long line of foaming breakers thundering up
+the reef afforded a guide to the position of the ledges; it deadened
+all other sounds, and since no native boats would be likely to indulge
+in night fishing, there was little risk of detection.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have company, you see," remarked Armstrong, pointing to a
+phosphorescent swirl less than twenty yards astern.  The disturbance of
+the placid water was caused by the dorsal fin of a huge shark, that,
+scenting a possible prey, was zigzagging in the wake of the frail canoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'We do so want to lose you; and we think you ought to go'," misquoted
+O'Hara, laying down his paddle and grasping his rifle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hold on!" cautioned the mate.  "You'll not only bring up every shark
+in the lagoon to make a meal of this beauty, but you'll arouse every
+native within hearing distance.  Don't fire unless the brute gets too
+attentive; then use your pistol.  It makes much less of a flash and
+report."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hour after hour passed.  The men took turns at paddling, since there
+was not a breath of wind.  The shark still kept doggedly in company.
+As the canoe drew farther and farther away from the entrance to the
+Mohoro River the miasmic mists gradually dispersed, until the three
+officers found themselves under a bright starlit sky, and on the placid
+surface of the lagoon there seemed one blaze of reflected brilliance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It looks as if we are nearing the northern limit of the lagoon,"
+remarked Denbigh.  "We'd better keep a sharp look-out for a passage
+through the reef."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What if we don't find one?" asked Armstrong.  "The last gap of any
+size we passed quite three miles astern."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's an opening of sorts," announced O'Hara, pointing to a dark
+patch in the otherwise unbroken line of surf.  "My word!  I believe
+there's a spanking breeze outside."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Steady there!" cautioned Denbigh, as the frail craft approached the
+opening, through which long undulations sullenly rolled in from the
+vast expanse of the Indian Ocean.  "If we get capsized heaven help us.
+Our old friend has brought up a few more of his pals."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sub was justified in advising caution.  Half a dozen sharks were
+close to the canoe.  Emboldened by numbers, they swam around in
+ever-decreasing circles, until one monster, braver than the rest,
+rasped his skin along the side of the canoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the craft tilted O'Hara aimed a blow at the brute with his paddle.
+With a swift movement of its powerful tail the shark disappeared, only
+to rise again and resume its embarrassing attentions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If those brutes' instinct isn't at fault there'll be a pretty
+mess-up," thought Denbigh.  "They evidently have seen native canoes
+upset in the channel through the reef before to-day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Think it's worth while risking it?" asked O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I don't," replied his chum bluntly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We must hang on till daybreak, then," said Armstrong.  "At dead-low
+water there may be a trifle less swell."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," assented Denbigh.  "We'll land on the lee side of the reef.
+Gently with her; we don't want to be stove in against a sharp branch of
+coral."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without accident the landing was accomplished.  The adventurers found
+themselves on a broad part of the reef that was barely three feet above
+the surface.  Seaweed and driftwood had already accumulated, showing
+that the coral was now only occasionally invaded by the sea.  Fifty
+yards away the surf broke heavily, but fortunately they were out of
+range of the falling spray.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Almost in silence the three chums sat until the sun rose in a grey sky
+above the horizon.  Overhead a few large birds flew seaward&mdash;both
+circumstances presaging a fine day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The tide had now fallen, and, although there were several feet of water
+in the channel, a detached reef about a hundred yards from the main
+coral ledge, which had uncovered as the tide fell, completely broke the
+breakers for some distance on either side of its seaward end.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All aboard!" ordered Denbigh.  "With luck we'll fetch Latham Island
+well before sunset."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Broad on the port bow rose Ras Kimbiji, which Denbigh recognized by a
+peculiarly-rounded and isolated hill rising two miles beyond the point.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From this cape, he knew, Latham Island bore 23 miles due east.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Step the mast, Pat!" he exclaimed.  "The breeze is well in our favour.
+One thing, we are not over-canvassed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Therein he was mistaken, for the small spread of sail was more than
+sufficient to endanger the stability of the canoe.  Since there were no
+reef points recourse had to be made to a "Spanish reef", which consists
+in gathering in a generous amount of one corner of the canvas and tying
+it into a knot.  Even then the little craft literally bounded over the
+water.  Before the S.W. monsoon Denbigh calculated her speed at seven
+or eight knots.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the end of three hours the breeze increased, and the sail had to be
+still further reduced.  Not daring to stand upright, the sub's range of
+vision was considerably limited.  He was beginning to think that a
+slight error in the compass course had taken them past the low-lying
+and almost invisible sandbank for which they were steering.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Breakers ahead!" shouted Armstrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For nearly five minutes the gaze of all three men was directed upon a
+patch of white foam in the midst of the dark-blue waters.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Denbigh broke the silence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We can finish off that soda-water now," he said.  "That's Latham
+Island."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They drained the bottle.  There was now no need to husband their scanty
+resources.  Ahead lay the sandbank on which were hidden provisions in
+plenty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Down rag and out paddles!" ordered Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sail was quickly stowed and the mast unshipped.  Under paddles the
+canoe was urged towards the lee side of the island, where a landing was
+easily effected.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Dragging the canoe above high-water mark the three chums, wellnigh
+"baked" by the heat, sat down upon the hard ground.  Shelter there was
+none.  The whole of the white surface simmered in the rays, both direct
+and reflected, of the tropical sun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Honestly I don't feel like work," remarked O'Hara.  "It's too beastly
+hot.  Besides, we've anticipated our time-table considerably.  The
+sun's not crossed the meridian yet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a toss-up whether we set to at once or wait.  In any case we
+stew," said Armstrong.  "I vote we dig for an hour and knock off for
+the early afternoon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," assented Denbigh.  "That will, I think, be the better way.  So
+bestir yourself, Pat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where's the spot?" asked the mate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Almost at the other end of the island," replied Denbigh.  "I can
+recognize it from the position of that jagged reef.  Bring the paddles,
+they'll make excellent sand scoops."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Across the glistening sand they made their way until the three men came
+simultaneously to a dead stop.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Other diggers had preceded them, for where the whaler and the stores
+had been hidden was a large, partly-silted-up cavity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The versatile Irishman was the first to break the silence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Throwing his paddle to the ground he ejaculated:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dash it all!  Our luck's out this time."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap20"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+Adrift in the Indian Ocean
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"Wish to goodness we hadn't been so prodigal with our provisions," said
+Denbigh as the three chums ruefully surveyed the excavation.  "It will
+be short commons, unless&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unless what?" asked Armstrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unless the fellows who have forestalled us have omitted to remove all
+the stuff."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It looks as if they've made a clean sweep of most of the gear and
+burnt what they couldn't move.  They've evidently poured petrol over
+the place and set fire to it.  Now, what was the object?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps a landing-party from one of our ships destroyed the cache,"
+suggested O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Possibly," replied his chum.  "But, on the other hand, unlikely.  It's
+my opinion that some of the Germans, finding that the <I>Pelikan</I> was
+held up, have made a dash for the island.  In that case it is
+reasonable to suppose that they have fitted out the whaler, and are
+either making tracks for some navigable river lower down the coast or
+else they will attempt to capture the first tramp they fall in with."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not much chance of escaping capture themselves," said Armstrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't know.  Remember the case of the <I>Ayesha</I> with the <I>Emden's</I>
+landing-party.  They managed to fetch home all the way from the Cocos
+Keeling Islands.  These fellows, with luck, might reach Batavia and be
+interned by the Dutch Colonial Government."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And here are we stranded on a desolate sandbank, with precious little
+grub in the locker," remarked Armstrong.  "There's one consolation.  We
+have a boat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of sorts," rejoined the Irishman.  "Since she brought us here she
+ought to take us back to the mainland, although it will be dead to
+windward."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's wrong with Zanzibar?" asked the mate.  "It's only about fifty
+miles to the nor'-west.  We've a breeze slightly abaft the beam.
+She'll do it all right, especially if we take some sand aboard as
+ballast."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Right," assented O'Hara.  "Let's make a start.  It's a howling pity to
+lose the breeze, and it's a jolly sight cooler on the water than on
+this sun-baked sandbank."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Quickly the new plan was put into operation.  The canoe was launched,
+and about three hundred-weights of sand thrown into her.  On
+re-embarking the crew found that their frail craft was considerably
+"stiffer", and showed no great tendency to capsize when one of their
+number stood upright.  In her ballasted state more sail could be
+carried, and, what was more, she could be steered a point closer to the
+wind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All went well until about three in the afternoon, when, with
+disconcerting suddenness, the wind died utterly away.  The crisp,
+crested waves subsided into a long, sullen, oily swell.  The canoe,
+without steerage way, floated idly upon the water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Out paddles!" ordered Denbigh.  "You and I, Pat, will take the first
+trick.  At every thousand strokes one man will be relieved.  Ready?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Counting, the sub knew, was the only means at their disposal for
+arriving at an equal division of labour.  It also gave them a rough
+indication of the progress made, since each stroke represented a
+distance of two yards through the water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See anything?" asked Denbigh at length.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara, who was by this time at the steering paddle, stood up, and
+shading his eyes looked ahead in the hope of seeing the friendly rising
+ground of Zanzibar Island peeping above the horizon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothing," was the reply, "except that there's a breeze coming."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the freshening wind swept down the men thankfully laid aside their
+paddles and set up the mast and sail.  For a few minutes the breeze
+held true, then swiftly veering it blew dead ahead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once more the sail was lowered and the paddles resumed.  With the wind
+dead in their teeth the work was trebly increased.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Within half an hour it blew with considerable violence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Force six, at least," declared Denbigh, referring to the Beaufort
+Notation method of indicating the wind-pressure.  "We're in for a
+dusting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was as much as they could do to keep the lightly made craft head to
+wind.  Armstrong was busily engaged in throwing overboard the sand
+ballast.  Drifting before the wind the canoe was in danger either of
+being swamped or else carried out into the broad Indian Ocean.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The men were already exhausted.  The canoe was drifting rapidly in
+spite of their strenuous efforts.  Yet she climbed the crest wave with
+an ease that gave them confidence.  The loss of "ground", made good
+only by hours of sheer hard work, was the circumstance that troubled
+them most.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We'll rig a sea-anchor," said the mate.  "Unfortunately we haven't any
+weights to keep the sail up and down, but that can't be helped."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Quickly the foot of the sail was bent to the mast, the sheets were bent
+to the extremities of the spar by a span, and the halyard led from the
+centre of the span to the bows of the canoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Watching their opportunity the men heaved their clumsy sea-anchor
+overboard and anxiously waited the result.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To their intense satisfaction they found that directly the rope took
+the strain the canoe floated head to wind without any assistance on the
+part of the paddles.  The crew were, therefore, able to rest, but with
+the disquieting knowledge that every moment they were drifting farther
+and farther away from their desired haven.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The three officers were in good spirits notwithstanding the privations
+they had undergone and were still experiencing.  They realized that
+this was part of the game.  They had taken chances, and fate, in the
+shape of a strong head wind, had been unkind to them.  The idea of
+mutual recriminations never occurred to them.  Their adventure was of
+the nature of a joint-stock concern.  They had done their best, and
+were ready to stand by each other till the end in whatever form it came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For some hours O'Hara and Armstrong dozed fitfully on the bottom of the
+canoe, regardless of the spray that dashed over their recumbent forms.
+Denbigh, crouched aft, kept an occasional look-out, while at intervals
+he baled with half a coco-nut shell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sea showed no signs of moderating.  The prospect of spending a
+night afloat in a mere cockle-shell became imminent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just then the sub heard a faint cry.  He looked in the direction from
+whence the shout came, but could see nothing.  He was about to put it
+down to a freak of his imagination when the cry was repeated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Fifty yards or more to leeward was a man hanging on to an upturned boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wake up, you fellows!" exclaimed Denbigh.  "There's someone overboard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seizing the paddles O'Hara and the mate checked the drift of the canoe
+until its course would bring it close to the upturned craft.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Steady!" cautioned Denbigh.  "As close as you can to her bows."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His ready mind grasped the situation.  Could he but effect a
+communication with the waterlogged craft a double purpose might be
+served.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Down swept the canoe.  As her quarter slipped past the boat Denbigh
+leant over the side.  With one hand he staved off the sharp stem, the
+metal-bound edge of which would have crushed the side of the canoe like
+an egg-shell.  With the other he grasped the painter, which was
+trailing from the bow ring-bolt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stand by and take a turn!" he shouted to the mate, throwing him the
+slack of the rope.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Promptly Armstrong, who was up for'ard, made the running part of the
+painter fast to the rope of the sea-anchor.  With a jerk the canoe
+brought up fifty feet to leeward of the waterlogged boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Here, sheltered by the latter, and with her drift apparently reduced,
+the canoe was in relatively smooth water.  The unfortunate seaman,
+rallying his remaining energies, struck out.  Almost exhausted, he was
+on the point of sinking when Denbigh seized him by the hair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a difficult matter to get the man into the canoe.  He was a
+great hulking fellow.  The safety of the three officers was gravely
+endangered, but proceeding with the utmost caution they hoisted him
+over the side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you recognize him?" asked Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Eh?" exclaimed his chum.  "No; do you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rather," replied the sub.  "He's one of the <I>Pelikan's</I> mob, and
+yonder craft is the whaler I saw buried on Latham Island.  I'm afraid
+they haven't had much of a run for their money.  But what's one man's
+meat is another man's poison.  The whaler may prove a godsend."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She will," rejoined Armstrong.  "See, she acts as a perfect
+breakwater.  We must be almost stationary, owing to her drag in the
+water."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Even more than that," added Denbigh.  "I propose when the weather
+moderates to have a shot at righting her.  Since they provisioned her
+we are bound to find some tinned food in her after locker, for I don't
+suppose the whole lot of her gear was slung out when she capsized."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sole survivor of the whaler's party was not long in recovering
+consciousness.  His surprise at finding that his rescuers were the
+British officers whom he had last seen as prisoners on board the
+<I>Pelikan</I> was almost ludicrous.  Soon he became communicative, and
+confirmed the sub's surmise that the whaler was bent on a minor raiding
+expedition.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The long night passed slowly.  The last of the food supply had been
+exhausted.  A few coco-nuts, which being freshly gathered contained
+liquid only, formed the sole sustenance of the four men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With the dawn the wind fell but the sea still ran high.  Eagerly the
+horizon was scanned, but nothing save a waste of tossing water met the
+eye.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In another hour or so we'll be able to have a shot at righting the
+whaler," said Denbigh.  "By that time the sea will have subsided.  If
+you don't mind, you fellows, I'll have a caulk.  I have more arrears to
+make up than you have."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Quite worn out Denbigh stretched himself on the bottom of the canoe and
+dropped off into a sound sleep.  It seemed to him that he had not
+closed his eyes more than half a minute when the mate roused him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What are those beacons on our starboard bow, do you think?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh was awake in an instant.  Looking in the direction indicated he
+saw three triangular objects at a distance of nearly three miles away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One glance was enough.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pat, you chump!" he exclaimed.  "Do you mean to tell me you don't know
+what they are?  And you must needs make Armstrong wake me out of my
+beauty sleep."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hanged if I can see hardly anything," announced the Irishman.  "The
+salt's bunged my eyes up completely.  What about it, then?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Those beacons, as you call them, Armstrong," replied Denbigh joyously,
+"are the tripod masts of three of our monitors."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They are heading our way, then?" asked the mate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Either that or they're stern on to us.  The former most likely.  Stand
+by with the rifle.  We must not let them miss us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In about half an hour the three warships had approached sufficiently
+for their outlines to be discerned.  They were moving at a slow
+pace&mdash;barely five knots.  All that was visible of each of the monitors
+consisted of a low-lying hull of great beam, on which was placed a
+turret mounting two gigantic guns.  Abaft the turret was a small
+superstructure, culminating in a bridge and chart-house.  Immediately
+behind the bridge rose a lofty tripod mast, its height being seemingly
+out of all proportion to those conforming to the recognized
+measurements of naval architecture.  Perched above the junction of the
+tripods was a large square structure whence the fire-control
+arrangements were conducted, while a stumpy topmast completed the
+incongruity.  Abaft the mast was a single funnel.  Two of the monitors
+were evidently sister-ships.  The third was of a much smaller tonnage,
+although her armament was identical with that of her consorts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They're passing to windward of us," declared Denbigh.  "Give them a
+couple of rounds."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="P207"></A>
+
+<P>
+Armstrong raised the rifle and fired.  Almost immediately following the
+second shot a signal was run up from the leading monitor.  Up fluttered
+the answering pendant to the mast of the smaller vessel, which
+immediately altered helm and bore down upon the canoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly the rescuing craft approached.  Her superstructure was crowded
+with interested spectators, while several of the crew, wading
+knee-deep, made their way to the submerged side of the monitor and
+stood by to pick up the derelicts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The operation required great care for the unwieldy craft was yawing
+horribly.  Being almost as broad in the beam as she was long, and
+snub-nosed in addition, she steered badly.  By good seamanship on the
+part of her captain the monitor lost way at a distance of half a cable
+from the canoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Cast off and out paddles!" ordered Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Five minutes later willing hands assisted the three British officers
+and the German sailor to the ladder leading to the superstructure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With feelings of thankfulness Denbigh, mustering his remaining
+energies, saluted the diminutive quarter-deck.  It seemed almost
+heavenly to be once more under the shadow of the White Ensign.  As he
+raised his hand to the brim of his weather-worn helmet a well-known
+voice exclaimed:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Cheer oh! old man."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap21"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+Von Eckenstein's Surprise
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The speaker was Charles Stirling, now lieutenant and Acting-commander
+of H.M.S. <I>Crustacean</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Stirling had literally fallen on his feet after he had been rescued by
+H.M.S. <I>Actæon</I>.  Owing to his intimate knowledge of the East Coast of
+Africa and the Mozambique Channel, and having more than a nodding
+acquaintance with the troublesome raider now known to be in hiding in
+the Mohoro River, he had been given temporary command of the smallest
+of the three monitors sent from England to assist in the operations
+against German East Africa.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Notwithstanding his natural anxiety to learn how his former shipmates
+came to be adrift in a canoe in the Indian Ocean, Stirling insisted on
+Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong being put into the sick-bay.  All three
+men were almost exhausted.  Even Denbigh's indomitable spirit had
+outworn his physical strength, while the Irishman was found to be
+affected with partial indistinctness of vision owing to prolonged
+exposure to the glare of the sun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You take it easy," was Stirling's parting injunction.  "I promise I'll
+turn you out directly we sight the Mohoro Lagoon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Reassured, Denbigh and his comrades in peril capitulated.  Eighteen
+hours' solid sleep worked wonders, and although the Irishman was still
+suffering from painful inflammation of the optic nerve, the three
+officers had bathed, shaved, and changed into borrowed plumage before
+breakfast-time on the following morning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After scraps of mutual experiences had been exchanged Stirling invited
+his chums to the bridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The rummiest packet I ever set foot on," he admitted, "but she's a
+clinker.  We've as fine a pair of 14-inch guns as a fellow could wish
+for.  British made, too; they were manufactured in Canada.  The old
+<I>Crustacean</I> does not belie her name.  She has a decided tendency to
+crawl crabwise, and she's as unhandy as a balsa-raft in a gale of wind."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not very good points," remarked O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But she has her qualifications, Pat.  She's said to be
+torpedo-proof&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you want a practical test, old man?" asked Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Um&mdash;no; that is, not particularly if it can be avoided.  Why?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Because there are a pair of 60-centimetre tubes waiting to have a slap
+at you when you ascend the Mohoro River."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Steady, old man," protested Stirling with a hearty laugh.  "The
+river's not broad enough for the <I>Pelikan</I> to be lying athwart the
+stream.  She must be quite twenty miles up the river."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Say ten and you'll be nearer the mark," declared Denbigh.  "She's
+trapped, and we have to thank Mr. Armstrong for doing the trick."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good man!" exclaimed the young skipper of the <I>Crustacean</I>, bringing
+his hand down upon the shoulder of the bashful mate of the <I>Myra</I>,
+after Denbigh had related the circumstances in which the <I>Pelikan</I> was
+prevented from ascending farther up the river.  "I'll have to inform
+Holloway, our senior officer.  He's under the same impression that I
+was.  But what did you say about those torpedo-tubes?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Concisely Denbigh explained the position and nature of the German shore
+defences.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It strikes me pretty forcibly that you'll come in most handy," said
+Stirling.  "It's not the <I>Pelikan</I> that is now our principal objective.
+She, apparently, is done for, unless the river forms a fresh bed round
+the hull of the sunken tramp.  The batteries are our pigeon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You were saying that the <I>Crustacean</I> is practically torpedo-proof,"
+Denbigh reminded him.  "In what way?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's of very shallow draught.  Unless a torpedo were set to travel
+only a few feet beneath the surface&mdash;in which case much of the bursting
+power of the war-head would be wasted&mdash;the 'tin-fish' would pass
+harmlessly under her bottom.  If, however, a torpedo did explode,
+there's a cellular space of more than twenty feet between the outer and
+inner hulls.  These compartments are stuffed with something.  I can't
+tell you because I don't know myself what the stuff is.  All I know is
+that it's fireproof and its specific gravity is approximately the same
+as sea-water.  Hence, in the event of a hole being blown in the shell
+of the outer hull our stability will hardly be affected."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At that moment a signalman approached and saluted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Senior officer reports approach of sea-plane parent ship <I>Simplicita</I>,
+sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good," replied Stirling, then addressing his companions he added,
+"That's excellent.  We are having a couple of sea-planes to spot for
+us.  The <I>Simplicita</I>, an old light cruiser, has been fitted out as a
+floating base for aerial work.  With luck they've managed to stow a
+couple of 'planes on her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before the <I>Simplicita</I> joined the flotilla the senior ship hoisted
+another signal.  It ran:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Boat under sail four miles S.S.W.  <I>Crustacean</I> to proceed and
+investigate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At her utmost speed, a bare six knots, the little monitor altered helm
+and stood off in the indicated direction.  The sea was now calm, and
+there was hardly a breath of wind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At Stirling's suggestion Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong ascended to the
+fire-control platform.  From this lofty perch a considerable expanse of
+sea could be swept by the aid of powerful glasses.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Away on the starboard hand could be discerned the faint outlines of the
+African coast, almost hidden in a pale-blue haze.  Astern, but on a
+diverging course, were the monitors <I>Paradox</I> and <I>Eureka</I>, the former
+flying the broad pendant of the senior officer, Captain Holloway.
+Ahead, a small patch of greyish-white canvas marked the position of the
+boat to which the <I>Crustacean</I> was proceeding.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's not a Service rig," declared Denbigh, proffering his binoculars
+to O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Irishman waved them aside.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, thanks, old man," said he.  "I'll wait.  I don't want to crock my
+eyes any more than they are at present.  I'll take your word for it
+that she's not one of our boats."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She's a merchantman's cutter," asserted Armstrong.  "I wouldn't mind
+laying odds that she's one of the <I>Pelikan's</I> boats making for Latham
+Island."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The mate was right, for on discovering the approach of the monitor the
+cutter altered her course, lowering her canvas and resorting to her
+oars in the vain hope that she had been unnoticed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Twenty minutes later, the difference in speed of the monitor and her
+quarry being very small, Stirling ordered one of the four quick-firers
+to be discharged.  The projectile, falling within fifty yards of the
+boat, had the desired result, for the men boated their oars and hoisted
+a square of white cloth as a signal of surrender.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We seem fated to fall in with our friends the Huns," remarked Denbigh.
+"Armstrong has scored a palpable hit; they are some of the <I>Pelikan's</I>
+crowd.  I recognize that fellow with a bandaged head as Major von
+Eckenstein."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Most docilely the boat's crew came over the side.  There were, in
+addition to the major, a junior lieutenant of the <I>Pelikan</I> and seven
+seamen; the rest, to the number of about a dozen, were reservists
+transhipped from the <I>San Matias</I>.  The military section had discarded
+their uniform and wore a motley collection of civilian garb.  They were
+unarmed, having thrown overboard their rifles and ammunition upon the
+shot being fired to compel them to abandon flight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The unter-leutnant had previously rehearsed a most plausible story with
+which to gull the Englishmen, but a look of comical dismay overspread
+his features when he recognized the officers who a short while ago had
+been prisoners on board the raider.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last he mustered up sufficient courage to demand, somewhat
+haughtily, that he and his men should be accorded honourable treatment
+as prisoners of war.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Certainly," replied Stirling blandly.  "I am sorry that you should
+imagine otherwise.  But, of course, the fact that Major von Eckenstein
+and his men have adopted civilian attire tends to put them on a
+different footing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Eckenstein's face, or as much of it as was visible between the
+swathed bandages, grew pale.  He remembered the incident when he
+slashed O'Hara across the face.  Visions of reprisals rendered him
+terror-stricken.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive me, Herr O'Hara!" he almost shouted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Irishman smiled affably.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Forgive?" he echoed.  "There is nothing to forgive.  You gave O'Hara a
+cut across the face.  It raised quite a small weal.  Judging by the
+state of your figurehead, I'm afraid my treatment of you on the shore
+of the lagoon rather disturbed the balance of exchange."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You did this?" asked the major, dumbfounded at the information.
+"Donnerwetter!  I thought&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sheer astonishment rendered him incapable of completing the sentence.
+He could not understand why the British officer received him with
+unperturbed courtesy.  Evidently here was something adrift with the
+Teutonic gospel of hate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So you were making for Latham Island to resurrect the hidden stores?"
+asked Denbigh, addressing the unter-leutnant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The young German officer was also completely taken aback.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," he admitted.  "But how came you to know that we had stores
+buried there?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's a secret," replied the sub.  "But I'll tell you this.  You
+would have found yourselves forestalled.  Some of the <I>Pelikan's</I> men
+made a dash for the island, fitted out the whaler, and left the place
+as bare as an empty house.  They did not get far.  The boat was
+capsized and all on board perished, except one man, who is now a
+prisoner on board this vessel."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now, gentlemen," broke in Stirling briskly, addressing the major and
+the unter-leutnant, "I must ask you to go below, but before doing so I
+will take the liberty of examining the contents of Major von
+Eckenstein's pockets."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Himmel!" gasped the major.  "For why?  According to the rights of
+belligerents my personal property is not liable to be confiscated."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your personal property&mdash;yes," replied Stirling.  "Come, sir, no fuss,
+if you please."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sullenly the German permitted a petty officer to remove the contents of
+his pockets.  There was an order-book, containing a few pencilled
+memoranda; a pocket-book in which were papers seemingly of purely
+personal interest; some notes on a South American bank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Kindly remove your waistcoat," continued the inexorable Stirling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Eckenstein shrugged his shoulders.  If black looks could kill,
+Stirling was as good as booked to Davy Jones.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is a needless indignity," almost howled the Hun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"On the contrary, a necessary precaution on our part," corrected the
+skipper of the <I>Crustacean</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sullenly von Eckenstein removed his waistcoat and threw it on the deck.
+Deliberately opening a penknife Stirling ripped open the back and
+removed an envelope of oiled silk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thank you," he said gravely.  "That is all we require for the present,
+Herr Major."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Gathering up the rest of his possessions, the major followed his
+companions in misfortune and disappeared below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Confidential orders from Potsdam to the German Governor of the East
+African Colony," announced Stirling.  "Here, Denbigh, have a squint at
+it and see if I'm not right."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How ever did you discover this?" asked O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Intuition, my dear old sport," replied Stirling with a laugh.  "You
+told me about the cache on Latham Island.  Also, you may remember
+relating a conversation between this von Eckenstein and Kapitan von
+Riesser, just before the stores were landed.  Von Eckenstein
+objected&mdash;why?  Because he thought the hiding-place ought to be on the
+mainland.  He had a rooted objection to making a voyage in a smallboat.
+Hence it was reasonable to suppose that the Latham Island depot was for
+the major's particular benefit.  The fact that he was forestalled has
+nothing to do with the main case.  The <I>Pelikan</I> is in difficulties.
+Direct communication with the rest of the German land forces is out of
+the question.  So the major is sent off to Latham Island with the
+Imperial dispatches in his possession.  Then the unter-leutnant's
+instructions are to revictual and replenish stores, and take the major
+to the mainland, most likely to the Rufigi River.  There there is, I
+believe, fairly easy communication with Tabora, the head-quarters of
+the German Colonial forces.  Seeing us approach, von Eckenstein ought
+to have destroyed his paper, but he didn't&mdash;he trusted to his belief in
+our natural stupidity.  I wouldn't mind betting that now he's bemoaning
+his fate and admitting that Englishmen are not the fools he supposed
+them to be."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Which was exactly what the battered and dejected von Eckenstein <I>was</I>
+doing.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap22"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Monitors in Action
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+All that night the monitors lay, with lights out, off the outer bar of
+the Mohoro Lagoon.  A council of war had been held on board the
+<I>Paradox</I>, when a fresh plan of action was drawn up.  This was in
+consequence of the information Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong had
+brought concerning the enemy's defences.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This chart is radically wrong," declared Denbigh, when a chart of that
+part of the coast was shown to him.  "The bend in which the <I>Pelikan</I>
+is lying is not shown.  Apparently the topography is from an old
+survey."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is from the latest available information," remarked Captain
+Holloway, loath to deprecate the work of the Hydrographic Department of
+the Admiralty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Available as far as the Germans would permit," corrected the sub
+deferentially.  "They've had full control here for years.  I'm not
+referring to the lagoon, but to the river.  The depths, too, are
+inaccurate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose you wouldn't object to a job to-morrow?" asked the senior
+officer, after he had listened intently to Denbigh's explanations and
+descriptions of the details of the Mohoro River.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not in the least, sir," replied the sub promptly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In a sea-plane?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Just my mark, sir; but I've had no flying experience."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We would want you for registering duties," continued Captain Holloway.
+"You will have a flight sub-lieutenant as pilot.  With your knowledge
+of the shore batteries and torpedo stations you will be able to render
+further important service.  Very good; I'll arrange for the sea-plane
+to pick you up at dawn; that is, if it is not too misty.  These
+tropical mists play the deuce with aerial observations."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was arranged that the attack should open at seven on the following
+morning.  The <I>Crustacean</I> was to lead the way over the inner bar, and
+devote her attention to the torpedo station.  The <I>Paradox</I> was to
+shell the batteries concealed in the mangrove forest, while the
+<I>Eureka</I> was to patrol the lagoon and to cut off any attempt at flight
+on the part of the German troops, whose line of retreat would be pretty
+certain to be along the coast, since the thick forests and marshes to
+the westward made retirement to the hinterland almost a matter of
+impossibility.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two hours before sunrise the crews of the monitors were called to
+"action" stations.  They had previously bathed and changed into clean
+clothes, and had been given ample time to enjoy their breakfast.
+Clearing ship for action took but little preparation, since the
+monitors carried only what was necessary as floating batteries.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the hour specified a sea-plane taxied gracefully to within fifty
+feet of the <I>Crustacean</I>.  A boat was lowered from the monitor, and
+into this Denbigh stepped, to the accompaniment of the somewhat
+irrelevant remarks of his brother officers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fine mornin'," was the flight-sub's greeting, as nonchalantly as if he
+were passing the time of day with a casual acquaintance.  "Hop in.
+You'll find a belt fixed to the back of your seat.  There's the
+wireless gear.  See that lever on your left?  That releases the
+paying-out gear of the aerial.  Don't pay out too smartly.  Ready?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The blades glittered in the morning light as the propeller revolved and
+rapidly increased the number of revolutions.  Slowly at first, then
+with accelerated movement, the sea-plane skimmed the placid surface of
+the lagoon.  Then, almost before Denbigh was aware of it, the machine
+leaped upwards.  The slight tilt of the seat was the only intimation
+that the sea-plane had parted company with the water, until the sub
+noticed the surface of the lagoon apparently receding with great
+rapidity.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Round and round spiralled the frail contrivance, tilting with an easy
+swinging movement as it climbed.  Already the monitors looked no larger
+than toy boats upon an ornamental pond.  The irregular ground on either
+side of the river was merged into an expanse that betrayed no
+indication of height.  Far beneath him Denbigh could discern a
+ribbon-like strip of silvery-grey.  It was the Mohoro River.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Distance lends enchantment to the eye," thought the sub.  "And it is
+such a dirty river."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He mused feelingly.  In his imagination he sniffed the foetid odours
+from the torrential yellow stream.  He had a mental vision of a swim in
+the dark, with hippos and crocodiles for company.  The reeking
+mud-flats, too, lay beneath him, their dismal and monotonous aspect
+obliterated by the charm of altitude.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Above the land the rapidly increasing strength of the morning sun was
+causing great irregularities in the density of the air.  The sea-plane
+rolled violently.  Twice she dropped through a sheer distance of a
+couple of hundred feet, owing to "air pockets", but the pilot, with the
+utmost unconcern, held her on her course.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently he turned and bawled something.  The rush of the wind made
+his words unintelligible, but he pointed to the aerial release.
+Denbigh understood, and depressing the lever allowed a hundred and
+fifty feet of wire to be run off the reel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Leaning over the side of the fuselage the sub brought his glasses to
+bear upon the waterway almost beneath him.  He could distinguish the
+fatal bend in the Mohoro River where the <I>Myra</I> had turned turtle and
+had been swallowed up in the shifting sand.  He could even discern her
+outlines as she lay on her side with ten feet of water swirling
+overhead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Farther down-stream was something that looked exactly like an island
+covered with luxurious vegetation.  It was the <I>Pelikan</I>.  The disguise
+was really admirable.  Had Denbigh not known of the means her crew had
+taken to hide her he would never have detected her presence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the <I>Pelikan's</I> hour had not yet come.  Until the shore batteries
+and fortifications had been shelled out of existence she was to be left
+severely alone.  With the <I>Myra's</I> crew confined on board the raider,
+the British monitors dare not open fire upon her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Round circled the sea-plane, gliding down to within five hundred feet
+of the summit of the mangroves.  Everything seemed quiet beneath.  The
+whir of the propeller and the rush of air deadened all other sounds.
+Here and there were clearings, like to one another as peas in a pod.
+For the first time in his life Denbigh felt uncertain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again he swept the river with his binoculars.  Across the mud-flats,
+for the tide was now almost on the last of the ebb, he spotted two
+slender dark lines stretching towards the navigable channel.  A little
+way down was a series of small dark objects thrown athwart the stream.
+They were the torpedo-piers and the barrels supporting the chain boom.
+Almost abreast of them was the screened battery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At a sign from Denbigh the flight-sub trimmed the elevating planes.  Up
+climbed the machine till at an altitude of six thousand feet she was
+visible from the distant monitors.  Then she commenced to cut figures
+of eight, while Denbigh began to call up the <I>Paradox</I> by wireless.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having made certain that the monitor had gauged the required distance
+the sea-plane volplaned to within a thousand feet of the ground.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The receiving telephones fixed to Denbigh's ears began to emit faint
+sounds that in Morse spelt out the words, "Stand by to register".
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Twenty seconds later a lurid flash, followed by a terrific cloud of
+yellow and black smoke, leapt skywards from a spot in the mangroves.
+In spite of her altitude the sea-plane rocked violently in the torn
+air.  For a moment Denbigh thought that the machine was plunging
+helplessly to earth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The gentle tapping of the wireless receiver recalled him to a sense of
+duty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How's that?" spelt the dot-and-dash message.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Where the shell had burst a dozen or more trees had been literally
+pulverized.  Others, their trunks lacerated by the explosion, had
+toppled at various angles against those that had withstood the shock.
+The "hit" was roughly two hundred yards beyond the screened battery.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From beneath the foliage covering the emplacements men peeped
+timorously.  A dull-grey figure, bent almost double, was running for
+shelter.  It was one of the German sentries.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Right direction; two hundred yards over," wirelessed Denbigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another heavy projectile screamed on its way, passing some hundreds of
+feet beneath the seaplane.  It burst; but the sound like that of its
+predecessor was inaudible to the pilot and observer.  The action of the
+detonating shells reminded Denbigh of an animated photograph, so
+effectually and silently did the work of destruction appear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A hundred yards short," registered the sub.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then how's this?" was the rejoinder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Fairly in the centre of an emplacement fell the twelve-hundred-pound
+shell.  High above the mushroom cloud of smoke flew fragments of wood
+and metal.  When the dense vapour had drifted away in the sultry air it
+was seen that the work of that gigantic missile was accomplished.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A gaping hole fifty feet in diameter marked the place where the
+carefully-screened quick-firers had been.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Round the edge of the crater were smouldering sand-bags hurled in all
+directions like small pebbles.  The two guns, dismounted, were sticking
+up at acute angles in the debris, their mountings shattered into
+fragments of scrap-iron metal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no sign of life in the crater, nor in the partly uncovered
+dug-outs in its vicinity, but from a neighbouring position poured
+swarms of Germans, half-dazed and terrified by the explosion that had
+shaken their subterranean retreat like a severe earthquake shock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Paradox</I> had completed her particular job.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile a second sea-plane was registering for the <I>Crustacean</I>, her
+guns being directed upon the piers on which the <I>Pelikan's</I>
+torpedo-tubes had been placed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without once coming within sight of her objective the little monitor
+effected her mission with two shots, blowing both torpedo-stations to
+smithereens.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nor was the <I>Eureka</I> less successful.  A shell fired in front of the
+crowd of demoralized Germans as they fled through the mangroves
+literally roped them in.  Panic-stricken they doubled back and
+disappeared in the dug-outs close to the wrecked emplacements, and the
+<I>Eureka</I>, having been accordingly informed, ceased firing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now for the <I>Pelikan</I>!" exclaimed Stirling, as the sea-plane, having
+returned, put Denbigh on board the <I>Crustacean</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will be an affair of boats, I suppose," suggested O'Hara.  "With
+the flood-tide and on a dark night she ought to be captured with little
+loss to the boarding-party."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Two of the monitors were lying at anchor in the river.  The <I>Eureka</I>,
+having to watch the coast, steamed slowly up and down the lagoon, her
+progress watched by hundreds of awe-stricken natives.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The question of how to deal with the <I>Pelikan</I> was under discussion,
+for Captain Holloway had convened another council of war at eight bells
+in the afternoon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The boats carried by the monitors were not fit for cutting-out work,
+and although a certain means of destruction was at the command of the
+senior officer, he was reluctant to put his terrible resources into
+force on account of the presence of the <I>Myra's</I> crew on board the
+raider.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While the discussion was in progress, the majority of officers
+favouring a suggestion that the light cruisers should be brought up by
+wireless, a steam launch was reported to be coming down the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The launch bore a large white flag flying from a staff in the bows.  In
+her stern-sheets was Ober-leutnant von Langer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Received with naval honours, a guard being mounted on the quarter-deck
+of the senior monitor, von Langer came over the side, and announced
+himself as the representative of Kapitan von Riesser, of H.I.M. ship
+<I>Pelikan</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, sir?" asked Captain Holloway briefly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am here to discuss terms," said the ober-leutnant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Which must be unconditional surrender of men and material," added the
+skipper of the <I>Paradox</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Excuse me," said von Langer.  "But we are not yet beaten."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are precious near it," said Captain Holloway.  "Unless the German
+Ensign is hauled down on board the <I>Pelikan</I> within an hour I will open
+fire."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-226"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-226.jpg" ALT="&quot;UNLESS THE GERMAN ENSIGN IS HAULED DOWN ON BOARD THE <I>PELIKAN</I> WITHIN AN HOUR, I OPEN FIRE.&quot;" BORDER="2">
+<H4 CLASS="h4center">
+&quot;UNLESS THE GERMAN ENSIGN IS HAULED DOWN ON BOARD THE <I>PELIKAN</I> WITHIN AN HOUR, I OPEN FIRE.&quot;
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+"If you do you must remember that there are many English prisoners on
+board," declared the ober-leutnant with the air of a man who has thrown
+down his trump card.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Within one hour, unless the <I>Pelikan</I> is surrendered in her present
+state, without further damage to her stores, equipment, and hull, we
+open fire," was the British officer's mandate.  "Return to your ship at
+once, Herr Leutnant, and inform Kapitan von Riesser that he must take
+immediate steps to safeguard his British prisoners, either by sending
+them down the river or else by placing them in a secure shelter on
+shore.  I shall hold your kapitan and officers morally responsible for
+any of the <I>Myra's</I> crew who may be killed or injured in the
+forthcoming operations."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have yet to find the <I>Pelikan</I>," spluttered the German officer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Excuse me, sir, she is found," said Captain Holloway.  "To show that I
+am not in the habit of speaking at random I will produce proofs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He gave an order to a seaman, who doubled off to the quarter-deck
+companion-ladder.  Presently Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong, who during
+the interview had discreetly gone below, appeared on deck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ober-leutnant's jaw dropped.  His podgy cheeks quivered with
+intense surprise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Donnerwetter!" he exclaimed.  "This is a colossal shock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With an effort he pulled himself together, clicked his heels and
+saluted the British senior officer.  Then fumbling in his breast pocket
+he produced a document and handed it to the captain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a formal surrender.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In it Kapitan von Riesser agreed to hand over the <I>Pelikan</I> at the hour
+of nine on the following morning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good," said Captain Holloway.  "We are willing to give you a few
+hours' respite, but you are to clearly understand that nothing must be
+done in that interval that will affect the <I>Pelikan</I> from a military
+point of view.  You must also send the <I>Myra's</I> men down by boat before
+sunset."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To that I agree," replied von Langer, and stiffly refusing the
+invitation to have a glass of wine the German officer went over the
+side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Von Langer's steam cutter was barely out of sight when a couple of
+German officers belonging to the land forces appeared on the bank,
+bearing a white flag.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Their business was quickly transacted.  They desired to surrender
+forthwith and unconditionally the remaining troops under their command.
+Within an hour eighty-five men, many of them badly wounded, were
+shipped on board the sea-plane parent ship <I>Simplicita</I>.  Out of the
+three hundred reservists who had transhipped from the <I>San Matias</I> to
+the <I>Pelikan</I> but thirty-three were untouched by the British fire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Well before sunset the first of the conditions of the <I>Pelikan's</I>
+surrender was carried out.  The steam cutter returned towing a whaler
+in which were the crew of the <I>Myra</I>.  British reticence went by the
+board when they hove in sight.  They cheered frantically like delighted
+children.  Having been under the talons of the German Eagle, they
+realized more than ever before the world-wide power of Britain's
+sea-power.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Amongst them was Captain Pennington, who was warmly greeted by the
+officers of the <I>Crustacean</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He reported that the <I>Pelikan</I> was being prepared for surrender; that
+her garb of palms was being removed, but as far as he knew no attempt
+had been made to throw overboard the remaining guns, or to destroy the
+stores and munitions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And to-morrow," remarked Stirling to his chum&mdash;"to-morrow we will
+redeem these."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And he held out Kapitan von Riesser's receipt for the gold that he had
+taken from the three subs when they were captured on the <I>Nichi Maru</I>.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap23"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+How the <I>Pelikan</I> Surrendered
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+As soon as darkness set in the monitors switched on their searchlights,
+the <I>Crustacean</I>, which was farthest up-stream, training her projectors
+on the channel in the direction of the distant <I>Pelikan</I>, while the
+<I>Paradox</I> swept both banks with her powerful beams.  In the lagoon the
+<I>Eureka</I> and the <I>Simplicita</I> directed their searchlights upon the
+shore.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About one bell in the middle watch the look-out on the <I>Crustacean</I>
+noticed two dark objects drifting down-stream.  At first he thought
+them to be a pair of hippopotami, but as their relative distance seemed
+constant and there was no sign of propulsion, he reported the matter to
+the officer of the watch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's only a part of the boom, smashed by our shell fire," he remarked
+casually.  "We'll get a lot of wreckage down with the ebb-tide."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nevertheless he gave orders for the helm to be starboarded.  The
+monitor, sheering to port under the force of the current until her
+cable was hard athwart her stem, missed the barrels, for such they
+were, by a good twenty yards.  Steadily they drifted by, eventually
+stranding in the mud at a distance of two hundred yards from the
+<I>Paradox</I>.  In half an hour they were high and dry, lying directly in
+the rays of the larger monitor's searchlight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Twenty minutes later another pair of barrels came drifting down.  The
+officer of the watch of the <I>Crustacean</I> executed a similar manoeuvre,
+but before the monitor sheered out of the track of the derelicts, the
+barrels were hung up one on either side of the bows.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can hear something ticking, sir," reported a seaman leaning over the
+low freeboard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The officer hastened for'ard and listened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nonsense!" he declared.  "It's the bull-frogs on shore that you can
+hear, or else the lap of the water.  They're only waterlogged
+barricoes.  Push them clear with a boat-hook."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Three or four seamen tried to free the bows from the obstruction but
+without success.  The barrels afforded little or no grip, and pinned
+down by the rush of tide refused to be thrown clear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Away sea-boat!" ordered the officer of the watch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Quickly the boat was manned, and rowing well ahead of the <I>Crustacean</I>,
+was allowed to drop stern foremost until the coxswain was able to bend
+a rope to one of the barrels.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can you hear anything, Sanders?" asked the officer of the watch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sir," replied the petty officer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As a matter of fact he was suffering from gun deafness, but from
+praiseworthy yet indiscreet motives he had kept the knowledge of his
+temporary physical defect to himself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ordering the men to give way, the coxswain jerked the obstruction clear
+of the <I>Crustacean's</I> hawse.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Shall I make this fast alongside, sir?" he asked.  "Perhaps you'd be
+likely to examine it in the morning."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," was the reply, "Tow it clear of the <I>Paradox's</I> hawse and cast it
+adrift."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The boat pushed off.  The officer of the watch, returning to the
+bridge, watched the progress of the two barrels as they wobbled in her
+wake.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly his attention was aroused in another direction by a loud shout
+of; "Vessel dead ahead, sir!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sweeping round a bend in the river into the glare of the searchlights
+was the <I>Pelikan</I>.  She was drifting broadside on, her length appearing
+to occupy the whole breadth of the deep channel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Action stations, there!" roared the officer of the watch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A bugle blared.  Up from below tumbled swarms of men dressed in motley
+array of a meagre description.  The officers, berthed in the after part
+of the superstructure, rushed out.  In thirty seconds the turret, with
+its pair of monster 14-inch guns, was surging round as a preliminary
+test of the turning mechanism.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At a glance Stirling took in the situation.  The <I>Pelikan</I>, being not
+under control, had been turned adrift with the object of fouling and
+seriously damaging the British vessels lying in the strong tideway.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He telegraphed for half-speed ahead.  The engine-room bell had not
+clanged a minute when the propellers began to churn.  Hurriedly the
+cable was slipped, and the anchor with eighty fathoms of studded steel
+chain was lost for ever in the muddy bed of the Mohoro.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The youthful lieutenant-commander's first duty was to avoid the danger
+of being fouled.  He could not go astern until the <I>Paradox</I> was safely
+under way.  Regarding the <I>Pelikan</I> he was as yet uncertain whether to
+order the sea-boats to board her and drop anchor, if by chance her
+ground tackle were ready for instant use, or whether to sink the raider
+without further ado.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His deliberations were cut short by a tremendous explosion on the bank
+of the river on the starboard quarter of the <I>Crustacean</I>.  Where the
+stranded barrels had been was a huge cavity in the mud, into which the
+water was pouring rapidly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few seconds later another explosion occurred well astern of the
+<I>Paradox</I>.  The barrels were nothing more or less than deadly infernal
+machines.  Had they exploded close to the side of either of the
+monitors it would be doubtful whether, even with their elaborate
+protection against torpedoes, they would have kept afloat after the
+terrific concussion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Almost simultaneously the searchlights on the <I>Paradox</I> went out.
+Fragments from the explosion had put the two projectors out of action.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The echoes of the explosion had scarce died away when a shout was
+raised that the drifting <I>Pelikan</I> was on fire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With startling suddenness lurid flames were belching from her decks.
