CHAPTER XI
Villiers' Return
The yacht _Titania_ lay at anchor about three hundred yards west ofthe Old Mole at Gibraltar. The first stage of her long voyage wasaccomplished, not without difficulties and dangers, for she hadencountered bad weather in the Bay, which had continued until shepassed Cape St. Vincent. In a way the gale was a blessing indisguise, for it enabled Harborough to put his crew to a severe testin seamanship, and to their credit they came out of the ordeal inquite a praiseworthy manner. The yacht had been able to hold on hercourse under close-reefed canvas, and had made a fairly-quick passagewithout having been compelled to use her engines when once clear ofthe Needles.
Beyond the necessity of having to replenish fresh water, provisions,and consumable stores, the _Titania_ was fully equipped. Each memberof the crew responsible for his particular department had carried outhis duties thoroughly. Everything necessary for salvage operationswas on board--patent, self-contained diving-dresses which enabledtheir wearers to work independently of air-tubes and pumps,demolition charges, pneumatic drills, tools of various sorts, andchains, ropes, shackles, and blocks, ample for the work, weremethodically stored in the holds. The two dwarf seaplanes, which,when packed for transport, took up very little room, had been stowedaway under the charge of Claverhouse and Trevear. Griffiths and Bell,the only ex-army men, were responsible for the provisioning of theship; O'Loghlin and Vivian for the engines, each man working "watchand watch" with an assistant. The rest of the crew formed the amateurdeck-hands, Harborough heading the starboard and Beverley the portwatch.
Once at sea all hands followed sea routine. A state of disciplineprevailed while on duty, although in the "watch below" every man wasTom, Dick, and Harry to his comrades. The system worked well. Everymember of the crew had been in a position of more or less authorityduring the war, and each realized the absolute necessity ofdiscipline. They knew the value of initiative; but initiative,important though it is, must ever be subservient to discipline ifsuccess is to be attained.
Harborough was certainly a "tough nut". On duty he was autocratic.His idea was: "I'm in charge; carry out my orders and I'll do mylevel best in your interests. If anything goes wrong, then I take allthe responsibility." Off duty he was affability personified, and wasalways ready and even eager to listen to suggestions, and shouldBeverley be in charge of the deck he would never interfere.
Originally it had been the intention to place Villiers in charge ofone watch, while Harborough, except for actual navigation duties,acted as general supervisor; but Villiers' mysterious disappearancehad altered that plan, and Harborough did not appoint a substitute.He shared a belief with Beverley that Jack Villiers would put in anappearance before the _Titania_ reached Singapore, and so firm washis conviction that he had the missing officer's kit on board insteadof placing it ashore when the yacht left Southampton.
"Bit of a change from the good old North Sea," remarked Merridew,gazing at the towering Rock, bathed in the rosy tints of the settingsun. "This time last year we were perambulating bales of wool: threesweaters, a muffler, monkey-jacket, pilot-coat, and two pairs ofthick trousers, and none too warm at that. Now, here we are feelingquite warm in flannels."
"And I'm on anchor watch," added Fontayne. "I'm rather lookingforward to it, 'cause it's full moon to-night, and the Rock will looksplendid in the moonlight. I remember when I was an A.B. in theR.N.V.R. keeping middle watch when we were lying just insideInchkeith. It was New Year's night, and there was a buzz going roundthat a Fritz was nosing about just outside the boom. Sleeting,snowing, and blowing like billy-ho. Absolute fact; I had to go belowand thaw before I could get my clothes off. Hallo, there's a boatpulling off."
UNMASKED HE WAS NO LONGER AN AMIABLE SWEDE(missing from book)]
The boat, manned by a couple of "Rock Scorps" ran alongside thegangway, and presently the crew of the _Titania_ were bargaining forquantities of luscious fruit at a price that, although affording ahandsome profit to the vendors, was so ridiculously cheap that thepurchasers could hardly believe it.