+Spurts of red-tinged smoke eddied from her open scuttles.  In a few
+seconds she was a mass of fire from bow to stern.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly she drifted down-stream.  At intervals her stern hung up in the
+mud, till, caught by the current, she would swing round and slide away
+from the bank.  The flames reached well above her mastheads, yet there
+was comparatively little smoke.  The roar of the devouring elements
+out-voiced every other sound, even the terrified noises of the denizens
+of the mangrove forests as they fled from the glare that rivalled that
+of the sun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From the conning-tower Stirling ordered a shot to be fired from one of
+the huge turret-guns, but before the muzzle could be depressed a
+stupendous explosion shook sky, land, and water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh, gripping the bridge rail, felt himself borne backwards by the
+furious rush of air.  Temporarily blinded by the vividness of the
+flash, he was dimly aware of a series of crashes above and below him.
+The stanchion rails snapped off short.  In vain the sub strove to
+regain his balance; he subsided heavily against the side of the
+chart-room, stunned by the terrific thunder-clap that followed the
+explosion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Intense darkness succeeded the vivid brightness of the prolonged flash.
+The searchlights of the <I>Crustacean</I> had failed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly Denbigh sat up.  He became aware that debris was littering the
+partly wrecked bridge.  In vain he tried to pierce the darkness and
+discern the whereabouts of his companions.  A hot, pungent smoke
+drifted past, causing him to splutter almost to suffocation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Someone tripped across his legs.  It was Stirling emerging from the
+conning-tower.  He recognized the sub's very forcible language.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hold on," cautioned Denbigh, "or you'll be overboard.  The bridge has
+gone to blazes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As he spoke the <I>Crustacean</I> shuddered.  Her bows rose slightly.  With
+her hull still quivering under the pulsations of her engines she had
+run aground on a mud-bank on the port-hand side of the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Treading warily Stirling groped till he found the engine-room
+telegraph.  Guessing the position of the lever he ordered "Stop".  In
+the pitch-dark engine-room, for every electric lamp in the ship had
+been shattered, the artificers, facing death amidst the whirring
+machinery, succeeded in carrying out his orders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Through the darkness came muttered exclamations and partly stifled
+groans.  Down-stream the <I>Paradox's</I> siren, for want of better means of
+communication, was wailing in long and short blasts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have brought up to starboard," was the message.  "You may feel your
+way past me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's no may about it," thought Stirling grimly; then, leaning on
+the twisted bridge rails, he shouted in stentorian tones: "The hands
+will fall in on the port side of superstructure facing outboard.
+Bugler!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sir!" replied a boyish voice through the impenetrable gloom&mdash;a voice
+without a tremor save of excitement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sound the 'Still'."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A silence brooded over the stricken monitor.  Even the wounded forbore
+to groan.  Then someone appeared from the superstructure bearing a
+couple of "battle lanterns".  Lights, too, began to glimmer through the
+hatchways, while with admirable promptness the electrical staff set to
+work to renew the carbons of the searchlights and to test the circuits
+of the internal lighting system.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Already the wounded were being carried below by their messmates.  Four
+scorched and maimed forms lay motionless on the low fo'c'sle.  There
+was no need to bestow medical attention upon them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By this time Denbigh was aware that besides Stirling and himself only
+three persons remained on the bridge.  Neither of them was O'Hara.  Nor
+could he find the mate of the <I>Myra</I>, who on the first alarm had
+hurried with the others to the bridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sub made his way to the ladder.  Two steps did he descend, then his
+foot encountered nothingness.  The rest of the ladder had been swept
+out of existence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grasping the still intact handrail Denbigh lowered himself to the
+superstructure.  Almost the first man he met was Armstrong, who was
+mopping his cheek with a blood-stained handkerchief.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's nothing," replied the mate in answer to Denbigh's enquiry.
+"Didn't discover until I went below."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Seen anything of O'Hara?" asked the sub anxiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I've just carried him below, and I was on my way back to look for
+you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thanks," said Denbigh briefly.  "And what's happened to O'Hara?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only shaken, I believe.  He was blown off the bridge with the signal
+locker for company.  They both fetched up against a splinter screen.
+O'Hara swears it isn't much, but I have my doubts."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two officers made their way across heaps of debris to the
+diminutive ward-room.  Here lying on a cushion on the floor was O'Hara.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He turned to smile as Denbigh entered but the attempt was a dismal
+failure.  His face was drawn and grey in spite of his tanned complexion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My leg feels a bit queer," he said in answer to his chum's enquiry.
+"No, don't bother about the doctor.  He's got quite enough to do.  I
+say, old man, von Riesser's giving us a run for our money, isn't he?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+O'Hara's sentiments were almost identical with those of the rest of the
+ship's company.  Not a word was said concerning the treachery of the
+kapitan of the <I>Pelikan</I>, whose method of handing over his ship was far
+from being in accordance with the terms of the capitulation.  The fact
+that von Riesser had outwitted them certainly gave them food for
+reflection, but the unanimous conclusion was that the fun was by no
+means over.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The falling tide left the <I>Crustacean</I> hard and fast aground on the
+slimy mud.  With daylight the actual state of affairs could be
+discerned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A quarter of a mile up-stream lay the remains of the much-sought-for
+raider.  Only a few bent and buckled ribs and plates showing just above
+the water's edge marked the spot whence the devastating explosion had
+emanated.  One of her funnels, looking like a distended concertina, had
+been hurled ashore and had lodged against a clump of palm trees.  The
+mud-flats and the adjoining banks were littered with fragments of metal
+twisted into weird and fantastic shapes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Down-stream lay the <I>Paradox</I>, now swinging to the young flood.  The
+bore was not now in evidence, since it was the period of neap-tides,
+and the alteration in the direction of the tidal stream was scarcely
+perceptible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Paradox</I> had come off comparatively lightly.  To all outward
+appearances she was intact, with the exception of her wireless gear,
+the wreckage of which was already being cleared away.  Beyond a certain
+amount of breakage of glass and half a dozen of her crew sustaining
+slight wounds, the damage done was not in proportion to the danger to
+which she had been exposed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The <I>Crustacean</I> had suffered severely.  Her fire-control platform and
+wireless gear had been swept out of existence.  There were four deep
+gashes in her funnel, which was only kept in position by the chain
+guys.  One half of the bridge had vanished; the remaining portion
+resembled a scrap-iron heap.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her boats had been badly shattered save one, and that exception was the
+sea-boat, which was on her way back to the monitor when the explosion
+took place and escaped injury.  Every bit of steel work exposed to the
+destroyed ship was pitted and blistered, while a heavy mass of plating
+from the <I>Pelikan</I> had embedded itself in the monitor's quarterdeck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Below the water-line she was undamaged.  On taking soundings in her
+well no abnormal quantity of water was found.  With the assistance of
+the <I>Paradox</I> it would be a comparatively easy matter to release her
+from her mud berth at high water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But other work was imminent.  Every minute Kapitan von Riesser and the
+remainder of the <I>Pelikan's</I> crew were increasing the distance between
+them and their foes.  Without delay steps had to be taken to bring the
+treacherous Germans to bay.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap24"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXIV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+The Landing-Party
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+No one could accuse Captain Holloway of tardiness.  He had the
+reputation of being an alert and promising officer, and on this
+occasion he excelled himself.  Within an hour after sunrise the
+landing-party from the flotilla was on its way to tackle the remnants
+of the <I>Pelikan's</I> crew; for almost as soon as the raider had been
+swept out of existence the British senior officer was drawing up his
+orders that the unexpected turn of events had necessitated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Towed by the two steamboats of the <I>Simplicita</I>, four cutters from the
+<I>Paradox</I>, <I>Eureka</I>, and the seaplane parent ship set off up the river.
+Into the boats were packed one hundred and twenty officers and men
+drawn from each vessel of the little squadron.  Each boat carried a
+quick-firer in the bows and a Maxim, in addition to stores sufficient
+to last a week or ten days.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The expedition was under the orders of Lieutenant-commander Bourne,
+while amongst the officers was Sub-lieutenant Frank Denbigh, with
+Armstrong in charge of stores.  Much to his disgust Pat O'Hara found
+himself "turned down" by the Principal Medical Officer; the former's
+assurances that his ankle would improve with a little exercise being
+brushed aside by the latter, who knew perfectly well that days would
+elapse before the Irishman could set foot upon the <I>Crustacean's</I> deck,
+let alone the crowded stern-sheets of an armed cutter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before the boats were out of sight of the still stranded <I>Crustacean</I>
+two sea-planes ascended and flew swiftly inland.  Without their aid the
+landing-party would be literally groping for their foes, since it was
+not known whether von Riesser and his men had taken to their boats or
+had set out through the mangroves towards the grass-grown hinterland.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh having more knowledge of the Mohoro River than any of the other
+officers&mdash;and his knowledge was limited to a stretch of less than ten
+miles&mdash;was navigating officer in charge of the leading steamboat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While the other officers were sweeping the mudflat fringed banks with
+their glasses Denbigh directed his attention towards the turgid channel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently a line of bobbing objects caught his vision.  Ordering the
+leading stoker to ease down the engines he signalled by means of
+hand-flags to the steamboat astern to likewise reduce speed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The objects that had attracted his attention were the barrels forming
+the boom across the river almost abreast of the wrecked
+torpedo-station.  The <I>Pelikan</I>, he knew, had been moored above the
+obstruction.  She had drifted down past them before she took fire and
+blew up.  Unless the boom had been temporarily removed and afterwards
+replaced he could not understand how the raider could have descended
+with the ebb-tide without sweeping the line of barrels away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's wrong?" enquired Bourne.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Briefly Denbigh explained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It would be as well if we sent a shell into one of those barrels," he
+added.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Waste of good ammunition," objected the lieutenant-commander.  "The
+steamboat can take it bows on at full speed ahead.  She'll do it
+easily."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That I do not doubt," replied the sub.  "But I have an idea that those
+barricoes are filled with explosives, although we bumped into one of
+them when we were in a light punt."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just then the P.O. telegraphist for wireless duties, who was ensconced
+in a small insulated cage on the rearmost cutter, received a message
+from one of the sea-planes to the effect that the Germans had been
+located.  They had landed from the boats at a spot twenty miles above
+the former anchorage of the <I>Pelikan</I> and were making their way towards
+the hills.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They're funking it," declared Bourne.  "Everything points to a hurried
+flight.  They may have swung the boom back in position, but I doubt the
+accuracy of your mine theory."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very good, sir," replied Denbigh.  "Then you wish the steamboat to
+charge the obstruction?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, carry on," said Bourne.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh was too accustomed to discipline to demur in the face of
+definite orders.  He prepared to cast off the tow, for the steamboat
+was to essay the feat alone.  The two cutters were to anchor until a
+passage had been cleared through the obstruction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I hope I'm wrong," thought the sub as he ordered the leading
+stoker to "let her rip for all she's worth."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But before the boat could gather way there was a commotion in the water
+ahead.  A large hippo, frightened by the unusual noises that had
+disturbed the usually peaceful river, made off up-stream.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Swerving neither to the right hand nor the left the huge animal bore
+down upon the line of floating barrels.  It passed between a pair of
+them.  For a moment it seemed that he had surmounted the massive chain,
+until the sudden displacement of the barrels showed that its body had
+fouled the hidden barrier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hippo reared in fury and terror, bringing its whole weight down
+upon the chain.  Instantly a line of waterspouts shot high in the air
+accompanied by a simultaneous discharge of half a dozen mines.  The
+sudden strain had ignited tubes of fulminate of mercury, which in turn
+had exploded heavy charges of gun-cotton.  Had the boat been a hundred
+yards nearer not one of her crew would have escaped.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In silence Denbigh brought the steamboat abreast of the first cutter
+and re-established communication.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The lieutenant-commander stood up, and in a steady, clear voice
+exclaimed:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well done, Mr. Denbigh!  My judgment was hopelessly at fault."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's all right, sir," replied the sub.  He knew the effort that
+Bourne had had to make to tender his apologies.  Having given his order
+in the hearing of the men it was the only course open to him.  And
+Bourne was an officer who, although somewhat impetuous, was never
+afraid to acknowledge an error.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With the flood-tide the flotilla made good progress.  Rounding the
+sharp bend where the <I>Myra</I> had disappeared, the boats entered a gently
+curving reach that apparently made a long horseshoe sweep.  At this
+point the mangroves ceased.  The ground became higher, the banks being
+precipitous in places, and covered with long rank grass.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There are the <I>Pelikan's</I> boats," reported Denbigh, pointing to two
+large pinnaces lying against the banks to which they had been carried
+by the tide.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In answer to an enquiry the scouting sea-plane reported that further
+progress a mile round the next bend was barred by a series of rapids,
+and that the Germans had established a gain of nearly ten miles, and
+were approaching the bottle-neck formed by the extreme sinuosities of
+the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can you check them?" asked Bourne anxiously.  He was not at all keen
+on a ten- or twenty-mile march through the rough grass.  If the
+sea-planes could command the narrow stretch of ground between the
+horseshoe bend von Riesser's men might be headed off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We'll try," was the wirelessed reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile the steamboat had cast off the tow, and the cutters still
+carrying way were steered towards the bank.  Here, owing to the rush of
+the tide, there was fairly deep water close to the land, and
+fortunately an absence of mud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Grounding twenty feet apart the boats disgorged their loads, the seamen
+leaping ashore in spite of the weight of arms and accoutrements.  The
+Maxims, too, were landed and mounted upon light travelling carriages.
+The portable wireless apparatus was to accompany the landing-party,
+while the officers and men left behind were to land the quick-firers,
+since they could not command the ground from the boats owing to the
+height of the banks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Bourne realized that such things as reverses do happen, so he took
+precautions accordingly.  The men advanced in open order, with flankers
+thrown far and wide.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From the top of a small hillock Denbigh watched the straw hats of the
+men out of sight as they marched through the long grass; then, knowing
+that some time must necessarily elapse before the landing-party came in
+touch with the enemy, he busied himself in preparing for the
+re-embarkation, should the operations prove to be shorter than Captain
+Holloway had anticipated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With the turn of the tide the boats were taken out into mid-stream and
+anchored.  Tripping lines were bent to the crowns of the anchors, the
+other end of each line being made fast to a watch-buoy, so that the
+operation of weighing would not be delayed by the fouling of the flukes
+in possible snags on the bed of the river.  Gang planks were prepared
+in order that no hitch might occur should the men return at or near
+dead-low water, when a stretch of ooze separated the dry ground from
+the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For two hours Denbigh directed operations under the blazing sun.  His
+men worked like niggers, knowing that they, too, were doing their bit
+although not in the actual firing-line.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At intervals came the faint detonations of a series of heavy
+explosions.  The sea-planes were at work, attempting by means of bombs
+to arrest the flight of von Riesser's men across the narrow neck of
+land.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Late in the forenoon one of the sea-planes flew overhead.  Without
+essaying to make a landing on the river, it flew down-stream,
+presumably to take in a fresh supply of petrol and bombs.  In an hour's
+time it returned, and presently its opposite number flew overhead in
+the direction of its parent ship.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Slowly the day wore on.  At frequent intervals Denbigh climbed the
+hillock and brought his glasses to bear upon the distant high ground.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once or twice he fancied he heard the sounds of musketry and Maxim
+firing in the sultry air.  Armstrong and several of the men were of the
+same opinion, agreeing that the firing was desultory and not constantly
+maintained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At length darkness fell.  No one had seen the sea-planes returning
+before sunset, and in addition to the great risk of making a night
+landing these craft are of little practical use except in daylight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With the approach of night Denbigh ordered double sentries to be
+posted, and cautioned the boat-keepers to be alert and watchful for
+signals.  Those of the men left behind slept or rested beside the
+quick-firers, protected from the heavy dew by boat awnings stretched on
+oars and boat-hooks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For Denbigh sleep was out of the question.  Muffled in a boat-cloak,
+for the off-shore wind blew chilly, he paced up and down with the mate
+of the <I>Myra</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's that over yonder?" asked Armstrong.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Flashes&mdash;musketry," replied Denbigh.  "It's strange that we cannot
+hear the reports, for the wind is in our favour."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Too steady for rifle-firing," suggested the mate.  "Looks to me like a
+bush fire."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By Jove, I hope not," said the sub earnestly.  "The grass will catch
+like tinder."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A minute or so passed, then Denbigh lowered his binoculars.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You're right, Armstrong," he said.  "It is a fire.  Those brutes have
+set the grass ablaze to cover their retreat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hark!" exclaimed the mate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Overhead came the unmistakable buzzing of an aerial propeller.  One of
+the sea-planes, if not both, was returning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seizing a flashing-lamp Denbigh directed it skywards.  It was the only
+means at his disposal for communication.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A light blinked through the darkness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Dash, dot</I>.  Pause.  <I>Dash, dash, dash</I>" it flashed; then it ceased
+abruptly.  Nevertheless the answer was to the point.  It was NO.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap25"></A>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+Accounted For
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Before another quarter of an hour passed the long line of flames was
+visible to the naked eye.  Fanned by the strong breeze the fire spread
+rapidly.  It seemed as if its activity was by no means confined to the
+horseshoe loop formed by the river.  It appeared to have obtained a
+grip upon the grass on the opposite bank.  Once the flames attacked the
+mangroves there was no saying where the mischief might end.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh could do little to aid his absent comrades, who, for aught he
+knew, might even now be overwhelmed by the swift advance of the
+devouring elements.  Turning out the men who remained he had the
+quick-firer ammunition removed to the boats.  Then setting fire to the
+grass around the bivouac he cleared a broad belt nearly a hundred yards
+in diameter.  At all events the main fire would be checked before the
+flotilla was seriously imperilled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By the time that this work was completed the flames were within three
+miles of the camp.  For a breadth of more than twice that distance the
+grass was blazing furiously.  Lurid red tongues of flame licked the
+dark cloud of smoke that overhung the devouring elements.  Already the
+air was reeking with pungent fumes.  Grey ashes, caught by the strong
+wind, whirled past the anxious watchers or dashed lightly into their
+faces.  Dark shapes, silhouetted against the red glare, tore madly from
+the advancing fire.  They were the denizens of the grass lands flying
+for their lives.  Undeterred by the water the panic-stricken animals
+plunged into the river, some of them in their terror frantically pawing
+the sides of the anchored boats.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Dash it all!" muttered Denbigh.  "Wish to goodness I'd cleared another
+hundred yards of the scrub.  We'll be shrivelled up with the heat.
+There's still time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Calling to his handful of men the sub ran into the open.  This time,
+since the inner circle offered no grip to the flames, they could work
+without fear of the fire getting the upper hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the midst of their preparations Denbigh heard a hoarse shout.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Stumbling towards him, half-enveloped in the haze that was the
+forerunner of the roaring furnace, were two men.  One fell, picked
+himself up, and staggered after his companion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Outlined as they were against the ruddy glare it was impossible to
+distinguish them, but as the British seamen ran forward to bear them
+into safety the men raised their arms appealingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Help, kamarade, help!" they cried.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Germans!" ejaculated Armstrong.  "Where are our fellows?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Denbigh could not give an answer.  A glance in the direction of the
+wall of fire, now less than a quarter of a mile distant, told him that
+life was impossible in front of that barrier unless the fugitives were
+already in sight.  But they were not The sub set his jaw tightly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where are the others&mdash;and the British seamen?" he asked in German of
+one of the men.  The other was beyond speech.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All gone!  All gone!" replied the German.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's another, sir!" exclaimed a petty officer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come on, stick it!" shouted half a dozen lusty voices in encouragement.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The third man was evidently in the last stages of exhaustion.  He was
+gasping for breath as he ran, but the hot acrid air was fast choking
+him.  He flung his arms above his head and pitched upon his face, with
+the burning embers dropping all around him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A cloud of eddying smoke enveloped him.  Then a gust of wind cleared
+the pall of vapour.  The wretch was writhing.  His clothes were
+smouldering as he lay helpless in the withering grass.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a bound Denbigh cleared the shallow trench, and bending low rushed
+through the smoke.  Burning ashes stung his face.  What air he took in
+through his nose felt pungent and suffocating.  The heat seemed to gnaw
+into his eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+How he covered that two hundred yards he never could explain, but at
+length, with a feeling of relief, he turned his broad back to the
+advancing flames and raised the now unconscious man from the ground.
+With almost superhuman strength he lifted the listless body upon his
+shoulder and began his bid for safety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Almost blindly he ran till his gait slowed down almost to a halting
+walk.  Dimly he realized that he was not alone.  Some of the devoted
+seamen had followed him into the edge of the inferno.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Someone tried to shift the burden from his shoulders.  He resisted.
+Why he knew not.  Already his senses were forsaking him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a crash he fell upon his knees.  He was up and staggering again,
+until, unable to withstand the strain, he rolled inertly upon the
+ground with his fingers gripping his throat.  Then all became a blank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He recovered consciousness to find himself lying on a pile of canvas in
+the stern-sheets of one of the boats.  It was broad daylight.  Overhead
+an awning had been spread to ward off the rays of the morning sun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Almost in an instant he recalled the incident of the night of horror.
+The air still smelt vilely of smouldering vegetable matter.  Wisps of
+smoke eddied betwixt the sun and the awning, throwing fantastic shadows
+upon the bellying canvas.  The fire, then, had practically burnt itself
+out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Any signs of the others?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Armstrong shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The whole place is a mass of glowing cinders," he replied.  "It is
+impossible to see more than a quarter of a mile in that direction.  I'm
+afraid&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Any more survivors?" asked Denbigh.  The mere movement of his facial
+muscles caused him exquisite pain, for his face was scorched and
+blistered.  His hair and eyebrows had been badly singed.  Altogether he
+looked a pitiable scarecrow.  It is only on the stage and on the
+cinematograph screen that heroes preserve an unruffled appearance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," replied the mate.  "Not one, after the fellow you brought in.
+Did you know who it was?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sub shook his head, then winced, for the action sent a thrill of
+anguish through his body.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Unter-leutnant Klick," continued Armstrong in answer to his own
+question.  "He's still unconscious.  We dare not move him to the boats.
+His skin is literally peeling off all over his body.  Shall I have you
+sent down the river, old man?  The chief petty officer is now in
+charge.  Is he to withdraw the rest of the boats?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," replied Denbigh with sudden firmness.  "No; by no means.  We'll
+wait until we can send volunteers to find traces of our fellows.  Have
+the sea-planes passed over yet?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Armstrong replied in the negative.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How are the other Germans?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One is practically fit.  The other is suffering from shock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then send the fit fellow to me, please."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man was brought to the boat.  He was one of the <I>Pelikan's</I>
+firemen.  Questioned in German he replied without hesitation.  The fire
+had been started, he declared, not by the raider's crew, but by bombs
+dropped by British sea-planes.  There was an action, but he and half a
+dozen more worked round by the two banks until they were almost cut off
+by the flames.  He had reason to suppose that both the British and the
+German forces had been overwhelmed by the onrushing flames.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Throughout the afternoon Denbigh lay in torment in spite of the
+first-aid remedies applied by the only sick-berth attendant left with
+the base party.  Hardly ever before had he felt the sweltering heat so
+acutely.  The air under the awning was close and oppressive.  It reeked
+both of the odour of the river and of the fumes of the smouldering
+grass.  There was one compensation.  The fire had effectually driven
+off the swarms of mosquitoes that otherwise would have increased his
+torments.  He would have given almost anything to be back on board
+ship, with the sea breezes flung in through the open scuttle and the
+electric fans cooling the air.  But stop he must until he had obtained
+definite information as to the fate of the landing-party.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I doubt after all if there's much to grumble at," he soliloquized.  "I
+might have been born to become a Tommy, and I might be stuck up to my
+thighs in mud and water in a trench somewhere in France.  It's all part
+of one big business, and we're keeping our end up all right."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then his thoughts took a turn in another direction.  He was no longer a
+prisoner of war.  In another few months he hoped to be back in England.
+What plans he would make to spin out that long-deferred leave!  For the
+time being he was no longer in a vile African river, but in a pretty
+old-world garden in the homeland.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suddenly his train of thought was rudely interrupted by a hoarse,
+almost frenzied burst of cheering.  The boat-keeper, thrusting his head
+below the curtains to ascertain whether the sub was awake or otherwise,
+answered Denbigh's mute appeal.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's orl right, sir," he announced.  "They've romped home; the whole
+bloomin' crush."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Following the downward course of the river was the landing-party,
+bringing with them forty-three German prisoners, including Kapitan von
+Riesser.  Their own losses had been insignificant, for during the
+long-drawn-out action that was brought to an abrupt conclusion by the
+fire, one British officer and seven seamen had been slightly wounded.
+These were brought in by the stretcher-bearers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The escape of the little expedition was due to their resourcefulness in
+fighting fire by fire.  Finding that their retreat was not speedy
+enough to outpace the flames, Lieutenant-commander Bourne had given
+orders to set alight the long grass to leeward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By this means, though suffering agonies from thirst and heat, the
+British and their prisoners escaped.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The career of the raider and her crew had been brought to a close, and
+before nightfall the boats of the flotilla had regained their
+respective ships.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent" ALIGN="center">
+<SPAN STYLE="letter-spacing: 4em">*****</SPAN><BR>
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Frank Denbigh is sub-lieutenant no longer, but a full-fledged
+lieutenant with the letters D.S.O. tacked on to his name.  He has just
+received his appointment to a brand-new battle-cruiser, and is about to
+serve with the Grand Fleet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Pat O'Hara is still limping about on one foot somewhere in the Emerald
+Isle.  He, too, has gained a step in rank, but rather envies his chum's
+good luck.  Still, there is time for the light-headed Irishman to get
+fit again and be in at the death, when, it is to be hoped, the visions
+of the trident in the German fist will be shattered for good and aye.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And Stirling?  In recognition of his services he is confirmed as
+lieutenant-commander of the monitor <I>Crustacean</I>.  He is still looking
+forward to his leave in the Highlands, but meanwhile he is doing good
+work in a remote portion of the globe in upholding the glorious
+tradition of the real Mistress of the Seas.
+</P>
+
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@@ -0,0 +1,7808 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Rounding up the Raider, by Percy F. Westerman
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Rounding up the Raider
+       A Naval Story of the Great War
+
+Author: Percy F. Westerman
+
+Illustrator: E. S. Hodgson
+
+Release Date: June 23, 2011 [EBook #36499]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROUNDING UP THE RAIDER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover art]
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: DENBIGH AND HIS COMPANIONS ARE RESCUED BY A MONITOR
+_Page_ 207.  _Frontispiece_]
+
+
+
+
+
+ROUNDING UP
+
+THE RAIDER
+
+
+A Naval Story of the Great War
+
+
+
+BY
+
+PERCY F. WESTERMAN
+
+Author of "The Fight for Constantinople"
+  "Sea Scouts All"
+      &c. &c.
+
+
+
+_Illustrated by E. S. Hodgson_
+
+
+
+BLACKIE & SON LIMITED
+
+LONDON AND GLASGOW
+
+1916
+
+
+
+
+  By Percy F. Westerman
+
+  Haunted Harbour.
+  His Unfinished Voyage.
+  Midshipman Webb's Treasure
+  Winged Might.
+  Captain Flick.
+  Tireless Wings.
+  His First Ship.
+  The Red Pirate.
+  The Call of the Sea.
+  Standish of the Air Police.
+  Sleuths of the Air.
+  Andy-All-Alone.
+  The Westow Talisman.
+  The White Arab.
+  The Buccaneers of Boya.
+  Rounding up the Raider.
+  Captain Fosdyke's Gold.
+  In Defiance of the Ban.
+  The Senior Cadet.
+  The Amir's Ruby.
+  The Secret of the Plateau.
+  Leslie Dexter, Cadet.
+  All Hands to the Boats.
+  A Mystery of the Broads.
+  Rivals of the Reef.
+  Captain Starlight.
+  On the Wings of the Wind.
+  Captain Blundell's Treasure.
+  The Third Officer.
+  Unconquered Wings.
+  Pat Stobart in the "Golden Dawn".
+  Ringed by Fire.
+  Midshipman Raxworthy.
+  Chums of the "Golden Vanity".
+  Clipped Wings.
+  Rocks Ahead.
+  King for a Month.
+  The Disappearing Dhow.
+  The Luck of the "Golden Dawn".
+  The Salving of the "Fusi Yama".
+  Winning his Wings.
+  The Good Ship "Golden Effort".
+  East in the "Golden Gain".
+  The Quest of the "Golden Hope".
+  The Wireless Officer.
+  The Submarine Hunters.
+  The Thick of the Fray at Zeebrugge.
+  With Beatty off Jutland.
+  The Dispatch Riders.
+  A Cadet of the Mercantile Marine.
+  With the Last of the Buccaneers.
+  A Lively Bit of the Front.
+
+  The Westerman Omnibus Book
+
+
+
+
+_Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son, Ltd., Glasgow_
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+
+CHAP.
+
+     I.  THE CAPTURED LINER
+    II.  THE LAST OF THE _NICHI MARU_
+   III.  ON BOARD THE RAIDER
+    IV.  THREATENED
+     V.  THE PURSUIT OF THE _PELIKAN_
+    VI.  THE DECOY
+   VII.  FOILED BY A COLLIER
+  VIII.  REINFORCEMENTS
+    IX.  THE MIDNIGHT LANDING
+     X.  THE LAGOON
+    XI.  DENBIGH'S PLAN
+   XII.  A PERILOUS JOURNEY
+  XIII.  NOCTURNAL INVESTIGATIONS
+   XIV.  A NEGLECTED WARNING
+    XV.  ARMSTRONG'S PART
+   XVI.  THE DISASTER TO THE _MYRA_
+  XVII.  A BID FOR FREEDOM
+ XVIII.  DISAPPOINTMENT
+   XIX.  "OUR LUCK'S OUT"
+    XX.  ADRIFT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
+   XXI.  VON ECKENSTEIN'S SURPRISE
+  XXII.  THE MONITORS IN ACTION
+ XXIII.  HOW THE _PELIKAN_ SURRENDERED
+  XXIV.  THE LANDING PARTY
+   XXV.  ACCOUNTED FOR
+
+
+
+
+Illustrations
+
+
+DENBIGH AND HIS COMPANIONS ARE PICKED UP BY A
+  MONITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+"BY JOVE!" EJACULATED O'HARA. "SHE MUST BE ONE OF OUR MONITORS"
+
+THE 'LOG' WAS A HEALTHY SPECIMEN OF A CROCODILE
+
+"UNLESS THE GERMAN ENSIGN is HAULED DOWN ON BOARD THE _PELIKAN_ WITHIN
+AN HOUR, I OPEN FIRE"
+
+
+
+
+ROUNDING UP THE RAIDER
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+The Captured Liner
+
+"Fifteen days more and then Old England once again!" exclaimed Frank
+Denbigh.
+
+"And bonnie Scotland for me!" added Charlie Stirling.
+
+"You'll not be forgettin' 'tis Ould Oireland I'm bound for,"
+remonstrated Pat O'Hara, purposely dropping into the brogue.
+
+The three chums had just been reading the "miles made good"
+announcement that, printed in English and Japanese, was daily exhibited
+in various parts of S.S. _Nichi Maru_.
+
+"Hostile submarines permitting," remarked Denbigh with a laugh, after
+he had taken good care that no lady passengers were within earshot.
+
+"Rot!" ejaculated Stirling.  "We've cleared them out of the Channel
+pretty well.  It's part of the work of the British Navy under----"
+
+"Stop it!" interrupted O'Hara good-humouredly.  "I know what you were
+going to say: that old tag from the Articles of War.  I propose that
+every time the word submarine is mentioned by anyone of us while on
+board this vessel the delinquent shall be suitably punished as soon as
+the sun's over the fore-yard."
+
+"Hear, hear!  I second that," agreed Stirling.  "No more 'shop'.  We'll
+get plenty of that in a few weeks' time.  I fancy My Lords won't let us
+kick our heels in idleness for long, and honestly, the sooner we settle
+down to business the better."
+
+The three chums were Sub-lieutenants, homeward bound from a portion of
+a certain group of islands off the coast of New Guinea, having till
+recently the high-sounding title of the Bismarck Archipelago.  The
+youthful but none the less glorious Australian Navy had quickly changed
+the colour of that portion of the map, but the climate was a more
+formidable foe than the former German garrison.  Thus the three young
+officers, who had been "lent" to the recently-formed navy, had the
+misfortune to be stricken with fever.
+
+After a long convalescence, which by a pure coincidence lasted almost
+exactly the same time in each of the three cases, Denbigh, Stirling,
+and O'Hara were ordered to return to England and to resume their duties
+with the navy of the Motherland.
+
+They had travelled by an intermediate boat to Singapore, whence, in
+order to save delay, they had proceeded by a Japanese liner, the _Nichi
+Maru_, bound from Nagasaki to London.  It was a case of misdirected
+zeal, for, owing to the torpedoing of a large Japanese liner in the
+Mediterranean, the _Nichi Maru_ had been ordered to take the longer
+passage round the Cape instead of the usual route via the Suez Canal.
+
+"Hulloa!  What's the excitement?" enquired Denbigh, pointing in the
+direction of the bridge.  The chums had gained the promenade deck,
+whence most of the navigating bridge of the liner could be seen.  There
+was evidently something to warrant his exclamation, for the dapper
+little Japanese officer of the watch was steadily keeping his
+binoculars upon some distant object.
+
+"There's a smudge of smoke away to the nor'east'ard," announced
+Stirling.  "The mild excitement of sighting a vessel will help to push
+the hands of the clock.  Now if someone will kindly suggest a
+sweepstake on the nationality of yonder craft----"
+
+The door of the wireless room opened.  The sharp peculiar cackle of the
+instruments announced that an exchange of messages was in progress.  A
+messenger made his way to the bridge.  Almost immediately after, the
+captain hurried from his cabin.  Evidently "something was in the wind",
+for the appearance of the imperturbable commander of the _Nichi Maru_
+at this time of day was rather unusual.
+
+"We're altering helm," declared O'Hara after a brief interval.  "Since
+we can speak with that vessel without the necessity of having to close,
+it points to something of the nature of a serious mishap."
+
+The rest of the passengers were now making their way on deck.  By an
+inexplicable intuition the presence of the still invisible vessel had
+made itself felt.  None of the officers had communicated the news that
+the _Nichi Maru_ was in touch with another craft, yet in five minutes
+the decks were crowded with a medley of Europeans and Asiatics.
+
+"Do you know what is wrong, sir?" asked Denbigh, addressing one of the
+Japanese officers who happened to be making his way aft.
+
+The Jap shook his head.  Like most of the _Nichi Maru's_ officers he
+spoke English.  The question was plain to him, but with Oriental
+reticence he politely evaded it.
+
+"I'll get my glasses," announced O'Hara.
+
+"And mine, while you are about it," said Denbigh.
+
+"And mine, too," added the Scot.
+
+O'Hara quickly returned with the desired articles.  Bringing their
+binoculars to bear upon the smudge on the horizon the three Subs made
+the discovery that there was a two-masted, three-funnelled vessel lying
+apparently hove-to.  Smoke was issuing from her after-funnel in dense
+clouds, that rose slowly in the still sultry air.
+
+"She's flying an ensign," remarked the Irishman.
+
+"Yes, straight up and down like a wet dishclout," added Stirling.  "For
+all the good it's doing it needn't be there."
+
+"Perhaps her propeller shaft is broken," suggested one of the
+passengers, an English merchant who had given up a good position in
+Tokio to return home in order to "do his bit".
+
+"Hardly," replied Denbigh.  "She's bound to be a twin screw, and it
+isn't likely that both engines would break down."
+
+"I don't know so much about that," said O'Hara, pointing aft, where a
+crowd of Japanese seamen were engaged in preparing a large flexible
+steel hawser.  "It looks as if we were going to take her in tow.  And
+it's a long, long way to Las Palmas, worse luck."
+
+"She's a Dutchman," declared Stirling.  "I can make out the red, white,
+and blue ensign.  I wouldn't mind betting she's one of the Rotterdam
+and Batavia liners."
+
+The three British officers relapsed into silence, devoting their whole
+attention upon the disabled liner which was now momentarily looming
+larger and larger as the _Nichi Maru_ hastened to her aid.
+
+Presently the engine-room telegraph bell clanged and the Japanese
+vessel's engines began to slow down.  Two of the boats were swung out
+ready to be lowered, while the four ship's surgeons stood by, ready to
+be taken to the helpless Dutchman.
+
+"Bad boiler-room accident," exclaimed one of the European passengers,
+who had learnt the news from a Japanese petty-officer.
+
+"Boiler accident be hanged!" ejaculated Denbigh, excitedly.  "We're
+done in, you fellows.  That vessel's no Dutchman."
+
+As if in confirmation of the Sub's announcement the tricolour of
+Holland was smartly lowered, its place being taken by that shame-faced
+and palpable imitation of the good old British White Ensign--the Black
+Cross of Germany.  Simultaneously portions of the vessel's plating
+swung outboard, revealing a battery of six fifteen-centimetre Krupp
+guns.
+
+"_Nichi Maru_, ahoy!" shouted a guttural voice in English, for the two
+vessels were now within megaphone-hailing distance.  "Surrender
+instantly, or we send you to the bottom."
+
+There was a pause, while the officer who had shouted the message was
+being prompted.
+
+"Make no attempt to use your wireless," he continued.  "That will not
+save you.  It will make things very bad for you.  Stand by to receive a
+prize crew."
+
+Although completely surprised by the dramatic turn of events, both the
+crew and passengers of the _Nichi Maru_ remained perfectly calm.  The
+captain, a descendant of the knightly Samurai of Old Japan, was on the
+point of ordering full speed ahead, with the object of ramming the
+perfidious vessel and sending both ships to a common destruction; but
+the knowledge that the safety of nearly a thousand non-combatants, many
+of them women and children, would be in dire peril through such an act
+compelled him to submit to the inevitable.
+
+Humanity, not fear, had conquered the courteous and lion-hearted yellow
+skipper.
+
+Boats were lowered from the German auxiliary cruiser--for such she
+undoubtedly was.  Into them clambered a number of motley-garbed men
+armed with rifles and automatic pistols.  But for their modern weapons
+the boat's crew might have come from the deck of an Eighteenth-Century
+buccaneering craft.
+
+"I say, you fellows," said O'Hara, "I'm off below."
+
+"What for?" asked his companions in surprise.  Not for one moment did
+they imagine that the Irishman was showing the white feather, but at
+the same time they were mystified by his announcement.
+
+"To get into uniform," he replied.  "Those skunks won't find me in
+mufti."
+
+"Right oh!" declared Denbigh.  "We'll slip into ours, too."
+
+In a few minutes the chums had changed into their naval uniforms.  By
+the time they regained the promenade deck the Germans were in
+possession of the ship.
+
+A fat ober-leutnant, backed up by half a dozen armed seamen, held the
+bridge, the Japanese captain and deck officers being compelled to
+retire to the chart-room.  A couple of arrogant unter-leutnants with
+much sabre-rattling, were herding the European male passengers on the
+port side of the promenade deck.  The Japanese passengers they drove
+forward with every insulting expression they could make use of.  It was
+the German officers' idea of revenge, for the fall of Kiau Chau, where
+the boasted Teutonic fortress had succumbed to Oriental valour, rankled
+in the breasts of the subjects of the All-Highest War Lord.
+
+Two German officers, apparently of the Accountant branch, had possessed
+themselves of the passenger list of the captured vessel, and were
+proceeding to call the names it contained.  Each person on hearing his
+name had to step forward.  "Denbigh, Frank," exclaimed one of the
+officers.  Denbigh, standing erect, faced his captors.  "Ah!  Englander
+officer, hein?" queried the Teuton insolently.  "Goot!  More to say
+soon.  Step there over, quick."
+
+The Sub obeyed.  He realized that at times even passive resistance was
+indiscreet.
+
+"Stirling, Charles," continued the German.  "Ach, yet anoder Englander.
+Unter-leutnant?  Goot, a goot capture of Englanders we haf."
+
+"I'm a Scot--not an Englishman," protested Stirling.
+
+"No matter.  The one is as bad as odder, if nod worse.  Over dere," and
+he pointed to the place where Denbigh was standing.
+
+"We're marked down for something, old man," whispered Denbigh.
+
+"Yes, but listen.  They're tackling O'Hara now."
+
+Sub-lieutenant O'Hara faced his inquisitor with a broad smile on his
+face.  The Germans could not understand why a man should look pleasant
+in time of adversity.
+
+"Irish?  Ach, goot!" declared the Teuton.  "Der Irish not like
+Englischmans.  When we Germans take London, Ireland free country will
+be."
+
+"You haven't got to London yet," remarked O'Hara with the perplexing
+smile still on his lips.
+
+"Already our Zeppelins hab there been.  It is matter of time.  Ach?
+Brussels, Warsaw, Bukharest, Cettigne--five capitals--all conquered."
+
+"How about Paris?" enquired O'Hara.  "To say nothing of Calais.  And
+who commands the sea?  You Germans haven't a vessel afloat outside your
+own territorial waters."
+
+"Vot is dis?" asked the Teuton, pointing to the armed liner.  His voice
+rose to a crescendo of triumph.
+
+O'Hara was temporarily non-plussed.  Evidently something was at fault
+somewhere.  How could a large vessel like that evade the strong cordon
+of British warships?
+
+"You're at the end of your tether, old sport," he said after a brief
+hesitation.  "That ship will be at the bottom before another
+twenty-four hours."
+
+"You tink so?" almost howled the exasperated German.  "You vill see.
+If she sink, den you sink mit her.  Over dere."
+
+O'Hara rejoined his chums.  A couple of armed seamen mounted guard over
+them while the work of investigation and pillage continued.
+
+"We're marked down as hostages," began the Irishman; but one of the
+seamen, bringing the butt end of his rifle down on the deck within a
+couple of inches of O'Hara's toes, rendered unnecessary the guttural
+"Verboten" that accompanied the action.
+
+In silence the three Subs watched the proceedings.  Under the orders of
+their captors the Japanese seamen were compelled to transfer bullion
+stores from the _Nichi Maru_ into the boats.  German seamen brought
+charges of explosives and placed them below.  It was apparent that the
+destruction of the captured vessel was already decided.
+
+At length all preparations were completed.  One of the _Nichi Maru's_
+officers, acting under the authority of the ober-leutnant gave the
+order--first in Japanese and then in English--to abandon the ship.
+
+"Fifteen minutes only are allowed.  Boats to be provisioned and manned.
+No personal property is to be taken.  Women and children first."
+
+The Japanese captain was expostulating, firmly and in a dignified
+manner.  He pointed out the inhumanity of sending women and children
+adrift in mid-Atlantic and under a tropical sun.  His protests were in
+vain.
+
+"We will send a small vessel to pick up the boats," retorted the German
+lieutenant.  "We will not sink a small one purposely.  A little
+discomfort will do these English good.  You yellow apes are used to it."
+
+The Japanese accepted the direct insult without signs of emotion.  The
+disguise of his feelings was a national trait, but it would have gone
+hard with the arrogant Prussian had the captain of the _Nichi Maru_ not
+been hampered with a crowd of non-combatants.
+
+"Now, Englishmen," exclaimed the German.  "Into that boat.  Any trouble
+make and you dead men.  Ach!  You smile now: your trouble it only has
+just commenced."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+The Last of the _Nichi Maru_
+
+In silence the three Subs left the doomed _Nichi Maru_ and entered the
+waiting boat.  At the word of command the men pushed off and rowed
+towards the modern pirate.
+
+The disguised vessel had now swung round and was lying motionless at a
+distance of two cables' length from her prize.  The hull was painted a
+light yellow, with a broad black band.  Her funnels were buff with
+black tops.  On her stern were the words, _Zwaan_--Rotterdam.
+
+"She's no more the _Zwaan_ of Rotterdam than I am," cogitated Denbigh.
+
+He was right in his surmise.  The vessel was originally the
+_Pelikan_--a supplementary Hamburg-Amerika Line boat.  On the outbreak
+of the war she was homeward bound from South America, with, as was the
+case with all liners flying the German flag, an armament of
+quick-firers stowed away in her hold.
+
+Unfortunately for Kaiser Wilhelm's plans the abrupt entry of Great
+Britain into the arena of war had nipped in the bud the activities of
+German commerce raiders.  A few ran amok until promptly rounded up and
+settled by the ubiquitous British cruisers.  Others fled for neutral
+ports.  Amongst them was the _Pelikan_, whose captain, with
+considerable astuteness, contrived to make for a harbour belonging to
+an obscure South American Republic.
+
+Before doing so he had fallen in with the light cruiser _Karlsruhe_--a
+craft doomed shortly afterwards to end her career at the hands of her
+own crew rather than face an action that would end either in
+destruction or ignominious capture--and from her received a number of
+additional officers and men.
+
+For a twelvemonth or more the _Pelikan_ lay hidden.  Lavish sums
+expended in bribery sealed the mouths of the grasping officials of the
+port, in addition to procuring coal and stores to enable the German
+vessel to put to sea whenever an opportunity offered.
+
+At length the chance came.  Acting under wireless orders from Berlin
+the _Pelikan_ was to make a dash for the Atlantic, do as much damage as
+she possibly could to shipping of the Allies, and finally attempt to
+reach Dar es Salaam, the principal port of German East Africa.  Here,
+should she succeed in evading the British patrols, she was to transfer
+her crew, armament, and munitions to shore to assist the land forces of
+the Colony against a threatened advance from Rhodesia.
+
+Accordingly the _Pelikan_ became the _Zwaan_.  Disguised by a different
+colour paint and supplied with forged ship's papers she easily evaded
+the lax authority of the neutral port and made for the open sea.
+
+A course was shaped to cut the Dutch East Indies liners' route in the
+latitude of Cape Verde.  Then, following in a parallel direction, the
+track usually taken by the vessels she was impersonating, the pseudo
+_Zwaan_ headed due south.
+
+Kapitan von Riesser, her commanding officer, was a resourceful and
+crafty Hun.  He was steeped in the doctrine of "frightfulness", but in
+the present instance there were limits.
+
+Had he been the commander of a U boat he would not have hesitated to
+send the _Nichi Maru_ to the bottom without warning, for a German
+submarine could strike a fatal blow and not show herself during the
+attack.  The _Pelikan_---to revert to her original name--was not
+capable of emulating the methods of German unterseebooten without risk
+of subsequent capture.  And as the possibility of being taken by a
+British warship always loomed upon von Riesser's mental horizon, he was
+determined to tread warily.
+
+The fear of reprisals alone kept him within the bounds of discretion as
+laid down by up-to-date rules of warfare.  He might sink any
+merchant-vessel that fell into his clutches, provided he gave the
+passengers and crew time to take to their boats.
+
+Three days before sighting the _Nichi Maru_ the _Pelikan_ had been
+stopped and examined by a British cruiser.  The boarding-officer knew
+neither German nor Dutch, and conversation had to be conducted in
+English.  The ship's papers were apparently in order.  The British
+lieutenant failed to pay sufficient attention to the bulky deck-gear
+that concealed the raider's quick-firers; nor did he discover that,
+hidden between double bulkheads abaft the engine-room, two
+torpedo-tubes, removed from the _Karlsruhe_, were ready for instant use
+should occasion arise.
+
+The cruiser had, indeed, a very narrow escape of sharing the fate of a
+British battleship that was torpedoed in the Channel on a dark and
+stormy night, the deadly missile being launched from a vessel sailing
+under the Dutch flag.  Only Kapitan von Riesser's doubts as to the
+immediate success of a torpedo attack prevented him putting his
+treacherous design into effect.  A stricken cruiser, he knew, could use
+her guns with tremendous results, and he had no wish to lay down his
+life for the Fatherland while an easier course lay open to him.
+Accordingly the boarding officer, with many apologies for having
+detained a neutral vessel, returned to the cruiser, which immediately
+steamed northwards, while the _Pelikan_ proceeded on her course.
+
+Having assumed that the British cruiser was well out of her way, the
+raider began to send out wireless calls, limiting the radius of action
+to about fifty miles.  She did not call in vain, for the _Nichi Maru_,
+picking up the appeal for aid, hastened to the _Pelikan's_ assistance
+and, all unsuspecting, fell a victim to her captor.
+
+During the "round-up" of the passengers, Kapitan von Riesser had been
+informed by signal of the presence of three British naval officers on
+board the _Nichi Maru_, and instructions were asked as to their
+disposal.
+
+The kapitan resolved the problem in his mind.  He could not murder the
+prisoners without the news being conveyed by the rest of the passengers
+of the Japanese liner.  If they were brought on board the _Pelikan_,
+they would be a source of danger should the ship again be overhauled by
+a patrolling cruiser, unless----
+
+He consulted the ship's surgeon.  Apparently the latter's advice was
+satisfactory.  In addition, should the _Pelikan_ arrive at Dar es
+Salaam with three British naval officers on board as prisoners, well
+and good.  If, on the other hand, the vessel were captured on the high
+seas, the prisoners would no doubt be willing to testify to the fact
+that Kapitan von Riesser had committed no unpardonable breach of the
+usages of war.  From which it will be seen that von Riesser was always
+considering how to save his own skin in the event of capture.
+
+"Up--at once!" ordered the unter-leutnant as the boat containing
+Denbigh and his companions ran alongside the lowered
+accommodation-ladder of the _Pelikan_.  The German did not hesitate to
+show his arrogance; but he was severely snubbed by his kapitan.
+
+"I must apologize, gentlemen," began von Riesser in good English as the
+British officers came over the side.  "My subordinate, Herr Klick, has
+allowed his zeal to outrun his discretion.  It is necessary for me to
+detain you.  I know you will bow to the inevitable and recognize that
+it is the fortune of war.  I will speak to you again shortly!"
+
+The kapitan hurried off, leaving Denbigh and his fellow-prisoners
+standing close to the head of the accommodation-ladder.  Beyond the
+fact that a sentry stood within ten feet of them, no attempt was made
+to place them under restraint.  They were free to speak, and to watch
+the scene that was being enacted a few hundred yards from the vessel to
+which they had been removed.
+
+The _Nichi Maru_ was lowering her boats rapidly yet with admirable
+discipline.  Without accident the heavy lifeboats with their human
+freights took the water.  As soon as the falls were cast off, the crews
+rowed to a safe distance, where they lay on their oars and awaited the
+end of the huge liner.
+
+With some minutes to spare, the work of abandoning the vessel was
+completed.  The captain was the last to leave, the imperturbable look
+upon his olive features masking the rage and grief that gripped his
+mind.
+
+The two German boats still lay alongside.  Presently half a dozen
+Teutons hurriedly scrambled into the waiting craft, which without delay
+were rowed quickly toward the _Pelikan_.
+
+Three muffled reports came almost simultaneously from the interior of
+the doomed liner.  These were followed by two more at comparatively
+long intervals.  The _Nichi Maru_ heeled slightly, and began to settle
+slowly by the bows.
+
+The ship took her time.  The wreaths of fleecy steam mingled with
+denser columns of smoke that issued from 'tween decks.  Then, as the in
+rushing water came in contact with the furnaces, the vessel was
+enveloped in a cloud of eddying pungent fumes.
+
+When the cloud dispersed, the _Nichi Maru's_ bows were level with the
+water, while her stern was raised until the blades of her now
+motionless propellers were clear of the agitated sea.
+
+Lower and lower sank the doomed ship.  At frequent intervals, small
+explosions of compressed air took place.  The sea was strewn with
+fragments of floating wreckage.
+
+"She's going!" whispered Stirling.
+
+The liner recovered herself.  For a moment it seemed as if she were
+floating on an even keel.  Then, with a convulsive effort, she flung
+her stern high out of the water and slid rapidly to her ocean grave.
+Almost the last to be seen of her was the mercantile flag of Japan,
+still floating proudly from the ensign staff.
+
+In the liner's crowded boats the Japanese officers were standing erect
+and at the salute as the vessel disappeared from view.  They, too, were
+of a breed that is not to be intimidated by Teutonic frightfulness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+On Board the Raider
+
+"I wish to call attention to the fact, gentlemen, that we acted in
+strict accordance with the rights of belligerents," remarked Kapitan
+von Riesser.
+
+The _Pelikan's_ captain was seated in his cabin.  On either side of him
+stood von Langer, the ober-leutnant who had been in charge of the
+boarding-party, and Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick.  Facing him stood
+Denbigh, Stirling, and O'Hara.
+
+"I am afraid we cannot agree with you," replied Denbigh.
+
+"Possibly not," retorted von Riesser, "but on what grounds?"
+
+"It is hardly a humane act to turn those people adrift in open boats,"
+continued the Sub.
+
+"What else could I do?  Surely you would not expect us to receive a
+thousand people on board this ship?  They will be picked up, without
+doubt, within a few hours."
+
+"Perhaps," declared Denbigh.  "But there is always a risk.  Your action
+in sinking that ship is unjustifiable.  I am not here to argue the
+point, but I will merely state a case in which one of your captains did
+not think it advisable to go to the lengths you did.  When, in the
+early part of the war, the _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_ compelled the
+British liners _Galicia_ and _Arlanza_ to heave-to, these ships were
+subsequently allowed to proceed----"
+
+"Yes, but at that time you English were not attempting to starve us out
+by a blockade," interrupted the kapitan excitedly, as men do when
+cornered in argument.
+
+Denbigh shrugged his shoulders.  He had made his protest and had scored
+a point.
+
+"We have done with the past," continued von Riesser.  "My object in
+sending for you is to explain your position.  You are, of course,
+prisoners of war.  It is my intention to accord you treatment as your
+rank demands.  In ordinary circumstances you are at liberty to leave
+your cabins and come on deck whenever you wish during hours of
+daylight.  There may be times when it will be necessary for you to be
+locked in--perhaps taken below.  But, understand: if you attempt to
+jeopardize the safety of the ship, or to communicate with any passing
+vessel, or, in short, to behave other than officers on parole----"
+
+"But we are not on parole," interrupted O'Hara.
+
+"It matters not," declared the kapitan.  "If I choose to consider that
+you are equivalent to being on parole that is my affair.  If, then, you
+break any of the conditions I have mentioned you will be tried by a
+properly constituted court consisting of officers of the ship, and if
+found guilty you will be shot.  Is that perfectly clear?"
+
+The three prisoners signified their assent.  After all, the German's
+stipulations were reasonable.
+
+Von Riesser turned and conversed for a few minutes with his
+ober-leutnant.  O'Hara, being ignorant of German, and Stirling having
+but a slight knowledge of the language, were unable to understand the
+drift of the conversation.  Denbigh, on the other hand, was a fluent
+linguist, but he had already decided to keep that knowledge from his
+captors.
+
+Presently Kapitan von Riesser produced a British Navy List.  Somewhat
+to the British officers' surprise they noticed that it was dated "April
+1916", or more than a twelvemonth since the last list had been
+obtainable by the public.
+
+"You have qualified as an interpreter, I see," remarked von Riesser.
+"For what languages?"
+
+"Hindustani, Swahili, and Arabic," replied Denbigh promptly.  He did
+not think it necessary to add that German was amongst his
+qualifications, and he thanked his lucky stars that the recent Navy
+Lists do not specify the language in which officer-interpreters are
+expert.
+
+"You are evidently considered a promising young officer," continued the
+kapitan.  He could not refrain from adding, with a thinly-veiled sneer,
+"I am afraid your services will be lost to the English Admiralty for
+some time to come."
+
+"Perhaps," drawled Denbigh, with such well-feigned indifference that
+von Riesser glanced keenly at the young officer's clear-cut features.
+
+Having subjected Stirling and O'Hara to an examination--in which the
+Irishman scored more than once by his smart repartees--the prisoners
+were dismissed.
+
+The first meal on board the raider was served in the cabin allotted
+them.  Judging by the nature of the repast provisions were neither
+scarce nor unvaried.  Having finished, they went on deck.  No one
+offered to interfere with them.  The seamen affected to ignore them.
+Once Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick passed, and gave them such a look that
+O'Hara afterwards remarked he would like to have a quiet five minutes
+with the German.
+
+"I wonder they haven't searched us," said Stirling in a low voice.
+"Now I wish I had put my small revolver into my coat pocket.  I thought
+it would have been too risky."
+
+"For the same reason I practically emptied my pockets before we left
+the _Nichi Maru_," declared Denbigh.
+
+"And so did I," added O'Hara, "but I took jolly good care to hide that
+little automatic pistol--you know the one: I collared it from a German
+officer in that little scrap at Herbertshoehe."
+
+"For goodness sake be careful," protested the cautious and level-headed
+Scot.
+
+"I'll try to be," replied O'Hara non-committedly.
+
+"Where is the pistol?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"Inside the lining of my cap," replied the Irishman.  "Can you see any
+sign of a bulge under the cap-cover?"
+
+"Not a trace," declared Denbigh.  "Only, old man, remember you are
+rather hot-headed.  Let's hope there won't be a premature explosion."
+
+"There won't," said O'Hara emphatically.  "Because I've no cartridges."
+
+"That's something to be thankful for," remarked Stirling.  "But what,
+might I ask, is the use of an automatic pistol, if you haven't any
+cartridges?"
+
+"You never know your luck," replied O'Hara.  "I may manage to pick up
+some on board.  Whist!"
+
+Von Langer, the fat ober-leutnant who had been in charge of the
+boarding-party, was approaching.
+
+Possibly at a hint from his chief he had dropped his overbearing
+manner, for he addressed the prisoners in a mild tone.
+
+"It is nearly sunset," he remarked.  "You vos go below.  I am sorry to
+tell you dis, but dese are orders.  Wir mussen vorsichtig zu Werke
+gehen."
+
+Denbigh gave no sign that he understood.  Von Langer had hoped to trip
+the Englishman, but he had failed.
+
+"What was that Johnny spouting about?" asked Stirling, when the three
+chums had retired to the cabin.
+
+"That they had to be very careful," replied Denbigh.  "That I don't
+doubt.  I'll give them a week at the very outside.  If we are not free
+men then, I reckon we're booked to Davy Jones his locker."
+
+The cabin was plainly furnished.  An electric light was burning, but
+the porthole had been previously closed and locked.  Overhead an
+electric fan was buzzing, while fresh air was admitted by means of
+ventilation pipes communicating with the open air.
+
+"We might do worse," remarked O'Hara as he proceeded to undress.  "The
+rotten part of it is, we can't see what's going on outside.  The
+beggars have cooped us up pretty well."
+
+"They are evidently busy," said Stirling, as the bustling of some
+hundreds of men was plainly audible above the hum of the fan.  "Perhaps
+they do the worst of their dirty work during the hours of darkness."
+
+The three officers proceeded to make an examination of their quarters.
+The walls were of pitch-pine, but upon O'Hara sacrificing one of his
+razors, it was found that the woodwork merely formed a casing to a thin
+steel bulkhead.  The ceiling, too, was of steel, coated with a patent
+cement to preserve the metal and to prevent "sweating".  The door was
+of steel, and was fitted with a "jalousie" or latticed shutter; but
+their captors had taken the precaution of bolting a solid metal plate
+over the opening.
+
+"Not much chance for anyone who happens to be a somnambulist," said
+Denbigh.  "Well, it's no use kicking against the pricks when you're
+barefooted.  I'm going to turn in.  By Jove, I do feel horribly sleepy."
+
+"And so do I," added Stirling, unable to stifle a terrific yawn.
+
+"I believe I'm asleep already," muttered O'Hara drowsily.
+
+A moment later the three chums were lost in oblivion.  An opiate
+secretly administered by the doctor had been mixed with their food.  So
+soundly did they sleep that they were unaware of a terrific crash that
+took place during the middle watch--the explosion of a torpedo launched
+from the supposed Dutch liner at a large French vessel.
+
+Von Riesser had risked an example of frightfulness.  The huge,
+heavily-charged missile--powerful enough to sink the largest battleship
+afloat within a couple of hours from the moment of impact--had
+literally torn to pieces the lightly-built hull of its victim.  Before
+the luckless passengers and crew rushed for the boats--and these were
+for the most part shattered--the French craft sunk like a stone.
+
+It was not until the sun was almost overhead that Pat O'Hara awoke.
+The deadlight of the porthole had been unshipped and the cabin was
+flooded with dazzling sunlight.
+
+He sat up in his bunk.  His head seemed to be splitting.  Everything in
+view was slowly moving to and fro with a semicircular motion.
+
+"What the deuce have I been up to?" he soliloquized.  "Where was I last
+night?  By Jove, I must have had another touch of that rotten malaria."
+
+Presently the erratic movements of his surroundings quieted down.  He
+became aware that Denbigh and Stirling, lying in their bunks on the
+other side of the cabin, were still sleeping and breathing stertorously.
+
+"Now how in the name of goodness did those fellows get into my cabin?"
+asked the puzzled Irishman, for he was under the impression that he was
+on board the _Nichi Maru_.  "Has someone been having a rag?"
+
+From the alley-way came the sound of voices.  He listened.  The
+speakers were making use of a foreign language.  It was not the soft,
+pleasing Japanese tongue--something harsh and guttural.
+
+"German!" ejaculated O'Hara.  "By my blessed namesake I remember it all
+now."
+
+He leapt from his bunk and, crossing the cabin, shook Denbigh by the
+shoulders.  The Sub's only reply was a grunt of semi-conscious
+expostulation.  O'Hara turned his attentions to the Scot.
+
+"Fore!" muttered Stirling, engrossed in the joys of a round of golf in
+dreamland.
+
+"More like twelve, be jabbers," retorted O'Hara.  "The sun's well over
+the fore-yard.  Show a leg and shine, you lazy bounder."
+
+The discipline imbued in the old Dartmouth College was too strong to
+resist the nautical invitation to get up.  Stirling rolled from his
+bunk--fortunately it was the underneath one--and subsided heavily upon
+the floor.
+
+"Pull yourself together, man," counselled O'Hara.  "Those rotten Huns
+have been hocussing our grub."
+
+"If they have, they have," muttered the imperturbable Stirling.
+"That's no reason why you should bellow into my ear like a
+ninety-thousand horse-power siren."
+
+Leaving the Sub huddled upon the floor O'Hara proceeded to dress.
+
+Suddenly he exclaimed:
+
+"The dirty spalpeens!  They've been to my pockets while I was asleep."
+
+This announcement literally electrified his companion, for Stirling
+remembered that he had over twenty pounds in Australian sovereigns in
+his purse.  Alas!  The gold had vanished.
+
+"Your pistol?" asked Stirling.
+
+The Irishman whipped his uniform cap from a hat-peg.
+
+"It's there," he reported.  "And might you be wanting it to let
+daylight into the fellow who collared your cash?"
+
+"Not much use without cartridges," replied Stirling savagely.  "It
+might have got us into hot water if they had found it.  Better pitch it
+through the port-hole, old man, before it lands you in queer street."
+
+"No fear," declared O'Hara.  "It may come in handy some day."
+
+Some time elapsed before the two men were able to rouse Denbigh from
+his stupor.  He, too, discovered that a small amount of gold that he
+happened to have on him at the time of the capture of the _Nichi Maru_
+had been taken from him.  Some silver and a few Japanese coins had been
+left.
+
+"We've been drugged right enough," said Denbigh.  "I wonder why?
+There's some underhand game afoot during the hours of darkness.
+To-night we'll do without wine at dinner, and see how that acts."
+
+Having completed their toilet the three Subs left the cabin, for the
+door was now unlocked and the metal covering to the jalousie removed.
+Without stood a seaman on sentry duty.  He drew himself up stiffly as
+the British officers passed, but made no salute, nor did he attempt to
+bar their progress.
+
+At the foot of the companion-ladder a petty-officer stopped them.
+
+"Breakfast awaits you in this cabin," he said in German.  Neither
+Stirling nor O'Hara understood, while Denbigh was sufficiently on his
+guard to feign ignorance of the nature of the announcement.
+
+"Der vos a meal for you in dere," announced von Langer, stepping from
+behind the shaft of a ventilator.
+
+"Thank you!" replied the three Subs in unison.
+
+"But it's nearly lunch time, isn't it?" added O'Hara.
+
+"Dey vos tell me der Englische are very fond of sleep," retorted von
+Langer with a laugh.  "Himmel!  I tink dot is very true."
+
+The meal over, the prisoners went on deck.  Out of curiosity Denbigh
+walked to the rail and leant over the side.  He was not surprised at
+what he saw.  The ship's sides had been painted during the night.  The
+black band still remained, but the yellow paint had been replaced with
+a coat of blue.  Already the tropical sun was blistering the still wet
+paint, revealing patches of the original hue underneath.  The funnels,
+too, had been redecorated.  They were now red with black tops.
+
+Some minutes later Kapitan von Riesser descended from the bridge and
+walked aft.  Seeing the British officer he crossed the deck.
+
+"You like our new colour scheme?" he asked.
+
+Denbigh did not reply to the question.  He asked another.
+
+"Mr. Stirling and I both lost some gold during the night.  Our cabin
+was entered while we were asleep and the money taken from our pockets.
+Was the--er--theft committed at your instigation?"
+
+For a moment von Riesser hesitated.
+
+"There was no theft," he replied.  "The gold was taken from you
+prisoners----"
+
+"Contrary to----" began Stirling hotly.
+
+"In accordance with my instructions," continued the Kapitan.  "Gold is
+of no use to you.  Instead, you will be furnished with Notes to its
+equivalent as soon as we arrive."
+
+"You may as well get your purser to write out a receipt," said O'Hara.
+"It will come in handy when the _Zwaan_--if that's her proper name--is
+captured."
+
+Von Riesser laughed boisterously.
+
+"Captured?" he repeated.  "Ach!  I don't think there is much danger
+now.  South of the Line there is not a solitary British cruiser that
+can touch us in speed.  There are plenty of them, I admit, but that is
+your English all over.  Three swift vessels would be worth all your
+East India fleet put together, yet you pack highly-trained crews into
+slow and out-of-date tubs."
+
+"Possibly the captain of the _Emden_ thought the same as you do,"
+remarked Stirling.
+
+"Mueller had difficulties that I have not," replied von Riesser.  "He
+was known to be in the Indian Ocean and swift cruisers were dispatched
+from England and Australia to hunt for him.  Our presence on the High
+Seas will not be known to your Admiralty until it is too late.  So,
+gentlemen, I must ask you to seriously consider the possibility of
+finding yourselves prisoners of war in our well-defended Colony of
+German East Africa."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+Threatened
+
+That night, according to their pre-arranged plans, the captive
+sub-lieutenants avoided taking any of the wines that were placed before
+them.
+
+They dined alone in a small cabin placed at least fifty feet from their
+sleeping quarters.
+
+As it was now after sunset the porthole was closed and locked.  The
+door, too, was shut, but not secured.  Outside, a sentry paced to and
+fro.
+
+"Look here, you fellows!" exclaimed Denbigh after the man deputed to
+attend to their needs had gone.  "It's all very well knocking off the
+fizz, but they'll notice we haven't drunk any."
+
+"Pour it into the grate," suggested Pat O'Hara recklessly.
+
+Denbigh shook his head.
+
+"Won't do," he objected, giving a glance in the direction of the small
+"bogie" stove.  "I suppose there isn't any possibility of prizing open
+the port-lid?"
+
+"You'd be spotted even if you could.  There are plenty of men on deck,"
+said O'Hara, glad of the opportunity of countering Denbigh's objection
+with another.  "Come along, old bird; what do you suggest?"
+
+Stirling, to whom the invitation was addressed, thrust his hand into
+the breast pocket of his coat.
+
+"What would you do if I weren't here to look after you?" he enquired,
+at the same time producing three sponges.  "I took them from our cabin."
+
+"For dessert?" queried O'Hara, lifting his eyebrows in surprise.
+
+"Yes, if you are a goat," said Stirling with asperity.  "Goats are, I
+believe, rather partial to this sort of tack."
+
+Coolly the Scot poured out a wineglassful of sherry--it was from the
+same decanter that they had taken some the previous evening--and slowly
+spilt the liquid on the sponge.
+
+"Fill your glass first," cautioned Stirling.  "Then they'll think we
+have had some of the poisonous stuff.  Slip your sponge into your
+pocket, Denbigh.  Don't squeeze it.  I am presuming you'll want it
+again later.  Of course if Pat wishes, he can chew his."
+
+Dinner over, the chums retired to their sleeping cabin.  In fact they
+had no option, since they were forbidden to go on deck after sunset.
+Here they talked and looked at the illustrations of some old Spanish
+newspapers until lights out; then, turning in, they lay awake awaiting
+possible developments.  Eight bells struck.  The _Pelikan_ was no
+longer moving through the water.  Outside the cabin men were talking.
+Springing from his bunk Denbigh approached the door, putting his ear to
+the covered jalousie.
+
+"I suppose those English swine are sound asleep," said a voice which
+the sub recognized as that of Kapitan von Riesser.  "I cannot hear them
+grunting--we did last night."
+
+"Nor can I, sir," replied Unter-leutnant Klick, who as officer of the
+watch was accompanying the captain on his rounds.  "But they must be.
+They went for that doctored sherry like fishes."
+
+"Himmel!  That is good news," exclaimed von Riesser.  "It will be quite
+safe to settle that vessel.  When she first answered our call she was
+only forty kilometres away.  In twenty minutes----"
+
+The listener fancied he could hear the kapitan rubbing his hands with
+glee.
+
+"It is much the better way," continued von Riesser: "'Lost with all
+hands' is quite a plausible theory.  I am almost sorry we didn't wait
+until night when we tackled the Japanese ship.  We run a good risk of
+being made a quarry for a dozen or more of those accursed cruisers.
+Those English may even send some swift destroyers on our track.  You
+are sure those fellows are quite insensible?"
+
+"As quiet as the grave, sir," assured the unter-leutnant.  "They will
+hear nothing.  Even that terrific explosion when our torpedo took the
+Frenchman by surprise never disturbed them.  But, of course, sir, I'll
+make doubly sure.  We'll squirt some chloroform into the cabin."
+
+"Then be sharp about it," said von Riesser.  "There's no time to be
+lost.  That English vessel ought to be in sight within the next quarter
+of an hour."
+
+The German officer moved away.  In a trice Denbigh communicated the
+news to his companions.
+
+"Oh for a respirator!" whispered O'Hara.
+
+"Don't worry," said Stirling.  "The electric fan will carry off the
+fumes as quickly as they pump them in."
+
+Even as he spoke the fan ceased to revolve.  The current actuating the
+ventilating gear had been switched off.  Already Unter-leutnant Klick
+was putting his scheme into effect.
+
+"Those voice tubes," hissed Denbigh.
+
+"They lead nowhere," protested Stirling.  "They are blocked.  I tried
+them some time ago."
+
+The cabin had previously been used as the purser's office, and from it
+voice-tubes had communicated with the captain's cabin, the head
+steward's quarters, and the clerk's office.  The metal pipes had been
+removed, but three lengths of flexible tubing had been left.
+
+With a sharp tug Denbigh wrenched one of the tubes from the flange
+securing it to the bulkhead.  The second gave more trouble.  As he was
+straining at it a sharp rasping sound fell upon his ear.  In the
+adjoining cabin someone was at work drilling a hole through the metal
+partition.
+
+Smearing the bell-shaped mouth-pieces of two of the detached pipes with
+soap from the wash-basin, Denbigh clapped them together.
+
+"Hold on here, Pat," he whispered.  "Press 'em tightly."
+
+O'Hara obeyed unhesitatingly.  Instinctively he realized that this was
+Denbigh's pigeon, and once Denbigh undertook a task he was pretty
+certain of the result.
+
+Stirling was then told to hold one end of the second and third
+sections.  The united length of tubing was now nearly nine feet.  One
+end Denbigh wedged into the opening in the ceiling for the electric
+fan.  The other he held in his hand in readiness.
+
+At length, after a tedious wait, Denbigh saw the tip of the drill
+emerging from the bulkhead.  Marking the spot he instantly switched off
+the light.  A dull thud announced that the boring tool had made a
+complete perforation and that the handle had struck home against the
+steelwork.
+
+The drill was withdrawn.  In its place a small metal tube was inserted.
+Deftly and noiselessly Denbigh slipped the lower end of the flexible
+piping over the projecting nozzle.  Then he waited.  He could hear the
+Irishman breathing heavily.  The portion of the tube that he was
+holding quivered in his excitable grasp.  Stirling, cool and collected,
+gave no sign of the potential alertness that possessed him.
+
+A gentle hissing sound, repeated at short intervals, announced that the
+Germans were injecting the stupefying fumes by means of a bellows.  A
+faint, sickly odour assailed Denbigh's nostrils.  He had to fight hard
+to refrain from gasping.  Grimly he stood by until the hissing noise
+ceased.
+
+His plan had been successful.  Save for a slight leakage the fumes had
+travelled through the pipe and had been carried through the louvres of
+the ventilator, while the hot air of the cabin was sufficient to create
+an up-draught to disperse the noxious vapour.
+
+Denbigh removed his end of the tube.  As he did so he heard a voice
+exclaim:
+
+"It is enough.  More will kill them.  You had better enter the cabin,
+Herr Doktor, and see that they are still breathing."
+
+The sub drew the piping from his companions' grasp.
+
+"Turn in and pretend you're insensible," he whispered, fearful lest the
+sound should be heard through the newly-made hole in the bulkhead.
+
+It was less than five minutes later when the door was unlocked and a
+dim figure cautiously entered.
+
+"Not half so bad as I expected," said a guttural voice.  The smell of
+the anaesthetic had almost dispersed.  "Where is the switch?"
+
+"Here, Herr Doktor," replied a petty officer.
+
+The next instant the cabin was bathed in brilliant light.  In spite of
+their efforts to the contrary the three supposed sleepers twitched
+their eyelids.
+
+The ship's surgeon bent over O'Hara.  A short scrutiny confirmed his
+suspicions.  He turned to the bunk on which Stirling was lying, and,
+lifting the sub's eyelid, placed the tip of his forefinger upon the
+eyeball.
+
+"Ach, is it so?" ejaculated the German, for Stirling had been compelled
+to contract his eyelids.
+
+A similar test bore the same result in Denbigh's case; then, without
+another word, the doctor hurried from the cabin.
+
+"The old pillbox has tumbled to it," muttered Denbigh.  "Now what will
+their little game be?"
+
+The sub was not left long in doubt.  Ober-leutnant von Langer, who had
+followed the doctor into the cabin, made his presence known by bawling
+out an order to half a dozen of the crew who were waiting without:
+
+"Come!  Out mit you!" he exclaimed, addressing the sham sleepers.  "It
+is that I know your little pretend.  Ach! you tink you smart?"
+
+Yet Denbigh and his companions kept still, half-hoping that the
+doctor's test had not been successful and von Langer was trying his
+hand.
+
+The ober-leutnant gave another order.  Unceremoniously the three
+British officers were hauled out of the bunks by the seamen, who seemed
+to take a delight in roughly handling anyone of commissioned rank.
+Perhaps, if von Langer did but know it, his men would have been only
+too pleased to use him in the same way, for the ober-leutnant was a
+Prussian and a Junker, while the crew were for the most part from
+Schleswig-Holstein.
+
+With as much dignity as their dishevelled appearance would permit,
+Denbigh and his companions allowed themselves to be taken on deck,
+where they had to cool their heels at the pleasure of their captors.
+It was a bright moonlight night.  The air was decidedly chilly for the
+Tropics.  A heavy dew was falling.  The lightly-clad men--for the
+sub-lieutenants were in pyjamas--realized that there was a grave risk
+of tropical fever.
+
+The ship was once more under way.  With a true seaman's instinct
+Denbigh glanced aloft.  By the relative position of the moon--since no
+stars were visible--he was able to fix the approximate course of the
+vessel.  She was steering roughly sou'-sou'-east.  Far away to the
+nor'ard a masthead lamp was blinking--calling in Morse to know why they
+had been summoned.
+
+Denbigh gave a grunt of satisfaction.  For once von Riesser's plan had
+gone awry.  He had feared to treacherously torpedo an unsuspecting
+merchantman since there were hostile eye-witnesses on board the
+_Pelikan_.
+
+Presently the kapitan, clad in a greatcoat over his white uniform,
+appeared at the head of the bridge-ladder.
+
+"You there, von Langer?" he called.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the ober-leutnant.  "Shall I bring the prisoners to
+you?"
+
+"No, I'll see them in my cabin," replied von Riesser.  "Tell off a
+couple of hands to guard the prisoners and another half-dozen to wait
+outside in case there is any trouble.  I'll be there in a few minutes."
+
+The kapitan's quarters were situated aft on the upper deck.  They
+comprised a large cabin, used for meals and recreation, and a sleeping
+cabin opening from it.  Denbigh and his companions were marched into
+the outer cabin and told to take up a position facing von Riesser's
+empty arm-chair and separated from it by a long mahogany table.
+
+The cabin was plainly furnished.  In addition to the arm-chair and
+table there were two sideboards, a large book-rack, and half a dozen
+cane chairs.  On the table lay a pile of Dutch charts.  Books for
+navigation and sailing directions in the same language occupied the
+shelves in company with a few American novels.
+
+Everything German, with one exception, had been studiously eliminated,
+in order to baffle the curiosity of a British boarding-officer in the
+event of the supposed _Zwaan_ being held up.  The exception was a large
+oil painting of the Kaiser in the uniform of a German Admiral of the
+Fleet.  The portrait was framed in a massive oak frame securely fixed
+to the bulkhead between the two cabins.  The only other picture was a
+sepia-toned photograph of the Queen of Holland, in a narrow, plain gilt
+frame.  When it became necessary to hide the features of the All
+Highest War Lord from the eyes of the strafed English, who had
+practically contrived to drive the War Lord's battleships from the face
+of the five oceans, von Riesser took the risk of committing lese
+majeste by placing the portrait of Queen Wilhelmina over that of the
+Emperor Wilhelm II.  Then, to all appearances, the captain's cabin of
+the _Zwaan_ was loyally adorned by a photograph of the Queen of the
+Netherlands in a deep oak frame with a thin gold slip.
+
+In the circumstances, however, it was not considered necessary to
+eclipse the All Highest War Lord, so the three British subs found
+themselves confronted by the painted features of the modern Attila.
+
+The door was thrown open.  Von Langer and the two seamen clicked their
+heels and saluted as von Riesser entered with the dramatic effect of
+which Prussians are so fond.  Gravely saluting the Emperor's portrait
+and then returning his subordinates' mark of respect the kapitan took
+his seat.
+
+"You know why you are here?" asked von Riesser abruptly, lowering his
+brows and looking sternly at the three British officers.
+
+"We do not," replied Denbigh.  "In fact, it is rather unusual to turn a
+fellow out of his bunk at one in the morning."
+
+"Do not bandy words, Herr Denbigh," snapped the kapitan.  "You have
+been causing trouble."
+
+"Is it causing trouble to take steps to avoid being gassed or
+chloroformed?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"Yes," almost shouted the kapitan.  "If we think it desirable that our
+prisoners should be put to sleep it is not for them to resist."
+
+"In that case there's no more to be said," declared the Irishman.  "You
+are top-dog----"
+
+"You call me a dog, you English swine!" almost howled the now
+infuriated Prussian.
+
+O'Hara burst out into violent laughter.  Denbigh smiled broadly, while
+around Stirling's firm lips hovered the suspicion of a grim smile.
+Their utter indifference to the ravings of their captor took von
+Riesser by surprise.
+
+"I may as well tell you," began Denbigh, seizing his opportunity, "that
+I can speak German perhaps as well as you can speak English.  I
+overheard your conversation outside our cabin an hour or so ago, and we
+know what you proposed to do to the ship which you were luring.  I
+suppose you call those tactics frightfulness.  I call them low-down,
+skulking treachery.  How a man who professes to be a sailor, who has
+lived a free and healthy life upon the sea, could belittle himself to
+act as you propose to do, and possibly have done, passes my
+understanding.  I give you fair warning, Kapitan von Riesser, that,
+should we be set free by an English cruiser, you will have a grave
+indictment to answer."
+
+Von Riesser did not reply for a few moments.  He was greatly agitated.
+Once or twice he glanced anxiously at his ober-leutnant, as if curious
+to know whether von Langer understood Denbigh's words.
+
+Then he, too, laughed, but it was not a natural outburst of an
+unburdened and evenly-balanced mind.
+
+"You threaten?" he asked.  "Well, I can threaten also.  Suppose I
+decide to put into operation the principle of your worthy Prime
+Minister?  One of his maxims, oft quoted in the Press, is, I believe,
+'Wait and see'?"
+
+"It ought to be particularly applicable in your case," rejoined Denbigh
+coolly.
+
+"Ach!  And in yours.  What is to prevent me from ordering a weight to
+be put about your neck and cast you into the sea?  Weight and sea.
+Himmel, that is great!"
+
+He roared at his own joke, while von Langer, although unable to
+comprehend the significance, showed his servile approbation by laughing
+in a minor key.
+
+"I don't think that it would make very much difference if you did,"
+replied Denbigh.  "You see, the _Nichi Maru's_ people know that you
+carried us off.  Some day you will have to answer some rather searching
+questions if you could not produce us."
+
+Again von Riesser pondered.  He was beginning to feel horribly annoyed
+with himself for having ever received the three British officers on
+board the _Pelikan_.  He was plunging deeper and deeper into the mire.
+He lacked the determination to cut the Gordian Knot.
+
+By way of an excuse he scribbled a note and tossed it to von Langer.
+
+"Take that to the officer of the watch," he said carelessly.
+
+The ober-leutnant quitted the cabin.  The two impassive seamen
+remained.  They, fortunately, knew no English, save a few catch phrases
+picked up when lying in dock in that dim period before the War.
+
+"Suppose we cry quits," resumed von Riesser.  "I am ready to apologize
+for having exceeded my rights in dealing with you.  After all there's
+no great harm done.  I'll admit I planned to trap yonder vessel.  You
+must have misunderstood me when I said that I had intended to torpedo
+her.  We use our torpedoes only in cases of extreme necessity.  Are you
+willing to forget this night?"
+
+"We would like to talk the matter over between ourselves," replied
+Denbigh.  "If you have no objection, we will give our reply at noon
+to-morrow."
+
+"I agree," said von Riesser, with a meekness that quite surprised
+Denbigh and his companions.  He gave an order to the two seamen.  They
+turned and left the cabin.
+
+Two minutes later the British officers were back in their own quarters.
+Time had been called after the first round, and the Prussian had not
+come out top-dog.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+The Pursuit of the _Pelikan_
+
+"One thing that puzzles me," remarked Stirling during the following
+forenoon, "is why they didn't clap us below under hatches, instead of
+trying to stupefy us.  It would have been far less trouble."
+
+"I must say that I share your thoughts," said Denbigh.  "These Germans
+are no fools.  They are pretty thorough in whatever they take up,
+whether it's a diabolical scheme or otherwise.  It might be that
+there's something below that they don't want us to see, and rather than
+run a risk in that direction, they prefer to lock us up in the cabin."
+
+"That's all very well," rejoined O'Hara.  "But it won't wash.  Old von
+Langer let it out in the course of conversation that this ship has
+already been examined by one of our cruisers."
+
+"Then perhaps the boarding-officer wasn't cute enough.  It's a tribute
+to our sagacity, old man," said Stirling.  "However, time and events
+will prove.  By Jove, the fateful hour approaches!  What will von
+Riesser say to our decision?"
+
+At eight bells the three British officers were told to proceed to the
+kapitan's cabin.  This time von Riesser was alone.  He looked flustered
+and worried.
+
+"Sit down, gentlemen," he began.  "You must look upon this as a private
+and confidential chat.  Now, to go straight to the point: are you
+prepared, in the event of your being given honourable treatment and
+allowed the greatest liberty possible, to maintain silence upon last
+night's affair?"
+
+Denbigh, as spokesman, did not think it advisable to give a direct
+reply.
+
+"Do you, on your part, promise to refrain from treacherous attacks upon
+Allied merchantmen?" he asked.
+
+"I think I can give that guarantee," replied von Riesser.  "If I do so,
+will you write a certificate to the effect that, to the best of your
+belief, I, as commander of the ship, am acting in accordance with the
+present accepted rules of naval warfare?  That, I think, will square
+matters."
+
+"We cannot do that," declared Denbigh.  "We are willing to give a
+certificate to the effect that you acted with discretion."
+
+The kapitan smiled grimly.
+
+"There is a certain amount of latitude in that," he replied.  "I
+suppose you will then say nothing of last night's business."
+
+"Since we have no direct evidence of what you have done, we cannot very
+well state a case," said Denbigh.  "The thing is this: are you going to
+torpedo any merchantmen without warning?"
+
+"No," replied von Riesser.
+
+"Very well.  We have forgotten last night," declared Denbigh.  "Should
+occasion arise we will give you the required certificate."
+
+"And should occasion not arise," thought von Riesser, "I will make it
+pretty hot for these young cubs.  Once safely in port in our African
+colony, I will show them what it means to thwart a Prussian officer."
+
+With these sentiments in his mind and a smile on his face the kapitan
+dismissed his prisoners.
+
+During the afternoon there was a thick haze.  It was impossible to
+distinguish anything beyond a distance of about a mile from the ship.
+Sea and sky were merged into an ill-defined blurr.  The glass, too, was
+falling rapidly.  That and the presence of the mist betokened an
+imminent change in the weather.
+
+Suddenly there was a rift in the curtain of vapour.  At less than two
+miles away on the _Pelikan's_ port bow were two vessels, one being in
+tow of the other.
+
+The subs were quick to recognize the leading craft.  She was a British
+cruiser of the "Eclipse" class--a vessel of 5600 tons, and with a
+nominal speed of 19 knots.  But the craft in tow was a puzzle to them.
+She was low-lying, with a raised superstructure amidships, one funnel,
+and a tall mast fitted with a fire-control platform.  From her for'ard
+turret two huge guns, seemingly out of all proportion to the rest of
+the ship, protruded.  The muzzles, instead of being inclined upwards,
+were depressed.  Although Denbigh and his companions could not
+distinguish details owing to the distance of the vessel, the German
+officers, by means of their telescopes and binoculars, could see that
+the muzzles of the guns were resting on large chocks bolted to the
+deck, while the protruding part of the weapons were additionally
+secured by stout hawsers.  The mysterious craft was apparently
+deserted.  Everything was battened down, for the decks were swept by
+the long Atlantic waves.
+
+"By Jove!" ejaculated O'Hara.  "She must be one of our monitors.  Now,
+where is she off to, I should like to know?  There's something in the
+wind."
+
+[Illustration: "BY JOVE!" EJACULATED O'HARA, "SHE MUST BE ONE OF OUR
+MONITORS."]
+
+Kapitan von Riesser could have answered the question.  He stood on the
+bridge, glasses glued to his face and rage in his heart.  There could
+be but one solution.  The monitor was bound for the Indian Ocean, to
+take part in the forthcoming operations against the Germans in East
+Africa.
+
+"Donnerwetter!" muttered von Riesser.  "These accursed English.  They
+may throw away their opportunities on land, but they know how to do
+things at sea."
+
+"Shall I carry on, sir?" asked the officer of the watch.
+
+"No, port helm," ordered the kapitan.  Then realizing that the carrying
+out of this command might arouse the suspicions of the British cruiser,
+he had the _Pelikan_ steadied on her helm.  The course would bring her
+within a mile of the cruiser and her tow.
+
+"The cheek!" exclaimed Stirling.  "Old von Riesser's going to play a
+game of bluff."
+
+"I vote we semaphore," suggested O'Hara impulsively.  "We'd do the
+trick before they could stop us."
+
+The Irishman, however, had no opportunity of putting his plan into
+effect, for at that moment a petty-officer informed the subs that it
+was the kapitan's pleasure they should go below.
+
+They found the port-hole closed and locked.  Von Riesser was not a man
+to take needless risks.
+
+A hoist of bunting fluttered from the cruiser's signal yard-arm.  It
+was a message in the International Code: "E C--what ship is that?"
+
+Promptly the Dutch ensign was hoisted, while simultaneously the
+"number" of the real _Zwaan_ was made.
+
+From the cruiser came another signal.  Von Riesser had no occasion to
+consult the code-book.  It was "I D--Heave-to, or I fire."
+
+"Hard a-port!" he shouted, and telegraphed for full speed ahead.
+
+Round swung the _Pelikan_, listing until five feet of her underbody
+showed clear.  Even as she did so a couple of 12-pounders spat
+venomously, the shells passing perilously close to the towering hull.
+
+Down fluttered the Dutch ensign.  The British cruiser ceased firing.
+Ahead lay a bank of fog.
+
+Von Riesser knew that he was in a tight corner, and it was in tight
+corners that the better qualities of the man showed themselves.  For a
+few moments he stood motionless.  Every second the _Pelikan_ was
+slipping farther and farther away from the cruiser, which, hampered by
+her tow, was unable to stand in pursuit.  Her skipper was somewhat
+mystified.  According to the rules of the game the _Pelikan_ had
+struck, yet he knew that of necessity the immense bulk must carry
+considerable way.
+
+The British cruiser had no doubts of the blue liner with the broad
+black band, for the survivors of the _Nichi Maru_ had been picked up by
+one of the patrolling vessels.  Once more that mixed blessing, wireless
+telegraphy, had been brought into service, and a description of the
+raider sent far and wide.  Already a number of light cruisers were on
+their way from Simon's Bay to intercept the _Pelikan_, while the
+blockading squadron off the east coast of Africa had been warned of the
+likely attempt on the part of the fugitive to gain one of the
+little-known and unfrequented rivers of the last of Germany's overseas
+possessions.
+
+Von Riesser alternately kept glancing ahead and astern.  The haze was
+beginning to envelop the monitor and her escort.
+
+He shouted an order to a petty officer.  The man doubled aft, bawling
+as he ran.  Then from the ensign staff fluttered the Black Cross of the
+Imperial German Navy.
+
+The cruiser's reply was a salvo from her quick-firers.  Two shells
+struck home, one bursting on the poop and blowing the emblem of Germany
+to atoms, besides causing considerable damage to the deck.  A second
+burst amidships, shattering a couple of ventilators, splintering one of
+the boats, and destroying the greater portion of the bridge.  Fragments
+of metal and splinters of wood flew in all directions.  Kapitan von
+Riesser narrowly escaped being hit.  As it was, one of his officers and
+two seamen were killed outright, five others being seriously wounded,
+while the kapitan was thrown to the deck by the concussion.
+
+For a few minutes the _Pelikan_ was enveloped in smoke and spray thrown
+up by the shells that exploded on either side; but before the cruiser
+could get in another effective shot the raider was lost in the mist.
+
+Von Riesser guessed, and rightly, that the cat was out of the bag,
+otherwise the cruiser would not have hoisted that peremptory demand to
+heave-to.  He realized that his position was a hazardous one.
+Thousands of miles from a friendly port, sought by perhaps a score of
+British cruisers, and, moreover, running short of coal, the _Pelikan_
+stood a very small chance of dropping anchor in East African waters,
+except as a prize.
+
+On the other hand, Fate, in the guise of the mist, had dealt kindly
+with the _Pelikan_.  For the rest of the day she steamed westward.
+Down below the firemen toiled like Trojans, shovelling coal into the
+glowing furnaces.  On deck the crew worked hard, clearing away the
+debris left by the British cruiser's shells.  The wireless staff were
+busy "jamming" the numerous messages thrown out from various vessels,
+that were converging on the monitor and her escort for the purpose of
+cutting off the audacious _Pelikan_.
+
+About an hour before sunset the mist cleared.  The sea was still calm,
+although high overhead the ragged and greasy clouds betokened the
+approach of a southerly gale.  The setting sun, a ball of bright
+yellow, set in a pale greenish-yellow sky, threw its slanting rays
+across the damaged bridge, almost blinding the look-out with its
+brilliance.
+
+"Sail on the starboard bow," reported one of the watchers.
+
+Von Riesser, who had practically recovered from the shock of being
+capsized by the explosion, had not left the bridge.  He immediately
+gave orders to starboard the helm.  At the present juncture he would
+not risk meeting even an unarmed tramp laden with military stores.
+
+The stranger was the British light cruiser _Actaeon_, of 3000 tons, and
+with a speed of slightly over 20 knots.  Pelting towards the scene of
+the encounter between the _Pelikan_ and her foiled antagonist, the
+_Actaeon_ was unwittingly approaching the fugitive.  She, having the
+advantage of the light, recognized the German liner almost before the
+latter had noticed her presence.
+
+As the _Pelikan_ swung round, the _Actaeon_ followed suit, both vessels
+being now on slightly converging courses and about six miles apart.  It
+was a question as to which of the two was the speediest ship--a
+question, seemingly, that events only could prove.
+
+The sun set.  The short period of tropical twilight gave place to
+pitch-black night, for the moon, now two days after the full, had not
+yet risen.
+
+On board the _Pelikan_ all lights that might be visible from outside
+were extinguished, save for one white light shown aft.  The pursuing
+vessel displayed no lights, but her approximate position could be fixed
+by means of the dull-red glow of the flames that issued from her three
+funnels.
+
+"Do you think she's gaining, von Langer?" asked the kapitan anxiously,
+after an interval of almost unbroken silence as far as the officers on
+the _Pelikan's_ bridge were concerned.
+
+"I am not sure," replied the ober-leutnant.  "We do not appear to be
+gaining on her.  It may be that we are just holding our own."
+
+"Unless we can shake her off completely before sunrise we stand little
+chance," said von Riesser moodily.  "We cannot stand up to her.  Those
+guns would send us to the bottom in a quarter of an hour, long before
+we came within torpedo range."
+
+"If we had but a dozen mines, sir----" began Unter-leutnant Klick.
+
+"It is no use wishing for what we haven't got," snapped the kapitan.
+"And what is more, yon English ship is taking good care not to follow
+directly in our wake in case we were dropping mines."
+
+There was silence for some moments.  Von Riesser was deep in thought,
+his eyes fixed the while upon the lurid red tint on the horizon.
+
+"Ach!" he exclaimed.  "I think I have it.  Here, Herr Klick, see that
+the motor launch is cleared ready for lowering."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+The Decoy
+
+Wondering at the inexplicable nature of Kapitan von Riesser's order the
+unter-leutnant hurried off.  In a few minutes the sea-boat's crew,
+drilled for such emergencies, had provisioned and watered the
+twenty-five-foot motor-launch that hung in davits abreast of the
+after-funnel.
+
+The securing chocks were removed, the falls manned, and the davits
+swung outboard.
+
+"Motor-launch ready, sir!" reported the unter-leutnant.  "Water and
+provisions are on board, and a hundred litres of petrol."
+
+"I gave no orders for the boat to be victualled," exclaimed the
+kapitan.  "No matter: it will waste too much valuable time to remove
+the stuff.  Now, listen, Herr Klick.  Everything depends upon the
+strict carrying out of my instructions.  Place two men on board the
+launch--one to tend each of the lower blocks of the falls.  Have ready
+a white light.  See that the helm is lashed.  I will slow down the
+ship, and turn her so that the launch will be slightly to leeward.  At
+the word, see that the motor is started and the light exhibited.  Then
+lower away smartly, and tell the men to hang on to the falls when they
+are disengaged unless they want to be a target for the English cannon."
+
+"I understand, sir.  You are using the boat as a decoy."
+
+"Precisely, Herr Klick.  Now, be sharp.  With a vessel pursuing us at a
+rate equal to our utmost speed we cannot afford to lose precious
+moments in lying-to."
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"I say, you fellows, I think I'll go on deck and see what's doing,"
+announced Sub-lieutenant Stirling.
+
+His companions looked at him with feelings akin to amazement.
+
+"What the deuce are you babbling about, old man?" asked O'Hara.  "You
+know as well as we do that we are locked in."
+
+None of the three prisoners had any thought of turning in.  They had
+heard the crash of the British shells as the cruiser sought to wing the
+German raider.  In spite of the danger of being hit, and what was
+infinitely worse, being drowned like rats in a trap in a foundering
+vessel--since it was more than possible that the crew of the _Pelikan_
+would take no steps to liberate the captives--the subs were in high
+spirits.  They took it for granted that their release would be a matter
+of a few minutes only, since the lightly-built _Pelikan_ would stand no
+earthly chance against the vastly-superior ordnance of the pursuing
+vessel.  Then came a sudden cessation of the firing; yet the prisoners
+knew by the thud of the engines that the German ship was still pelting
+on her bid for safety.
+
+Hours passed.  There was no doubt in the minds of the three men that
+the _Pelikan_ was being hotly pursued.  The pulsations of the engines
+under forced draught was conclusive evidence on that point.  The
+captive officers sat and talked, drawing conclusions as to what was
+taking place, until Stirling suddenly hurled a verbal bomb-shell by
+announcing his intention of going on deck.
+
+"Don't be so rash with your assertions, Pat," replied Stirling in mock
+reproof.  "It is certainly true that we are locked in.  It is also a
+fact that I possess a very efficient screw-driver.  I took the liberty
+of annexing it, as one of the carpenter's crew has been guilty of
+negligence.  On board a British ship that screw-driver would, in the
+usual course of routine, find itself in the scran-bag; but since I'm
+not at all certain that such a visible cure for forgetfulness exists in
+the German navy, I have and hold the article in question."
+
+"No need to brag about it, old man," said O'Hara.  "You are not the
+only light-fingered gentleman of our little coterie.  As these Germans
+had no compunction in entering the cabin and sneaking out hard-earned
+cash, I repaid the compliment by entering one of the officer's cabins,
+and this is what I annexed."
+
+He held up a dark-green paper packet containing a dozen rounds of
+ammunition that fitted the automatic pistol.
+
+"Steady!" exclaimed Denbigh.  "You're looking for trouble with that
+thing, Pat.  It's as dangerous as a shillelagh at Donnybrook Fair.  And
+what's the object in breaking out?" he continued, addressing Stirling,
+who was fondling the screw-driver in anticipation.  "If you're detected
+there'll be a rumpus.  I don't suppose you'll do any good, and if you
+possess your soul in patience a little longer you'll be let out."
+
+"Hanged if I can," retorted Stirling.  "I must have a look round.  I
+didn't ask you fellows to come.  In fact, there's less risk for one
+than three."
+
+"Have your own way, then," said Denbigh, who knew that when the Scot
+once made up his mind there would be no turning aside.
+
+The lock was secured to the inside of the door.  It was sufficient to
+keep out intruders, but quite inadequate to resist the application of
+the screwdriver.  Working swiftly yet silently, Stirling removed the
+brass staple.  Only the pressure of his boot against the door kept it
+shut.  Cautiously he drew the door ajar.  There was a light switched on
+in the passage.  At the far end of the alley-way was the sentry on the
+aft-deck.  The rest of the cabins were deserted, since the excitement
+of the chase kept all officers on deck.  Having, then, no fear of
+detection the sentry was sitting on the lid of a chest, his face buried
+in a book.
+
+"All clear," whispered Stirling.  "S'long, you fellows.  Expect me when
+you see me."
+
+He gave another glance in the direction of the sentry.  The man had not
+stirred.  Softly Stirling crept out and tiptoed along the passage in
+the direction of the ladder leading to the upper-deck.
+
+The noise of the engines, audible throughout the length and breadth of
+the ship, and the tramp of feet on deck, deadened the slight sound of
+his movements.  At the end of the alley-way a curtain had been
+stretched in order to screen the light from the companion-way.  Beyond,
+although there were men standing about, the place was in darkness.
+
+Stirling took the risk.  He knew that in the gloom there would be great
+difficulty to distinguish the uniforms of the German officers from his
+own.  Lifting aside the curtain, he stepped forward with the
+self-confidence of a man accustomed to command.
+
+The knot of seamen separated, the men clicking their heels and standing
+rigidly at the salute.  In the darkness they recognized the officer but
+not the individual.  Not for one moment did they suspect that he was
+one of the strafed Englishmen, whom they had every reason to suppose to
+be under lock and key.
+
+Without interruption Stirling gained the deck.  The shattered woodwork,
+just discernible in the darkness, showed him the result of the British
+cruiser's shells.  He glanced aft.  Far astern, the red blur that had
+so disturbed the equanimity of Kapitan von Riesser came as a solace to
+his mind.  His surmises were correct.  The _Pelikan_--or, as he knew
+her, the _Zwaan_--was being chased, but he could not quite understand
+why the pursuing vessel should be so far astern, since a few hours ago
+she was within range.  He, of course, knew nothing of the event that
+led to the _Actaeon_ taking up the chase.  Nor could he suggest any
+reason why the German liner should show a white light astern.  It
+seemed contrary to every precaution necessary to shake off pursuit.
+
+"May as well get for'ard," soliloquized the sub.  "There seems a bit of
+a hullabaloo.  I'll see what it is about.  I don't suppose I'll be
+spotted if I keep clear of the crush.  Hulloa!  They're getting the
+boats out.  Are they going to abandon ship, I wonder, or is it merely a
+matter of discretion, should the old hooker get plugged?"
+
+With little difficulty Stirling took up his position under the lee of a
+ventilator.  As he waited he heard fragments of the conversation
+between von Riesser and his subordinate.
+
+Stirling was a poor German scholar; so much so that he was ashamed of
+the little German he knew.  By sheer good luck, however, he recognized
+several of the words--sufficient to enable him to guess shrewdly the
+nature of the kapitan's order.
+
+Stirling was very often lucky in that way.  Even while he was hiding
+behind the ventilator he recalled a similar instance.  It was on the
+occasion of his entry examination to Osborne, and Stirling was in those
+days an atrocious speller even for a youth of thirteen and a half.  In
+the dictation subject the lad found himself balked by the word
+"adaptable".  He was on the point of writing "adaptible" when he caught
+sight of some letters stamped upon the pen he was using: "The Adaptable
+Pen".  When the result of the examination was announced Stirling found
+that he had only just attained the minimum marks in English to qualify.
+Afterwards he was apt to remark that he owed his commission to a
+twopenny pen which might, for aught he knew, have been made in Germany.
+
+"By Jove, they're going to use that boat as a decoy," soliloquized the
+sub.  "I'll risk it.  Hang it all!  If I'm spotted there can only be a
+shindy.  With our cruiser pelting up astern and Denbigh and O'Hara
+below, they won't dare to try any of their kultur tricks."
+
+The launch was now level with the rail.  The men told off to attend to
+the disengaging gear were already on board, while down below an
+artificer was trying to coax the motor.  Apparently he had trouble, for
+he called out to one of his mates to pass something to him.  At that
+moment Kapitan von Riesser gave an order, and the unter-leutnant and
+his men faced for'ard.
+
+In a trice Stirling slipped quietly over the rail at the heels of one
+of the crew.  While the latter made his way for'ard to the motor-room
+the sub entered the little cabin.  It was, as he expected, empty.  Not
+knowing whether any of the launch's crew would remain, Stirling crept
+under the seat and waited.
+
+The _Pelikan_ was losing way.  Her engines had been reversed in order
+to bring her almost to a standstill in the least possible time.
+
+"Lower away!" shouted a voice in German which Stirling recognized as
+that of Unter-leutnant Klick.
+
+The racing of the motor, which the artificer had at length succeeded in
+starting, drowned all other sounds.  The propeller, racing in the air,
+was revolving at terrific speed.  Unless the launch were quickly put
+into the water the motor would soon be overheated, since no cooling
+device was possible until the pump sucked water into the jackets
+surrounding the cylinders.
+
+The artificer, his task accomplished, swung himself on to the
+_Pelikan's_ deck, while directly the falls were cast off the two seamen
+swarmed up the ropes.  Almost before Stirling was aware of it, the
+launch was speeding forward.
+
+"Time I made a move," muttered the sub.  With the utmost caution he
+emerged from his hiding-place and made his way to the well.  The bright
+rays of the lamp lashed to the ensign-staff enabled him to see
+everything on deck.  One glance told him that he was the only member of
+the crew.  Already the _Pelikan_ was lost to sight in the darkness.
+
+Stirling's first act upon taking command was to cut the lashings of the
+helm and to turn the launch in the same direction as the _Pelikan_ had
+been travelling.  He then looked for the supposed position of the
+pursuing cruiser.  On the horizon were two glints of red light at,
+roughly, 15 degrees apart.
+
+"Two of them," said the sub to himself.  "The more the merrier.
+Another ten minutes and it will be seen whether I am smashed to
+smithereens by a British 6-inch shell."
+
+As a matter of precaution he cast off the lashings of the lamp, placing
+it on a seat just inside the cabin.  There it was within arm's reach,
+while the sub was not in danger of being temporarily blinded by the
+glare.
+
+"That's the rising moon," continued Stirling, referring to the light to
+the east'ard.  "The other glare is from the cruiser's funnels.
+Allowing her speed to be 20 knots, and this hooker's 12 or 15, she's
+gaining on me at about eight miles an hour."
+
+Presently the newly-risen moon appeared in a rift of clouds.  Its
+slanting rays silhouetted the outlines of a large four-funnelled
+cruiser, now less than a couple of miles astern.
+
+"Time!" ejaculated Stirling laconically.  Leaving the helm he made for
+the motor-room and switched off the ignition.  Then, returning to the
+well, he raised and lowered the lamp several times in succession,
+dipping it behind the coaming in order to signal the "General Call".
+
+A light flashed from the cruiser.  Thank heavens it was not the spurt
+of a quick-firer but a steady white flare, to signify that the ship was
+in readiness to receive the message.  "_Zwaan_ has sent decoy adrift,"
+signalled Stirling.  "Probably altered course to south'ard.  Please
+return and pick me up after end of chase."
+
+A searchlight was switched on from the cruiser's after-bridge.  For a
+few moments it played upon the now motionless motor-launch.  Then,
+somewhat to Stirling's surprise and to his not altogether complete
+satisfaction, the cruiser began to slow down.
+
+"It's all right for me," soliloquized the sub.  "But it's hard lines on
+Denbigh and Pat.  I'm afraid von Riesser has given our fellows the
+slip."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+Foiled by a Collier
+
+For the rest of the night Denbigh and O'Hara awaited in vain for their
+comrade's return.  They had no idea of the flight of time since, during
+the chase, the ship's bell had not been struck.  In the screened cabin
+they sat, with the electric light switched on, for after their
+interview with Kapitan von Riesser on the subject of the attempted
+chloroforming, the current was not cut off after ten o'clock as was
+formerly the case.
+
+"Faith!  I'll go and see what he's up to," exclaimed O'Hara, removing
+the chair from the door.  It was the only way to keep the door closed,
+since the replacing of the staple of the lock would have barred
+Stirling's return.
+
+"Better not," objected Denbigh.  "Either he's all right or he's all
+wrong.  In the former case it wouldn't do to meddle with his business.
+Two stand double the risk of detection that one fellow runs.  In the
+latter case, our going to look for him won't help matters in the least,
+because if they've collared him they will be on the look-out for us."
+
+"S'pose you're right," grudgingly assented Pat.  "We must stick it."
+
+The chums "stuck it" for another two hours, then the sound of six bells
+(7 a.m.) announced the fact that it was daylight, and that precautions
+in the matter of noise were no longer necessary.
+
+"The flunky will be here presently to open the port-hole," remarked
+Denbigh.  "I think we had better screw on that chunk of metal.
+Stirling won't be coming now."
+
+"Then what has happened to him?"
+
+"Goodness only knows.  Look here; we won't open the ball.  Let's see if
+they know anything about his disappearance."
+
+"The man will notice that the moment he comes into the cabin," objected
+O'Hara.
+
+For answer, Denbigh crossed over to Stirling's cot, placed the bolster
+longwise and covered it with the blankets.  Then, partly drawing the
+curtains, he stood back and surveyed the result of his handiwork.
+
+"Dash it all!" he exclaimed.  "It would take a lynx-eyed detective to
+spot the game, especially when the port-hole is opened, because the
+bunk is dead against the light.  Let's turn in.  Old Fritz will smell a
+rat if he finds us up and dressed."
+
+The two subs had barely settled themselves in their bunks and had
+switched off the light, when a key clicked in the lock and the German
+sailor deputed to attend to them stumbled in.
+
+He was a taciturn fellow.  Perhaps it was because he understood no word
+of English, and was unaware of the fact that Denbigh spoke German.  He
+had, however, a habit of conversing with himself during the performance
+of his duties, and more than once Denbigh picked up information from
+the fellow's unguarded babbling.
+
+This time Fritz was silent.  Setting down a jug of hot water, he
+unlocked and opened the port-hole.
+
+Having washed, shaved, and dressed, Denbigh and O'Hara made their way
+to the cabin in which was served their meals.  Covers for three lay on
+the table.  The steward was standing by in his customary manner.
+
+Without a word the subs seated themselves.  Presently Fritz came in to
+deliver a message from one of the ship's officers.
+
+"Where's the third Englander?" asked the steward.
+
+Apparently Fritz was fond of a joke at the messman's expense.  Without
+a word he stooped and looked under the table; then drawing himself up,
+he replied:
+
+"I cannot see him."
+
+"Fool!" ejaculated the steward.  "Don't try to be an idiot; you are one
+already.  Where is the schwein-hund?"
+
+"Too lazy to get up and have his breakfast, I suppose," replied Fritz
+indifferently.  "He was fast asleep when I went in."
+
+Having asked in broken English if the subs required anything further,
+and receiving a negative reply, the steward went out.
+
+"Deucedly strange," said Denbigh in a low voice.  "Those fellows know
+nothing.  I wonder if von Riesser and his cheerful ober-leutnant have
+been up to mischief."
+
+It was not until one bell in the forenoon watch that Stirling's absence
+was discovered.  Denbigh and O'Hara were immediately sent for and
+closely questioned.
+
+The interview was unsatisfactory, the British officers affecting
+ignorance of the time of their comrade's disappearance; while von
+Riesser, rightly guessing that Denbigh and O'Hara imagined he was
+responsible and was trying to cloak suspicion, was so emphatic in his
+assurances that he knew nothing of Stirling's whereabouts that his very
+earnestness caused the subs to misjudge him.
+
+A thorough search was instituted, but, naturally, without the hoped-for
+result.  Reluctantly, Denbigh and O'Hara came to the conclusion that
+their chum had either fallen in or had been thrown overboard.
+
+Kapitan von Riesser was genuinely perturbed, not on account of the loss
+of the British officer, but for the additional complication that might
+ensue if the _Pelikan_ should be captured.  The idea of being taken
+prisoner obsessed the German commander.  It loomed up in front of him
+like a gaunt spectre day and night.  It spoke volumes for the fact that
+Great Britain was Mistress of the Seas.
+
+He showed little or no elation at having evaded the cruiser that had
+doggedly held in pursuit until long after midnight.  His pessimism was
+beginning to become infectious.  Officers and men were downcast.
+Several times on the lower deck remarks were heard to the effect that
+it was an unlucky day when the _Pelikan_ escaped from her nominal state
+of internment.
+
+For the next three days Denbigh and O'Hara were "off colour".  The
+mystery of Stirling's disappearance affected them deeply; but on the
+fourth day they cheered up considerably, for the _Pelikan_ had
+intercepted a wireless message from a British cruiser.  The message was
+in code, but one word occurred that shed a different light upon the
+mystery.  The word was "Stirling".  Von Riesser lost no time in
+informing the two British officers, and although the latter were unable
+to decipher the message it was evident that Stirling had been picked up
+by one of our patrols.
+
+Shortly after daybreak on the fifth day of Stirling's absence, the
+_Pelikan_ overhauled a large collier, outward bound from Penarth to
+Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, with a valuable cargo of steam
+coal.
+
+It was evident that the skipper of the collier had received no warning
+that a German raider was at large, for he allowed the _Pelikan_ to get
+within three cables' length without exciting any suspicion.
+
+When the latter peremptorily ordered the collier to heave-to and
+surrender, however, the stalwart old merchant captain showed the stuff
+he was made of, for without complying, he suddenly ported helm and bore
+down upon the liner, which had now hoisted German colours.
+
+It was a forlorn hope, for the _Pelikan_ could steam twice as fast as
+the collier and was much quicker on her helm.
+
+"By Jove! that fellow has some pluck," exclaimed O'Hara admiringly,
+for, anticipating no resistance on the part of the would-be prize,
+Kapitan von Riesser had not ordered the British officers below.  "But
+he's asking for trouble."
+
+"Yes, poor chap, he's put himself out of court," agreed Denbigh.
+
+Manoeuvring so that the _Pelikan's_ guns could be brought to bear upon
+the collier without danger of carrying away her masts, von Riesser gave
+the order to fire.  Two shells did the mischief.  Both burst amidships,
+sweeping away the bridge and chart-house, and with them the rash and
+gallant skipper and three of the crew.
+
+Further resistance being out of the question the collier struck her
+flag.  Splendidly handled the _Pelikan_ ranged up alongside, and
+without delay the work of transferring the cargo commenced.  Although
+the sturdy Britons who formed the collier's crew refused to lift as
+much as a little finger to help there were plenty of hands available
+from the _Pelikan_.  The steam winches were manned, skips and whips
+brought into play, and sacks and sacks of badly wanted fuel were
+toppled down the liner's chutes.
+
+"Stand by there, you men!" shouted Kapitan von Riesser, observing that
+the crew of the collier were provisioning and swinging out their boats.
+"I haven't said I was going to sink your ship.  Come and bear a hand
+and we'll let you go."
+
+Somewhere from the vicinity of the wrecked bridge came a hoarse voice:
+
+"We want no favours from strafed Germans.  Get your coal yourself if
+you want it.  You'll have to jolly well look sharp, for the hooker'll
+be on her way to Davy Jones in half an hour."
+
+"Himmel!" gasped the astonished kapitan, completely taken aback by the
+bull-dog audacity of the collier's men.  "Quick, Herr Klick.  Sound the
+well."
+
+Accompanied by a couple of armed seamen the unter-leutnant hurried
+below.  In a few minutes he reappeared.
+
+"They've opened the valves, sir," he reported.  "The sea is rushing in
+like a sluice.  It is already up to the floor of the engine-room."
+
+Von Riesser leant over the bridge rail and surveyed the deck of the
+collier forty feet below.
+
+"Unless you close those valves I'll smash every boat you have!" he
+shouted.
+
+A chorus of gibes was the only reply.  The engine-room staff alone knew
+the position of the valves.  It would take a stranger a couple of hours
+to locate them, and the men knew it.
+
+"Smash away," they replied derisively.  "Smashing private property is
+the only thing you Germans can do properly."
+
+For a full minute Kapitan von Riesser lost all control of himself.  He
+stormed and raved, cursing both in German and English, until he
+realized that during that minute the collier had sunk deeper in the
+water.
+
+There was a rush on the part of the _Pelikan's_ men who were loading
+the sacks in the vessel's holds, so fierce was the influx of the sea.
+
+Above their shouts of anger and surprise arose the ceaseless taunts of
+the British crew.  Having fully made up their minds that no quarter
+would be given the stalwart men decided to die game, and in their
+opinion the spirit of independence was best shown in heaping sarcasm
+upon the baffled Teutons.
+
+Already the hawsers and springs holding the two vessels were straining
+almost to breaking point.  Reluctantly von Riesser gave the order to
+cast off, at the same time telegraphing to the engine-room for
+half-speed ahead.
+
+Somewhat to the surprise of the collier's crew no attempt was made by
+the _Pelikan_ to interfere with them.  Taking to the boats they hoisted
+sail and in twenty minutes the little flotilla was lost to sight.
+
+It was a long time before von Riesser got over his fit of bad temper.
+Precious time had been all but wasted, for the only result of the
+enterprise was the addition of roughly seventy tons of coal to the
+_Pelikan's_ sorely-depleted bunkers.
+
+"By Jove! that was a nasty knock," remarked O'Hara to his chum.  "It's
+a wonder old von Riesser hadn't ordered those boats to be stove-in.
+The lip those fellows gave him was enough to make a British admiral
+commit an act of frightfulness."
+
+"The old chap's frightened about something," replied Denbigh.  "He's
+literally on toast.  You see, what with Stirling's escape--for I feel
+confident that code message referred to his rescue--he's got to mind
+his p's and q's until he's through the cordon.  Then, if he does, I
+guess he'll make it mighty hot for us."
+
+Denbigh was right in his surmise, for as soon as Stirling had been
+taken on board H.M.S. _Actaeon_ and had made a report to the captain,
+the cruiser communicated with each of her consorts, giving the position
+of the _Pelikan_ when last seen and the probable course.
+
+Following this message another was transmitted to the Admiralty
+announcing the safety of Sub-lieutenant Charles Stirling, captured
+while on a passage home in the Japanese liner _Nichi Maru_.
+Instructions were asked as to the "disposal" of that officer.
+
+Promptly came the reply temporarily appointing Stirling to H.M.S.
+_Actaeon_ as supernumerary, since it was recognized that his knowledge
+of the elusive raider might be of great assistance to the pursuing ship.
+
+Within two hours of the _Actaeon's_ wireless message additional small
+cruisers, armed auxiliaries, and destroyers left Table Bay, while
+others were ordered from the Pacific Station to proceed to the vicinity
+of Cape Horn and guard both the passage to the southward of that place
+and also the intricate Straits of Magellan.
+
+In the event of the _Pelikan_ eluding the cordon in the Atlantic, and
+since it was known that her desired destination was German East Africa,
+the squadron operating in conjunction with the British military
+expedition was warned to exercise a particularly sharp look-out, both
+in the Mozambique Channel and off the East African coast between 4 deg. S.
+and 11 deg. S. lat.
+
+Four swift destroyers of the Australian Navy were also given
+instructions to proceed to Mauritius and await orders.  Thus the net
+was being swiftly tightened around the fugitive liner that alone flew
+the Black Cross ensign of Germany outside European waters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+Reinforcements
+
+Under reduced speed, in order to economize her coal, the _Pelikan_ held
+on her southerly course.  By dint of careful stoking, her funnels
+emitted little or no smoke that might betray her position.  At night
+every light was screened.
+
+Fortune seemed to be favouring her, for without sighting a single
+vessel she reached the fortieth parallel, or considerably farther to
+the south'ard than she need do in ordinary circumstances in order to
+round the Cape of Good Hope.
+
+The air was rapidly becoming colder, and her crew, being unprovided
+with warm garments, suffered acutely after coming straight from the
+Tropics.
+
+While the work of repairing the damage done by the British cruiser's
+shells was progressing as well as the limited means at the disposal of
+the ship would permit, one of the crew slipped, and striking his head
+against the edge of an iron plate, was so severely injured that he died
+within two hours of the accident.
+
+It was then that Denbigh and O'Hara had yet another example of the
+thoroughness of the German system.  The usual practice would have been
+to sew the body up in a shotted hammock and throw it overboard, but
+Kapitan von Riesser had another plan.
+
+One of the boats, with the name "_Zwaan_--Rotterdam" painted on the
+stern, was lowered.  In it the corpse was placed and the boat turned
+adrift.
+
+In due course, the kapitan hoped--and the crew, realizing that
+necessity knows no law, agreed with him--that the boat would be sighted
+by one of the British cruisers, and thus give the impression that the
+raider had sunk.
+
+About four on the following morning the two subs were roused by the
+sudden increase of the revolutions of the propellers, and the frantic
+tramp of feet on deck.
+
+"Hulloa, what's wrong now?" asked O'Hara.  "They've got a move on for
+something."
+
+"One of our ships in chase, I think," replied Denbigh.  "As we are
+locked in we may just as well go to sleep again.  I'd like to wake up
+and find the hooker hove-to and a prize."
+
+"Not bad advice," rejoined the Irishman, turning over and rolling
+himself in his blankets.  "Thank goodness it's not our watch.  If these
+fellows carry on much farther we'll find ourselves on the way to the
+South Pole."
+
+Sleep, however, was out of the question.  The two chums talked at
+intervals until the appearance of Fritz warned them that it was time to
+dress for breakfast.
+
+After the meal the subs found, somewhat to their surprise, that they
+were not prohibited from going on deck, as was generally the case when
+another vessel was sighted.
+
+It was piercingly cold.  A heavy dew had frozen as it fell, rendering
+the decks very slippery.  Several of the crew were at work with hoses,
+washing down the planks with salt water in order to clear away the thin
+coating of ice.  So keen was the wind that Denbigh and his companion
+were glad to take shelter under the lee of the deck-houses.
+
+Astern, at a distance of about two miles, was a long, rakish-looking
+craft, with two short masts and two funnels.  She was painted a dark
+grey, almost appearing black.  She flew no flag, but a signal fluttered
+from the foremast.  Owing to the direction of the wind it was
+impossible, even with the aid of powerful glasses, to distinguish the
+flags, since the vessel was steaming directly in the wake of the
+runaway _Pelikan_.
+
+Several of the latter's officers were aft keeping the mysterious craft
+under observation, while on the after-bridge Kapitan von Riesser and
+the officers of the watch were engaged upon a similar task.
+
+Seeing the British officers appear the kapitan descended the bridge and
+strolled aft.  Affecting surprise at finding Denbigh and the Irishman
+on deck he asked:
+
+"What do you make of that vessel, Herr Denbigh?  Is she one of yours?"
+
+The sub shook his head.
+
+"I really cannot say," he replied.  "You see we've added considerably
+to our fleet since the outbreak of war, and I haven't been in Home
+Waters since October, 1913.  She's coming up pretty fast, I should
+imagine."
+
+"She is," agreed Kapitan von Riesser dryly.  "But not so fast as you
+would like, perhaps.  It is somewhat strange that she hasn't opened
+fire before now.  Perhaps it is because your compatriots are afraid of
+hitting you," he added with a slight sneer.
+
+"And for similar humanitarian reasons you have refrained from using
+your quick-firers, I presume?" retorted O'Hara.
+
+"She's hoisting Argentine colours, sir," reported one of the
+_Pelikan's_ officers.
+
+He was right, for altering helm slightly the pursuing vessel enabled
+the flag to blow athwartships.  At the same moment the signal that had
+been kept flying at the masthead could be distinguished.  It read:
+"What ship is that?"
+
+"Those colours may be an English trick," said the kapitan.  "I'll carry
+on."
+
+"By Jove, old man!" he whispered to his chum.  "It looks as if we are
+dished this time.  We were a little too premature in chipping the Old
+Man."
+
+In an hour the pursuing craft had closed to slightly less than a mile.
+Still she made no attempt to open fire.  There were, in fact, no guns
+visible.
+
+"Hoist our proper colours," ordered Kapitan von Riesser at length.  "It
+will be all the same in another twenty minutes' time whether we use our
+own ensign or any other."
+
+The Black Cross ensign was run up.  Its appearance was greeted by a
+prolonged blast on the stranger's siren, then from the extremity of the
+pursuing craft's bridge a man began semaphoring.
+
+Although skilled in semaphore, neither Denbigh nor O'Hara could
+understand the message.  The British system differs from the German,
+which again varies with the French and Spanish.  Yet, peculiarly, the
+officers and men of the _Pelikan_ could read the signal with ease.
+
+Grave, anxious looks gave place to smiles, while one of the crew began
+to cheer--a demonstration that the kapitan quickly suppressed.
+
+Von Riesser had now ascended the bridge.  Still suspicious he ordered
+the torpedo tubes to be charged and the engines to be reversed.
+
+Directly the overtaking craft noticed the falling off of the liner's
+speed her decks were black with humanity, and the air was rent with
+cries of "Hoch!"  Then came the strains of "Deutschland uber alles", in
+which the _Pelikan's_ crew joined lustily.
+
+"Good heavens!" ejaculated Denbigh.  "What does it all mean?  There's a
+small German colony afloat."
+
+"'Fraid so," agreed O'Hara.
+
+As there was hardly any sea running the two vessels ran alongside each
+other.  The new-comer had the name _San Matias_ painted on her stern
+and on her boats and life-buoys.  She carried no guns except a couple
+of small brass signalling pieces.  Her officers and a few of her crew
+were South Americans, beyond doubt, but the rest of the crowded
+complement were of marked Teutonic origin.
+
+The British subs stood at the rail watching the unwonted sight.  No one
+offered to order them below.  It was part of the business to let them
+see what was going on.
+
+No time was lost.  While a party of officers from the _San Matias_ were
+being entertained by von Riesser in his cabin the Germans from her
+transferred themselves and their belongings to the _Pelikan_--nearly
+three hundred men of military age and bearing.  Then came the work of
+transhipping stores from the capacious holds of the South American
+vessel.  Carcass after carcass of oxen and sheep were brought on deck.
+From the oxen were produced long bundles wrapped in cloth.  Every
+bundle contained four modern magazine rifles.  Enclosed with the frozen
+mutton were small shells and rifle ammunition.  As fast as the
+munitions were taken from their strange places of concealment most of
+the carcasses were dumped overboard, a few hundred being retained for
+food and stored in the _Pelikan's_ refrigerators.  Then came bundles of
+hides, each containing parts of machine-guns, until it looked as if the
+ship had enough material to equip an army corps.
+
+Long before the _San Matias_ had disgorged her warlike stores Denbigh
+had overheard enough conversation to enable him to solve the mystery.
+
+The _San Matias_ had been chartered by a number of wealthy German
+merchants in Buenos Ayres for the purpose of sending some hundreds of
+reservists to German East Africa.  The presence of the _Pelikan_ in the
+South Atlantic had been expected, and her progress, based upon reports
+from British cruisers and duly transmitted by spies to Buenos Ayres,
+reached the projectors of the scheme with remarkable promptitude.  The
+arms and ammunition had been purchased sometime previously from a
+pro-German firm in New York, and sent to the Argentine to fulfil a
+fictitious contract for the Government of that republic.
+
+The _San Matias_ was then chartered, her owner, captain, and crew being
+heavily bribed to undertake the risk, comparative immunity being
+afforded by means of forged ship's papers and certificates of
+nationality of the "passengers".  At the same time the report was
+spread in Buenos Ayres and Monte Video that the _Pelikan_ had been
+sighted making for Bahia--a matter of two thousand miles N.N.E. of the
+estuary of the La Plata.  British agents swallowed the bait and
+telegraphed the news to London, whence, in turn, the false information
+was transmitted to the patrol vessels specially detailed to search for
+the daring raider.
+
+This report had literally done the trick.  The northernmost group of
+British cruisers instantly converged upon the Brazilian coast in the
+neighbourhood of Bahia.  The southern patrol remained in the vicinity
+of the Falklands.  Thus the _Pelikan_ had the chance of a free and
+uninterrupted run eastwards until she approached the vicinity of the
+Cape of Good Hope.  Although her adventures were by no means over, one
+source of danger had been removed.
+
+The German reservists were certainly optimists.  They firmly believed
+that Egypt had been wrested from the British, and that their role was
+to join the large army concentrating in German East Africa and march
+victoriously down the valley of the Nile and crush the remnant of the
+English in the vicinity of Khartoum.  According to their idea and
+belief South Africa was in rebellion, and that German South-West Africa
+was once more a Teutonic colony.  India, too, had revolted and joined
+the Turks, who had occupied Persia and Beluchistan.  Mention was also
+made of the impending advance of the Turco-Germanic armies through
+Tibet and China to establish a vast empire from the Atlantic to the
+Pacific, and to avenge upon Japan the loss of Kiau-Chau.  In short, the
+German armies were everywhere triumphant, although they could hardly
+understand why they should have to be smuggled out to sea when the
+German High Seas Fleet roamed unchallenged and the British navy skulked
+in harbours.
+
+At length the last of the _San Mathias's_ cargo was transhipped.  The
+two vessels parted company, the Argentine returning to Buenos Ayres
+while the _Pelikan_ headed eastward on her perilous passage round the
+Cape of Good Hope.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+The Midnight Landing
+
+The sanguine spirits of the German reservists had the effect of
+cheering up the crew of the _Pelikan_.  To confirm their assertions the
+former produced copies of newspapers printed under Teutonic auspices
+for the benefit of the South American republics.
+
+Taking advantage of the information concerning the dispositions of the
+British cruisers the kapitan of the _Pelikan_ stopped another collier
+at a distance of four hundred miles east of Buenos Ayres.  For eighteen
+hours the two vessels lay side by side while the coal was being
+transhipped to the almost empty bunkers of the raider.
+
+For certain reasons von Riesser did not sink the tramp after having
+depleted her cargo.  Perhaps it was because the crew had offered no
+resistance; but it was just possible that the kapitan of the _Pelikan_
+had sufficient humanity to see that the turning adrift of a couple of
+boat-loads in the desolate South Atlantic meant practically slow and
+certain death.
+
+From the time of the arrival of the German reservists von Riesser's
+demeanour towards Denbigh and O'Hara underwent a marked change.  Rarely
+did he enter into conversation with them.  He treated them with
+aloofness.  This the subs minded but little; it was the restrictions
+placed upon their movements that riled them.  They were now allowed
+only two periods of exercise on deck during the day--from ten till noon
+and from two till five--and kept within strict limits.  A sentry was
+posted to see that they remained within boundaries specified, and
+orders had been given for none of the reservists, many of whom spoke
+English, to enter into conversation with them.
+
+On the fifth day after falling in with the _San Matias_ the ship's
+course was changed to S.S.E.  This she held until further progress was
+barred by the presence of a large field of pack ice.  Von Riesser, in
+order to avoid any possible chance of meeting any of the Cape Squadron,
+had elected to go south into the vast and desolate Antarctic before
+entering the Indian Ocean.
+
+At length came the welcome order to steer north.  Gradually the
+temperature rose as the _Pelikan_ left the frozen seas astern.
+
+Maintaining a steady progress the ship reached the vicinity of
+Mauritius, keeping well to the eastward of that island.
+
+The _Pelikan_ now underwent another change.  From truck to water-line
+she was repainted--black on the starboard side and a light-grey on the
+port.  An additional funnel, a dummy one made out of canvas stretched
+on a framework of hoop iron and wood, was set up.
+
+"It looks as if this craft is going to get through after all," remarked
+O'Hara, as the _Pelikan_ reached Equatorial waters without having so
+much as sighted another vessel of any description.
+
+"Yes, rotten luck," said Denbigh.  "I heard von Langer telling that fat
+major that another twenty-four hours would bring us in sight of land.
+I notice these fellows are preparing for their jaunt ashore."
+
+The reservists were discarding their motley civilian attire and were
+being provided with drill uniforms that had at one time been white but
+were now dyed to a colour nearly approaching khaki.  Each man wore a
+sun helmet, but instead of puttees, jack-boots of dark undressed
+leather were served out.
+
+In the midst of these preparations a sail was reported on the starboard
+bow.  Hurriedly arms were served out to the troops, the quick-firers
+were manned, and machine-guns placed out of sight but in a position
+that would enable them to be used with deadly effect should occasion
+arise.
+
+"Down to your cabins, you Englishmen!" snarled the fat major, von
+Eckenstein, who had previously been in conversation with the
+ober-leutnant of the _Pelikan_.
+
+"Are you in charge of this ship, Herr Major?" asked O'Hara.  "Hitherto
+our orders have come from Kapitan von Riesser."
+
+The major's only reply was to raise a cane that he held in his hand and
+to strike the Irishman sharply across the cheek.
+
+O'Hara's hot Hibernian blood surged at the insult.  Fortunately he
+managed to keep himself under control, but for an instant Denbigh felt
+certain that his comrade's hard fist would come violently in contact
+with von Eckenstein's podgy nose.
+
+"I'm afraid that bounder will have cause to be sorry for this,"
+remarked O'Hara, when the chums had retired to their cabin.  He
+critically examined in the glass the reflection of his face, on which a
+weal was rapidly developing.  "By Jove, it was lucky for him that you
+were there, otherwise I would have given him something by which to
+remember me to the rest of his days."
+
+"Perhaps it is as well," rejoined Denbigh.  "It hardly pays in the
+circumstances to argue the point with a Prussian."
+
+Of what occurred during the next two hours the subs had only a vague
+idea.
+
+Von Riesser realized that flight was out of the question.  To attempt
+to do so would arouse suspicion, and since several swift cruisers were
+known to be off the coast, a wireless message would bring half a dozen
+speedy British warships upon the scene.  He therefore decided to carry
+on, escape by a stratagem if possible, if not, fight in a final bid for
+liberty.
+
+Since the waters adjacent to German East Africa had been declared to be
+in a state of blockade it was useless to hoist the mercantile flag of
+any nation, so the Blue Ensign of the British Reserve was displayed.
+
+In less than half an hour the strange craft was plainly visible.  She
+was a small tramp, also displaying the Blue Ensign.
+
+Von Riesser heaved a sigh of relief.  She was not an armed auxiliary,
+otherwise the White Ensign would have been used.  More than likely she
+was one of the fleet of subsidized merchantmen carrying stores and
+munitions for the British Expeditionary Force operating against the
+sole remaining German colony.
+
+The stranger hoisted a signal.  It was in code and consequently
+unintelligible to the _Pelikan_.  Von Riesser promptly replied by
+another hoist, the flags meaning nothing, but simply to puzzle the
+tramp.
+
+The _Pelikan_ held on her course, which, in defiance of the Rule of the
+Road at Sea, would bring across the bows of the other.  That in itself
+was suspicious, but any alteration of helm would reveal the _Pelikan's_
+piebald sides.
+
+At a distance of less than a mile the German vessel gave three blasts
+upon her siren, signifying that her engines were going astern.
+Nevertheless she was steaming ahead as hard as she could until
+deception was no longer possible.
+
+An order from the bridge and the screens surrounding the guns were
+lowered revealing her formidable quick-firers.
+
+"Heave-to, or I'll sink you!" shouted the kapitan through a megaphone,
+for the tramp was now less than two cables' lengths away and broad on
+the starboard beam.
+
+The tramp, which proved to be S.S. _Myra_ of South Shields, had no
+option but to surrender.  She was unarmed and of slow speed.  Having
+left Simon's Bay with a convoy under escort she had encountered the
+tail of a cyclone.  Detained by temporary engine-room defects during
+the storm she had fallen out of station, and was now a couple of
+hundred miles astern of the rest of the convoy.
+
+Slowly the Blue Ensign was lowered, and way taken off the ship.  Within
+ten minutes a prize crew in charge of Unter-leutnant Klick was on
+board.  The officers and crew were locked up below, and warned that any
+attempt at resistance would result in the instant destruction of the
+_Myra_ with all on board.
+
+The boarding-officer's report was to the effect that the tramp was
+heavily laden with warlike stores.  He asked instructions as to the
+disposal of the prize.
+
+Kapitan von Riesser's mind was very active now.  With a successful
+issue in sight he was not inclined to send such a valuable prize to the
+bottom.
+
+"Can you get the _Myra's_ engine-room and stokehold staff to work, Herr
+Klick?" asked the kapitan.
+
+"I can, sir," replied the unter-leutnant grimly; and he did, for by
+dint of threats he compelled the luckless men to undertake to carry on
+under his orders.
+
+"Very good," continued the kapitan of the _Pelikan_, receiving an
+affirmative reply.  "Follow me at two cables' lengths astern.  I'll
+slow down to enable you to keep station.  Be prepared to abandon ship
+instantly should occasion arise."
+
+Later in the afternoon the _Pelikan_ and her prize arrived off Latham
+Island, under the lee of which von Riesser had decided to remain the
+night, since it was too hazardous to enter the harbour he had selected
+during the hours of darkness.
+
+Denbigh, who had been allowed on deck, recognized the island.  He had
+served a commission on the flagship of the East Indies India Station
+when he was a midshipman, and was fairly well conversant with the
+African coast in the vicinity of Zanzibar and Dar-es-Salaam.
+
+Latham Island is a dangerous, low-lying patch of coral and sand, of
+oval form, being barely 350 yards in length and 180 yards broad.  In no
+place does it rise more than 10 feet above the sea.  Its surface is
+quite flat, having been made so by the constant treading of myriads of
+sea-fowl, that have consolidated the sand collected on the coral
+substratum into a soft sandstone, which shines very white in the sun,
+but is difficult to discern at night or in a bad light.
+
+When visited and surveyed by H.M.S. _Shearwater_ in 1873, a stone
+beacon was erected on the island, but owing to the absence of mortar
+used in its construction, it was blown down by the wind.  Coco-nut
+trees were planted at the same time, but the result was unsatisfactory,
+as the birds destroyed them.
+
+Owing to the dangerous vicinity of the islands it was unlikely that any
+vessel would pass within several miles of it during the night, so the
+_Pelikan_ stood a chance of remaining at the anchorage without fear of
+detection.
+
+"We are not far from the Rufigi River, are we?" asked O'Hara.  "Do you
+think that the _Pelikan_ is going to run for there?"
+
+"Hardly," replied Denbigh.  "With the _Koenigsberg_ as a warning I think
+she'll give the Rufigi a wide berth.  It's my opinion that she'll have
+a show at getting into the Mohoro River.  It's fairly close, and once
+we can pass the bar there's deep water for nearly twenty miles.  I'm
+curious to know what we are doing off Latham Island, however.  I think
+I'll try the Stirling trick and have a prowl round on deck during the
+night."
+
+"Only don't leave me in the lurch, old man," protested the Irishman,
+with an assumed look of consternation.
+
+"I won't," replied Denbigh laughingly.  "So don't lock me out."
+
+Just before midnight the sub set to work with the screw-driver and
+succeeded in opening the door.  Fortunately there was no sentry on the
+aft-deck on this occasion.  Overhead there was a considerable amount of
+noise going on.  It conveyed the impression that there were scores of
+men hard at work and trying to perform their various tasks with as
+little noise as possible.
+
+Unseen and unheard, Denbigh gained the deck and mingled with the
+throng.  There were seamen and reservists all hard at it, buckling to
+in the starlight.  Cautiously the sub looked about for a place of
+concealment, where he could hear and see everything that was going on
+in his vicinity without much risk of detection.
+
+He glanced up.  Overhead were the boats swinging inboard on davits.
+Side by side with them, and resting on the booms or transverse steel
+girders, were some larger boats which could only be hoisted out by
+means of derricks.  Between were several planks and spars lashed to the
+girders.
+
+Awaiting a favourable chance, Denbigh nimbly ascended the iron ladder
+on the funnel casing that led to a platform just below the siren.
+After climbing a few rungs, he was able to swing himself across to the
+nearest boat, which was almost as large as a battleship's pinnace.  It
+was roughly forty feet in length, and weighed nearly four tons.
+
+"Look alive, men!" ordered Unter-leutnant Klick in his usual bullying
+tone.  "The whole of the stuff must be sent ashore within an hour."
+
+"Two boat-loads full, sir?" asked a petty officer.
+
+"No; one.  Get steam on the main hoist and lift out the pinnace."
+
+"Hulloa!" thought Denbigh.  "This looks like a proper jamboree.  I
+stand a chance of getting nabbed.  I wonder what the idea is of landing
+a quantity of gear on a sandbank like Latham Island?"
+
+He heard several men ascending to make ready the slings for hoisting
+out.  Promptly the sub retreated for'ard and crouched in the bows.
+Here, unless any material was likely to be stowed in his place of
+concealment, Denbigh had a fighting chance of escaping detection, for
+above him was a large grating that fitted between the bows and the
+for'ard thwart.
+
+"Now, then, Herr Major!" exclaimed Kapitan von Riesser.  "Are your men
+ready?  At least twenty with shovels will be necessary."
+
+"I cannot see that it is necessary," objected Major von Eckenstein.
+"It is a mere waste of time.  I protest against this useless labour,
+when we ought to be making for the Mohoro River."  And the Prussian
+officer clanked the tip of his scabbard loudly upon the deck, as if to
+emphasize his protest.
+
+Von Riesser, judging by the sound of his voice, lost his temper.
+
+"Once you are ashore, Herr Major, you are in sole command of these
+troops.  Here I am your superior.  If I choose to give orders to
+facilitate our retreat, should it be necessary, it is for you to carry
+them out.  If you refuse, I will place you under arrest and report the
+matter to the military governor of the colony."
+
+"If you would only explain what you propose to do, instead of giving
+orders that have no apparent reason, I am willing to assist you," said
+the major grumblingly.  "This business is evidently the result of a
+sudden inspiration on your part, and I think it is only just that you
+should take others into your confidence."
+
+"You are setting a bad example for the discipline of the ship,"
+declared the kapitan in a lower tone.  "It would be as well if we
+adjourned to my cabin.  When you have heard what is proposed to be
+done, I think you will agree with me that such a step is certainly
+necessary."
+
+"Carry on, Herr Klick," continued von Riesser as he moved away.  "See
+that every article enumerated on the list is sent ashore.  I hold you
+responsible."
+
+A bare-footed seaman, leaping upon the bow grating, prevented Denbigh
+hearing more of what was going on below.  The fellow bent and groped
+for the hook of the chain sling.  As he did so, his hand was within a
+couple of inches of the sub's face.  The man withdrew his hand so
+suddenly, that for the moment Denbigh imagined that he had been
+discovered.  Then came the metallic click of the hook engaging with the
+wire hawser from the derrick.
+
+To the accompaniment of the clank, clank, of the winch and the hiss of
+escaping steam, the pinnace rose from its resting-place.  Swaying
+gently, it swung outboard and was lowered rapidly into the water.
+
+For the next quarter of an hour the crew were feverishly employed in
+dumping stores and gear into the boat.  There were cans of petrol, that
+gave Denbigh food for reflection, boxes of provisions, water-beakers,
+arms and ammunition, sailcloth, and shipwright's tools.
+
+Then came an avalanche of picks and shovels, followed by a crowd of men
+who, perched in every available space, swarmed like ants over the
+deeply-laden boat.
+
+The pinnace was then cast off and taken in tow by a steam-boat.
+Denbigh knew this by the thud of the engines, but he was unaware that
+astern of the pinnace was a twenty-seven-foot whaler.
+
+The pinnace grounded on the lee side of a sandbank, for there was
+little swell, although on the outlying coral reefs the sea was breaking
+heavily.  Her work for the present done, the steam-boat cast off and
+returned to the _Pelikan_.
+
+Without loss of time, the crew set to work to unload, and as the
+pinnace rose higher out of the water during the course of operations,
+she was hauled closer to the land.
+
+"Everything out?" asked a voice.
+
+"I'll see, sir," replied a petty officer, and kneeling on the bottom
+boards, he peered under the row of thwarts.
+
+Denbigh shut his eyes and trusted to luck.  He knew that once his gaze
+met that of the searcher, the darkness would not screen him.  A
+long-drawn minute passed, and then the man reported that the boat was
+empty.
+
+"Good; leave a couple of boat-keepers in charge and join the party with
+the whaler," continued the officer.  "If you cannot manage her, ask for
+additional hands, but I think you will be able to drag her up.  The
+ground is hard and level."
+
+Away went the working-party, leaving the pinnace in charge of two
+seamen, who, having taken the strain off the bow cables, for the tide
+was rising, sat stolidly in the stern-sheets.
+
+Above the distant roar of the surf, Denbigh could distinguish the thud
+of the pickaxes and spades.  He would have given a lot to see what the
+diggers were doing, but the presence of the boat-keepers compelled him
+to crouch, cramped and cold in the bows.  Although the day had been
+exceedingly hot, the night air was decidedly chilly, the sand radiating
+the heat with great rapidity the moment the sun set.  Clad in light
+garments, Denbigh shivered and wished that he could stretch his limbs.
+
+The boat-keepers felt the cold, too, for after a little while they
+began to swing their arms.  Finally they jumped ashore and began to
+pace to and fro.  Having warmed themselves, the men sat upon the sand,
+and produced pipes and tobacco.  The sub distinctly heard the rasping
+of matches, and gradually the odour of South American tobacco assailed
+his nostrils.  The men had begun to talk, desultory conversation soon
+working up into an animated conversation.
+
+Cautiously Denbigh stretched his limbs.  Then waiting until the
+numbness had practically disappeared, he grasped the gunwale and slowly
+raised himself until his head was level with one of the rowlocks, the
+poppet of which had fortunately been removed.
+
+His range of vision was limited.  In the bright starlight he could
+discern the diggers.  Already the bulk of the stores were hidden, while
+at a distance of twenty yards from the cache, other men were excavating
+a long trench, by the side of which lay the whaler.  The depth of the
+hole was now about five feet, and only the heads of the workers were
+visible from the pinnace.
+
+The sub waited and watched, keeping a sharp look-out lest the
+boat-keepers should return.  Presently he became aware that his range
+of vision was changing.  The rising tide was swinging the pinnace
+diagonally with the shore.
+
+Denbigh promptly returned to his lair.  He was not a minute too soon,
+for just as he settled himself the boat-keepers returned and took up
+the strain on the bow ropes.
+
+"A good rise and fall for neap tides," remarked one of the men.  "If we
+get as much as this tomorrow we ought to be able to cross the bar.  I
+don't fancy having to remain at anchor in this lagoon until the new
+moon with those English cruisers prowling around."
+
+"Ach, we will take due precautions, Henrich," replied the other.  "Once
+we get inside the reefs we are perfectly safe.  It is the run across to
+the mainland that is the trouble.  Come on, let us go back to our snug
+seat and have another smoke.  It is indeed good to be able to tread dry
+land again, even if it is little better than a sandbank."
+
+The men scrambled over the gunwale, and as soon as they were gone
+Denbigh took up his former position by the rowlock.  He was just in
+time to see the whaler, lifted by a dozen brawny seamen and soldiers,
+topple bottom upwards into the trench.  Without loss of time the
+Germans commenced to shovel back the soil.  Others joined them, for the
+task of hiding the stores had been completed, and in a very short space
+of time the boat was quite covered, great care being taken to smooth
+the soft substratum until it showed no sign of having been disturbed.
+
+The sub retreated to his hiding-place, for the men were beginning to
+return, straggling up in groups of threes and fours.  The pinnace was
+backed out about half her own length and the men waded until they were
+able to climb on board.
+
+They rowed back to the _Pelikan_.  Once on the return journey the
+bowman, swinging his bare legs, caught Denbigh a blow on the forehead
+with his heel.  Fortunately the fellow did not trouble to investigate,
+but the sub realized that it was a narrow squeak.
+
+Arriving alongside the pinnace was hoisted out and stowed in its former
+place.  The workers were dismissed, the watch changed, and quietude
+brooded over the ship.
+
+"Now comes the rub," ejaculated the sub as he crept from his place of
+concealment.  As agilely as a monkey he made his way along the steel
+beam until he gained the funnel ladder.  Then he waited and listened.
+All was silence, save for the rumble of the surf and the subdued hiss
+of steam from the ship's boilers.
+
+Unseen and unheard Denbigh gained the companion and descended the
+aft-deck.  As he did so footsteps on deck told him he was barely in
+time.  Cautiously he lifted the curtain that served to screen the light
+from the hatchway.  The space beyond was deserted.
+
+Swiftly he tiptoed to the door of the cabin.  He tried the handle.  The
+door refused to move.  He knocked softly, thinking that O'Hara had
+fallen asleep.  There was no response.  Perhaps the Irishman had gone
+in search of him; but, if so, how could he have secured the door on the
+inside?  Before Denbigh could knock again a steady tread resounded
+along the alley-way.  The sentry on the aft-deck was coming towards him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+The Lagoon
+
+Almost in an instant Denbigh decided how to act.  He could have crept
+along the alley-way and surprised the sentry; but stunning the man
+would be of little use.  Nor could he hope to bluff the fellow, since
+there was too much light to attempt to pass himself off as one of the
+_Pelikan's_ officers.  To retreat was impracticable, for someone, he
+knew, was on deck in the immediate vicinity of the companion.
+
+Without hesitation the sub opened the door of the cabin adjoining his
+and entered quickly and silently.  The place was in darkness.  Whether
+it was tenanted or not he was unable to ascertain.  Closing the door he
+stood stock-still and listened.  He could hear no sound of a person
+breathing.  For five minutes he waited, then began to grope until he
+found the edge of one of the bunks.  The sleeping-place was empty.
+There were not even blankets and bedding.  This looked promising.
+
+He continued his exploration, testing the remaining bunks in turn,
+until he was able to come to the happy decision that by sheer good luck
+he had lighted upon an empty cabin.
+
+The glass scuttle in the port-hole was closed, but there was no
+dead-light in position over the opening.  In that case it would be too
+risky to switch on the light, until he had taken due precautions.
+
+The dead-light squeaked shrilly on its hinges as he drew it to.  He
+wondered whether the watch on deck heard the sound.  He waited again.
+There were many footsteps descending the companion.  He could detect
+von Langer's guttural tones, discussing some matter with one of the
+other officers.
+
+"Dash it all!" ejaculated Denbigh, a cold perspiration standing out on
+his forehead.  "What if I'm in that fellow's cabin?"
+
+The men stopped outside the cabin.  They were evidently indulging in
+horse-play, for once a heavy body struck the wall with a thud, followed
+by a chorus of boisterous laughter.
+
+Then, to Denbigh's intense relief, the officers went along the passage.
+Once again he had been lucky.
+
+Reassured he switched on the light.  The cabin was bare of furniture.
+In one corner lay a pile of books and a couple of sea-stained
+portmanteaux.  Hanging from a coat-hook was an officer's sword-belt.
+It was mildewed; the stitching of the holster had burst, the buckle was
+green with verdigris.  Attached to the belt was a small, circular
+leather case secured by a strap.
+
+Denbigh handled it gingerly.  There was something hard inside.
+Curiosity prompted him to unbuckle the strap and open the case.  Within
+was a pocket-compass.  What was more, it was a spirit one and seemingly
+in good order.  Without compunction the sub abstracted the compass and
+slipped it into his pocket.
+
+As he did so he was startled to hear a deep groan.  It seemed to sound
+close to his ear.  He wheeled abruptly and shot a glance in the
+direction of one of the bunks, thinking that he had made a mistake in
+deeming it untenanted.
+
+There was no one there.  Again the groan was repeated.  This time the
+sound seemed to come from the adjoining cabin--the one occupied by Pat
+O'Hara.
+
+A hole in the bulkhead attracted Denbigh's notice.  It was the aperture
+drilled by the Germans when they made their ineffectual attempt to
+chloroform the three British officers.
+
+Through it Denbigh could see but a very small portion of the next
+cabin, but sufficient to observe O'Hara lying on his back in his bunk.
+He was writhing and groaning.  His eyes were wide open and rolling in a
+horrifying manner.
+
+Outside all was quiet once more.
+
+"I say, old man," whispered Denbigh.  "What's wrong?"
+
+At the sound of his voice O'Hara raised himself.  He tried to speak,
+but could not.  With an effort he rolled out of his bunk and stood
+clinging to the edge for support.
+
+"Open the door," said Denbigh peremptorily.  "I cannot get in."
+
+"If he's not able to it's the last straw," he soliloquized.  "I'll have
+to give myself up and get assistance."
+
+With a great effort the Irishman lurched across the floor and removed
+the chair which had been wedged against the lock.  Then, unable to
+regain his bunk, he pitched inertly upon his face.
+
+Denbigh waited no longer.  He darted into the alley-way, not even
+waiting to see if everything were clear.  The door opened easily.  He
+entered, and lifting O'Hara as easily as a child placed him on his bunk.
+
+"Felt jolly rotten almost as soon as you cleared out," muttered the
+Irishman.  "Sorry, but I couldn't help it."
+
+"I don't suppose you could," replied Denbigh, for O'Hara's regret was
+genuine.  "I'll ring for assistance."
+
+He touched the electric bell.  Then, and only then, he remembered that
+he had to replace a portion of the lock.  Grasping the screw-driver he
+set to work, and had just driven home the last screw when the locked
+turned, and a petty officer entered.
+
+The man hurried off for the ship's surgeon.  It was nearly a quarter of
+an hour before the doctor arrived.  He came prepared to deal with a
+trifling case, but when he saw the Irishman he looked grave.
+
+Without expressing his opinion the surgeon went out.  Nor did he again
+put in an appearance.  He sent, however, some quinine and written
+directions as to treatment.
+
+For the rest of the night Denbigh sat up with his comrade.  As day
+broke O'Hara seemed easier.  The internal pains passed off.  His
+temperature fell.  He was able to talk rationally.  By noon he was
+practically well again.  The attack had been sharp and rapid, but once
+over it seemed to leave no ill-effects.
+
+Without being sighted by any of the British patrol vessels the
+_Pelikan_ and her prize arrived off the entrance to the Mohoro River.
+Here the two ships slowed down until there was sufficient water for
+them to cross the outer bar.
+
+During the interval Denbigh and O'Hara were peremptorily ordered to
+leave the _Pelikan_ and take up their quarters on the _Myra_, the
+reason being that von Riesser was terribly afraid of illness, and in
+spite of the doctor's assurances he had a firm belief that O'Hara was
+suffering from yellow fever, malaria, black-water fever, and every
+tropical disease under the sun.
+
+"Let him jolly well think so," said the Irishman joyfully.  "I feel as
+fit as a fiddle now; and I'm not sorry for the change."
+
+All the same O'Hara acted the invalid to perfection as he was rowed
+from the raider to her prize.  Denbigh accompanied him, taking good
+care to bring all their scanty personal property that they had been
+permitted to save from the _Nichi Maru_, excepting the gold that von
+Riesser had ordered to be confiscated.
+
+The _Myra_ was in charge of Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick and fifteen
+men.  There were also the skipper, officers, and crew of the tramp,
+numbering thirty-two persons.  The officers were given a fair amount of
+liberty, but the men were kept under hatches, to their no small
+discomfort in the tropical heat.
+
+"Sorry I'm not able to make your acquaintance under more favourable
+auspices," was the greeting of Captain Pennington, the master of the
+captured _Myra_, when the two subs introduced themselves.  "But I hope
+before many hours that we will be set at liberty."
+
+"We've been hoping that for weeks," said Denbigh.  "The luck those
+fellows get is astonishing."
+
+"So I should imagine," agreed Captain Pennington.  "I learnt at Cape
+Town that the _Pelikan_ was given up as lost, as some wreckage and one
+of her boats were picked up in the South Atlantic.  That is why our
+cruisers relaxed their patrol, and were ordered to rendezvous at
+Zanzibar.  There'll be a dozen or more on their way up."
+
+"And any monitors?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"Four, as far as I know," replied the _Myra's_ skipper.  "One was
+detained for repairs at Simon's Bay.  The others must be at Zanzibar by
+this time.  They will be invaluable for work inside the coral reefs."
+
+"And the _Pelikan_--or _Zwaan_, as we are accustomed to call her--hopes
+to ascend the Mohoro River.  Her draught is about twenty-two feet, and
+she may be able to lighten to eighteen."
+
+"She won't do it," declared Pennington decisively.  "It will be as much
+as she can manage to cross the outer bar.  She'll be nabbed before she
+does that."
+
+"When's high water?" enquired Denbigh.
+
+"Let me see.  New moon's on Friday.  To-day's Saturday.  High water,
+full and change, is at 4 p.m.  I take it that it's the top of the tide
+to-day at eleven or thereabouts.  They'll have to be pretty sharp about
+it to arrive off the entrance to the lagoon by that time."
+
+As a matter of fact von Riesser signalled for the prize to steam full
+speed ahead, the _Pelikan_ following at four cables' lengths astern.
+By 8.30 the _Myra_ slowed down off the entrance to the Mohoro River.
+
+There was a considerable amount of mist about, for the land breeze had
+not commenced to make its influence felt.
+
+All that could be seen was a long, irregular line of coral reefs
+against which the ground-swell broke with a sullen roar into masses of
+milk-white foam.  There were nearly a dozen visible gaps in the reef,
+the largest, bearing directly ahead, being marked by a couple of
+coco-nut palms.
+
+At this point an island was in course of formation, there being a few
+feet of soil accumulated upon the coral.  These trees marked the
+entrance to the lagoon, into which the Mohoro River made its way by
+means of three separate estuaries.
+
+The Germans left nothing to chance.  Way was taken off both vessels.  A
+boat was manned and lowered from the _Pelikan_ and rowed towards the
+entrance, soundings being taken methodically and frequently.
+
+Having found the deepest water the officers in the boat signalled to
+the _Myra_, and at half speed the captured tramp crept towards the
+narrow passage.
+
+Between the foam-swept barriers she made her way, until she lay quietly
+upon the peaceful waters of the lagoon.
+
+The _Pelikan_ prepared to follow.
+
+"Ten to one she'll bump," exclaimed Captain Pennington.  "There you
+are!  I said so," he added, as the raider touched the bottom with a
+dull grinding sound.  Still she carried way.  Scraping along for nearly
+her own length she slid into deep water.
+
+"Hope she's stove in her bottom," said O'Hara.  "See, they're using her
+bilge pumps."
+
+A signal was hoisted on the raider.  What it meant the British officers
+were unable to say, but it was evident from the expression of the face
+of Unter-leutnant Klick that the damage to the _Pelikan_ was but slight.
+
+By this time the mist was rising.  The mainland could now be discerned,
+low-lying ground densely covered with mangroves and backed by rugged
+hills at a distance of about ten miles from the coast.
+
+The lagoon was quite three miles in breadth and extended in a northerly
+direction beyond the range of vision.  Southward it gradually converged
+towards the coast, apparently joining it at a distance of five miles
+from where the ships lay.
+
+"An anchorage big enough to take the whole of the British Navy,"
+declared Denbigh.  "It's the bar that spoils the place, apart from the
+pestilential swamps.  Do you see that peculiar isolated tree?  It's a
+casuarina.  It marks the principal entrance to the Mohoro--or did when
+I was here last, but these African rivers have a peculiar knack of
+altering their course entirely in a night."
+
+"I suppose we are going straight up," remarked O'Hara.  "There's depth
+enough for us."
+
+"Goodness knows," replied his chum.  "At all events the _Pelikan_
+can't."
+
+Apparently the Germans had a good knowledge of the lagoon, for boldly
+closing with the land, the _Pelikan_ dropped anchor within three
+hundred yards of the highest part of the shore, where a cliff rose
+abruptly to the height of thirty or forty feet.  On the summit the
+ground shelved gently.  There were several native huts to be seen in
+the clearing between the mangroves, while farther back was a
+galvanized-iron shed with a whitewashed roof.
+
+Acting under von Riesser's instructions the _Myra's_ anchor was let go,
+the tramp bringing up at a cable's length from her captor, and so close
+to the shore that when she swung her stern was within forty yards of
+the cliff.  The water here was ten fathoms deep, the shore being
+steep-to, but in spite of the depth the bottom could be clearly seen.
+
+"Suppose you vant to go 'shore, hein?" asked Unter-leutnant Klick.  "No
+tricks.  Plenty of shark about."
+
+The German was right.  Already the surface of the lagoon in the
+vicinity of the two ships was furrowed with diverging lines of ripples
+as the black dorsal fins of numerous tigers of the deep cleft the water.
+
+"No, I don't think I want to bathe, lieutenant," remarked Captain
+Pennington.  "It hardly looks tempting."
+
+Kaspar Klick laughed boisterously.
+
+"You see even der shark is der ally of Zhermany," he said.
+
+"The information does not astonish me one little bit," rejoined the
+master of the _Myra_.
+
+"Vot you mean?" demanded the under-leutnant, instinctively guessing
+that he had made a verbal blunder.
+
+At that moment, when the German was beginning to exhibit signs of
+anger, another signal was made from the _Pelikan_, ordering the _Myra_
+to ship as much additional cargo from her captor as she could carry.
+
+Until sunset the work progressed.  Under threats from their captors the
+British crew were turned up from below and compelled to assist in
+handing and stowing the gear, for it was von Riesser's intention to
+lighten his vessel as much as possible, so as to attempt the inner bar
+at least a couple of days before the new moon.
+
+Night put an end to the day's work, for not a light that could be
+visible from seaward was shown.
+
+The two subs slept badly.  Their cabin accommodation was indifferent
+compared with that on board the _Pelikan_, for Unter-leutnant Klick had
+appropriated the skipper's quarters, and Pennington and his chief
+engineer were obliged to share the small space that had been the mate's
+cabin, while that officer was told to occupy the same cabin in which
+Denbigh and O'Hara were placed.
+
+They lacked the ventilating fan and the liberal air space.  The cabin
+was low and stuffy.  It had no direct communication with the outside
+air, as it opened into the state-room, where in normal times the
+_Myra's_ officers used to have their meals.  At present that limited
+space was still further restricted by the huge cases of military stores
+removed from the _Pelikan_.  These had been struck down the hatchway
+and carried aft, where they remained under the charge of an armed
+sentry.
+
+"Those fellows think they've got us safely under lock and key," said
+the mate, a burly North-countryman of the name of Armstrong.  "They
+don't know that each officer of this hooker has a duplicate key to his
+cabin.  I took jolly good care to keep mine, and I know where to put my
+hand on the key to this one.  To-morrow, now I know how we're berthed,
+I'll get that key."
+
+At daybreak the work of transhipping the cargo was proceeded with
+before the miasmic mists that hid the shore had dispersed.  Two boats
+were dispatched from the _Pelikan_ to the shore and returned laden with
+tops of coco-nut trees.  Before noon the foliage was stowed below out
+of sight.
+
+Just before high water the _Myra_, being loaded far below her Plimsoll
+mark, prepared to weigh and ascend the river.  Even in her deeply laden
+condition she drew a good nine feet less than the _Pelikan_, and could
+negotiate the bar without much risk.
+
+The cable was almost "up and down" and the anchor on the point of
+"breaking-out" when a warning shout came from one of the look-out men
+on the _Pelikan_.  A bugle call for "General Quarters" followed in
+quick succession.
+
+"Hulloa, that's great!" ejaculated Denbigh excitedly.  He pointed in
+the direction of the passage through the reef.  Heading for it was a
+small gunboat.  Although the distance was too great for the British
+officers on the _Myra_ to distinguish her ensign they had no doubts as
+to her nationality.
+
+"She's one of our gunboats," announced O'Hara.
+
+His assertion was confirmed by a flash, followed by a sharp bark as the
+_Pelikan_, unmasking her guns, opened fire upon the approaching vessel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Denbigh's Plan
+
+At the opening of the engagement the prize crew of the _Myra_ made a
+simultaneous rush to the tramp's rigging, in order to witness the
+destruction of the audacious but lightly-armed gunboat.  Unter-leutnant
+Klick and another junior officer hurried to the bridge.  Denbigh,
+O'Hara, and the officers of the _Myra_ found themselves in sole
+occupation of the deck.
+
+"Idiots!" exclaimed Denbigh.
+
+"Who?" asked Captain Pennington.
+
+"The _Pelikan's_ people.  If they had waited another five minutes, they
+would have found the gunboat jammed up on the bar.  As it is she has
+room to manoeuvre."
+
+Even as he spoke, the gunboat let fly with her puny 4-inch bow gun--the
+only one capable of being trained upon the powerfully-armed raider.
+Immediately a dense cloud of black smoke burst from the little craft,
+entirely hiding her from view.
+
+"She's got it properly," exclaimed Pennington.
+
+Slowly the smoke began to disperse.  Into the eddying vapour shell
+after shell poured from the _Pelikan_.  All around the sea was
+lacerated by the ricochetting projectiles, which threw columns of spray
+high into the air, the pure whiteness of the artificial waterspouts
+contrasting vividly with the dark background of smoke.
+
+The Germans were shouting madly.  It was their way of cheering, but it
+lacked the inspiring sound of a hearty British cheer.  Then, with
+remarkable suddenness, the uproar of voices trailed away into a
+silence, broken only by the desultory firing from the _Pelikan_.
+
+Under cover of the cloud of smoke purposely emitted from the gunboat,
+the British craft had swung round and was steaming away at her maximum
+of 13 knots, apparently undamaged by the salvoes that had been directed
+towards her.  The exultant shouts of the Germans were not renewed when
+they saw the small vessel turn tail.  Too late they realized that they
+had thrown away their advantages by being too premature.  The gunboat,
+having sea-room in which to manoeuvre, was speeding away, not in
+flight, but with the object of wirelessing the cruisers and destroyers.
+By letting their insignificant antagonist escape the Germans were
+bringing a hornet's nest about their ears.
+
+Somewhat disconsolately, the _Myra's_ prize crew descended the rigging
+and other coigns of vantage and regained the deck.  They, however, knew
+that a loophole for escape remained.  They were under orders to cross
+the inner bar and ascend the Mohoro River.  That course was denied the
+_Pelikan_ for the next four or five days.  A high spring-tide was an
+absolute necessity for her to cross the barrier, and long before that
+time the British blockading squadron would be off the reefs, ready to
+pulverize the raider into a mass of twisted scrap-iron.
+
+The time of high water had gone, and the tide was beginning to fall,
+when the _Myra_ essayed the task of crossing the inner bar.  There was
+no surf breaking at the mouth of the river, since the coral reef
+enclosing the lagoon effectually sheltered the shore.  Only a few
+ripples marked the spot where the down-current met the submerged
+barrier.  In a few minutes the great volume of water pouring down the
+river, having time to overcome the up tidal stream, would be surging
+furiously over the bar.
+
+"I wish to goodness we could crock the steering-gear," said O'Hara in a
+low voice.  "If the old hooker grounded on the bar she would prevent
+the _Pelikan_ from entering."
+
+"Not much use," objected Denbigh.  "In fact, it would be more of a help
+to her than a hindrance."
+
+"How's that?" asked the Irishman.
+
+"Simply because the river would dig itself another channel across the
+bar, and its width being restricted by the stranded vessel, its depth
+would be even greater than the existing one.  No, I think we can do
+nothing but sit tight and trust to luck, that the _Pelikan_ will be
+sent to the bottom before Friday."
+
+"And us?"
+
+"You can bet your bottom dollar that a couple of armed cutters will be
+sent after the _Myra_."
+
+Without touching even once the tramp crossed the dangerous patch, and
+was soon breasting the rapidly-increasing current.  The river at this
+point was about 180 yards in width, and carried a depth of 30 to 40
+feet for twelve miles from its mouth.  On either side the banks were
+overhung with mangroves and coco-nut palms, from which myriads of
+birds, aroused by the unfamiliar noise of the tramp, rose screeching in
+the sultry air.  The surface of the river was dotted with black objects
+resembling water-logged trunks of trees, but on the _Myra's_ approach
+the seemingly inanimate objects were endowed with life and activity.
+They were hippopotami, that literally swarmed in the turgid water.
+
+Having, as he imagined, navigated the _Myra_ beyond reach of the
+British cruisers, Unter-leutnant Klick ordered several of the crew of
+the captured tramp on deck, and informed them that they were in future
+to assist in working the ship.  Should any attempt to recover the
+vessel be made, the offence would be punishable with death.  He also
+pointed out the impracticability of escape, since the river was
+infested with hippopotami, and the forests with fierce animals.
+
+Just before sunset, the _Myra_ brought up at a distance of about seven
+miles from the mouth of the river.  The flood-tide, accompanied by a
+distinct bore, had now set in, and since the river was hardly wide
+enough to allow the tramp to swing, an anchor was let go astern and
+twice the amount of cable necessary paid out.  Then, directly the
+vessel's way was stopped, the bower-anchor was let go from the bows.
+The stern cable was then hove inboard until the ship lay evenly between
+the two anchors.
+
+The _Myra_ had no stockless anchors, but those of the old Admiralty
+pattern.
+
+"By Jove! how strong the current runs here!" remarked O'Hara, as the
+two subs watched the yellow stream surge past the ship.  "If the ground
+tackle carried away there would be a jamboree.  A new channel wouldn't
+form in a couple of days here."
+
+Denbigh did not reply.  He was mentally gauging the distance between
+the ship's side and the nearmost bank.
+
+"It's risky," he thought; "but there are no gains without pains.  I'll
+have a shot at it to-night."
+
+On being ordered to retire to their cabin the two officers found that
+the mate was already there.  As Denbigh and his chum entered, he
+hastily stowed something in his pocket, but finding that they were not
+any of the German crew he withdrew the article.
+
+It was a piece of soft wood about nine inches in length.
+
+"What's the game, Armstrong?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"I'm just knocking up a couple of dummy forelocks," explained the mate,
+opening his jack-knife once more.  "I gave our fellows in the fo'c'sle
+the tip, and they'll get them in position as soon as the anchors are
+catted.  I'm going to give these a coat of galvanized paint and I'll
+wager those German chumps won't notice the difference.  Next time they
+drop the hook the pins will snap under the strain, the stocks will
+slip, and the old hooker will drag at the rate of knots."
+
+"That's a good wheeze, Armstrong," said Denbigh.  "But look here.  I
+want you to do me a good turn.  Have you the duplicate key of this
+cabin?"
+
+"Sure I have," replied the mate.
+
+"I'm going to have a shot at getting ashore," declared the sub.
+
+"You'll be a fool if you try," said Armstrong bluntly and emphatically.
+"With this current running and the hippos barging about you wouldn't
+stand a dog's chance."
+
+"I'll wait till slack water and take my chance with the hippos,"
+rejoined Denbigh.  "If I succeed in getting ashore I'll make my way
+along the bank until I reach the entrance.  I'm rather curious to see
+what the _Pelikan_ is doing."
+
+"I'm with you," volunteered O'Hara.
+
+"You'll stop here, old man," said Denbigh firmly.
+
+"If I stop you stop too," was the Irishman's equally determined
+rejoinder.  "Look here, old bird; it's not like prowling around the
+upper-deck.  Once ashore we'll be all right.  One may be jolly useful
+in helping the other.  Besides, I've a loaded pistol."
+
+"Might be handy," admitted Denbigh, secretly glad to have a companion
+for his enterprise.  "But there's something you have which will be, I
+fancy, a jolly sight more handy."
+
+"What's that?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"The quinine the _Pelikan's_ medico gave you.  Our chief danger is, I
+fancy, the chance of getting miasmic fever, especially after landing in
+saturated togs.  A few grains will stave off a fatal illness."
+
+"All right," agreed O'Hara.  "Then it's settled I'm to go with you.
+What's your plan?"
+
+"Nothing more than I have outlined," replied Denbigh.  "We'll keep our
+eyes and ears open and see what steps the _Pelikan_ is taking for
+defence.  There'll be enough moonlight to see fairly clearly."
+
+"Suppose you wouldn't like me to go with you?" enquired the mate.
+
+Denbigh shook his head.
+
+"No, thanks, Armstrong; you'll serve a far better purpose by remaining
+on board and screening our movements.  Those fellows have set an anchor
+watch, I suppose?"
+
+"Only on the fo'c'sle," replied Armstrong.  "That is to say, they
+hadn't put a man on watch over the stern cable when I left the deck.
+But there's no knowing.  They imagine that they are safe from attack.
+I suppose they are so long as the _Pelikan_ remains afloat, so it's
+just likely that they'll be a bit lax.  How do you propose to take the
+water?"
+
+"By the stern cable," replied Denbigh.
+
+"I know a better way," said the mate.  "There's a rope ladder coiled up
+close to the engine-room fidley.  If you can lay hold of it without
+being spotted you can make one end fast outside the rail and let the
+rest go.  It won't be noticed before morning."
+
+Methodically the two subs went about their preparations, for there was
+as yet an hour and a half before slack water.  Denbigh knew that
+between the two periods of high and low tide there was an interval of
+six and a half hours, for the volume of fresh water descending the
+river retarded the rising tide by at least thirty or forty minutes.
+The chums had thus nearly seven hours at their disposal, of which there
+was moonlight until four in the morning.
+
+The cabin was not electrically lighted, illumination being provided by
+means of a smoky oil lamp.  Stripping to the buff the two subs blacked
+themselves all over by means of corks charred in the lamplight.  Their
+clothes they lashed into a compact bundle, Denbigh stowing the
+pocket-compass in his, while O'Hara placed his automatic pistol in the
+middle of his clothing.  Two handkerchiefs were retained in readiness
+to bind their bundles on the top of their heads.
+
+"We may get ashore with dry gear," said Denbigh.  "It's just a chance.
+We'll be lucky if we do.  Now, Armstrong, that key, if you please.
+I'll borrow it and lock you in after we've left.  It will disarm
+suspicion; and besides, we will be able to let ourselves in when we
+roll home in the small hours of the morning.  Don't wait up, Mr.
+Armstrong."
+
+The men smiled grimly.  Even on the brink of peril they jested.  Cheek
+by jowl with death they bantered each other.
+
+The hour of slack water arrived.  No longer the current surged noisily
+against the _Myra's_ wall-sides.  All was quiet save the occasional
+rasp of a huge amphibian along the ship's plating and the faint roar of
+a wild animal in the distant mangroves.
+
+Cautiously Denbigh applied the well-oiled key to the lock.  Softly the
+door was opened.  In the "state-room" an oil-lamp burned dimly and
+smelt abominably.  Its feeble rays were almost unable to penetrate into
+the recesses of the encumbered quarters.
+
+Giving a final look round Denbigh fastened his bundle on his head and
+slipped out, followed by O'Hara.  The door was closed and locked,
+Denbigh thrusting the key under the lashings of his bundle.
+
+The deck was wet with a heavy dew that struck cold to their bare feet.
+Overhead the crescent moon shone a dull yellow through the haze.  The
+shores were invisible.
+
+Crouching close to the low bulwarks the two officers made their way
+amidships.  Fore and aft awnings had been spread to protect the watch
+on deck from the noxious dew, but there were no signs of the seamen on
+duty.
+
+In the chart-room a light, imperfectly screened, threw a narrow glare
+into the mist.  The officer of the watch--one of the _Pelikan's_ petty
+officers--was doubtless indulging in slumber, since it was quite
+unlikely that Unter-leutnant Klick would have been out of his bunk to
+satisfy himself that all was well unless an alarm was raised by those
+on deck.
+
+Cautiously the two blackened figures glided from the shelter of the
+bulwarks to the raised coaming of the engine-room fidley.  Through the
+iron bars they could see the gleaming mechanism, now at rest, although
+steam was being kept at working pressure.
+
+Groping, Denbigh felt his fingers come in contact with a cylindrical
+bundle.  It was the rope-ladder enclosed in a canvas cover.
+
+Returning to the side the sub lashed one end of the ladder to the
+upright of one of the davits.  The other he allowed to drop.  It
+touched the surface of the water with hardly a splash.  Being too long
+for the purpose five or six feet of the ladder floated alongside.
+There was not sufficient current to trail it out.
+
+Swinging over the bulwark Denbigh felt with his foot for the rungs.
+The rope creaked under his weight.  He descended until his feet came in
+contact with the water, then he waited until he saw O'Hara's black form
+silhouetted against the moon-lit mist.
+
+Thank heaven there were no hippos to be seen, although a splashing
+sound at some distance off told the sub that some sort of large
+amphibians were sporting in the moonlight.
+
+The Irishman's foot lightly touching Denbigh's upheld hand that grasped
+one of the rungs aroused the sub to action.  Three steps down did he
+take, then he released his hold and struck out into the unknown.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A Perilous Journey
+
+Twenty slow, deliberate, and powerful strokes did Denbigh take, then,
+treading water, he turned his head to see how his companion was
+progressing.
+
+In that short distance the outlines of the _Myra_ looked vague and
+distorted in the eddying vapour.  Already the swimmers were practically
+safe from observation, since O'Hara, who was barely three yards away,
+looked indistinct in his cork-blackened disguise.
+
+A dozen strokes more and the two officers were in the midst of a
+sluggish, turgid stream, their horizon bounded by banks of mist.  Were
+it not for the moon, that shone dully through the haze, all sense of
+direction would have been lost.  The water was warm and
+sickly-smelling.  An odour like that of decaying flowers in an
+ill-ventilated room assailed their nostrils.
+
+Once O'Hara gave vent to a partly smothered yell as his naked foot came
+in contact with a slimy water-logged tree.  It was easy to imagine
+unpleasant things in that modern Styx.
+
+At the sound Denbigh turned.
+
+"What's wrong?" he asked in a whisper.
+
+"Nothing," replied the Irishman.  "Carry on."
+
+He was swimming rapidly.  His quick strokes betrayed his acute anxiety
+to traverse the stretch of water in as short a time as possible.
+
+"Steady; don't splash," cautioned Denbigh.
+
+A reply to his admonition came from another quarter, for almost in
+front of the swimmers rose a huge black object, quickly followed by
+another.  In the semi-light the two men could see that these were
+enormous hippopotami, distinguish even their thick lips and wire-like
+bristles, and hear the business-like snap of their formidable teeth,
+capable of biting the side of a boat and shaking the craft like a
+terrier does a rat.
+
+The two amphibians were gambolling.  So intent were they that the
+swimmers were unnoticed, but for half a minute after the hippos had
+passed Denbigh and O'Hara floated motionless, not trusting to swim
+forward another foot.
+
+At length, after a seemingly interminable space of time, the
+mangrove-covered shore loomed up against the moonlit sky.  The banks,
+thrown into deep shadow, were invisible, until O'Hara, who was now
+leading, felt his foot touch the slimy ooze that fringed the shore.
+
+With feelings of relief the Irishman waded to the bank and awaited
+Denbigh's emergence from the river.
+
+"Thank God," he muttered fervently as Denbigh joined him.  "Now, what's
+the move?"
+
+"Dress," replied his chum laconically.
+
+The two men unfastened their bundles, and proceeded to sacrifice one of
+their scanty stock of handkerchiefs as a towel.  To allow the foetid
+fresh water to dry on them would be courting a speedy attack of
+black-water fever.
+
+"We can't see the _Myra_," whispered O'Hara.  "How shall we know where
+to 'kick-off' when we return?"
+
+"Bend that damp handkerchief on to one of the bushes," replied Denbigh.
+"We'll have to take jolly good care to----"
+
+His words ended abruptly, and he found himself sitting on the soft
+ground.  In order to facilitate the dressing performance he had sat
+down upon what he imagined to be a log.  The "log" promptly lurched
+forward and overthrew him.  It was a healthy specimen of a crocodile.
+
+[Illustration: THE "LOG" WAS A HEALTHY SPECIMEN OF A CROCODILE]
+
+O'Hara gripped his chum's hand and literally lifted him to his feet.
+Both men took to their heels, with the now aroused saurian in pursuit.
+Luckily the animal was not quick at turning, and before it could do so
+the two subs placed a safe distance between them and their pursuer.
+
+"There may be others," gasped Denbigh, who half-dressed was clutching
+the rest of his clothing.  "The river bank is too jolly risky.  I had
+my doubts about it.  We'll cut inland and risk the forest.  It's high
+ground, as far as I could judge when we came up stream.  Therefore it
+ought not to be swampy.  What's more, we'll save half the distance."
+
+"And, possibly, take double the time," added O'Hara, who, although
+willing to risk the unknown perils of the mangrove forest to the
+partly-known adversities of the river banks, was rather doubtful as to
+his comrade's skill in navigation on dry land.
+
+They halted in a little clearing to complete their interrupted task of
+donning their clothes.  With their ears strained to catch the faintest
+suspicious sound, they struggled into their light cotton garments, that
+at the best of times were ill-adapted to the miasmic night-mists of the
+East African coast.
+
+"That's better," exclaimed Denbigh cheerfully.  "Feel a bit more
+civilized.  We might pass muster as a pair of Christy minstrels.  Now,
+then, a few grains of quinine, and we'll be on the move."
+
+O'Hara's reply was to release the safety-pin of his automatic pistol.
+Denbigh, who was studying the luminous face of the pocket-compass,
+smiled grimly.
+
+"Now I'll admit that little toy may come in handy, old man," he
+remarked.  "Since I lead the way, pray be careful how you finger the
+trigger.  Nor'east by east is the ticket."
+
+Before the adventurers had proceeded fifty yards, a rustling sound
+overhead brought them up all-standing.  Some heavy body was moving from
+tree-top to tree-top with great rapidity.
+
+"Doesn't sound very healthy," whispered Denbigh with a forced laugh.
+"I think I'll arm myself with a club."
+
+He wrenched at a stout sapling.  Instead of the stem coming out by the
+roots as he expected, it snapped off short.  The fractured part tapered
+to a chisel edge.  The wood was hard and close-grained.
+
+"No, I'll use this as a spear," continued the sub.  "It makes a nasty
+weapon to jab an animal with."
+
+In silence the chums proceeded on their way.  It was fair going between
+the trunks of the palms and mangroves, there being very little
+undergrowth.
+
+"'Ware mosquitoes," exclaimed O'Hara.  "There must be a swamp somewhere
+about."
+
+A swarm of these pestilential insects were buzzing around their heads,
+but, possibly owing to the protection afforded by the burnt cork, the
+mosquitoes did not press home the attack.  Fifty yards farther the two
+men were stopped by a deep morass.
+
+"Edge away to the left," suggested the Irishman.  "I think I can hear
+running water.  By Jove!  Look at those fireflies.  They're simply
+great."
+
+Denbigh merely grunted.  He was in no mood to study the beauties of
+nature.  The marsh meant loss of valuable time.
+
+Half a dozen small deer, disturbed in the act of drinking, came
+bounding towards them, until, finding themselves confronted by human
+beings, they stopped abruptly, then tore madly from the newest danger.
+
+"Be careful!" urged Denbigh.  "Those creatures have been driven towards
+us by some animal.  Stand by."
+
+Out of the deep shade ambled a huge unwieldy figure.  It looked like a
+giant armed with a club.  It was too big for a native: it was an
+enormous ape.
+
+In a trice Denbigh and his companion dodged behind a tree; but quick
+though they were, the movement had not escaped the notice of the
+animal.  Uttering a shrill cry, the ape bounded towards their place of
+concealment.
+
+Denbigh's first impulse was to fly, but calmer counsels prevailed.
+Dropping on one knee, he held his improvised spear pointed towards the
+enemy, the butt planted firmly into the ground.
+
+As well might a dog try conclusions with a motor-car.  The ape's
+muscular hand gripped the pole and wrenched it from the sub's grasp,
+while Denbigh's endeavour to retain his hold resulted in his being
+thrown prostrate at the creature's feet.
+
+Before the luckless man could realize his position there was a vivid
+flash and a sharp report, quickly followed by another and another.
+O'Hara had fired point-blank at the animal's head.
+
+The next instant Denbigh was pinned under the lifeless body of his
+antagonist, for a chance-directed shot had struck the ape in the eye,
+and had penetrated the brain.
+
+"Hurt?" asked the Irishman anxiously, as he assisted Denbigh to regain
+his feet.
+
+"Am I?" asked the sub blankly.
+
+"If you don't know I suppose no one else does," rejoined O'Hara.
+
+"I thought the brute had me that time.  Hulloa! where's my compass?"
+
+A prolonged search resulted in the recovery of the precious instrument.
+Anxiously Denbigh revolved the case; to his intense satisfaction he saw
+that the luminous card was still sensitive.
+
+"My word!" thought Denbigh, as the two men resumed their way.
+"Whatever possessed me to take this business on?  Idle curiosity and
+the love of doing something to pass away the time, I suppose.  After
+all, I can't see how we can help our squadron in the slightest.  And
+here are we running the risk of being stranded in a beastly forest, and
+perhaps being chawed up by some wild animal.  Well, we're half-way
+there, so I suppose we may as well carry on.  I won't be the one to
+suggest chucking up the sponge and making tracks for the _Myra_."
+
+The Irishman's soliloquies were on almost the identical lines, but as
+neither communicated his thought to the other, the consequence was that
+they both persisted in their hazardous adventure.
+
+It must have been about one in the morning, when, more by good luck
+than by good management, the two British officers stumbled upon the
+clearing on which stood the galvanized iron house that they had noticed
+when the _Myra_ lay at anchor in the lagoon.
+
+Although no light was visible, there were men within, for the subs
+could hear the rasping of a file and the sharp whirr of a hack-saw.
+
+"Steady!" whispered Denbigh.  "Bear away a little.  Remember we're
+close to the native village.  Ten to one there'll be a crowd of dogs
+about, and our clothes, in spite of ill-usage, are fairly conspicuous
+against the dark background."
+
+Twice they halted before they crossed a foot-track through the mangrove
+forest.  At the second path, they had to wait until a party of German
+bluejackets had passed.  The men were armed, and were accompanied by a
+score of blacks, who had been impressed to drag a small field-gun up
+the hill.
+
+Unsuspecting the Germans went on their way, and the subs, after a safe
+interval had elapsed, continued their way to the shore.
+
+Suddenly O'Hara gripped his companion's arm and pointed.  Fifty feet
+below them, and at a distance of two hundred yards, was the native
+village.  The huts were wrapped in silence.  Only the women and
+children remained, for the men had been compelled to throw up
+earthworks to defend the lagoon from the anticipated attack.  Outside
+the village stood two German soldiers armed with rifles and fixed
+bayonets, their duty being to prevent any of the inhabitants from
+leaving their huts during the night.
+
+"It's not healthy that way," he whispered.  "More to the left, old man.
+I can hear the surf."
+
+Ten minutes more found them at the edge of the forest, and on the brink
+of the two cliffs, immediately opposite which the _Pelikan_ had brought
+up and had fought her brief and unsatisfactory action with the British
+gunboat.
+
+Bathed in the slanting rays of the moon, which was now on the wane,
+were the placid waters of the lagoon.  Nothing could, it seemed, escape
+being detected up on that illuminated patch of sea.
+
+"By Jove!" exclaimed Denbigh excitedly.  "The _Pelikan's_ cleared out."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Nocturnal Investigations
+
+"We might have guessed that," remarked O'Hara.
+
+"Oh?"
+
+"Yes; don't you see, she was spotted by our gunboat.  She couldn't get
+away up the Mohoro River until Friday, and rather than run the risk of
+being sunk at anchor she's landed her mob of reservists and has put to
+sea again."
+
+"To be promptly snapped up?  No; I don't care to admit your reasoning,
+old man.  We haven't come all this way through that confounded forest
+for nothing.  Listen!"
+
+A faint, rapid throbbing was borne to their ears.  The sound came not
+from the sea but along the shore to their left, where a projecting
+tongue of land limited their range of vision.
+
+"Motor," announced O'Hara laconically.
+
+"And not a marine one," added Denbigh.  "Come on.  We'll follow this
+path; it's a jolly sight safer than keeping to the shore."
+
+Once again they plunged into the mangrove forest, following a beaten
+track that, judging by its well-worn condition, had been in existence
+long before the arrival of the _Pelikan_.
+
+Suddenly Denbigh halted and held up his hand.  Footsteps were
+approaching, not those of the naked feet of natives but the booted
+tramp of white men.
+
+The subs took cover and waited, fervently hoping that the oncomers had
+not a dog with them.  The party advanced slowly and haltingly, so much
+so that for the moment Denbigh imagined that their suspicions had been
+aroused.
+
+But without once glancing in the direction of the hidden officers the
+men passed by.  One was a petty officer of the _Pelikan_.  Denbigh
+recognized him by his bushy beard.  With him were four seamen, walking
+two abreast.  The leading pair carried a roll of something wrapped in a
+painted canvas cover; the others bore a large reel of wire, paying out
+the thin cable as they went.
+
+"H'm, telephone wire," muttered Denbigh.  "That doesn't look as if the
+ship has cleared out.  More than likely they've landed some of the guns
+to form a masked battery.  It strikes me pretty forcibly that we'll
+have to investigate at both ends of the wire."
+
+Not until the sound of the receding footsteps had died away--and it
+took an exasperating time--did the subs emerge from their place of
+concealment.  The air was now almost free from mist.  Occasionally
+patches of vapour drifted across their path, but generally speaking the
+miasmic belt ended at a distance of about half a mile from the sea.
+
+O'Hara stooped and lifted up the wire.
+
+"Let's cut the dashed line," he suggested.
+
+"All in good time," replied Denbigh.  "If we do so now they'll be
+buzzing around before we've made our investigations.  I think we're on
+to a good thing."
+
+Nearer and nearer grew the sound of the motor, until upon emerging from
+the grove the subs found themselves within a hundred yards of a German
+base.
+
+At this point the ground sloped gently to the edge of the lagoon.
+Without any apparent attempt at concealment two searchlights had been
+set in position.  A dozen men in naval uniforms were standing around
+the projectors.  The lights were "running" as was evident from the
+crackle of the carbons, but the shutters were closed, cutting off the
+rays.  The current was produced by a dynamo, the power being supplied
+by means of the petrol motor, the pulsations of which had given the
+subs a clue to its position.
+
+"What's the idea?" whispered O'Hara, indicating the unconcealed
+searchlight.
+
+"A blind," replied his companion.  "I guessed it.  We'll carry on a
+little farther before we retrace our steps."
+
+Another _detour_ was necessary, but on plunging into the mangrove
+forest on to the other side of the clearing the Irishman's foot tripped
+in the telephone wire.
+
+"Good!" he ejaculated.  "You're right, old man."
+
+Five hundred yards farther on the explorers almost tumbled into a deep
+pit, protected on the seaward side by sandbags, between which were
+stuck shrubs and branches of trees to screen the artificial work from
+seaward.
+
+In the pit were two quick-firers, with basket cases of ammunition in
+readiness.  Pacing up and down between the guns was a sentry, while
+under a tarpaulin supported by short poles were about a dozen sleeping
+men.  Farther on was another excavation, but what it contained the
+British officers were unable to ascertain.  The battery, it was
+evident, was manned by some of the reservists from the _San Matias_.
+
+Denbigh, having taken a compass bearing of the entrance of the lagoon,
+nudged his chum, and they began to retrace their steps.  Moving as
+rapidly as their sense of caution would permit, they again skirted the
+searchlight station and picked up the telephone wire trail in the woods
+beyond.
+
+"We must not forget the time," cautioned the Irishman.
+
+"By Jove, no!" replied Denbigh.  As a matter of fact he had.  The
+excitement of their discoveries had banished all thought of anything
+else.  Even the perils of their return journey to the _Myra_ had been
+lightly brushed aside.  "Hang it all, there's that confounded mist
+again."
+
+At a distance of a quarter of a mile from the searchlight position the
+path bent obliquely towards the lagoon.  Here the trees grew right to
+the water's edge, the cliff at this point being roughly twenty feet
+above the sea.
+
+"What's that?" whispered O'Hara.
+
+A cable's length from shore, and just visible through the mist, was a
+large indistinct shape.  At first sight it looked like a small island
+thickly covered with coco-nut palms.
+
+"The cunning blighters!" ejaculated Denbigh.  "That's the _Pelikan_."
+
+It was the raider.  Her masts and funnels were decked with branches;
+the whole tops of trees festooned her sides.  The outlines of her bow
+and stern were concealed by trailing masses of vegetation.  Viewed from
+seaward, against the tree-clad hillocks, the _Pelikan_ could not be
+distinguished from her natural background.  A short distance along the
+shore there was a gap in the line of cliffs.  Here a boat was lying,
+with her crew standing about on shore.
+
+"They're expecting someone," whispered Denbigh.  "Let's move."
+
+Not until the subs were a safe distance from the shore did they
+exchange opinions.
+
+"The _Pelikan_ is expecting an attack," said O'Hara.  "So she is
+disguised.  Some of her guns are taken ashore."
+
+"Why not all?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"I should not think so," was the reply.  "They would be almost certain
+to keep those in position on the port side.  They haven't abandoned the
+ship, otherwise the boat wouldn't be waiting to take somebody off to
+her.  Hulloa, there they go!"
+
+Two brilliant arcs of light swept across the lagoon.  The searchlights
+had been unmasked and were directed towards the narrow gap in the coral
+reef.
+
+"They've spotted something," continued O'Hara.
+
+"Not necessarily," replied Denbigh.  "Those lights are tantamount to a
+challenge.  Our fellows will go for the searchlight, thinking that they
+are being worked from the _Pelikan_.  Then the ship's guns and those of
+the masked battery will be able to open a converging fire.  We'll have
+to stop their little game, old man."
+
+"Can't see how," said O'Hara.
+
+"No more can I at present," added his companion.  "We've about three
+hours to daylight.  We must allow an hour and a half at the very
+outside to work our way back to the _Myra_."
+
+"If our fellows put the hat on the _Pelikan_, we may as well hang on
+and get them to pick us up.  You can bet your bottom dollar they'll
+take good care to see that the _Pelikan_ is properly done in."
+
+"My dear fellow," protested Denbigh, "are we fit to introduce ourselves
+as British officers, even suppose the cruisers send a landing party
+ashore?"
+
+"Don't care whether I am or not," replied the Irishman recklessly.
+"Whether I wear an evening dress of burnt cork plus a very disreputable
+uniform of white ducks, or whether I am immaculately arrayed in No. 1
+rig, makes little difference.  I am still Patrick O'Hara."
+
+"S'sh!" whispered Denbigh, for O'Hara had unconsciously raised his
+voice during the delivery of his protest.  "Let's have another look to
+seaward, and then we'll cut the telephone wire and clap on all sail for
+our involuntary home of rest.  By Jove, it's getting darker!  We'll be
+barging into something if we aren't very careful."
+
+Upon regaining the top of the cliffs the subs saw something that
+indicated the impending attack.  Lights were in position at the
+entrance to the lagoon.  The British vessels in the offing had sent
+boats to sound and drop calcium-light buoys in the narrow channel,
+preparatory to making a dash across the enclosed stretch of water.
+
+Even as the subs watched a masthead light blinked rapidly.  Since the
+vessels were equipped with wireless, light signals were unnecessary for
+communication.  Denbigh could only conclude that one of the attacking
+craft was ordering the boats to return.
+
+"I say, old man," whispered O'Hara.  "It's not going to be long-range
+gunnery.  I believe they're sending a couple of destroyers in.  If so,
+they're going to try a torpedo on the _Pelikan_."
+
+Before Denbigh could reply a faint gleam played upon the rock-strewn
+beach.  Lying at full length in the coarse grass on the top of the
+cliffs, which were here only about ten feet in height, the chums waited
+and watched.
+
+Coming towards them was a big-built man in the uniform of a German
+officer.  At intervals he flashed a torch upon the ground to guide his
+footsteps.  Behind him came a soldier with his rifle slung across his
+back, and carrying a heavy valise.
+
+"Von Eckenstein," whispered Denbigh, recognizing the bullying Prussian
+by his voice.  "And with an electric torch, too.  We'll bag those
+fellows, Pat.  No, not that pistol, you chump.  We'll jump on 'em."
+
+Cautiously the two subs crouched ready to spring.  Denbigh, grasping a
+stout stick that he had found in the place of the one broken by the
+ape, signed to his companion to use his powerful fists and tackle the
+major's servant.
+
+Unsuspectingly von Eckenstein passed by.  Just as he flashed the torch
+Denbigh leapt.  Before his feet touched the sand his stick descended
+heavily upon the German's head.  His sun-helmet was insufficient to
+save him.  Without a groan the major dropped.
+
+O'Hara had been equally successful in his share of the attack.  Taking
+Denbigh literally, he had alighted fairly on the German soldier's head.
+
+"I've killed him!" exclaimed the Irishman.
+
+"'Fraid so," agreed Denbigh.  "But it's war, you know.  Be sharp, drag
+them into the bushes.  Our dear friend the major won't recover his
+senses in a hurry."
+
+Taking possession of the torch Denbigh scaled the cliff and made his
+way through the mangroves until he was nearly twenty yards from the
+edge of the wood.  From this point he could see the masthead light of
+the destroyer--for destroyer he felt sure it must be.  He could now
+flash the torch with little risk of the glare being spotted from either
+the _Pelikan_ or the masked battery.
+
+He "called up", at first without meeting with success, but at length a
+steady white light gleamed from the offing.  It was not from the
+destroyer that had been using her masthead light, but from one farther
+out to sea.
+
+Rapidly Denbigh flashed the warning message:--
+
+"_Pelikan_ disguised, 400 yards to southward of searchlights.  Masked
+battery 400 yards to northward of searchlights.  Useless to attempt
+torpedo."
+
+The white light vanished.  With his nerves tingling with anxiety the
+sub waited.
+
+Then through the darkness the destroyer's signalling lamp spelt out the
+single word:
+
+"R-A-T-S."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A Neglected Warning
+
+"Idiot!" snapped Denbigh under his breath.  "Some irresponsible
+signalman acting the goat."
+
+"Perhaps they think that our signal is a faked message coming from the
+enemy," suggested O'Hara.  "Try them again: add your name and rank."
+
+Denbigh repeated the message, making the additions his companion had
+proposed; but there was no reply--not even a facetious one.
+
+The signalman of the destroyer was engaged in taking down another
+message from the shore, for the Germans, seeing the word 'rats' flashed
+from an enemy ship, came to the conclusion that it was a personal
+affront to themselves.  Consequently the searchlights had been
+temporarily shut off and a signalling lamp brought into play to frame a
+fitting reply to the Englishmen's single-worded challenge.
+
+"We must make a move," announced Denbigh, disappointed at his warning
+being ignored.  "It will be daylight before we get back, if we don't
+hurry.  I'd like to stop and watch the scrap, but we can't wait.  They
+may not attack until close on dawn."
+
+Already possessed of the German soldier's rifle, bayonet and
+ammunition, Denbigh led the way from the shore.  As the subs crossed
+the path along which the telegraph line had been laid, Denbigh severed
+the copper wire in two places, making the cuts quite fifty feet from
+each other.  The separated part he removed, rolling it into a small
+coil.
+
+"They'll have a bit of a bother to find that, I fancy," he remarked.
+"Unless they bring a spare length with them that telephone will be
+useless for the next couple of hours."
+
+"They'll know it has been deliberately cut, though," added the
+Irishman.  "If we had wrenched the wire apart they might have thought
+that some animal had barged into it.  There'll be some strafing over
+it."
+
+As he spoke the air was rent by a terrific detonation, followed almost
+immediately by the bark of numerous quick-firers.  The attack had
+commenced.
+
+Without a word both officers turned and raced recklessly towards the
+shore.
+
+As Denbigh had foreseen, two British destroyers took part in the
+attempt to settle the _Pelikan_.  Deceived by the position of the
+searchlight on shore both boats headed towards the glare like moths to
+a lighted candle.
+
+At a distance of five hundred yards from the edge of the lagoon the
+leading boat ported helm and let fly a couple of torpedoes from her
+midship deck-tubes.  Straight as arrows sped the two deadly missiles,
+but instead of striking the hull of the _Pelikan_ they exploded
+simultaneously against the rocks.
+
+Instantly the guns on the raider and those in the masked battery on
+shore opened a furious fire.  The leading destroyer, caught by the
+tornado of shell, was hulled again and again.  With her funnels riddled
+like sieves, her deck gear swept away, and in a sinking condition, she
+turned for the open sea.  Failing in that object her
+lieutenant-commander ran her aground on the outer reef just as she was
+on the point of foundering.
+
+The second destroyer, blinded by the glare of the searchlights, and
+finding that she was the target for two distinct batteries, neither of
+which was in the spot where the _Pelikan_ was supposed to be, turned
+about, screening her movements with smoke from her funnels.
+
+Slowing down outside the lagoon she picked up the survivors from her
+consort and steamed out to sea.
+
+From the Germans' point of view it was a victory: the British,
+undaunted by the loss of one of their boats, preferred to call it a
+"reconnaissance in force", with the object of compelling the enemy to
+unmask his batteries.  The main attack would be made by long-range
+gunnery, and to that end the three monitors, then lying in Zanzibar
+Harbour, were ordered to make for the mouth of the Mohoro River.
+
+Denbigh and O'Hara, having the mortification of seeing the destroyers
+repulsed with loss--the action was over in five minutes--again set out
+on their return journey.
+
+In spite of the aid afforded by the compass the subs found, on emerging
+from the forest, that they were a long way out of their reckoning.
+They had hit the banks of the Mohoro River right enough, but either a
+considerable distance above or below the spot where the _Myra_ lay
+moored.
+
+The mists had rolled away.  It was now very dark, yet had the tramp
+been anywhere in the vicinity the subs would have been able to discern
+her.  There were ominous sounds: those of huge creatures wading over
+the mud-flats.  Hippopotami and crocodiles were emerging from the river.
+
+"Up or down?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"Neither, by this bank," replied Denbigh, gripping his rifle.  "It
+doesn't sound healthy.  We'll cut inland a bit and try our luck
+up-stream."
+
+"Why up-stream?" asked the Irishman.
+
+"Because I think I've tumbled to it," answered his chum.  "I've been
+carrying this rifle on my left shoulder for the greater part of the
+last hour.  I have also been holding the compass within a few inches of
+the steel barrel.  It was a silly thing to do, I admit, but I didn't
+think of it at the time.  Consequently the needle deviated and threw us
+out of our course.  We've gone more to the left of our outward track,
+and that brings us down stream."
+
+"It's getting light, I believe," remarked O'Hara after a ten-minutes
+detour.
+
+"Yes," replied Denbigh.  "It's the false dawn.  It will get pitch-dark
+for a little while before the real daybreak.  Push on.  This light will
+serve us a good turn."
+
+Once more the adventurous twain gained the river bank.  This time their
+efforts met with success, for showing clearly in the half-light of the
+false dawn was the _Myra_.
+
+"Nearly slack water," announced Denbigh.  "We're in luck.  Keep under
+cover in case the watch are feeling particularly energetic."
+
+While awaiting the return of darkness, Denbigh retrieved the
+handkerchief he had left as a mark, and wrapping it round the breech of
+the captured rifle, buried the weapon in the soft earth.  It might, he
+argued, come in handy within the next few days.  Beyond that time the
+rifle would be rapidly attacked by rust, for on the East Coast of
+Africa the action of corrosion is almost as quick as in the moist air
+of the Gold Coast.
+
+He was dubious concerning the bayonet.  It had a much larger blade than
+the British article, and its back was furnished with a formidable
+double row of teeth to within six inches of the point.  With it a man
+might fell a fairly large-size tree in an hour.
+
+"Pity to waste it," declared Denbigh.  "Only it's too long to hide
+under my clothes without great risk of its being spotted.  On the other
+hand, it may come in jolly useful."
+
+"Break it in two," suggested his chum.  "Even four inches of the blade
+might be handy."
+
+Wrapping his coat round the end of the blade in order to protect his
+hands, the sub brought the flat of the steel smartly against his knee.
+To his disgust the bayonet did not snap, as he fully expected it to do.
+It bent, and instead of flying back when the pressure was released it
+remained bent.
+
+"Good old Solingen steel!" exclaimed Denbigh disgustedly.  "Same rotten
+stuff that our cutlass-bayonets were made of in the '85 Soudan
+campaign."
+
+All efforts to break the bayonet failed.  The metal was so non-elastic
+that the sub gave up the attempt and hurled it into the mud.
+
+"Time!" he exclaimed.  "It's getting dark again."
+
+The men stripped, and made their clothes into bundles as before.  To
+return to the _Myra_ with their garments shedding streams of turgid
+water would never do, since they had no other clothes.
+
+"Ugh!" ejaculated O'Hara as his feet touched the loathsome slime.  "I
+can't say I'm hankering after a mud bath.  Can't say I like the rotten
+turnip-smelling water any better."
+
+"Dry up!" cautioned Denbigh under his breath.
+
+"Wish I could," retorted the irrepressible Irishman.  "Sure I'm wet
+altogether."
+
+They swam side by side, making use of the "dog-stroke", as there was
+less risk of attracting attention by an involuntary splashing.
+
+It was a nerve-racking ordeal, for the darkness was now intense.
+Hippopotami were noisy not so very far off; there was imminent danger
+from crocodiles, that, floating like logs in the water, were
+practically invisible until one was almost within arm's length of them.
+But on top of these unpleasant possibilities, the haunting dread that
+the rope ladder might have been removed was uppermost in Denbigh's mind.
+
+As the swimmers approached mid-stream, they found there was still a
+strong current.  It was indeed a hard struggle to make the ship.
+Well-nigh exhausted, the two chums gained their goal.  Thank heaven the
+end of the ladder was still trailing in the water.
+
+For some minutes the subs contented themselves by hanging on to the
+ropes and regaining their breath.  Then Denbigh, assuring himself that
+the key to the cabin was still hanging from a cord round his neck,
+began to ascend.  When his head was level with the bulwarks he peered
+cautiously along the deck.  He could see or hear no one.  Had a sentry
+been standing for'ard, it would have been possible to discern his
+outlines against the gloom.  He would have much rather seen the fellow
+and made arrangements accordingly, than to be in ignorance of where the
+sentry was, since it was unlikely that all the watch on deck were
+skulking.
+
+Denbigh ascended another rung and waited again.  This time he heard
+voices speaking in low guttural tones.  The watch were sheltering in
+the fore-peak.
+
+Reassured on this point, the sub leapt lightly over the rail.  As he
+did so his bare feet came in contact with something soft.  He had
+pitched fairly upon a fat German, who, heedless of the risk of sleeping
+in the open air, had coiled himself up under the lee of the bulwarks.
+
+The shock threw Denbigh to the deck.  Quickly regaining his feet, he
+saw the astonished German struggling to rise.  Before he could do so
+the sub dealt him a powerful left-hander.  Missing the point of the
+Teuton's chin, Denbigh's clenched fist struck him heavily on the nose.
+
+Thoroughly scared by the apparition of a stalwart black, the man took
+to his heels.  Yelling with fear, his cries for assistance were
+rendered indistinguishable owing to the fact that he held both hands
+pressed tightly over his nose, which was leaving a purple trail on the
+deck.
+
+"Come on!" hissed Denbigh to his chum.
+
+O'Hara needed no second bidding.  Clearing the bulwarks, he quickly cut
+adrift the ladder and raced after Denbigh, who was making with all
+possible dispatch for the companion.
+
+For a brief instant Denbigh fumbled with the key; then inserting it in
+the lock he threw open the door.
+
+"Back again, Armstrong," he announced coolly, for now all immediate
+danger was over.  "Have you any clean water handy?  We could both do
+with a good wash."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+Armstrong's Part
+
+Restraining his curiosity, the mate of the _Myra_ poured out some water
+into a tin bowl, and handed Denbigh a small piece of yellow soap.
+
+"There'll be just time to scrub your figureheads," he remarked.
+"You'll have to turn in pretty sharp, or you'll be bowled out.  They're
+getting a little bit excited on deck."
+
+Realizing that it would be as well to act on Armstrong's advice, the
+subs, by dint of hard scrubbing and plenty of soap, succeeded in
+removing the burnt cork from their faces, necks, and hands.  This done
+they donned their pyjamas and scrambled into their bunks, while the
+mate obligingly unpacked their bundles and laid out the garments with
+methodical precision.
+
+Armstrong was not far wrong in his surmise.  The excitement on deck
+bordered on a state of panic.  Every man of the prize crew turned out.
+Unter-leutnant Klick, having heard a muddled version of what had taken
+place, ordered the man who had been jumped upon to state what he knew.
+
+The seaman, still shaken and frightened, could only affirm that he was
+pacing the deck as conscientiously as a sentry should do, when the
+black figure leapt upon him from behind and felled him.
+
+"From behind, say you?" repeated Unter-leutnant Klick.  "How, then,
+could you see that he was black?"
+
+"I must have spun round, sir, as I fell," replied the fellow.  "I
+distinctly remember seeing that he was black and without clothing.  He
+may be a native."
+
+"Where did he go after taking you unawares?" asked the prize-master of
+the _Myra_.
+
+"Over the side, sir, I think.  I believe I heard the splash."
+
+Kaspar Klick, however, had his suspicions.  Not for one moment did he
+imagine that anyone would be so utterly reckless as to attempt to swim
+ashore and back again.  The river, teeming with hippopotami and
+crocodiles, offered too formidable an obstacle.  On the other hand, the
+mysterious assailant of the sentry might be one of several of the
+English prisoners, intent upon recapturing the ship.  Had the faithful
+sentry been felled without uttering a sound, the plot may have
+succeeded; but when the seaman made enough bellowing to awaken the
+Seven Sleepers, the daring Englishmen probably thought better of it,
+and had retired speedily and discreetly.
+
+Ordering half a dozen armed men to accompany him, Unter-leutnant Klick
+went for'ard.  Over the hatchway leading to the forehold, where the
+_Myra's_ deck hands were under lock and key, he found a sentry on duty.
+The man was most emphatic that no one had attempted to come on deck.
+The state of the padlock proved that.
+
+Still dubious, the unter-leutnant descended the main hold.  Making his
+way over a pack of miscellaneous cargo, he came to the for'ard
+bulkhead.  A careful examination showed that no effort had been made to
+cut through the partition separating the two holds.  He could,
+therefore, feel reassured that the original crew of the _Myra_ had not
+attempted to put into execution a plot to recover the ship.
+
+"Perhaps it is those harebrained officers we took from the Japanese
+liner," soliloquized Klick.  "I'll go the rounds now I am about it, and
+see if those fellows have been up to any tricks."
+
+Had the unter-leutnant gone aft as soon as he commenced his
+investigations, he might have noticed the tell-tale prints of wet feet,
+left by Denbigh and his chum as they scurried to the cabin.  By this
+time the marks had almost vanished.  The slight traces of dampness that
+remained were hardly noticeable in the gloom, for it was still dark,
+and 'tween decks the lantern gave but a feeble glimmer.
+
+Klick inserted his key into the lock and threw open the door.  The
+cabin was in darkness, until one of his men flashed a lantern into it.
+The unter-leutnant sniffed suspiciously.
+
+"Anyone awake?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," replied Armstrong.
+
+"You haf been a lamp burning," said Kaspar Klick accusingly.  "It is
+again der regulations."
+
+Armstrong's reply told the listening subs that he was "up to snuff".
+The prize-master had sniffed the odour of burnt cork; but since he had
+suggested that it was the smell of an extinguished oil-lamp, the mate
+did not contradict.
+
+"Yes," he replied.  "Mr. O'Hara hasn't been very well.  I had to give
+him some quinine, and a fellow must have a light to see that he is
+giving the right dose."
+
+"Ach!  Is dat so?" asked the unter-leutnant.  "Now, tell me dis.  Herr
+O'Hara, did he go on deck since last hour ago?"
+
+"No," replied Armstrong with perfect truthfulness.  "I am certain he
+didn't.  I'm a very light sleeper, and if he had moved I should have
+heard.  Besides, how could he get out without a key?" asked the mate
+with well-feigned innocence.
+
+"I tell you dis----" began Klick; but before he could carry out his
+intention a loud shout of "Wer da?" came from the deck, followed by an
+unintelligible hail, coming from some distance down the river.
+
+Kaspar Klick waited no longer.  Hurriedly he left the cabin, slamming
+and locking the door, and rushed on deck.  Aft, a sentry at the ready
+was repeating his challenge.  The first blush of the short tropical
+dawn revealed the presence of a four-oared galley speeding up with the
+tide.
+
+"We're from the _Pelikan_, sir," announced the petty officer in charge,
+as the boat ran alongside.  Without attempting to board the man
+delivered his message.
+
+In spite of the closed dead-light Denbigh and his companions could hear
+all the fellow was saying.
+
+"Herr Kapitan von Riesser sends his compliments," continued the
+coxswain.  "He is anxious to know whether any of the English prisoners
+have escaped."
+
+"No, certainly not," replied Kaspar Klick with righteous indignation in
+his voice, "our precautions are too elaborate to give the dogs a chance
+of that.  But why has Kapitan von Riesser sent you with that question?"
+
+"We've been in action, sir," declared the man.
+
+"We heard the firing," remarked Klick.  "And the result?"
+
+"One English cruiser sunk, another driven on to the rocks," announced
+the coxswain, allowing his imagination to kick over the traces.  "There
+were others.  We would have captured or destroyed those, only----"
+
+"Only what?" asked the unter-leutnant sharply.
+
+"Someone cut our field telegraph.  'B' battery could not get in touch
+with the observation officer and so the rest of the enemy escaped."
+
+"How do you know that the wire has been cut?" asked the unter-leutnant.
+"It might have carried away."
+
+"A whole length of it has been removed, sir," reported the coxswain.
+
+"Then it was the natives.  They'll steal anything in the metal line.
+Kapitan von Riesser ought to have known that," replied Klick with
+asperity.  "We look after our prisoners here.  None of them has the
+faintest chance of getting out of the ship.  Anything more to report?"
+
+"Only that Major von Eckenstein is missing.  He left the observation
+station to go to the _Pelikan's_ landing stage and never arrived.
+Search parties were out when I left."
+
+Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick made no audible comment.  Inwardly he
+rejoiced, after the manner of mean-minded men when they hear of
+misfortune overtaking those they dislike; for there was no love lost
+between the two representatives of the Kaiser's forces.
+
+"Very well; carry on back," he ordered.  "You can reassure Kapitan von
+Riesser on the points he mentioned."
+
+"There's something else, sir," reported the petty officer, producing a
+linen envelope from under a cushion in the stern-sheets.  "I had to
+deliver this to you personally."
+
+The German officer took the envelope and went below to read its
+contents.  It was to the effect that the _Pelikan_ had been lightened
+still more and that at high water she would attempt the bar.  The
+_Myra_ was to return down stream and stand by to render assistance if
+necessary.
+
+Returning on deck the prize-master gave back to the coxswain the order,
+to which was added a notation that it would be complied with, and
+dismissed the boat.  Then, grumbling at being turned out so early in
+the morning, Kaspar Klick retired to his cabin.
+
+"Is that right about the sinking of one of our cruisers?" asked
+Armstrong, when Denbigh had translated the gist of the conversation,
+for in spite of the port-hole being closed every word had been audible.
+
+"Hardly," replied Denbigh.  "The Germans have a funny habit of
+magnifying the size and class of any and every vessel they sink.
+Unfortunately they sent one of our destroyers to the bottom.  By Jove!
+doesn't this burnt cork take a lot of shifting?"
+
+The two subs were busily engaged in scrubbing off their sooty coats, to
+make the rest of their bodies harmonize with their faces.  Fresh water
+being strictly limited and yellow soap microscopic in size their task
+was not an easy one.
+
+"Well, if they attempt to bring the _Pelikan_ up the river," commented
+the mate of the _Myra_, "I hope they'll pile her up on the bar.  If
+they succeed we'll have to try our hand.  Don't I wish they'd let me
+have charge of the wheel for five minutes.  Now what do you think of
+these?  I call them champion."
+
+He held out the two dummy forelocks, which he had completed in the
+absence of Denbigh and his chum.  They had been coated with aluminium
+paint, while to give them a worn appearance he had rubbed charcoal over
+the paint.  Only by actual handling, when the difference in weight
+between the real and the spurious article could be detected, could the
+deception be discovered.
+
+"Capital!" exclaimed O'Hara, suppressing a yawn.  "Oh, dash it all!
+This is the result of being out of bed when one ought to be enjoying
+one's beauty sleep.  I'm turning in again."
+
+"Also this child," added Denbigh; but before the chums could throw
+themselves upon their bunks a bugle sounded.  It was the signal that
+another working day had begun, and that the prisoners had to turn out
+and assist their captors.
+
+"Morning," was Captain Pennington's greeting as Denbigh and O'Hara came
+on deck.  Then, making sure that no German was within earshot, he
+asked, "And what little game were _you_ up to last night?"
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Denbigh in surprise.
+
+"Like you I have a liking for fresh air," replied the skipper of the
+captured tramp.  "The Huns screwed down the dead-light to the
+port-hole, but forgot to enquire if I had a spanner.  They saved
+themselves an unnecessary question, by the by, for I would not have
+owned up to being in possession of a very serviceable one.  So during
+the night I opened the port-hole to get a breather.  I was rather
+surprised to find a rope-ladder dropped over the side, and still more
+so to see two disreputable niggers, whom I recognized as you two, swarm
+down and take a cold bath.  Also I had the pleasure of seeing the same
+dusky pair return, and had the intense satisfaction of hearing a German
+bellow like a whipped child."
+
+"Then we weren't so smart as we imagined," observed O'Hara.  "Fortunate
+it was for us that you weren't a Hun."
+
+Before the subs could enlighten Captain Pennington as to the nature of
+the mystery the unter-leutnant came up.
+
+"You vill haf to vork, kapitan," he said without further preliminaries.
+"If you no keep your crew up to concert pitch trouble you vill haf.
+You men vill vork vatch and vatch, see?"
+
+Captain Pennington merely nodded in reply.  He realized that passivity
+was desirable; on the other hand, having heard of Armstrong's little
+plan, it would not do to show unwonted eagerness to assist in working
+the ship.
+
+"Turn up der men," ordered Klick.
+
+"One minute," interposed Captain Pennington.  "We are not at sea now.
+My men have insufficient head-gear.  It's risking sunstroke."
+
+The unter-leutnant considered the affair for a few minutes.  Personally
+he didn't care a rope's-end whether the strafed Englishmen had
+sunstroke or not, until it occurred to him that a number of invalids
+would hamper operations.  Finally he gave orders for a number of solar
+topees or sun-helmets to be issued to the British crew.
+
+It was eight o'clock in the morning when the _Myra_ weighed.  Already
+the sun was unpleasantly hot.  There was no wind.  Under the shade of
+the mangroves the mists still held, while the black mud left uncovered
+by the falling tide gave out a most noxious vapour.
+
+To Denbigh's satisfaction Armstrong had been sent for'ard to
+superintend the weighing and catting on the anchor.  The stern anchor
+had already been hove short.
+
+Under the action of the steam winch the cable came home.  Manoeuvred by
+means of the twin screws the _Myra_ swung round in mid-stream, and as
+the "hook" broke out from the muddy bottom the tramp forged slowly
+ahead.
+
+Half a dozen British seamen were on the fo'c'sle together with three
+Germans.  The latter took good care to leave most of the work to the
+prisoners, so that Armstrong had a clear opportunity to withdraw the
+real forelocks from the anchors and replace them with the wooden ones.
+
+"That's all serene," he whispered to Denbigh as he came aft.  "Now
+there'll be trouble for the Deutschers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+The Disaster to the _Myra_
+
+Arriving at the entrance to the Mohoro River the _Myra_ made no attempt
+to recross the inner bar.  Nor did she anchor, contenting herself with
+merely steaming ahead against the flood-tide at a slow speed that kept
+her stationary with the shore.
+
+Just before high water the _Pelikan_ hove in sight from behind a
+projecting tongue of land.  She still retained her garb of palm trees.
+The subs noticed that she had a decided list to starboard.  This,
+however, was not due to a leak but to the fact that her cargo had been
+trimmed so as to throw her on her bilge and thus lighten her draught.
+
+Slowly she approached the bar, and promptly took ground.  Gripped by
+the strong tide the stern portion swung round, throwing her almost
+broadside athwart the river.
+
+Great was the confusion on board.  Half a dozen officers were shouting
+simultaneously; men were rushing hither and thither, with no apparent
+object, while with her engines reversed, her propellers were throwing
+huge columns of mud and water.
+
+Before the officers realized the danger the starboard propeller had
+shed its blades owing to their coming into contact with the bottom,
+while the port propeller was stopped after two blades had been badly
+buckled.
+
+Cautiously the lighter-draughted _Myra_ was backed astern until a
+couple of stout hawsers were passed to her from the stranded vessel.
+
+Three times the tramp endeavoured without success to tow off the
+_Pelikan_, but on each occasion the hawsers snapped.  By this time it
+was close on high water.
+
+Meanwhile the raider's crew were working like men possessed, throwing
+overboard heavy gear that Kapitan von Riesser would have given
+thousands of marks to retain.  Military stores of the utmost importance
+had to be ruthlessly sacrificed, unless the _Pelikan_ was to remain a
+target for the guns of the British cruisers which were even now
+supposed to be on their way from Zanzibar.
+
+On the fourth occasion a hawser was sent off to the _Myra_, while in
+addition the pinnace was towed into midstream with a large anchor slung
+underneath her keel.
+
+The anchor having been dropped, the cable was led to the _Pelikan's_
+steam capstan.  Directly the chain took the strain the _Myra_ began to
+tow, with the result that the luckless raider scraped heavily across
+the bar into deep water.
+
+Kapitan von Riesser was delighted, in spite of the loss of stores and
+gear.  The damaged propellers mattered little, since the _Pelikan_
+would never again attempt to put to sea.  The _Myra_ could tow her up
+the Mohoro River until she was out of range of the British cruisers'
+guns, and from that point the reinforcements for the German Field Force
+could proceed to the Rhodesian border and attempt to check General
+Smut's advance.
+
+Amongst the troops was Major von Eckenstein, who had been discovered
+lying unconscious at the foot of the cliffs.  He was badly battered
+about the face, and severely hurt internally.  When he came to he was
+quite unable to account for his injuries.  It was quite evident that
+from a combatant point of view the arrogant major was out of the
+running.
+
+As soon as the _Pelikan_ was in comparative safety the German troops
+were re-embarked.  The quick-firers which had been landed, and which
+had served so good a purpose in repelling the British destroyers, were
+brought round by steamboats and again hoisted on board the _Pelikan_.
+
+This done the _Myra_ took her big consort in tow, and against the now
+strong ebb-tide slowly crawled up the turgid river.
+
+Before the tidal stream had turned the two vessels had passed the spot
+where the tramp had anchored on the previous night.  Without stopping
+they proceeded up-stream, the _Pelikan_ keeping well under control by
+means of her rudder and a supplementary steering device consisting of a
+long spar towed astern to prevent the ship from yawing.
+
+"By Jove! there's trouble ahead," observed Denbigh, pointing to a sharp
+bend in the river about a mile ahead.  Here the tidal portion of the
+stream extended nearly 500 yards from bank to bank, while the actual
+channel was a bare fifth of that distance.  On the starboard hand ran a
+long tongue of mud, round which the stream swept with great violence.
+
+By this time a strong breeze had sprung up, blowing athwart the
+channel.  The absence of trees close to the bank increased the
+difficulty, for there was no protection from the wind as it swept
+against the lofty side of the slowly-moving _Pelikan_.
+
+Already the raider's semaphore was signalling to the _Myra_ to cast off
+and anchor until the tide slackened.
+
+With a grim smile on his face Armstrong winked solemnly at the subs.
+He said not a word, for several of the German seamen were standing by.
+
+"Let go!" ordered Unter-leutnant Klick, directly he saw that the
+_Pelikan_ had dropped her anchor.
+
+Promptly the British seaman stationed at the compressor obeyed.  The
+bower anchor fell with a sullen splash.  Fathom after fathom of chain
+roared through the hawse-pipe.
+
+Klick raised his hand as a signal for the cable to be checked.  The
+_Myra_ was still making sternway and showed no decided tendency to
+bring up.  Another fifty fathoms of chain were paid out.  Still the
+tramp dropped astern.  She was now within half a cable's length of the
+_Pelikan_, which to prevent herself being in collision was obliged to
+veer out her cable.
+
+"The anchor's not holding, sir!" shouted the German petty officer in
+charge of the fo'c'sle party.
+
+"Then let go a second anchor," yelled Klick excitedly.  "Make them look
+sharp, or we'll be foul of the _Pelikan_."
+
+The unter-leutnant had no cause to complain of the lack of energy on
+the part of the prisoners.  With the utmost dispatch the second anchor
+was let go.  Before twenty fathoms, which alone ought to be sufficient
+to bring the _Myra_ to a standstill, were paid out the whole of the
+cable of the first anchor had been made use of.
+
+Suddenly a sullen roar was heard coming from down-stream.  The Mohoro
+River at certain intervals, especially at extraordinary spring-tides,
+is subject to a bore.  The bore is very erratic.  Sometimes it is very
+much in evidence, at other times it is hardly perceptible; but there
+was no doubt that now it was of unusual magnitude.
+
+Nearer and nearer came the wall of solid water, maintaining an unbroken
+wave towards the centre of the river.  Close to the banks it broke
+heavily.
+
+"Go full speed ahead or we'll be into you!" shouted Kapitan von Riesser
+frantically.
+
+The _Myra's_ engine-room telegraph clanged.  Either by accident or
+design the British engineers were slow in replying.  The tramp was only
+just forging ahead when the bore swept under the _Pelikan's_ counter.
+
+Round swept the raider, her stern just missing the _Myra's_ taffrail.
+Fortunately her cables held, but not so the tramp.
+
+With her engines going ahead and held tightly by the scope of her
+anchor-chain--for the anchors themselves, thanks to their dummy
+forelocks, were useless--the tramp headed uncontrollably towards the
+port-hand bank.  In the midst of the tumult of water as the bore broke
+over her she struck and struck heavily.
+
+In an instant the doomed vessel fell over on her beam-ends.  With an
+appalling crash her funnels and masts went by the board.  So sudden was
+the catastrophe that a dozen German seamen were trapped down below.
+Only by the narrowest margin did the British engine-room staff make
+their escape.
+
+Of what occurred during the next few moments neither Denbigh nor O'Hara
+had any clear recollection.  They found themselves standing on the side
+of the vessel.  Captain Pennington, Armstrong, and Unter-leutnant Klick
+were there, too.  Up for'ard the British seamen and half a dozen of the
+German prize crew were scrambling along the upturned sides, which were
+by this time barely three feet above the surface of the raging stream.
+
+It was evident that the survivors had found only a very temporary place
+of refuge.  The force of the current sweeping past the ship was wearing
+out a deep hole in the bed of the river, into which the _Myra_ was
+slowly subsiding.  To attempt to escape by swimming was almost an
+impossibility, as the water surged and eddied past, forming a dangerous
+whirlpool close to the stern of the vessel.
+
+"By Jove!" exclaimed Armstrong.  "This is a proper wash-out.  We've
+done the trick properly this time."
+
+"Yes, it's more than we bargained for," added the Irishman.  "I would
+never have believed that a craft of this size would be swallowed up so
+quickly."
+
+Meanwhile Denbigh could not help noticing the marked difference in the
+demeanour of the British and German seamen, who by this time were up to
+their knees in water, and were soon, unless help were forthcoming, to
+be swept off their feet by the rush of the flood-tide.
+
+The Huns were shouting dolorously for aid; the _Myra's_ men were either
+stoically silent or else inclined to indulge in grim jests at the
+expense of the bellowing Teutons.
+
+Denbigh looked in the direction of the _Pelikan_.  The crew were
+engaged in lowering boats, and taking an extraordinarily long time
+about it, owing to the pronounced list of the raider and also to the
+fact that her decks were encumbered with her disguise of vegetation.
+
+Unter-leutnant Klick was trembling violently.  He, of all the officers
+taking refuge on the side of the tramp, had managed to procure a
+life-belt.  Even the contemptuous glances of the _Myra's_ skipper
+failed to shame him.
+
+Presently the first of the _Pelikan's_ boats came tearing up-stream.
+It required all the strength of the oarsmen to check her way.  An
+ironical cheer from the British seamen greeted her arrival.
+
+"Women and children first!" they yelled derisively as the
+unter-leutnant and the surviving German seamen made a frantic rush for
+the boat.
+
+Two of the Huns jumped short.  Although good swimmers they were swirled
+away like pieces of straw, until, drawn into the vortex of the
+whirlpool, they disappeared.
+
+The second boat, backing towards the deadly whirlpool, awaited the
+men's reappearance, but in vain.  Then, attempting to run alongside the
+wreck, the frail craft bumped heavily upon a submerged part of the
+vessel and stove in a couple of planks.  While two of the crew began to
+bale, the boat was swept several hundred yards up the river, for the
+remaining rowers were helpless against the flood.
+
+Meanwhile the first boat, having rescued the unter-leutnant and the
+surviving German seamen, began to approach the wreck again; until
+Klick, in an agony of terror lest she, too, would meet with disaster,
+ordered the men to push off.
+
+A third boat--a whaler--came upon the scene.  Acting with great caution
+her coxswain brought her alongside and motioned to Denbigh and his
+companions to leap.
+
+"Those men first," cried Captain Pennington, pointing to those of his
+crew who were still maintaining a precarious hold.
+
+The coxswain understood and allowed his boat to drift down upon the
+handful of seamen.  Coolly the British crew scrambled into safety, and
+the whaler, urged under the powerful strokes of the oarsmen, began to
+make her way aft.
+
+Suddenly the almost submerged part on which Denbigh and his companions
+were standing gave a sickening shudder and disappeared beneath the
+surface.  A swirl of water, surging with irresistible force, swept the
+four officers off their feet.
+
+The next instant Denbigh found himself struggling for dear life in the
+foaming yellow water of Mohoro River.  In spite of his peril, he could
+not help contrasting his involuntary bath with that of the previous
+night.  Then the water was warm, tranquil, and evil-smelling.  Unseen
+dangers assailed him on every hand.  Now the same river was nothing
+less than a broiling cauldron.
+
+With almost superhuman strength Denbigh struck out.  Already he was
+within the influence of the deadly whirlpool.  Spinning round and round
+he kept his face from the vortex, striving, but in vain, to overcome
+the suction of the gigantic eddy.
+
+He could see no signs of his companions.  Either they had already
+disappeared, or else they had been thrown beyond the range of the
+inverted cone that marked the position of the whirlpool.
+
+Even in danger of imminent death, the sub recalled an incident in the
+Clarence Victualling Yard, several years ago.  He had been taken by his
+father to see the process of manufacturing ships' biscuits.  In one
+building he saw flour sliding down an inclined plane into a mixing
+machine.  Mingled with the flour were several large maggots, that gave
+the name to the creek that forms the approach by water to the
+Victualling Yard.  Finding themselves disturbed, the insects tried to
+wriggle back, but in vain.  Down they slid till caught in the mixer,
+finally to form part of the ingredients of ship's biscuits.
+
+"And I'm almost in the same boat as those weevils," thought Denbigh
+grimly, as he completed a circle for the twentieth time.
+
+He was nearing the vortex.  The spiral motion became quicker.  An
+irresistible force was dragging him down.
+
+Suddenly Denbigh threw up his arms.  He was physically played out.
+Like an arrow he shot into the pit in the centre of that mass of
+whirling water.  The blaze of the African sun gave place to intense
+darkness.  He held his breath, until his lungs seemed to be on the
+point of bursting.
+
+As rapidly as he had gone down the sub was shot to the surface.  Again
+he was within the range of the whirlpool, for its centre, instead of
+being stationary, was moving in an ellipse.
+
+Unable even to struggle, Denbigh was again sucked down.  This time,
+incapable of holding his breath, he swallowed a quantity of water.  The
+pressure on his chest was excruciating.  Then torture gave place to a
+strange calmness.  On an instant, recollections of practically the
+whole of his past life flashed across his mind.  The mental pictures
+faded away and all became blank.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+A Bid for Freedom
+
+When Denbigh opened his eyes he found himself in the now familiar cabin
+on board the _Pelikan_.  There were several people in the limited
+space.  He did not feel any interest in them.  They irritated him.  He
+wanted to sleep.
+
+Gradually it dawned upon him that he had a narrow escape.  Then he
+remembered that O'Hara was with him when he was swept off the side of
+the _Myra_.
+
+"You there, Pat?" he asked, half afraid to put the question in case his
+chum was gone.
+
+"Sure," replied a deep voice from the opposite bunk.
+
+Denbigh attempted to sit up.  He felt horribly sick.  His head was
+whirling.  It reminded him very forcibly and unpleasantly of his spiral
+flight around the vortex of the whirlpool.
+
+"Lie still, Mr. Denbigh," said Captain Pennington.  "You'll be fit all
+in good time."
+
+"All right," agreed the sub.  He was not in a fit state to do
+otherwise.  "Where is the _Pelikan_ now?"
+
+The skipper of the _Myra_ lowered his voice.
+
+"Properly trapped.  She cannot go another fifty yards up the river.
+We've spoilt her little game."
+
+"Good business," murmured Denbigh, and turning on his side he fell
+asleep.
+
+His escape was little short of miraculous.  It was owing to the fact
+that he wore his solar topee fastened by a strong "chin-stay".  The
+air-space between the double thickness of the sun-helmet possessed
+sufficient buoyancy to bring him to the surface, after being twice
+taken down by the whirlpool.
+
+A few minutes previous to the disaster, the bore had exhausted itself
+at a point ten miles up the river, and the "rebound" had made itself
+felt just at the time when Denbigh made his second involuntary dive.
+The sudden slackening of the full force of the flood-tide had caused
+the whirlpool to cease, with the result that the sub floated
+unconscious on the surface of the river, when he was picked up by the
+_Pelikan's_ whaler.  O'Hara, Captain Pennington, and Armstrong had been
+more fortunate, for they had been swept clear of the influence of the
+eddy.
+
+The result of Armstrong's plot had rather exceeded his expectations.
+The _Myra_ lay athwart the channel, with less than twelve feet of water
+over her at high tide.  Until the Mohoro River cut itself a new bed
+round the submerged wreck--which might take twenty-four hours or as
+many days--the _Pelikan_ would be unable to proceed.  Even if the
+obstruction did not exist, the raider was unable to proceed owing to
+the loss of her propeller blades.
+
+The whole of the stores removed from the _Pelikan_ to the _Myra_, as
+well as those originally in the tramp's holds, were hopelessly lost,
+including the bulk of the ammunition and arms intended for the German
+colonial troops.  There were several hundred reservists still on board,
+with no facilities for their transfer up-country.  Even had there been
+boats available for them all, the voyage up the Mohoro was fraught with
+danger.
+
+On the other hand, to remain in the _Pelikan_ was to court disease and
+famine, even should the raider escape detection by the British cruisers.
+
+Kapitan von Riesser's position was far from enviable.  He soundly rated
+Unter-leutnant Klick, who in turn tried to shift the blame upon the
+British sailors for their dilatoriness in letting go the anchors.  Von
+Riesser had seen with his own eyes that the anchors had been let go
+promptly.  He could not, therefore, accuse the _Myra's_ original crew
+of conspiracy, since he had no evidence.  The prospect of capture, too,
+made him treat the prisoners with far more consideration than he would
+have done had his position been a secure one.
+
+The kapitan of the _Pelikan_ was not, however, going to "knuckle under"
+without another effort.  For the next three days all hands were kept
+hard at work, in spite of the blazing sunshine by day and the miasmic
+mists by night.
+
+The guns previously landed on the shores of the lagoon and afterwards
+taken on board again were once more sent ashore, and placed in position
+so as to command a wide stretch of river.  The _Pelikan_, being now
+moored fore and aft, had the remaining quick-firers mounted at the
+stern, so as to cooperate with the shore batteries in sweeping the
+approach by water.
+
+Two miles down-stream a steel-studded cable was thrown across from bank
+to bank, and supported by barrels lashed in pairs at frequent
+intervals.  The obstruction ought to prevent the dash by armed
+steamboats, even if unable to withstand the headlong charge of a
+destroyer.
+
+The most formidable objects of defence were the two torpedo-tubes,
+which were removed from the ship and placed in position on shore four
+hundred yards below the chain boom.  To enable the torpedoes to be
+fired, light piers were thrown out from the banks into twelve feet of
+water, the structure being hidden by boughs of trees and clumps of
+reeds.  On the high ground at the back of the torpedo station
+searchlights were mounted.  These were not to be used as a
+precautionary measure, but only to be switched on when an attack was
+visibly imminent.  Von Riesser's principal aim was to remain hidden.
+If his retreat were discovered then he would put up a fight, and
+failing to win would surrender with a good conscience.
+
+Long before the three days had elapsed Denbigh had quite recovered from
+the effects of his prolonged immersion.  He had, with the rest of the
+captured British officers, little opportunity of finding out the actual
+steps that were being taken for defence.  They knew that work was in
+progress, but during the removal of the torpedo-tubes and guns they had
+been sent below.
+
+One discovery Denbigh made, and that was through overhearing a chance
+conversation between two German petty officers.  It also accounted for
+the seemingly purposeless reluctance to confine the prisoners in the
+hold instead of attempting to chloroform them in their cabin.
+
+The _Pelikan_ was double-skinned, but the space between the double
+bottoms was far greater than is usual in marine construction.  It had
+practically two hulls, one within the other, and in the intervening
+space were stowed quantities of warlike stores.
+
+When the _Pelikan_ had been boarded by a British patrol officer the
+deception escaped detection.  Apparently the _Zwaan_ was a harmless
+Dutch liner.  The sub-lieutenant who acted as boarding-officer was not
+sufficiently versed in the ways of the wily Teuton.  An examination of
+the hold revealed nothing suspicious, and the vessel was accordingly
+released.
+
+Unfortunately for the Germans their plans had gone awry, for on
+grounding on the outer bar the ship had strained several of her plates,
+with the result that the space between the inner and the outer skin was
+flooded.  Not only were the stores spoilt, but, in order to lighten her
+draught in addition to compensating for lost buoyancy, cargo more than
+equivalent to that flooded had to be jettisoned.
+
+Having landed the quick-firers and torpedo-tubes, the crew of the
+_Pelikan_ proceeded to increase the disguise of the ship.  She was now
+a regular floating palm forest.  So thick was the foliage brought on
+board and secured to the masts and upper works that sun-awnings were
+unnecessary.  Even an observer in a seaplane, unless he were prepared
+for such a disguise, would fail to distinguish the raider in her garb
+of verdure.
+
+"How do you feel for another jaunt ashore?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"I can't say I am particularly keen on another swim," replied O'Hara.
+"Otherwise I've no objection to studying the fauna and flora of this
+delectable land.  But what's the object?"
+
+"It's about time we bade farewell to the _Pelikan_" replied Denbigh.
+"It's four days since that little affair with the destroyers, and our
+cruisers have apparently made no attempt to get even with von Riesser
+and his motley crowd.  I'm rather curious to know what's doing?"
+
+"I can't see how going ashore will help," objected the Irishman.
+
+"It will if we get to the mouth of the river.  If the cruisers are in
+the lagoon, well and good."
+
+"And if not?"
+
+"Then we'll have to exist as best we can till they do arrive."
+
+"H'm," muttered O'Hara.  "And the other fellows--Pennington and
+Armstrong?"
+
+"We'll ask them to join our merry throng," answered Denbigh.  "The more
+the better, once we get clear of the ship."
+
+That same afternoon the subs broached the matter to the master and mate
+of the lost _Myra_.
+
+"I must cry off, thanks all the same," was Captain Pennington's reply.
+"Happen what may my place is with my men.  I have no objection to
+Armstrong going with you, but I hope you have carefully weighed the
+matter.  If you miss being picked up by the boats of the squadron your
+plight will be an unenviable one.  The climate, the wild nature of the
+coast, and the natives, who are certainly under German influence, are
+all against you.  Personally I think you stand a better chance by
+remaining here and letting events take their course.  The _Pelikan_ is
+trapped.  Capture or destruction is but a matter of time."
+
+"True," admitted Denbigh.  "But these fellows evidently mean to put up
+a stiff fight.  They've been doing something down the river--probably
+throwing up masked batteries.  If we could manage to find out what they
+are up to and can communicate the intelligence to our ships it would
+help matters."
+
+"That's another consideration," said Captain Pennington.  "In fact,
+your duty lies that way."
+
+"Are you trying your luck with us, Armstrong?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"I'd be only too pleased to have a cut at it," replied the mate.
+"Especially as Captain Pennington has no objections.  How do you
+propose to get clear of the ship?  You can't swim ashore, because
+there's nothing but slimy mud on the bank for some distance."
+
+"There's a punt made fast alongside the port quarter," said Denbigh.
+"They don't hoist it on board at night, because it's there when we turn
+in and in the same place when we come on deck in the morning.  They
+only use it during the day."
+
+"And there's a sentry right aft," objected Armstrong.  "He'd spot us as
+sure as daylight."
+
+"Look here," declared the sub.  "If I succeed in getting her alongside
+amidships will you be ready to swarm down and into her?"
+
+Armstrong nodded in assent.  O'Hara also expressed his willingness to
+attempt the enterprise.
+
+The Irishman still had his pistol.  He had taken an early opportunity
+of cleaning it after his immersion.  The screw-driver had been lost in
+the _Myra_, but by this time the lock furniture was easy to remove, a
+coin doing duty for the hitherto indispensable tool.  The three men
+also contrived to reserve a small quantity of food and a glass bottle
+filled with soda-water.
+
+Captain Pennington and Armstrong had been berthed in the same cabin as
+the two subs.  That facilitated matters, since the master of the _Myra_
+could cover his companions' tracks.
+
+"They'll make it pretty hot for me when they find you've cleared out,"
+he remarked.  "I can stick that.  I don't think they'll go to extreme
+measures with me.  If they do they'll be sorry for it later on."
+
+At the usual hour the officer-prisoners were ordered below.  By ten
+o'clock all was still.  The crew of the raider were no longer working
+by night.  The bulk of the preparations completed they were given ample
+opportunities for rest, since it was necessary to conserve their
+energies for defence against the impending attack.
+
+On deck a strict watch was maintained, but the attention of the
+sentries was mainly directed downstream, whence the sudden switching on
+of the searchlights was to be the signal of the approach of the British
+flotillas.
+
+It was not until two bells (1 a.m.) that the three officers stole from
+their cabin.  On deck all was in darkness.  There was no moon.  Every
+light was extinguished.  A mist obscured the glimmer of the stars.  It
+was one of those nights when it was really impossible to see one's hand
+in front of one's face.
+
+Without interruption the three officers gained the shelter of one of
+the boats slung inboard with davits.  Here, eight feet above the deck,
+they were in comparative safety.  Groping in the stern-sheets Denbigh
+found what he expected--a hand lead-line.
+
+Keeping the weighted end in the boat he dropped the coils overboard.
+Caught by the swirling current the line trailed out astern.  His next
+task was to lower the boat's painter, which was to form a means of
+getting down into the punt.
+
+Stealthily the sub lowered himself hand over hand until his feet
+touched the water.
+
+"Good heavens, what a current!" he thought.  "Well, if the lead-line
+parts it will be an end to this little business.  Here goes!"
+
+He slipped softly into the river, striking out against the current, and
+at the same time allowing the rush of water to sweep him down across
+the bows of the punt, which was about a hundred feet from the place
+where he had descended.
+
+Suddenly something flicked across his head.  It was the trailing
+lead-line.  Grasping it he allowed himself to be carried past the side
+of the ship until he came within reach of the punt, which was made fast
+to the lizard of one of the swinging booms.
+
+Still retaining the line Denbigh clambered over the stern.  The punt
+was yawing in the tideway.  He could see that it would be impossible to
+haul it against the stream unless he kept well off.
+
+He groped for'ard.  In the bluff stem he found a metal ring-bolt.
+Through this he passed the lead-line, making fast to another ring-bolt
+in the transom.
+
+So far so good.  His next step was to cut adrift the unwieldy little
+craft.  Released from the hold of the two ropes the punt swung away
+from the ship's side, but showed little tendency to yaw.
+
+Slowly Denbigh began to haul in the lead-line.  Foot by foot the punt
+crept up-stream.  Trimmed well by the stern she towed lightly, but the
+securing line was none too strong.  His journey to the place where he
+had entered the water seemed interminable, but at length Denbigh felt
+the trailing painter of the boat in the davits.
+
+He made fast.  As he did so the punt swung in towards the ship's side,
+her gunwale making a resounding sound as it came in contact with the
+steel plating.
+
+He could hear men's footsteps approaching.  Through the darkness he
+heard a German sailor enquiring of his companion what the noise was.
+The fellow expressed his opinion that it was merely a hippopotamus, and
+the explanation being evidently satisfactory the men went aft once more.
+
+Grasping the painter Denbigh jerked it three times.  It was the
+prearranged signal for his comrades to rejoin him.  Silently Armstrong
+slid down the rope, followed by O'Hara.
+
+By this time they were growing accustomed to the darkness.  Denbigh
+could see the white uniforms of his companions.  He wondered whether
+they would be spotted once the punt drifted away from the ship's side.
+
+Just above his head was a cluster of palm branches, suspended in a line
+from the rail.
+
+"I'll take the liberty of removing some of their floral decorations,"
+mused Denbigh.  Then signing to his companions to lie down he covered
+them with the broad leaves, cut the log-line, and allowed the punt to
+drift at the mercy of the strong ebb-tide.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+Disappointment
+
+"Any oars on board?" asked O'Hara, after the frail craft had drifted a
+few hundred yards down the river.
+
+"Not a suspicion of one," replied Armstrong.  "And the bore will be due
+in about an hour."
+
+"Hands, lads!" exclaimed Denbigh cheerily.  "Let us imagine we're
+taking part in a Fleet regatta."
+
+Leaning over the sides the men paddled with their hands, steering a
+course obliquely with the left bank of the river.
+
+Once the punt tilted alarmingly as a dark heavy body rasped underneath.
+The denizens of the river were in evidence.  The officers prudently
+suspended operations until the unwelcome intruder had disappeared.
+
+"Hulloa, what's that?" whispered the Irishman.  "Hippos right across
+the river."
+
+The punt was bearing down upon a line of dark objects that were
+apparently forging ahead against the swift current.
+
+"Back starboard!" ordered Denbigh promptly.
+
+The punt, checked by the resistance of O'Hara's palms in the water,
+swung sideways.  As it did so Denbigh gathered up the slack of the
+severed lead-line that still remained on board.
+
+Retaining the ends he threw the bight across one of the black objects,
+at the same time lying at full length on the bottom of the boat.  With
+a jerk that wellnigh capsized the crank craft the punt's way was
+checked.
+
+"Your hippos are barrels, old man!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Mines, perhaps," suggested Armstrong.  "Be careful, for goodness sake."
+
+"Not mines," declared Denbigh.  "They wouldn't be floating on the
+surface.  But it's some infernal contrivance.  Haul closer and we'll
+investigate."
+
+Warding off the gunwale from the plunging barrel Denbigh dipped his arm
+into the water.  His hand came in contact with a heavy chain eighteen
+inches beneath the surface.
+
+"A boom!" he announced.  "By Jove!  If we had a slab of gun-cotton
+handy."
+
+"Hist!" exclaimed O'Hara warningly.  "I can hear voices."
+
+"It's time for us to go," whispered Armstrong.
+
+Denbigh cast off.  The barrel appeared to leap away from them, as the
+punt was swept down-stream.
+
+"Not much use attempting to land at this point," said Armstrong.
+
+"I don't know so much about that," rejoined Denbigh.  "Personally I'm
+rather anxious to see what these fellows are doing ashore.  Keep her
+going, Pat.  We'll strike the bank in less than half a mile."
+
+Paddling in silence the men pursued their tedious course athwart the
+current until a dull roar was borne to their ears.
+
+"The bore!" exclaimed Armstrong.
+
+"It will be quite ten minutes before it reaches us," replied Denbigh.
+"Stick to it, lads!"
+
+The amphibians, with the keen instinct that nature bestowed upon them,
+also were aware of the approach of the foaming mass of water, for the
+centre of the river was literally alive with hippopotami and saurians
+that had not gone ashore for a nocturnal ramble.  The crocodiles on the
+mud-flats were either making for deep water or else crawling higher up
+the banks out of the rush of the irresistible bore.
+
+"Aground!" exclaimed Denbigh as the punt's bows touched the mud.
+"Check her from swinging round."
+
+Armstrong promptly jumped overboard, to sink above his knees in the
+soft mud.  Only by holding on to the gunwale was he able to keep
+himself from sinking still deeper.
+
+"We can't land here," he announced.  "We'll be in up to our necks."
+
+"Must," declared Denbigh laconically, raising his voice to enable it to
+be heard above the now loud roar of the approaching bore.
+
+Seizing the lead-line and bending one end round his waist Denbigh leapt
+overboard, threw himself at full length upon the mud, and working with
+his hands drew himself laboriously over the slimy surface.  It was
+horribly exhausting work, but to his intense satisfaction he found
+himself making visible progress without sinking beyond a few inches in
+the ooze.
+
+Ahead he could discern the dark outlines of the mangrove forest.  It
+seemed an interminable distance away.
+
+Presently his hand came in contact with the trunk of a tree, that had
+fallen and had been partly embedded in the mud.  It afforded a
+precarious foothold, but proceeding carefully, Denbigh found that the
+farther end rested in comparatively firm soil.
+
+Planting his feet against the trunk, the sub hauled at the lead-line
+with all his might.  The flat-bottomed punt glided easily over the
+slime until its bows were within a yard of the fallen tree.  Then,
+unexpectedly, the rope that had rendered such good service parted like
+pack-thread.
+
+Denbigh, losing his balance, fell prostrate on the ground, which was
+here soft enough to break his fall but sufficiently stiff to prevent
+him from being swallowed up in the mud.
+
+Quickly O'Hara and Armstrong jumped, and grasping their fallen comrade
+hauled him to his feet.  They had barely time to gain the firm bank
+when the bore thundered past, sweeping the punt away like a straw.
+They had a momentary glimpse of its bows rearing high in the air on the
+crest of the foaming, breaking wall of water, then it vanished out of
+sight.
+
+"Phew!" exclaimed Armstrong.  "That was a narrow squeak."
+
+"I'm in a horrible mess," announced Denbigh.  "The mud of Portsmouth
+Harbour is eau de Cologne compared with this filthy slime."
+
+"Good heavens, man! you're shivering," declared O'Hara.  "That won't
+do.  Here, take my coat.  I don't want it.  I insist."
+
+Waving aside Denbigh's objections the Irishman made him take off his
+saturated garments, while the rest of the deficiency of the sub's
+wardrobe was temporarily made good by making use of Armstrong's silk
+scarf as a loin-cloth.  The men realized that in the deadly African
+climate dry clothing was of utmost importance.  The sub's saturated and
+mud-encaked garments were made up into a bundle to be washed and dried
+at the first opportunity.
+
+"Now," said Denbigh, "I feel like a giant refreshed.  We've plenty of
+time, for it's no use getting to the coast before sunrise.  If you
+fellows like to wait here I'll go up along the banks and see what is at
+the shore end of that chain."
+
+"It isn't going to be a one-man show," objected O'Hara.  "We'll all
+have a chip in.  You lead, if you will, old man.  I'll follow just far
+enough behind to keep you in view.  Armstrong, will you bring up the
+rear?"
+
+In single file and extended order the three officers made their way
+towards their objective.  Keeping just below high-water mark they found
+the ground easy to walk upon, and, with one exception, free from the
+presence of crocodiles.
+
+One huge brute barred their path, but on Denbigh hurling a heavy stick
+in its direction, the saurian turned and waddled towards the water.
+
+Noiselessly, for the soft ground effectually deadened the sound of
+their footsteps, the daring explorers advanced.
+
+Suddenly a hoarse voice broke the silence with a guttural "Wer da?"
+
+Without a moment's hesitation Denbigh dropped gently to the ground.
+His companions followed his example, holding their breath in momentary
+expectation of hearing a bullet whizzing over their heads.
+
+"It's all right, Schlutze," replied a voice.  "The leutnant sent me to
+bring some more hands down.  There's a boat broken adrift.  She's
+grinding against the end of the torpedo-station pier."
+
+"What boat?" asked the sentry, recovering his rifle.
+
+"I do not know.  It's empty."
+
+"Not an English boat?" asked the man anxiously.
+
+"When the English do venture they will attempt the attack with
+something bigger, my friend.  The bigger the better, for they will
+never be able to pass here, with our excellent torpedo-tubes trained
+across the river.  But I must be moving.  Herr leutnant is in a great
+hurry.  He does not want his piers damaged."
+
+Denbigh remained lying on the ground.  He waited until half a dozen
+Germans passed within twenty yards of him.  He could hear their heavy
+boots clattering on the planks of the foliage-screened pier, although
+the structure was invisible from where he lay.
+
+Finding that it would be too risky a business to attempt to pass the
+sentry, Denbigh crawled back to O'Hara, and by signs indicated that he
+was going into the forest.  The three comrades, keeping close together,
+turned their backs upon the river and were soon swallowed up in the
+dense foliage.
+
+Maintaining his direction by means of his spirit-compass, Denbigh held
+on until he came upon a clearing.  Here the ground was furrowed with
+deep ruts.  They had evidently been caused by the recent passage of
+heavy objects drawn upon rough sleighs.  The dew-steeped ground bore
+the impress of many booted feet as well as, to a lesser extent, those
+of natives.
+
+"They've been lugging up the quick-firers," mentally commented Denbigh.
+"I wonder where they've hidden them?  Wish to goodness they hadn't
+employed niggers.  I don't mind getting on the track of a Hun, but the
+blacks have an awkward trick of turning the tables upon a fellow when
+it comes to following a spoor."
+
+He waited, revolving in his mind the problem that confronted him.  His
+companions stood motionless and silent.  They, too, realized that
+danger lurked in the dense bush.
+
+Again Denbigh consulted his compass.  The track on his left hand lay in
+a north-westerly direction.  Assuming that it ran fairly straight, it
+would open out at the river banks in the vicinity of the temporary
+piers.  In the other direction it showed a tendency to curve to the
+north-east.
+
+"I'll try the right-hand track," decided the sub.  "I suppose it will
+be out of the question to get those two obstinate fellows to remain
+here."
+
+He put the proposal in dumb show, but both O'Hara and Armstrong
+vigorously protested against being left behind.
+
+The three officers again took shelter in the bush, keeping close and
+parallel to the beaten track.  Twenty minutes' steady progress brought
+them to the edge of a large clearing.  By the compass their direction
+was now due west, showing that they had described a large semicircle.
+They were now not far from the river.  They could hear the swirl of the
+flood-tide.  Towards the centre of the clearing were several indistinct
+objects that looked like gun-emplacements.  Through the darkness came
+the sound of men's voices.  A dog yelped, and was instantly told to be
+silent.
+
+"This is no place for us," thought Denbigh.  "Much as I should like to
+see what is over there, I think we'll shift.  I'll try and see how this
+clearing bears for the river."
+
+Fifty yards farther on progress was barred by a line of young trees.
+Groping, the sub attempted to find a gap, but to his surprise the stem
+he grasped gave way.  It was merely the top of a palm tree lopped off
+and forced into the ground.  The whole row was merely a screen to mask
+the guns from the river.
+
+As the sub scrambled through the gap his foot tripped against a
+concealed wire, and a spurt of red flame stabbed the darkness
+accompanied by the sharp crack of a rifle.
+
+Resisting the impulse to take to their heels the three officers backed
+cautiously into the forest.  Already numbers of men were hurrying to
+the spot.  Lights flashed upon the scene, revealing the presence of two
+searchlight projectors set up on platforms almost above the heads of
+the British fugitives.
+
+In the confusion, for the German officers and men were shouting and
+aimlessly running hither and thither, Denbigh and his companions
+withdrew, until they found themselves at the place where a couple of
+hours previously they had landed from the punt.
+
+"Full speed ahead!" exclaimed Denbigh.  "It will be dawn by the time we
+reach the shore of the lagoon.  I think we've seen enough to enable us
+to locate the enemy's shore defences."
+
+"Through the forest, or by the river?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"Both," replied his chum.  "Two miles farther down-stream is the spot
+where we landed from the _Myra_.  I can recognize it.  You remember
+what we buried there?"
+
+"Rather," replied the Irishman.  "The rifle and the ammunition we took
+from von Eckenstein's man."
+
+"It will come in jolly handy if we fall foul of more wild animals,"
+continued Denbigh.  "When we've recovered the rifle we'll follow the
+same track as we did previously.  Let's hope we'll be in time to warn
+our cruisers, for from all appearances von Riesser hasn't played
+himself out just yet."
+
+"You're taking into consideration the possibility that the Germans have
+left an observation post at the entrance to the river?" asked Armstrong.
+
+"Rather," replied Denbigh.  "Even if they hadn't posted a guard they'll
+have made arrangements with the natives to give them the tip.  Best leg
+forward, lads.  If we fail to see the White Ensign before another six
+hours have passed I shall be horribly disappointed."
+
+In spite of Denbigh's assurances the men had great difficulty in
+locating the spot where the rifle and ammunition had been hidden.  The
+lack of moonlight altered the appearance of the river completely.
+Landmarks and bearings were useless in the darkness; but at length the
+weapon was recovered little the worse for its experience.  Having
+cleaned the dirt from the muzzle, the breech-mechanism having been
+protected when it was buried, O'Hara took possession of the rifle and
+the journey was resumed.
+
+The short African dawn was breaking as the three officers reached the
+low cliffs overlooking the lagoon.
+
+A grunt of disappointment burst from Denbigh's lips.  The morning mists
+had dispersed.  The whole of the reef was plainly visible.  The horizon
+was unbroken by any object that could be recognized as a British
+warship.
+
+Unaccountably the blockading squadron had disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+"Our Luck's Out"
+
+"That's done it!" ejaculated O'Hara.
+
+"Perhaps," admitted Denbigh.  "We'll have some grub and discuss the
+situation.  It's good to sniff the open sea, after being cooped up in
+that pestilential river.  That's one consolation."
+
+The three chums ate sparingly, supplementing the provisions with the
+milk of a coco-nut.  The soda-water was by common consent kept intact.
+
+As soon as the sun's rays acquired strength Denbigh washed his
+mud-encrusted clothes in the sea and spread them out to dry.
+
+"What's the programme?" asked Armstrong.  "If we hang about here we
+stand a chance of getting nabbed.  Our flight will have been discovered
+by this time, and they'll naturally conclude that we've made off
+towards the mouth of the river."
+
+"Unless they conclude, from finding the punt jammed alongside the pier,
+that we've been slung out and drowned," rejoined Denbigh.  "But we'll
+take no needless chances.  We'll go north.  Once we pass the clearing
+where the native village stands the coast ought to be fairly clear, and
+we can still command a view of the entrance to the lagoon."
+
+Without incident the three officers made their way for nearly three
+miles along the coast.  By this time the intense heat was making itself
+felt, and at O'Hara's suggestion they retreated to the cool of the
+forest, taking turns at keeping watch.
+
+During the afternoon a native canoe appeared round a projecting bluff.
+The men had been fishing, for they brought a goodly haul on shore.
+Dragging the frail craft above high-water mark the blacks vanished in
+the direction of the village.
+
+O'Hara, who was keeping watch, astonished his companions by giving them
+each a violent shake.
+
+"What's wrong?" asked Denbigh, awake and alert in an instant.
+
+"Nothing," replied the imperturbable Irishman.
+
+"Then why this thusness?"
+
+"Are you keen on a sea voyage?"
+
+"A sea voyage?" repeated Denbigh.
+
+"To Latham Island."
+
+"Do you propose swimming there?" asked Armstrong with considerable
+asperity, for he had been disturbed in the midst of a much-needed sleep.
+
+"There's a canoe awaiting us," reported O'Hara.  "The sea's calm.
+To-night's the night.  You told me that the _Pelikan's_ people left a
+whaler and plenty of provisions and stores hidden on the island.  With
+luck we ought to be able to fetch there, resurrect the boat, and make a
+dash for Zanzibar.  We'd have the S.W. monsoon with us all the way, and
+if we fell in with one of our ships so much the better."
+
+"Where's your precious discovery?" asked Denbigh.
+
+Accompanying his chum to the edge of the cliff O'Hara pointed out the
+canoe.
+
+"H'm, not much of a craft to make a voyage to a sandbank twenty-three
+miles from land," remarked Denbigh.
+
+"We can work inside the lagoon for several miles and then keep close
+inshore until we reach Ras What's-its-name," continued O'Hara
+optimistically.  "I've seen these native canoes miles out to sea before
+to-day.  They seem pretty seaworthy."
+
+While daylight lasted the three chums rested, after taking the
+precaution of gathering a supply of coco-nuts and roots.  The subs eyed
+the latter with misgivings, in spite of Armstrong's assurances that
+they were both edible and nourishing.
+
+As soon as the sun had set behind the boundless mangrove forests the
+daring trio made their way to the spot where the canoe was lying.  The
+craft was about twenty-four feet in length, but only four in beam.
+With her half-dozen short paddles, a mast and sail, suitable only for
+running before the wind, and a stone jar half-full of water.  Owing to
+the porosity of the earthenware the liquid was remarkably cool.  A few
+lengths of net completed the equipment, but these were considerately
+left behind, since there was no need for unnecessary spoliation of the
+natives, even though they were, perhaps unwillingly, subjects of Kaiser
+Wilhelm II.
+
+The canoe was light enough to enable the three men to carry her down to
+the water's edge.  Without delay they pushed off and headed for the
+reef.
+
+Here, on the lee side of the extensive coral ledge, they were in
+comparative safety.  The long line of foaming breakers thundering up
+the reef afforded a guide to the position of the ledges; it deadened
+all other sounds, and since no native boats would be likely to indulge
+in night fishing, there was little risk of detection.
+
+"We have company, you see," remarked Armstrong, pointing to a
+phosphorescent swirl less than twenty yards astern.  The disturbance of
+the placid water was caused by the dorsal fin of a huge shark, that,
+scenting a possible prey, was zigzagging in the wake of the frail canoe.
+
+"'We do so want to lose you; and we think you ought to go'," misquoted
+O'Hara, laying down his paddle and grasping his rifle.
+
+"Hold on!" cautioned the mate.  "You'll not only bring up every shark
+in the lagoon to make a meal of this beauty, but you'll arouse every
+native within hearing distance.  Don't fire unless the brute gets too
+attentive; then use your pistol.  It makes much less of a flash and
+report."
+
+Hour after hour passed.  The men took turns at paddling, since there
+was not a breath of wind.  The shark still kept doggedly in company.
+As the canoe drew farther and farther away from the entrance to the
+Mohoro River the miasmic mists gradually dispersed, until the three
+officers found themselves under a bright starlit sky, and on the placid
+surface of the lagoon there seemed one blaze of reflected brilliance.
+
+"It looks as if we are nearing the northern limit of the lagoon,"
+remarked Denbigh.  "We'd better keep a sharp look-out for a passage
+through the reef."
+
+"What if we don't find one?" asked Armstrong.  "The last gap of any
+size we passed quite three miles astern."
+
+"There's an opening of sorts," announced O'Hara, pointing to a dark
+patch in the otherwise unbroken line of surf.  "My word!  I believe
+there's a spanking breeze outside."
+
+"Steady there!" cautioned Denbigh, as the frail craft approached the
+opening, through which long undulations sullenly rolled in from the
+vast expanse of the Indian Ocean.  "If we get capsized heaven help us.
+Our old friend has brought up a few more of his pals."
+
+The sub was justified in advising caution.  Half a dozen sharks were
+close to the canoe.  Emboldened by numbers, they swam around in
+ever-decreasing circles, until one monster, braver than the rest,
+rasped his skin along the side of the canoe.
+
+As the craft tilted O'Hara aimed a blow at the brute with his paddle.
+With a swift movement of its powerful tail the shark disappeared, only
+to rise again and resume its embarrassing attentions.
+
+"If those brutes' instinct isn't at fault there'll be a pretty
+mess-up," thought Denbigh.  "They evidently have seen native canoes
+upset in the channel through the reef before to-day."
+
+"Think it's worth while risking it?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"No, I don't," replied his chum bluntly.
+
+"We must hang on till daybreak, then," said Armstrong.  "At dead-low
+water there may be a trifle less swell."
+
+"Yes," assented Denbigh.  "We'll land on the lee side of the reef.
+Gently with her; we don't want to be stove in against a sharp branch of
+coral."
+
+Without accident the landing was accomplished.  The adventurers found
+themselves on a broad part of the reef that was barely three feet above
+the surface.  Seaweed and driftwood had already accumulated, showing
+that the coral was now only occasionally invaded by the sea.  Fifty
+yards away the surf broke heavily, but fortunately they were out of
+range of the falling spray.
+
+Almost in silence the three chums sat until the sun rose in a grey sky
+above the horizon.  Overhead a few large birds flew seaward--both
+circumstances presaging a fine day.
+
+The tide had now fallen, and, although there were several feet of water
+in the channel, a detached reef about a hundred yards from the main
+coral ledge, which had uncovered as the tide fell, completely broke the
+breakers for some distance on either side of its seaward end.
+
+"All aboard!" ordered Denbigh.  "With luck we'll fetch Latham Island
+well before sunset."
+
+Broad on the port bow rose Ras Kimbiji, which Denbigh recognized by a
+peculiarly-rounded and isolated hill rising two miles beyond the point.
+
+From this cape, he knew, Latham Island bore 23 miles due east.
+
+"Step the mast, Pat!" he exclaimed.  "The breeze is well in our favour.
+One thing, we are not over-canvassed."
+
+Therein he was mistaken, for the small spread of sail was more than
+sufficient to endanger the stability of the canoe.  Since there were no
+reef points recourse had to be made to a "Spanish reef", which consists
+in gathering in a generous amount of one corner of the canvas and tying
+it into a knot.  Even then the little craft literally bounded over the
+water.  Before the S.W. monsoon Denbigh calculated her speed at seven
+or eight knots.
+
+At the end of three hours the breeze increased, and the sail had to be
+still further reduced.  Not daring to stand upright, the sub's range of
+vision was considerably limited.  He was beginning to think that a
+slight error in the compass course had taken them past the low-lying
+and almost invisible sandbank for which they were steering.
+
+"Breakers ahead!" shouted Armstrong.
+
+For nearly five minutes the gaze of all three men was directed upon a
+patch of white foam in the midst of the dark-blue waters.
+
+Then Denbigh broke the silence.
+
+"We can finish off that soda-water now," he said.  "That's Latham
+Island."
+
+They drained the bottle.  There was now no need to husband their scanty
+resources.  Ahead lay the sandbank on which were hidden provisions in
+plenty.
+
+"Down rag and out paddles!" ordered Denbigh.
+
+The sail was quickly stowed and the mast unshipped.  Under paddles the
+canoe was urged towards the lee side of the island, where a landing was
+easily effected.
+
+Dragging the canoe above high-water mark the three chums, wellnigh
+"baked" by the heat, sat down upon the hard ground.  Shelter there was
+none.  The whole of the white surface simmered in the rays, both direct
+and reflected, of the tropical sun.
+
+"Honestly I don't feel like work," remarked O'Hara.  "It's too beastly
+hot.  Besides, we've anticipated our time-table considerably.  The
+sun's not crossed the meridian yet."
+
+"It's a toss-up whether we set to at once or wait.  In any case we
+stew," said Armstrong.  "I vote we dig for an hour and knock off for
+the early afternoon."
+
+"Yes," assented Denbigh.  "That will, I think, be the better way.  So
+bestir yourself, Pat."
+
+"Where's the spot?" asked the mate.
+
+"Almost at the other end of the island," replied Denbigh.  "I can
+recognize it from the position of that jagged reef.  Bring the paddles,
+they'll make excellent sand scoops."
+
+Across the glistening sand they made their way until the three men came
+simultaneously to a dead stop.
+
+Other diggers had preceded them, for where the whaler and the stores
+had been hidden was a large, partly-silted-up cavity.
+
+The versatile Irishman was the first to break the silence.
+
+Throwing his paddle to the ground he ejaculated:
+
+"Dash it all!  Our luck's out this time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+Adrift in the Indian Ocean
+
+"Wish to goodness we hadn't been so prodigal with our provisions," said
+Denbigh as the three chums ruefully surveyed the excavation.  "It will
+be short commons, unless----"
+
+"Unless what?" asked Armstrong.
+
+"Unless the fellows who have forestalled us have omitted to remove all
+the stuff."
+
+"It looks as if they've made a clean sweep of most of the gear and
+burnt what they couldn't move.  They've evidently poured petrol over
+the place and set fire to it.  Now, what was the object?"
+
+"Perhaps a landing-party from one of our ships destroyed the cache,"
+suggested O'Hara.
+
+"Possibly," replied his chum.  "But, on the other hand, unlikely.  It's
+my opinion that some of the Germans, finding that the _Pelikan_ was
+held up, have made a dash for the island.  In that case it is
+reasonable to suppose that they have fitted out the whaler, and are
+either making tracks for some navigable river lower down the coast or
+else they will attempt to capture the first tramp they fall in with."
+
+"Not much chance of escaping capture themselves," said Armstrong.
+
+"I don't know.  Remember the case of the _Ayesha_ with the _Emden's_
+landing-party.  They managed to fetch home all the way from the Cocos
+Keeling Islands.  These fellows, with luck, might reach Batavia and be
+interned by the Dutch Colonial Government."
+
+"And here are we stranded on a desolate sandbank, with precious little
+grub in the locker," remarked Armstrong.  "There's one consolation.  We
+have a boat."
+
+"Of sorts," rejoined the Irishman.  "Since she brought us here she
+ought to take us back to the mainland, although it will be dead to
+windward."
+
+"What's wrong with Zanzibar?" asked the mate.  "It's only about fifty
+miles to the nor'-west.  We've a breeze slightly abaft the beam.
+She'll do it all right, especially if we take some sand aboard as
+ballast."
+
+"Right," assented O'Hara.  "Let's make a start.  It's a howling pity to
+lose the breeze, and it's a jolly sight cooler on the water than on
+this sun-baked sandbank."
+
+Quickly the new plan was put into operation.  The canoe was launched,
+and about three hundred-weights of sand thrown into her.  On
+re-embarking the crew found that their frail craft was considerably
+"stiffer", and showed no great tendency to capsize when one of their
+number stood upright.  In her ballasted state more sail could be
+carried, and, what was more, she could be steered a point closer to the
+wind.
+
+All went well until about three in the afternoon, when, with
+disconcerting suddenness, the wind died utterly away.  The crisp,
+crested waves subsided into a long, sullen, oily swell.  The canoe,
+without steerage way, floated idly upon the water.
+
+"Out paddles!" ordered Denbigh.  "You and I, Pat, will take the first
+trick.  At every thousand strokes one man will be relieved.  Ready?"
+
+Counting, the sub knew, was the only means at their disposal for
+arriving at an equal division of labour.  It also gave them a rough
+indication of the progress made, since each stroke represented a
+distance of two yards through the water.
+
+"See anything?" asked Denbigh at length.
+
+O'Hara, who was by this time at the steering paddle, stood up, and
+shading his eyes looked ahead in the hope of seeing the friendly rising
+ground of Zanzibar Island peeping above the horizon.
+
+"Nothing," was the reply, "except that there's a breeze coming."
+
+As the freshening wind swept down the men thankfully laid aside their
+paddles and set up the mast and sail.  For a few minutes the breeze
+held true, then swiftly veering it blew dead ahead.
+
+Once more the sail was lowered and the paddles resumed.  With the wind
+dead in their teeth the work was trebly increased.
+
+Within half an hour it blew with considerable violence.
+
+"Force six, at least," declared Denbigh, referring to the Beaufort
+Notation method of indicating the wind-pressure.  "We're in for a
+dusting."
+
+It was as much as they could do to keep the lightly made craft head to
+wind.  Armstrong was busily engaged in throwing overboard the sand
+ballast.  Drifting before the wind the canoe was in danger either of
+being swamped or else carried out into the broad Indian Ocean.
+
+The men were already exhausted.  The canoe was drifting rapidly in
+spite of their strenuous efforts.  Yet she climbed the crest wave with
+an ease that gave them confidence.  The loss of "ground", made good
+only by hours of sheer hard work, was the circumstance that troubled
+them most.
+
+"We'll rig a sea-anchor," said the mate.  "Unfortunately we haven't any
+weights to keep the sail up and down, but that can't be helped."
+
+Quickly the foot of the sail was bent to the mast, the sheets were bent
+to the extremities of the spar by a span, and the halyard led from the
+centre of the span to the bows of the canoe.
+
+Watching their opportunity the men heaved their clumsy sea-anchor
+overboard and anxiously waited the result.
+
+To their intense satisfaction they found that directly the rope took
+the strain the canoe floated head to wind without any assistance on the
+part of the paddles.  The crew were, therefore, able to rest, but with
+the disquieting knowledge that every moment they were drifting farther
+and farther away from their desired haven.
+
+The three officers were in good spirits notwithstanding the privations
+they had undergone and were still experiencing.  They realized that
+this was part of the game.  They had taken chances, and fate, in the
+shape of a strong head wind, had been unkind to them.  The idea of
+mutual recriminations never occurred to them.  Their adventure was of
+the nature of a joint-stock concern.  They had done their best, and
+were ready to stand by each other till the end in whatever form it came.
+
+For some hours O'Hara and Armstrong dozed fitfully on the bottom of the
+canoe, regardless of the spray that dashed over their recumbent forms.
+Denbigh, crouched aft, kept an occasional look-out, while at intervals
+he baled with half a coco-nut shell.
+
+The sea showed no signs of moderating.  The prospect of spending a
+night afloat in a mere cockle-shell became imminent.
+
+Just then the sub heard a faint cry.  He looked in the direction from
+whence the shout came, but could see nothing.  He was about to put it
+down to a freak of his imagination when the cry was repeated.
+
+Fifty yards or more to leeward was a man hanging on to an upturned boat.
+
+"Wake up, you fellows!" exclaimed Denbigh.  "There's someone overboard."
+
+Seizing the paddles O'Hara and the mate checked the drift of the canoe
+until its course would bring it close to the upturned craft.
+
+"Steady!" cautioned Denbigh.  "As close as you can to her bows."
+
+His ready mind grasped the situation.  Could he but effect a
+communication with the waterlogged craft a double purpose might be
+served.
+
+Down swept the canoe.  As her quarter slipped past the boat Denbigh
+leant over the side.  With one hand he staved off the sharp stem, the
+metal-bound edge of which would have crushed the side of the canoe like
+an egg-shell.  With the other he grasped the painter, which was
+trailing from the bow ring-bolt.
+
+"Stand by and take a turn!" he shouted to the mate, throwing him the
+slack of the rope.
+
+Promptly Armstrong, who was up for'ard, made the running part of the
+painter fast to the rope of the sea-anchor.  With a jerk the canoe
+brought up fifty feet to leeward of the waterlogged boat.
+
+Here, sheltered by the latter, and with her drift apparently reduced,
+the canoe was in relatively smooth water.  The unfortunate seaman,
+rallying his remaining energies, struck out.  Almost exhausted, he was
+on the point of sinking when Denbigh seized him by the hair.
+
+It was a difficult matter to get the man into the canoe.  He was a
+great hulking fellow.  The safety of the three officers was gravely
+endangered, but proceeding with the utmost caution they hoisted him
+over the side.
+
+"Do you recognize him?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"Eh?" exclaimed his chum.  "No; do you?"
+
+"Rather," replied the sub.  "He's one of the _Pelikan's_ mob, and
+yonder craft is the whaler I saw buried on Latham Island.  I'm afraid
+they haven't had much of a run for their money.  But what's one man's
+meat is another man's poison.  The whaler may prove a godsend."
+
+"She will," rejoined Armstrong.  "See, she acts as a perfect
+breakwater.  We must be almost stationary, owing to her drag in the
+water."
+
+"Even more than that," added Denbigh.  "I propose when the weather
+moderates to have a shot at righting her.  Since they provisioned her
+we are bound to find some tinned food in her after locker, for I don't
+suppose the whole lot of her gear was slung out when she capsized."
+
+The sole survivor of the whaler's party was not long in recovering
+consciousness.  His surprise at finding that his rescuers were the
+British officers whom he had last seen as prisoners on board the
+_Pelikan_ was almost ludicrous.  Soon he became communicative, and
+confirmed the sub's surmise that the whaler was bent on a minor raiding
+expedition.
+
+The long night passed slowly.  The last of the food supply had been
+exhausted.  A few coco-nuts, which being freshly gathered contained
+liquid only, formed the sole sustenance of the four men.
+
+With the dawn the wind fell but the sea still ran high.  Eagerly the
+horizon was scanned, but nothing save a waste of tossing water met the
+eye.
+
+"In another hour or so we'll be able to have a shot at righting the
+whaler," said Denbigh.  "By that time the sea will have subsided.  If
+you don't mind, you fellows, I'll have a caulk.  I have more arrears to
+make up than you have."
+
+Quite worn out Denbigh stretched himself on the bottom of the canoe and
+dropped off into a sound sleep.  It seemed to him that he had not
+closed his eyes more than half a minute when the mate roused him.
+
+"What are those beacons on our starboard bow, do you think?" he asked.
+
+Denbigh was awake in an instant.  Looking in the direction indicated he
+saw three triangular objects at a distance of nearly three miles away.
+
+One glance was enough.
+
+"Pat, you chump!" he exclaimed.  "Do you mean to tell me you don't know
+what they are?  And you must needs make Armstrong wake me out of my
+beauty sleep."
+
+"Hanged if I can see hardly anything," announced the Irishman.  "The
+salt's bunged my eyes up completely.  What about it, then?"
+
+"Those beacons, as you call them, Armstrong," replied Denbigh joyously,
+"are the tripod masts of three of our monitors."
+
+"They are heading our way, then?" asked the mate.
+
+"Either that or they're stern on to us.  The former most likely.  Stand
+by with the rifle.  We must not let them miss us."
+
+In about half an hour the three warships had approached sufficiently
+for their outlines to be discerned.  They were moving at a slow
+pace--barely five knots.  All that was visible of each of the monitors
+consisted of a low-lying hull of great beam, on which was placed a
+turret mounting two gigantic guns.  Abaft the turret was a small
+superstructure, culminating in a bridge and chart-house.  Immediately
+behind the bridge rose a lofty tripod mast, its height being seemingly
+out of all proportion to those conforming to the recognized
+measurements of naval architecture.  Perched above the junction of the
+tripods was a large square structure whence the fire-control
+arrangements were conducted, while a stumpy topmast completed the
+incongruity.  Abaft the mast was a single funnel.  Two of the monitors
+were evidently sister-ships.  The third was of a much smaller tonnage,
+although her armament was identical with that of her consorts.
+
+"They're passing to windward of us," declared Denbigh.  "Give them a
+couple of rounds."
+
+Armstrong raised the rifle and fired.  Almost immediately following the
+second shot a signal was run up from the leading monitor.  Up fluttered
+the answering pendant to the mast of the smaller vessel, which
+immediately altered helm and bore down upon the canoe.
+
+Slowly the rescuing craft approached.  Her superstructure was crowded
+with interested spectators, while several of the crew, wading
+knee-deep, made their way to the submerged side of the monitor and
+stood by to pick up the derelicts.
+
+The operation required great care for the unwieldy craft was yawing
+horribly.  Being almost as broad in the beam as she was long, and
+snub-nosed in addition, she steered badly.  By good seamanship on the
+part of her captain the monitor lost way at a distance of half a cable
+from the canoe.
+
+"Cast off and out paddles!" ordered Denbigh.
+
+Five minutes later willing hands assisted the three British officers
+and the German sailor to the ladder leading to the superstructure.
+
+With feelings of thankfulness Denbigh, mustering his remaining
+energies, saluted the diminutive quarter-deck.  It seemed almost
+heavenly to be once more under the shadow of the White Ensign.  As he
+raised his hand to the brim of his weather-worn helmet a well-known
+voice exclaimed:
+
+"Cheer oh! old man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+Von Eckenstein's Surprise
+
+The speaker was Charles Stirling, now lieutenant and Acting-commander
+of H.M.S. _Crustacean_.
+
+Stirling had literally fallen on his feet after he had been rescued by
+H.M.S. _Actaeon_.  Owing to his intimate knowledge of the East Coast of
+Africa and the Mozambique Channel, and having more than a nodding
+acquaintance with the troublesome raider now known to be in hiding in
+the Mohoro River, he had been given temporary command of the smallest
+of the three monitors sent from England to assist in the operations
+against German East Africa.
+
+Notwithstanding his natural anxiety to learn how his former shipmates
+came to be adrift in a canoe in the Indian Ocean, Stirling insisted on
+Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong being put into the sick-bay.  All three
+men were almost exhausted.  Even Denbigh's indomitable spirit had
+outworn his physical strength, while the Irishman was found to be
+affected with partial indistinctness of vision owing to prolonged
+exposure to the glare of the sun.
+
+"You take it easy," was Stirling's parting injunction.  "I promise I'll
+turn you out directly we sight the Mohoro Lagoon."
+
+Reassured, Denbigh and his comrades in peril capitulated.  Eighteen
+hours' solid sleep worked wonders, and although the Irishman was still
+suffering from painful inflammation of the optic nerve, the three
+officers had bathed, shaved, and changed into borrowed plumage before
+breakfast-time on the following morning.
+
+After scraps of mutual experiences had been exchanged Stirling invited
+his chums to the bridge.
+
+"The rummiest packet I ever set foot on," he admitted, "but she's a
+clinker.  We've as fine a pair of 14-inch guns as a fellow could wish
+for.  British made, too; they were manufactured in Canada.  The old
+_Crustacean_ does not belie her name.  She has a decided tendency to
+crawl crabwise, and she's as unhandy as a balsa-raft in a gale of wind."
+
+"Not very good points," remarked O'Hara.
+
+"But she has her qualifications, Pat.  She's said to be
+torpedo-proof----"
+
+"Do you want a practical test, old man?" asked Denbigh.
+
+"Um--no; that is, not particularly if it can be avoided.  Why?"
+
+"Because there are a pair of 60-centimetre tubes waiting to have a slap
+at you when you ascend the Mohoro River."
+
+"Steady, old man," protested Stirling with a hearty laugh.  "The
+river's not broad enough for the _Pelikan_ to be lying athwart the
+stream.  She must be quite twenty miles up the river."
+
+"Say ten and you'll be nearer the mark," declared Denbigh.  "She's
+trapped, and we have to thank Mr. Armstrong for doing the trick."
+
+"Good man!" exclaimed the young skipper of the _Crustacean_, bringing
+his hand down upon the shoulder of the bashful mate of the _Myra_,
+after Denbigh had related the circumstances in which the _Pelikan_ was
+prevented from ascending farther up the river.  "I'll have to inform
+Holloway, our senior officer.  He's under the same impression that I
+was.  But what did you say about those torpedo-tubes?"
+
+Concisely Denbigh explained the position and nature of the German shore
+defences.
+
+"It strikes me pretty forcibly that you'll come in most handy," said
+Stirling.  "It's not the _Pelikan_ that is now our principal objective.
+She, apparently, is done for, unless the river forms a fresh bed round
+the hull of the sunken tramp.  The batteries are our pigeon."
+
+"You were saying that the _Crustacean_ is practically torpedo-proof,"
+Denbigh reminded him.  "In what way?"
+
+"She's of very shallow draught.  Unless a torpedo were set to travel
+only a few feet beneath the surface--in which case much of the bursting
+power of the war-head would be wasted--the 'tin-fish' would pass
+harmlessly under her bottom.  If, however, a torpedo did explode,
+there's a cellular space of more than twenty feet between the outer and
+inner hulls.  These compartments are stuffed with something.  I can't
+tell you because I don't know myself what the stuff is.  All I know is
+that it's fireproof and its specific gravity is approximately the same
+as sea-water.  Hence, in the event of a hole being blown in the shell
+of the outer hull our stability will hardly be affected."
+
+At that moment a signalman approached and saluted.
+
+"Senior officer reports approach of sea-plane parent ship _Simplicita_,
+sir."
+
+"Very good," replied Stirling, then addressing his companions he added,
+"That's excellent.  We are having a couple of sea-planes to spot for
+us.  The _Simplicita_, an old light cruiser, has been fitted out as a
+floating base for aerial work.  With luck they've managed to stow a
+couple of 'planes on her."
+
+Before the _Simplicita_ joined the flotilla the senior ship hoisted
+another signal.  It ran:
+
+"Boat under sail four miles S.S.W.  _Crustacean_ to proceed and
+investigate."
+
+At her utmost speed, a bare six knots, the little monitor altered helm
+and stood off in the indicated direction.  The sea was now calm, and
+there was hardly a breath of wind.
+
+At Stirling's suggestion Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong ascended to the
+fire-control platform.  From this lofty perch a considerable expanse of
+sea could be swept by the aid of powerful glasses.
+
+Away on the starboard hand could be discerned the faint outlines of the
+African coast, almost hidden in a pale-blue haze.  Astern, but on a
+diverging course, were the monitors _Paradox_ and _Eureka_, the former
+flying the broad pendant of the senior officer, Captain Holloway.
+Ahead, a small patch of greyish-white canvas marked the position of the
+boat to which the _Crustacean_ was proceeding.
+
+"That's not a Service rig," declared Denbigh, proffering his binoculars
+to O'Hara.
+
+The Irishman waved them aside.
+
+"No, thanks, old man," said he.  "I'll wait.  I don't want to crock my
+eyes any more than they are at present.  I'll take your word for it
+that she's not one of our boats."
+
+"She's a merchantman's cutter," asserted Armstrong.  "I wouldn't mind
+laying odds that she's one of the _Pelikan's_ boats making for Latham
+Island."
+
+The mate was right, for on discovering the approach of the monitor the
+cutter altered her course, lowering her canvas and resorting to her
+oars in the vain hope that she had been unnoticed.
+
+Twenty minutes later, the difference in speed of the monitor and her
+quarry being very small, Stirling ordered one of the four quick-firers
+to be discharged.  The projectile, falling within fifty yards of the
+boat, had the desired result, for the men boated their oars and hoisted
+a square of white cloth as a signal of surrender.
+
+"We seem fated to fall in with our friends the Huns," remarked Denbigh.
+"Armstrong has scored a palpable hit; they are some of the _Pelikan's_
+crowd.  I recognize that fellow with a bandaged head as Major von
+Eckenstein."
+
+Most docilely the boat's crew came over the side.  There were, in
+addition to the major, a junior lieutenant of the _Pelikan_ and seven
+seamen; the rest, to the number of about a dozen, were reservists
+transhipped from the _San Matias_.  The military section had discarded
+their uniform and wore a motley collection of civilian garb.  They were
+unarmed, having thrown overboard their rifles and ammunition upon the
+shot being fired to compel them to abandon flight.
+
+The unter-leutnant had previously rehearsed a most plausible story with
+which to gull the Englishmen, but a look of comical dismay overspread
+his features when he recognized the officers who a short while ago had
+been prisoners on board the raider.
+
+At last he mustered up sufficient courage to demand, somewhat
+haughtily, that he and his men should be accorded honourable treatment
+as prisoners of war.
+
+"Certainly," replied Stirling blandly.  "I am sorry that you should
+imagine otherwise.  But, of course, the fact that Major von Eckenstein
+and his men have adopted civilian attire tends to put them on a
+different footing."
+
+Von Eckenstein's face, or as much of it as was visible between the
+swathed bandages, grew pale.  He remembered the incident when he
+slashed O'Hara across the face.  Visions of reprisals rendered him
+terror-stricken.
+
+"Forgive me, Herr O'Hara!" he almost shouted.
+
+The Irishman smiled affably.
+
+"Forgive?" he echoed.  "There is nothing to forgive.  You gave O'Hara a
+cut across the face.  It raised quite a small weal.  Judging by the
+state of your figurehead, I'm afraid my treatment of you on the shore
+of the lagoon rather disturbed the balance of exchange."
+
+"You did this?" asked the major, dumbfounded at the information.
+"Donnerwetter!  I thought----"
+
+Sheer astonishment rendered him incapable of completing the sentence.
+He could not understand why the British officer received him with
+unperturbed courtesy.  Evidently here was something adrift with the
+Teutonic gospel of hate.
+
+"So you were making for Latham Island to resurrect the hidden stores?"
+asked Denbigh, addressing the unter-leutnant.
+
+The young German officer was also completely taken aback.
+
+"Yes," he admitted.  "But how came you to know that we had stores
+buried there?"
+
+"That's a secret," replied the sub.  "But I'll tell you this.  You
+would have found yourselves forestalled.  Some of the _Pelikan's_ men
+made a dash for the island, fitted out the whaler, and left the place
+as bare as an empty house.  They did not get far.  The boat was
+capsized and all on board perished, except one man, who is now a
+prisoner on board this vessel."
+
+"Now, gentlemen," broke in Stirling briskly, addressing the major and
+the unter-leutnant, "I must ask you to go below, but before doing so I
+will take the liberty of examining the contents of Major von
+Eckenstein's pockets."
+
+"Himmel!" gasped the major.  "For why?  According to the rights of
+belligerents my personal property is not liable to be confiscated."
+
+"Your personal property--yes," replied Stirling.  "Come, sir, no fuss,
+if you please."
+
+Sullenly the German permitted a petty officer to remove the contents of
+his pockets.  There was an order-book, containing a few pencilled
+memoranda; a pocket-book in which were papers seemingly of purely
+personal interest; some notes on a South American bank.
+
+"Kindly remove your waistcoat," continued the inexorable Stirling.
+
+Von Eckenstein shrugged his shoulders.  If black looks could kill,
+Stirling was as good as booked to Davy Jones.
+
+"This is a needless indignity," almost howled the Hun.
+
+"On the contrary, a necessary precaution on our part," corrected the
+skipper of the _Crustacean_.
+
+Sullenly von Eckenstein removed his waistcoat and threw it on the deck.
+Deliberately opening a penknife Stirling ripped open the back and
+removed an envelope of oiled silk.
+
+"Thank you," he said gravely.  "That is all we require for the present,
+Herr Major."
+
+Gathering up the rest of his possessions, the major followed his
+companions in misfortune and disappeared below.
+
+"Confidential orders from Potsdam to the German Governor of the East
+African Colony," announced Stirling.  "Here, Denbigh, have a squint at
+it and see if I'm not right."
+
+"How ever did you discover this?" asked O'Hara.
+
+"Intuition, my dear old sport," replied Stirling with a laugh.  "You
+told me about the cache on Latham Island.  Also, you may remember
+relating a conversation between this von Eckenstein and Kapitan von
+Riesser, just before the stores were landed.  Von Eckenstein
+objected--why?  Because he thought the hiding-place ought to be on the
+mainland.  He had a rooted objection to making a voyage in a smallboat.
+Hence it was reasonable to suppose that the Latham Island depot was for
+the major's particular benefit.  The fact that he was forestalled has
+nothing to do with the main case.  The _Pelikan_ is in difficulties.
+Direct communication with the rest of the German land forces is out of
+the question.  So the major is sent off to Latham Island with the
+Imperial dispatches in his possession.  Then the unter-leutnant's
+instructions are to revictual and replenish stores, and take the major
+to the mainland, most likely to the Rufigi River.  There there is, I
+believe, fairly easy communication with Tabora, the head-quarters of
+the German Colonial forces.  Seeing us approach, von Eckenstein ought
+to have destroyed his paper, but he didn't--he trusted to his belief in
+our natural stupidity.  I wouldn't mind betting that now he's bemoaning
+his fate and admitting that Englishmen are not the fools he supposed
+them to be."
+
+Which was exactly what the battered and dejected von Eckenstein _was_
+doing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+The Monitors in Action
+
+All that night the monitors lay, with lights out, off the outer bar of
+the Mohoro Lagoon.  A council of war had been held on board the
+_Paradox_, when a fresh plan of action was drawn up.  This was in
+consequence of the information Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong had
+brought concerning the enemy's defences.
+
+"This chart is radically wrong," declared Denbigh, when a chart of that
+part of the coast was shown to him.  "The bend in which the _Pelikan_
+is lying is not shown.  Apparently the topography is from an old
+survey."
+
+"It is from the latest available information," remarked Captain
+Holloway, loath to deprecate the work of the Hydrographic Department of
+the Admiralty.
+
+"Available as far as the Germans would permit," corrected the sub
+deferentially.  "They've had full control here for years.  I'm not
+referring to the lagoon, but to the river.  The depths, too, are
+inaccurate."
+
+"I suppose you wouldn't object to a job to-morrow?" asked the senior
+officer, after he had listened intently to Denbigh's explanations and
+descriptions of the details of the Mohoro River.
+
+"Not in the least, sir," replied the sub promptly.
+
+"In a sea-plane?"
+
+"Just my mark, sir; but I've had no flying experience."
+
+"We would want you for registering duties," continued Captain Holloway.
+"You will have a flight sub-lieutenant as pilot.  With your knowledge
+of the shore batteries and torpedo stations you will be able to render
+further important service.  Very good; I'll arrange for the sea-plane
+to pick you up at dawn; that is, if it is not too misty.  These
+tropical mists play the deuce with aerial observations."
+
+It was arranged that the attack should open at seven on the following
+morning.  The _Crustacean_ was to lead the way over the inner bar, and
+devote her attention to the torpedo station.  The _Paradox_ was to
+shell the batteries concealed in the mangrove forest, while the
+_Eureka_ was to patrol the lagoon and to cut off any attempt at flight
+on the part of the German troops, whose line of retreat would be pretty
+certain to be along the coast, since the thick forests and marshes to
+the westward made retirement to the hinterland almost a matter of
+impossibility.
+
+Two hours before sunrise the crews of the monitors were called to
+"action" stations.  They had previously bathed and changed into clean
+clothes, and had been given ample time to enjoy their breakfast.
+Clearing ship for action took but little preparation, since the
+monitors carried only what was necessary as floating batteries.
+
+At the hour specified a sea-plane taxied gracefully to within fifty
+feet of the _Crustacean_.  A boat was lowered from the monitor, and
+into this Denbigh stepped, to the accompaniment of the somewhat
+irrelevant remarks of his brother officers.
+
+"Fine mornin'," was the flight-sub's greeting, as nonchalantly as if he
+were passing the time of day with a casual acquaintance.  "Hop in.
+You'll find a belt fixed to the back of your seat.  There's the
+wireless gear.  See that lever on your left?  That releases the
+paying-out gear of the aerial.  Don't pay out too smartly.  Ready?"
+
+The blades glittered in the morning light as the propeller revolved and
+rapidly increased the number of revolutions.  Slowly at first, then
+with accelerated movement, the sea-plane skimmed the placid surface of
+the lagoon.  Then, almost before Denbigh was aware of it, the machine
+leaped upwards.  The slight tilt of the seat was the only intimation
+that the sea-plane had parted company with the water, until the sub
+noticed the surface of the lagoon apparently receding with great
+rapidity.
+
+Round and round spiralled the frail contrivance, tilting with an easy
+swinging movement as it climbed.  Already the monitors looked no larger
+than toy boats upon an ornamental pond.  The irregular ground on either
+side of the river was merged into an expanse that betrayed no
+indication of height.  Far beneath him Denbigh could discern a
+ribbon-like strip of silvery-grey.  It was the Mohoro River.
+
+"Distance lends enchantment to the eye," thought the sub.  "And it is
+such a dirty river."
+
+He mused feelingly.  In his imagination he sniffed the foetid odours
+from the torrential yellow stream.  He had a mental vision of a swim in
+the dark, with hippos and crocodiles for company.  The reeking
+mud-flats, too, lay beneath him, their dismal and monotonous aspect
+obliterated by the charm of altitude.
+
+Above the land the rapidly increasing strength of the morning sun was
+causing great irregularities in the density of the air.  The sea-plane
+rolled violently.  Twice she dropped through a sheer distance of a
+couple of hundred feet, owing to "air pockets", but the pilot, with the
+utmost unconcern, held her on her course.
+
+Presently he turned and bawled something.  The rush of the wind made
+his words unintelligible, but he pointed to the aerial release.
+Denbigh understood, and depressing the lever allowed a hundred and
+fifty feet of wire to be run off the reel.
+
+Leaning over the side of the fuselage the sub brought his glasses to
+bear upon the waterway almost beneath him.  He could distinguish the
+fatal bend in the Mohoro River where the _Myra_ had turned turtle and
+had been swallowed up in the shifting sand.  He could even discern her
+outlines as she lay on her side with ten feet of water swirling
+overhead.
+
+Farther down-stream was something that looked exactly like an island
+covered with luxurious vegetation.  It was the _Pelikan_.  The disguise
+was really admirable.  Had Denbigh not known of the means her crew had
+taken to hide her he would never have detected her presence.
+
+But the _Pelikan's_ hour had not yet come.  Until the shore batteries
+and fortifications had been shelled out of existence she was to be left
+severely alone.  With the _Myra's_ crew confined on board the raider,
+the British monitors dare not open fire upon her.
+
+Round circled the sea-plane, gliding down to within five hundred feet
+of the summit of the mangroves.  Everything seemed quiet beneath.  The
+whir of the propeller and the rush of air deadened all other sounds.
+Here and there were clearings, like to one another as peas in a pod.
+For the first time in his life Denbigh felt uncertain.
+
+Again he swept the river with his binoculars.  Across the mud-flats,
+for the tide was now almost on the last of the ebb, he spotted two
+slender dark lines stretching towards the navigable channel.  A little
+way down was a series of small dark objects thrown athwart the stream.
+They were the torpedo-piers and the barrels supporting the chain boom.
+Almost abreast of them was the screened battery.
+
+At a sign from Denbigh the flight-sub trimmed the elevating planes.  Up
+climbed the machine till at an altitude of six thousand feet she was
+visible from the distant monitors.  Then she commenced to cut figures
+of eight, while Denbigh began to call up the _Paradox_ by wireless.
+
+Having made certain that the monitor had gauged the required distance
+the sea-plane volplaned to within a thousand feet of the ground.
+
+The receiving telephones fixed to Denbigh's ears began to emit faint
+sounds that in Morse spelt out the words, "Stand by to register".
+
+Twenty seconds later a lurid flash, followed by a terrific cloud of
+yellow and black smoke, leapt skywards from a spot in the mangroves.
+In spite of her altitude the sea-plane rocked violently in the torn
+air.  For a moment Denbigh thought that the machine was plunging
+helplessly to earth.
+
+The gentle tapping of the wireless receiver recalled him to a sense of
+duty.
+
+"How's that?" spelt the dot-and-dash message.
+
+Where the shell had burst a dozen or more trees had been literally
+pulverized.  Others, their trunks lacerated by the explosion, had
+toppled at various angles against those that had withstood the shock.
+The "hit" was roughly two hundred yards beyond the screened battery.
+
+From beneath the foliage covering the emplacements men peeped
+timorously.  A dull-grey figure, bent almost double, was running for
+shelter.  It was one of the German sentries.
+
+"Right direction; two hundred yards over," wirelessed Denbigh.
+
+Another heavy projectile screamed on its way, passing some hundreds of
+feet beneath the seaplane.  It burst; but the sound like that of its
+predecessor was inaudible to the pilot and observer.  The action of the
+detonating shells reminded Denbigh of an animated photograph, so
+effectually and silently did the work of destruction appear.
+
+"A hundred yards short," registered the sub.
+
+"Then how's this?" was the rejoinder.
+
+Fairly in the centre of an emplacement fell the twelve-hundred-pound
+shell.  High above the mushroom cloud of smoke flew fragments of wood
+and metal.  When the dense vapour had drifted away in the sultry air it
+was seen that the work of that gigantic missile was accomplished.
+
+A gaping hole fifty feet in diameter marked the place where the
+carefully-screened quick-firers had been.
+
+Round the edge of the crater were smouldering sand-bags hurled in all
+directions like small pebbles.  The two guns, dismounted, were sticking
+up at acute angles in the debris, their mountings shattered into
+fragments of scrap-iron metal.
+
+There was no sign of life in the crater, nor in the partly uncovered
+dug-outs in its vicinity, but from a neighbouring position poured
+swarms of Germans, half-dazed and terrified by the explosion that had
+shaken their subterranean retreat like a severe earthquake shock.
+
+The _Paradox_ had completed her particular job.
+
+Meanwhile a second sea-plane was registering for the _Crustacean_, her
+guns being directed upon the piers on which the _Pelikan's_
+torpedo-tubes had been placed.
+
+Without once coming within sight of her objective the little monitor
+effected her mission with two shots, blowing both torpedo-stations to
+smithereens.
+
+Nor was the _Eureka_ less successful.  A shell fired in front of the
+crowd of demoralized Germans as they fled through the mangroves
+literally roped them in.  Panic-stricken they doubled back and
+disappeared in the dug-outs close to the wrecked emplacements, and the
+_Eureka_, having been accordingly informed, ceased firing.
+
+"Now for the _Pelikan_!" exclaimed Stirling, as the sea-plane, having
+returned, put Denbigh on board the _Crustacean_.
+
+"It will be an affair of boats, I suppose," suggested O'Hara.  "With
+the flood-tide and on a dark night she ought to be captured with little
+loss to the boarding-party."
+
+Two of the monitors were lying at anchor in the river.  The _Eureka_,
+having to watch the coast, steamed slowly up and down the lagoon, her
+progress watched by hundreds of awe-stricken natives.
+
+The question of how to deal with the _Pelikan_ was under discussion,
+for Captain Holloway had convened another council of war at eight bells
+in the afternoon.
+
+The boats carried by the monitors were not fit for cutting-out work,
+and although a certain means of destruction was at the command of the
+senior officer, he was reluctant to put his terrible resources into
+force on account of the presence of the _Myra's_ crew on board the
+raider.
+
+While the discussion was in progress, the majority of officers
+favouring a suggestion that the light cruisers should be brought up by
+wireless, a steam launch was reported to be coming down the river.
+
+The launch bore a large white flag flying from a staff in the bows.  In
+her stern-sheets was Ober-leutnant von Langer.
+
+Received with naval honours, a guard being mounted on the quarter-deck
+of the senior monitor, von Langer came over the side, and announced
+himself as the representative of Kapitan von Riesser, of H.I.M. ship
+_Pelikan_.
+
+"Well, sir?" asked Captain Holloway briefly.
+
+"I am here to discuss terms," said the ober-leutnant.
+
+"Which must be unconditional surrender of men and material," added the
+skipper of the _Paradox_.
+
+"Excuse me," said von Langer.  "But we are not yet beaten."
+
+"You are precious near it," said Captain Holloway.  "Unless the German
+Ensign is hauled down on board the _Pelikan_ within an hour I will open
+fire."
+
+[Illustration: "UNLESS THE GERMAN ENSIGN IS HAULED DOWN ON BOARD THE
+_PELIKAN_ WITHIN AN HOUR, I OPEN FIRE."]
+
+"If you do you must remember that there are many English prisoners on
+board," declared the ober-leutnant with the air of a man who has thrown
+down his trump card.
+
+"Within one hour, unless the _Pelikan_ is surrendered in her present
+state, without further damage to her stores, equipment, and hull, we
+open fire," was the British officer's mandate.  "Return to your ship at
+once, Herr Leutnant, and inform Kapitan von Riesser that he must take
+immediate steps to safeguard his British prisoners, either by sending
+them down the river or else by placing them in a secure shelter on
+shore.  I shall hold your kapitan and officers morally responsible for
+any of the _Myra's_ crew who may be killed or injured in the
+forthcoming operations."
+
+"You have yet to find the _Pelikan_," spluttered the German officer.
+
+"Excuse me, sir, she is found," said Captain Holloway.  "To show that I
+am not in the habit of speaking at random I will produce proofs."
+
+He gave an order to a seaman, who doubled off to the quarter-deck
+companion-ladder.  Presently Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong, who during
+the interview had discreetly gone below, appeared on deck.
+
+The ober-leutnant's jaw dropped.  His podgy cheeks quivered with
+intense surprise.
+
+"Donnerwetter!" he exclaimed.  "This is a colossal shock."
+
+With an effort he pulled himself together, clicked his heels and
+saluted the British senior officer.  Then fumbling in his breast pocket
+he produced a document and handed it to the captain.
+
+It was a formal surrender.
+
+In it Kapitan von Riesser agreed to hand over the _Pelikan_ at the hour
+of nine on the following morning.
+
+"Very good," said Captain Holloway.  "We are willing to give you a few
+hours' respite, but you are to clearly understand that nothing must be
+done in that interval that will affect the _Pelikan_ from a military
+point of view.  You must also send the _Myra's_ men down by boat before
+sunset."
+
+"To that I agree," replied von Langer, and stiffly refusing the
+invitation to have a glass of wine the German officer went over the
+side.
+
+Von Langer's steam cutter was barely out of sight when a couple of
+German officers belonging to the land forces appeared on the bank,
+bearing a white flag.
+
+Their business was quickly transacted.  They desired to surrender
+forthwith and unconditionally the remaining troops under their command.
+Within an hour eighty-five men, many of them badly wounded, were
+shipped on board the sea-plane parent ship _Simplicita_.  Out of the
+three hundred reservists who had transhipped from the _San Matias_ to
+the _Pelikan_ but thirty-three were untouched by the British fire.
+
+Well before sunset the first of the conditions of the _Pelikan's_
+surrender was carried out.  The steam cutter returned towing a whaler
+in which were the crew of the _Myra_.  British reticence went by the
+board when they hove in sight.  They cheered frantically like delighted
+children.  Having been under the talons of the German Eagle, they
+realized more than ever before the world-wide power of Britain's
+sea-power.
+
+Amongst them was Captain Pennington, who was warmly greeted by the
+officers of the _Crustacean_.
+
+He reported that the _Pelikan_ was being prepared for surrender; that
+her garb of palms was being removed, but as far as he knew no attempt
+had been made to throw overboard the remaining guns, or to destroy the
+stores and munitions.
+
+"And to-morrow," remarked Stirling to his chum--"to-morrow we will
+redeem these."
+
+And he held out Kapitan von Riesser's receipt for the gold that he had
+taken from the three subs when they were captured on the _Nichi Maru_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+How the _Pelikan_ Surrendered
+
+As soon as darkness set in the monitors switched on their searchlights,
+the _Crustacean_, which was farthest up-stream, training her projectors
+on the channel in the direction of the distant _Pelikan_, while the
+_Paradox_ swept both banks with her powerful beams.  In the lagoon the
+_Eureka_ and the _Simplicita_ directed their searchlights upon the
+shore.
+
+About one bell in the middle watch the look-out on the _Crustacean_
+noticed two dark objects drifting down-stream.  At first he thought
+them to be a pair of hippopotami, but as their relative distance seemed
+constant and there was no sign of propulsion, he reported the matter to
+the officer of the watch.
+
+"It's only a part of the boom, smashed by our shell fire," he remarked
+casually.  "We'll get a lot of wreckage down with the ebb-tide."
+
+Nevertheless he gave orders for the helm to be starboarded.  The
+monitor, sheering to port under the force of the current until her
+cable was hard athwart her stem, missed the barrels, for such they
+were, by a good twenty yards.  Steadily they drifted by, eventually
+stranding in the mud at a distance of two hundred yards from the
+_Paradox_.  In half an hour they were high and dry, lying directly in
+the rays of the larger monitor's searchlight.
+
+Twenty minutes later another pair of barrels came drifting down.  The
+officer of the watch of the _Crustacean_ executed a similar manoeuvre,
+but before the monitor sheered out of the track of the derelicts, the
+barrels were hung up one on either side of the bows.
+
+"I can hear something ticking, sir," reported a seaman leaning over the
+low freeboard.
+
+The officer hastened for'ard and listened.
+
+"Nonsense!" he declared.  "It's the bull-frogs on shore that you can
+hear, or else the lap of the water.  They're only waterlogged
+barricoes.  Push them clear with a boat-hook."
+
+Three or four seamen tried to free the bows from the obstruction but
+without success.  The barrels afforded little or no grip, and pinned
+down by the rush of tide refused to be thrown clear.
+
+"Away sea-boat!" ordered the officer of the watch.
+
+Quickly the boat was manned, and rowing well ahead of the _Crustacean_,
+was allowed to drop stern foremost until the coxswain was able to bend
+a rope to one of the barrels.
+
+"Can you hear anything, Sanders?" asked the officer of the watch.
+
+"No, sir," replied the petty officer.
+
+As a matter of fact he was suffering from gun deafness, but from
+praiseworthy yet indiscreet motives he had kept the knowledge of his
+temporary physical defect to himself.
+
+Ordering the men to give way, the coxswain jerked the obstruction clear
+of the _Crustacean's_ hawse.
+
+"Shall I make this fast alongside, sir?" he asked.  "Perhaps you'd be
+likely to examine it in the morning."
+
+"No," was the reply, "Tow it clear of the _Paradox's_ hawse and cast it
+adrift."
+
+The boat pushed off.  The officer of the watch, returning to the
+bridge, watched the progress of the two barrels as they wobbled in her
+wake.
+
+Suddenly his attention was aroused in another direction by a loud shout
+of; "Vessel dead ahead, sir!"
+
+Sweeping round a bend in the river into the glare of the searchlights
+was the _Pelikan_.  She was drifting broadside on, her length appearing
+to occupy the whole breadth of the deep channel.
+
+"Action stations, there!" roared the officer of the watch.
+
+A bugle blared.  Up from below tumbled swarms of men dressed in motley
+array of a meagre description.  The officers, berthed in the after part
+of the superstructure, rushed out.  In thirty seconds the turret, with
+its pair of monster 14-inch guns, was surging round as a preliminary
+test of the turning mechanism.
+
+At a glance Stirling took in the situation.  The _Pelikan_, being not
+under control, had been turned adrift with the object of fouling and
+seriously damaging the British vessels lying in the strong tideway.
+
+He telegraphed for half-speed ahead.  The engine-room bell had not
+clanged a minute when the propellers began to churn.  Hurriedly the
+cable was slipped, and the anchor with eighty fathoms of studded steel
+chain was lost for ever in the muddy bed of the Mohoro.
+
+The youthful lieutenant-commander's first duty was to avoid the danger
+of being fouled.  He could not go astern until the _Paradox_ was safely
+under way.  Regarding the _Pelikan_ he was as yet uncertain whether to
+order the sea-boats to board her and drop anchor, if by chance her
+ground tackle were ready for instant use, or whether to sink the raider
+without further ado.
+
+His deliberations were cut short by a tremendous explosion on the bank
+of the river on the starboard quarter of the _Crustacean_.  Where the
+stranded barrels had been was a huge cavity in the mud, into which the
+water was pouring rapidly.
+
+A few seconds later another explosion occurred well astern of the
+_Paradox_.  The barrels were nothing more or less than deadly infernal
+machines.  Had they exploded close to the side of either of the
+monitors it would be doubtful whether, even with their elaborate
+protection against torpedoes, they would have kept afloat after the
+terrific concussion.
+
+Almost simultaneously the searchlights on the _Paradox_ went out.
+Fragments from the explosion had put the two projectors out of action.
+
+The echoes of the explosion had scarce died away when a shout was
+raised that the drifting _Pelikan_ was on fire.
+
+With startling suddenness lurid flames were belching from her decks.
+Spurts of red-tinged smoke eddied from her open scuttles.  In a few
+seconds she was a mass of fire from bow to stern.
+
+Slowly she drifted down-stream.  At intervals her stern hung up in the
+mud, till, caught by the current, she would swing round and slide away
+from the bank.  The flames reached well above her mastheads, yet there
+was comparatively little smoke.  The roar of the devouring elements
+out-voiced every other sound, even the terrified noises of the denizens
+of the mangrove forests as they fled from the glare that rivalled that
+of the sun.
+
+From the conning-tower Stirling ordered a shot to be fired from one of
+the huge turret-guns, but before the muzzle could be depressed a
+stupendous explosion shook sky, land, and water.
+
+Denbigh, gripping the bridge rail, felt himself borne backwards by the
+furious rush of air.  Temporarily blinded by the vividness of the
+flash, he was dimly aware of a series of crashes above and below him.
+The stanchion rails snapped off short.  In vain the sub strove to
+regain his balance; he subsided heavily against the side of the
+chart-room, stunned by the terrific thunder-clap that followed the
+explosion.
+
+Intense darkness succeeded the vivid brightness of the prolonged flash.
+The searchlights of the _Crustacean_ had failed.
+
+Slowly Denbigh sat up.  He became aware that debris was littering the
+partly wrecked bridge.  In vain he tried to pierce the darkness and
+discern the whereabouts of his companions.  A hot, pungent smoke
+drifted past, causing him to splutter almost to suffocation.
+
+Someone tripped across his legs.  It was Stirling emerging from the
+conning-tower.  He recognized the sub's very forcible language.
+
+"Hold on," cautioned Denbigh, "or you'll be overboard.  The bridge has
+gone to blazes."
+
+As he spoke the _Crustacean_ shuddered.  Her bows rose slightly.  With
+her hull still quivering under the pulsations of her engines she had
+run aground on a mud-bank on the port-hand side of the river.
+
+Treading warily Stirling groped till he found the engine-room
+telegraph.  Guessing the position of the lever he ordered "Stop".  In
+the pitch-dark engine-room, for every electric lamp in the ship had
+been shattered, the artificers, facing death amidst the whirring
+machinery, succeeded in carrying out his orders.
+
+Through the darkness came muttered exclamations and partly stifled
+groans.  Down-stream the _Paradox's_ siren, for want of better means of
+communication, was wailing in long and short blasts.
+
+"I have brought up to starboard," was the message.  "You may feel your
+way past me."
+
+"There's no may about it," thought Stirling grimly; then, leaning on
+the twisted bridge rails, he shouted in stentorian tones: "The hands
+will fall in on the port side of superstructure facing outboard.
+Bugler!"
+
+"Sir!" replied a boyish voice through the impenetrable gloom--a voice
+without a tremor save of excitement.
+
+"Sound the 'Still'."
+
+A silence brooded over the stricken monitor.  Even the wounded forbore
+to groan.  Then someone appeared from the superstructure bearing a
+couple of "battle lanterns".  Lights, too, began to glimmer through the
+hatchways, while with admirable promptness the electrical staff set to
+work to renew the carbons of the searchlights and to test the circuits
+of the internal lighting system.
+
+Already the wounded were being carried below by their messmates.  Four
+scorched and maimed forms lay motionless on the low fo'c'sle.  There
+was no need to bestow medical attention upon them.
+
+By this time Denbigh was aware that besides Stirling and himself only
+three persons remained on the bridge.  Neither of them was O'Hara.  Nor
+could he find the mate of the _Myra_, who on the first alarm had
+hurried with the others to the bridge.
+
+The sub made his way to the ladder.  Two steps did he descend, then his
+foot encountered nothingness.  The rest of the ladder had been swept
+out of existence.
+
+Grasping the still intact handrail Denbigh lowered himself to the
+superstructure.  Almost the first man he met was Armstrong, who was
+mopping his cheek with a blood-stained handkerchief.
+
+"It's nothing," replied the mate in answer to Denbigh's enquiry.
+"Didn't discover until I went below."
+
+"Seen anything of O'Hara?" asked the sub anxiously.
+
+"Yes, I've just carried him below, and I was on my way back to look for
+you."
+
+"Thanks," said Denbigh briefly.  "And what's happened to O'Hara?"
+
+"Only shaken, I believe.  He was blown off the bridge with the signal
+locker for company.  They both fetched up against a splinter screen.
+O'Hara swears it isn't much, but I have my doubts."
+
+The two officers made their way across heaps of debris to the
+diminutive ward-room.  Here lying on a cushion on the floor was O'Hara.
+
+He turned to smile as Denbigh entered but the attempt was a dismal
+failure.  His face was drawn and grey in spite of his tanned complexion.
+
+"My leg feels a bit queer," he said in answer to his chum's enquiry.
+"No, don't bother about the doctor.  He's got quite enough to do.  I
+say, old man, von Riesser's giving us a run for our money, isn't he?"
+
+O'Hara's sentiments were almost identical with those of the rest of the
+ship's company.  Not a word was said concerning the treachery of the
+kapitan of the _Pelikan_, whose method of handing over his ship was far
+from being in accordance with the terms of the capitulation.  The fact
+that von Riesser had outwitted them certainly gave them food for
+reflection, but the unanimous conclusion was that the fun was by no
+means over.
+
+The falling tide left the _Crustacean_ hard and fast aground on the
+slimy mud.  With daylight the actual state of affairs could be
+discerned.
+
+A quarter of a mile up-stream lay the remains of the much-sought-for
+raider.  Only a few bent and buckled ribs and plates showing just above
+the water's edge marked the spot whence the devastating explosion had
+emanated.  One of her funnels, looking like a distended concertina, had
+been hurled ashore and had lodged against a clump of palm trees.  The
+mud-flats and the adjoining banks were littered with fragments of metal
+twisted into weird and fantastic shapes.
+
+Down-stream lay the _Paradox_, now swinging to the young flood.  The
+bore was not now in evidence, since it was the period of neap-tides,
+and the alteration in the direction of the tidal stream was scarcely
+perceptible.
+
+The _Paradox_ had come off comparatively lightly.  To all outward
+appearances she was intact, with the exception of her wireless gear,
+the wreckage of which was already being cleared away.  Beyond a certain
+amount of breakage of glass and half a dozen of her crew sustaining
+slight wounds, the damage done was not in proportion to the danger to
+which she had been exposed.
+
+The _Crustacean_ had suffered severely.  Her fire-control platform and
+wireless gear had been swept out of existence.  There were four deep
+gashes in her funnel, which was only kept in position by the chain
+guys.  One half of the bridge had vanished; the remaining portion
+resembled a scrap-iron heap.
+
+Her boats had been badly shattered save one, and that exception was the
+sea-boat, which was on her way back to the monitor when the explosion
+took place and escaped injury.  Every bit of steel work exposed to the
+destroyed ship was pitted and blistered, while a heavy mass of plating
+from the _Pelikan_ had embedded itself in the monitor's quarterdeck.
+
+Below the water-line she was undamaged.  On taking soundings in her
+well no abnormal quantity of water was found.  With the assistance of
+the _Paradox_ it would be a comparatively easy matter to release her
+from her mud berth at high water.
+
+But other work was imminent.  Every minute Kapitan von Riesser and the
+remainder of the _Pelikan's_ crew were increasing the distance between
+them and their foes.  Without delay steps had to be taken to bring the
+treacherous Germans to bay.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+The Landing-Party
+
+No one could accuse Captain Holloway of tardiness.  He had the
+reputation of being an alert and promising officer, and on this
+occasion he excelled himself.  Within an hour after sunrise the
+landing-party from the flotilla was on its way to tackle the remnants
+of the _Pelikan's_ crew; for almost as soon as the raider had been
+swept out of existence the British senior officer was drawing up his
+orders that the unexpected turn of events had necessitated.
+
+Towed by the two steamboats of the _Simplicita_, four cutters from the
+_Paradox_, _Eureka_, and the seaplane parent ship set off up the river.
+Into the boats were packed one hundred and twenty officers and men
+drawn from each vessel of the little squadron.  Each boat carried a
+quick-firer in the bows and a Maxim, in addition to stores sufficient
+to last a week or ten days.
+
+The expedition was under the orders of Lieutenant-commander Bourne,
+while amongst the officers was Sub-lieutenant Frank Denbigh, with
+Armstrong in charge of stores.  Much to his disgust Pat O'Hara found
+himself "turned down" by the Principal Medical Officer; the former's
+assurances that his ankle would improve with a little exercise being
+brushed aside by the latter, who knew perfectly well that days would
+elapse before the Irishman could set foot upon the _Crustacean's_ deck,
+let alone the crowded stern-sheets of an armed cutter.
+
+Before the boats were out of sight of the still stranded _Crustacean_
+two sea-planes ascended and flew swiftly inland.  Without their aid the
+landing-party would be literally groping for their foes, since it was
+not known whether von Riesser and his men had taken to their boats or
+had set out through the mangroves towards the grass-grown hinterland.
+
+Denbigh having more knowledge of the Mohoro River than any of the other
+officers--and his knowledge was limited to a stretch of less than ten
+miles--was navigating officer in charge of the leading steamboat.
+
+While the other officers were sweeping the mudflat fringed banks with
+their glasses Denbigh directed his attention towards the turgid channel.
+
+Presently a line of bobbing objects caught his vision.  Ordering the
+leading stoker to ease down the engines he signalled by means of
+hand-flags to the steamboat astern to likewise reduce speed.
+
+The objects that had attracted his attention were the barrels forming
+the boom across the river almost abreast of the wrecked
+torpedo-station.  The _Pelikan_, he knew, had been moored above the
+obstruction.  She had drifted down past them before she took fire and
+blew up.  Unless the boom had been temporarily removed and afterwards
+replaced he could not understand how the raider could have descended
+with the ebb-tide without sweeping the line of barrels away.
+
+"What's wrong?" enquired Bourne.
+
+Briefly Denbigh explained.
+
+"It would be as well if we sent a shell into one of those barrels," he
+added.
+
+"Waste of good ammunition," objected the lieutenant-commander.  "The
+steamboat can take it bows on at full speed ahead.  She'll do it
+easily."
+
+"That I do not doubt," replied the sub.  "But I have an idea that those
+barricoes are filled with explosives, although we bumped into one of
+them when we were in a light punt."
+
+Just then the P.O. telegraphist for wireless duties, who was ensconced
+in a small insulated cage on the rearmost cutter, received a message
+from one of the sea-planes to the effect that the Germans had been
+located.  They had landed from the boats at a spot twenty miles above
+the former anchorage of the _Pelikan_ and were making their way towards
+the hills.
+
+"They're funking it," declared Bourne.  "Everything points to a hurried
+flight.  They may have swung the boom back in position, but I doubt the
+accuracy of your mine theory."
+
+"Very good, sir," replied Denbigh.  "Then you wish the steamboat to
+charge the obstruction?"
+
+"Yes, carry on," said Bourne.
+
+Denbigh was too accustomed to discipline to demur in the face of
+definite orders.  He prepared to cast off the tow, for the steamboat
+was to essay the feat alone.  The two cutters were to anchor until a
+passage had been cleared through the obstruction.
+
+"Well, I hope I'm wrong," thought the sub as he ordered the leading
+stoker to "let her rip for all she's worth."
+
+But before the boat could gather way there was a commotion in the water
+ahead.  A large hippo, frightened by the unusual noises that had
+disturbed the usually peaceful river, made off up-stream.
+
+Swerving neither to the right hand nor the left the huge animal bore
+down upon the line of floating barrels.  It passed between a pair of
+them.  For a moment it seemed that he had surmounted the massive chain,
+until the sudden displacement of the barrels showed that its body had
+fouled the hidden barrier.
+
+The hippo reared in fury and terror, bringing its whole weight down
+upon the chain.  Instantly a line of waterspouts shot high in the air
+accompanied by a simultaneous discharge of half a dozen mines.  The
+sudden strain had ignited tubes of fulminate of mercury, which in turn
+had exploded heavy charges of gun-cotton.  Had the boat been a hundred
+yards nearer not one of her crew would have escaped.
+
+In silence Denbigh brought the steamboat abreast of the first cutter
+and re-established communication.
+
+The lieutenant-commander stood up, and in a steady, clear voice
+exclaimed:
+
+"Well done, Mr. Denbigh!  My judgment was hopelessly at fault."
+
+"That's all right, sir," replied the sub.  He knew the effort that
+Bourne had had to make to tender his apologies.  Having given his order
+in the hearing of the men it was the only course open to him.  And
+Bourne was an officer who, although somewhat impetuous, was never
+afraid to acknowledge an error.
+
+With the flood-tide the flotilla made good progress.  Rounding the
+sharp bend where the _Myra_ had disappeared, the boats entered a gently
+curving reach that apparently made a long horseshoe sweep.  At this
+point the mangroves ceased.  The ground became higher, the banks being
+precipitous in places, and covered with long rank grass.
+
+"There are the _Pelikan's_ boats," reported Denbigh, pointing to two
+large pinnaces lying against the banks to which they had been carried
+by the tide.
+
+In answer to an enquiry the scouting sea-plane reported that further
+progress a mile round the next bend was barred by a series of rapids,
+and that the Germans had established a gain of nearly ten miles, and
+were approaching the bottle-neck formed by the extreme sinuosities of
+the river.
+
+"Can you check them?" asked Bourne anxiously.  He was not at all keen
+on a ten- or twenty-mile march through the rough grass.  If the
+sea-planes could command the narrow stretch of ground between the
+horseshoe bend von Riesser's men might be headed off.
+
+"We'll try," was the wirelessed reply.
+
+Meanwhile the steamboat had cast off the tow, and the cutters still
+carrying way were steered towards the bank.  Here, owing to the rush of
+the tide, there was fairly deep water close to the land, and
+fortunately an absence of mud.
+
+Grounding twenty feet apart the boats disgorged their loads, the seamen
+leaping ashore in spite of the weight of arms and accoutrements.  The
+Maxims, too, were landed and mounted upon light travelling carriages.
+The portable wireless apparatus was to accompany the landing-party,
+while the officers and men left behind were to land the quick-firers,
+since they could not command the ground from the boats owing to the
+height of the banks.
+
+Bourne realized that such things as reverses do happen, so he took
+precautions accordingly.  The men advanced in open order, with flankers
+thrown far and wide.
+
+From the top of a small hillock Denbigh watched the straw hats of the
+men out of sight as they marched through the long grass; then, knowing
+that some time must necessarily elapse before the landing-party came in
+touch with the enemy, he busied himself in preparing for the
+re-embarkation, should the operations prove to be shorter than Captain
+Holloway had anticipated.
+
+With the turn of the tide the boats were taken out into mid-stream and
+anchored.  Tripping lines were bent to the crowns of the anchors, the
+other end of each line being made fast to a watch-buoy, so that the
+operation of weighing would not be delayed by the fouling of the flukes
+in possible snags on the bed of the river.  Gang planks were prepared
+in order that no hitch might occur should the men return at or near
+dead-low water, when a stretch of ooze separated the dry ground from
+the river.
+
+For two hours Denbigh directed operations under the blazing sun.  His
+men worked like niggers, knowing that they, too, were doing their bit
+although not in the actual firing-line.
+
+At intervals came the faint detonations of a series of heavy
+explosions.  The sea-planes were at work, attempting by means of bombs
+to arrest the flight of von Riesser's men across the narrow neck of
+land.
+
+Late in the forenoon one of the sea-planes flew overhead.  Without
+essaying to make a landing on the river, it flew down-stream,
+presumably to take in a fresh supply of petrol and bombs.  In an hour's
+time it returned, and presently its opposite number flew overhead in
+the direction of its parent ship.
+
+Slowly the day wore on.  At frequent intervals Denbigh climbed the
+hillock and brought his glasses to bear upon the distant high ground.
+
+Once or twice he fancied he heard the sounds of musketry and Maxim
+firing in the sultry air.  Armstrong and several of the men were of the
+same opinion, agreeing that the firing was desultory and not constantly
+maintained.
+
+At length darkness fell.  No one had seen the sea-planes returning
+before sunset, and in addition to the great risk of making a night
+landing these craft are of little practical use except in daylight.
+
+With the approach of night Denbigh ordered double sentries to be
+posted, and cautioned the boat-keepers to be alert and watchful for
+signals.  Those of the men left behind slept or rested beside the
+quick-firers, protected from the heavy dew by boat awnings stretched on
+oars and boat-hooks.
+
+For Denbigh sleep was out of the question.  Muffled in a boat-cloak,
+for the off-shore wind blew chilly, he paced up and down with the mate
+of the _Myra_.
+
+"What's that over yonder?" asked Armstrong.
+
+"Flashes--musketry," replied Denbigh.  "It's strange that we cannot
+hear the reports, for the wind is in our favour."
+
+"Too steady for rifle-firing," suggested the mate.  "Looks to me like a
+bush fire."
+
+"By Jove, I hope not," said the sub earnestly.  "The grass will catch
+like tinder."
+
+A minute or so passed, then Denbigh lowered his binoculars.
+
+"You're right, Armstrong," he said.  "It is a fire.  Those brutes have
+set the grass ablaze to cover their retreat."
+
+"Hark!" exclaimed the mate.
+
+Overhead came the unmistakable buzzing of an aerial propeller.  One of
+the sea-planes, if not both, was returning.
+
+Seizing a flashing-lamp Denbigh directed it skywards.  It was the only
+means at his disposal for communication.
+
+"All right?" he asked.
+
+A light blinked through the darkness.
+
+"_Dash, dot_.  Pause.  _Dash, dash, dash_" it flashed; then it ceased
+abruptly.  Nevertheless the answer was to the point.  It was NO.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+Accounted For
+
+Before another quarter of an hour passed the long line of flames was
+visible to the naked eye.  Fanned by the strong breeze the fire spread
+rapidly.  It seemed as if its activity was by no means confined to the
+horseshoe loop formed by the river.  It appeared to have obtained a
+grip upon the grass on the opposite bank.  Once the flames attacked the
+mangroves there was no saying where the mischief might end.
+
+Denbigh could do little to aid his absent comrades, who, for aught he
+knew, might even now be overwhelmed by the swift advance of the
+devouring elements.  Turning out the men who remained he had the
+quick-firer ammunition removed to the boats.  Then setting fire to the
+grass around the bivouac he cleared a broad belt nearly a hundred yards
+in diameter.  At all events the main fire would be checked before the
+flotilla was seriously imperilled.
+
+By the time that this work was completed the flames were within three
+miles of the camp.  For a breadth of more than twice that distance the
+grass was blazing furiously.  Lurid red tongues of flame licked the
+dark cloud of smoke that overhung the devouring elements.  Already the
+air was reeking with pungent fumes.  Grey ashes, caught by the strong
+wind, whirled past the anxious watchers or dashed lightly into their
+faces.  Dark shapes, silhouetted against the red glare, tore madly from
+the advancing fire.  They were the denizens of the grass lands flying
+for their lives.  Undeterred by the water the panic-stricken animals
+plunged into the river, some of them in their terror frantically pawing
+the sides of the anchored boats.
+
+"Dash it all!" muttered Denbigh.  "Wish to goodness I'd cleared another
+hundred yards of the scrub.  We'll be shrivelled up with the heat.
+There's still time."
+
+Calling to his handful of men the sub ran into the open.  This time,
+since the inner circle offered no grip to the flames, they could work
+without fear of the fire getting the upper hand.
+
+In the midst of their preparations Denbigh heard a hoarse shout.
+
+Stumbling towards him, half-enveloped in the haze that was the
+forerunner of the roaring furnace, were two men.  One fell, picked
+himself up, and staggered after his companion.
+
+Outlined as they were against the ruddy glare it was impossible to
+distinguish them, but as the British seamen ran forward to bear them
+into safety the men raised their arms appealingly.
+
+"Help, kamarade, help!" they cried.
+
+"Germans!" ejaculated Armstrong.  "Where are our fellows?"
+
+Denbigh could not give an answer.  A glance in the direction of the
+wall of fire, now less than a quarter of a mile distant, told him that
+life was impossible in front of that barrier unless the fugitives were
+already in sight.  But they were not The sub set his jaw tightly.
+
+"Where are the others--and the British seamen?" he asked in German of
+one of the men.  The other was beyond speech.
+
+"All gone!  All gone!" replied the German.
+
+"There's another, sir!" exclaimed a petty officer.
+
+"Come on, stick it!" shouted half a dozen lusty voices in encouragement.
+
+The third man was evidently in the last stages of exhaustion.  He was
+gasping for breath as he ran, but the hot acrid air was fast choking
+him.  He flung his arms above his head and pitched upon his face, with
+the burning embers dropping all around him.
+
+A cloud of eddying smoke enveloped him.  Then a gust of wind cleared
+the pall of vapour.  The wretch was writhing.  His clothes were
+smouldering as he lay helpless in the withering grass.
+
+With a bound Denbigh cleared the shallow trench, and bending low rushed
+through the smoke.  Burning ashes stung his face.  What air he took in
+through his nose felt pungent and suffocating.  The heat seemed to gnaw
+into his eyes.
+
+How he covered that two hundred yards he never could explain, but at
+length, with a feeling of relief, he turned his broad back to the
+advancing flames and raised the now unconscious man from the ground.
+With almost superhuman strength he lifted the listless body upon his
+shoulder and began his bid for safety.
+
+Almost blindly he ran till his gait slowed down almost to a halting
+walk.  Dimly he realized that he was not alone.  Some of the devoted
+seamen had followed him into the edge of the inferno.
+
+Someone tried to shift the burden from his shoulders.  He resisted.
+Why he knew not.  Already his senses were forsaking him.
+
+With a crash he fell upon his knees.  He was up and staggering again,
+until, unable to withstand the strain, he rolled inertly upon the
+ground with his fingers gripping his throat.  Then all became a blank.
+
+He recovered consciousness to find himself lying on a pile of canvas in
+the stern-sheets of one of the boats.  It was broad daylight.  Overhead
+an awning had been spread to ward off the rays of the morning sun.
+
+Almost in an instant he recalled the incident of the night of horror.
+The air still smelt vilely of smouldering vegetable matter.  Wisps of
+smoke eddied betwixt the sun and the awning, throwing fantastic shadows
+upon the bellying canvas.  The fire, then, had practically burnt itself
+out.
+
+"Any signs of the others?" he asked.
+
+Armstrong shook his head.
+
+"The whole place is a mass of glowing cinders," he replied.  "It is
+impossible to see more than a quarter of a mile in that direction.  I'm
+afraid----"
+
+"Any more survivors?" asked Denbigh.  The mere movement of his facial
+muscles caused him exquisite pain, for his face was scorched and
+blistered.  His hair and eyebrows had been badly singed.  Altogether he
+looked a pitiable scarecrow.  It is only on the stage and on the
+cinematograph screen that heroes preserve an unruffled appearance.
+
+"No," replied the mate.  "Not one, after the fellow you brought in.
+Did you know who it was?"
+
+The sub shook his head, then winced, for the action sent a thrill of
+anguish through his body.
+
+"Unter-leutnant Klick," continued Armstrong in answer to his own
+question.  "He's still unconscious.  We dare not move him to the boats.
+His skin is literally peeling off all over his body.  Shall I have you
+sent down the river, old man?  The chief petty officer is now in
+charge.  Is he to withdraw the rest of the boats?"
+
+"No," replied Denbigh with sudden firmness.  "No; by no means.  We'll
+wait until we can send volunteers to find traces of our fellows.  Have
+the sea-planes passed over yet?"
+
+Armstrong replied in the negative.
+
+"How are the other Germans?"
+
+"One is practically fit.  The other is suffering from shock."
+
+"Then send the fit fellow to me, please."
+
+The man was brought to the boat.  He was one of the _Pelikan's_
+firemen.  Questioned in German he replied without hesitation.  The fire
+had been started, he declared, not by the raider's crew, but by bombs
+dropped by British sea-planes.  There was an action, but he and half a
+dozen more worked round by the two banks until they were almost cut off
+by the flames.  He had reason to suppose that both the British and the
+German forces had been overwhelmed by the onrushing flames.
+
+Throughout the afternoon Denbigh lay in torment in spite of the
+first-aid remedies applied by the only sick-berth attendant left with
+the base party.  Hardly ever before had he felt the sweltering heat so
+acutely.  The air under the awning was close and oppressive.  It reeked
+both of the odour of the river and of the fumes of the smouldering
+grass.  There was one compensation.  The fire had effectually driven
+off the swarms of mosquitoes that otherwise would have increased his
+torments.  He would have given almost anything to be back on board
+ship, with the sea breezes flung in through the open scuttle and the
+electric fans cooling the air.  But stop he must until he had obtained
+definite information as to the fate of the landing-party.
+
+"I doubt after all if there's much to grumble at," he soliloquized.  "I
+might have been born to become a Tommy, and I might be stuck up to my
+thighs in mud and water in a trench somewhere in France.  It's all part
+of one big business, and we're keeping our end up all right."
+
+Then his thoughts took a turn in another direction.  He was no longer a
+prisoner of war.  In another few months he hoped to be back in England.
+What plans he would make to spin out that long-deferred leave!  For the
+time being he was no longer in a vile African river, but in a pretty
+old-world garden in the homeland.
+
+Suddenly his train of thought was rudely interrupted by a hoarse,
+almost frenzied burst of cheering.  The boat-keeper, thrusting his head
+below the curtains to ascertain whether the sub was awake or otherwise,
+answered Denbigh's mute appeal.
+
+"It's orl right, sir," he announced.  "They've romped home; the whole
+bloomin' crush."
+
+Following the downward course of the river was the landing-party,
+bringing with them forty-three German prisoners, including Kapitan von
+Riesser.  Their own losses had been insignificant, for during the
+long-drawn-out action that was brought to an abrupt conclusion by the
+fire, one British officer and seven seamen had been slightly wounded.
+These were brought in by the stretcher-bearers.
+
+The escape of the little expedition was due to their resourcefulness in
+fighting fire by fire.  Finding that their retreat was not speedy
+enough to outpace the flames, Lieutenant-commander Bourne had given
+orders to set alight the long grass to leeward.
+
+By this means, though suffering agonies from thirst and heat, the
+British and their prisoners escaped.
+
+The career of the raider and her crew had been brought to a close, and
+before nightfall the boats of the flotilla had regained their
+respective ships.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+Frank Denbigh is sub-lieutenant no longer, but a full-fledged
+lieutenant with the letters D.S.O. tacked on to his name.  He has just
+received his appointment to a brand-new battle-cruiser, and is about to
+serve with the Grand Fleet.
+
+Pat O'Hara is still limping about on one foot somewhere in the Emerald
+Isle.  He, too, has gained a step in rank, but rather envies his chum's
+good luck.  Still, there is time for the light-headed Irishman to get
+fit again and be in at the death, when, it is to be hoped, the visions
+of the trident in the German fist will be shattered for good and aye.
+
+And Stirling?  In recognition of his services he is confirmed as
+lieutenant-commander of the monitor _Crustacean_.  He is still looking
+forward to his leave in the Highlands, but meanwhile he is doing good
+work in a remote portion of the globe in upholding the glorious
+tradition of the real Mistress of the Seas.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Rounding up the Raider, by Percy F. Westerman
+
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