Then another boat ran alongside, and others, until the _Titania_looked like a swan surrounded by her cygnets. There were bumboatmen,ship's store-dealers, washermen, butchers, purveyors of insipidrain-water--Spaniards, Genoese, Moors, and representatives of everycountry bordering on the Mediterranean--all clamouring to do businesswith the newly-arrived vessel.
"Allow no one to come on board," ordered Harborough.
"No exception?" inquired a hearty voice, and to the surprise ofeveryone on deck Jack Villiers appeared from behind a pile offruit-cases in the stern-sheets of a whaler.
For once, at least, Harborough went back on his word. He almost wentback and down an open hatchway, for, although he was convinced thatVilliers would put in an appearance, that worthy's sudden return tookthe usually cool and collected Sir Hugh by surprise.
"Good heavens, Villiers, dear old thing!" he exclaimed. "How in thename of all that's wonderful----!"
Running up the accommodation-ladder and saluting the quarter-deck ashe came over the side, Villiers grasped his chief's extended hand.
"'Fraid I haven't much of a kit," he remarked apologetically; "butthis, I think, sir, is your property."
He held out the attach?-case. Harborough gazed at it with mingledsurprise and amusement.
"You've a yarn to spin about that," he observed. "Come below. We'reabout to have dinner. You'll be able to have a word with Beverleybefore he goes on watch."
"I won't say that I've nothing to tell," remarked Jack, "because Ihave."
For the next three quarters of an hour he was hard at it, hisaudience listening in almost unbroken silence. Following his plungefrom the deck of the _Zug_, he was in the water forty minutes beforehe was picked up by a Portuguese "mulutta"--a fishing-boat whosechief characteristic is the large number of fantastically-shapedsails she carries. It was doubtless the presence of the fishing-boatthat deterred the _Zug's_ crew from putting about and opening fireupon the swimmer; but Villiers had not observed the presence of hisrescuers until the tramp was hull down.
The fishermen treated him very kindly, and eventually landed him atFiguera, a Portuguese harbour about one hundred miles north ofLisbon. A hospitable merchant rendered him every possible assistanceand provided him with money sufficient to enable him to reachAlgeciras, which he did after a long and circuitous railway journeywhich, in Villiers' opinion, embraced the greater part of Portugaland Spain. At Algeciras he was fortunate in catching the lastferry-boat for that day across to the Rock, and during the six-milepassage across the Bay of Gibraltar he saw, to his unbounded delight,the _Titania_ putting in and dropping anchor off the Old Mole.
"I'm afraid," observed Harborough, when Villiers had finished hisnarrative, "that you expended a lot of unnecessary zeal over thatattach?-case."
"Oh!" exclaimed Jack doubtfully. "Why?"
"Because it was a fake," explained Harborough. "I did not mention itat the time, because it was my secret. I intended doing soimmediately we left England. These plans and charts are false. I knewthat someone was after the real charts, and I took precautionsaccordingly. I expected they would be stolen, and they were. In orderto make sure that they were stolen and not accidentally lost, youremember, I offered a substantial reward. But they were notreturned--hence it was reasonable to assume that they weredeliberately stolen by our rivals. You have proved that such was thecase. I only hope your late host, Herr Strauss, acts upon them."
"I believe the fellow is identical with Kristian Borgen," saidVilliers. "In fact, I chucked it in his teeth."
"And he denied it?"
"He did."
"Then he told the truth," declared Harborough. "He is acting underthe fellow Borgen's orders, but Borgen was in Southampton when weleft; consequently he couldn't have been on the _Zug_ when shesailed. And we've enough evidence now to get the _Zug_ detained andher crew put under arrest at the first port she touches."
"Don't do that," said Villiers. "It would spoil a lot of sport. Just
fancy those fellows thinking they're doing us, and all the whileacting on faked information. Their punishment will be found in theirdisappointment. Personally, I'd like to have five minutes with thegentleman who sand-bagged me, but I'm quite content to let the rivalcrush have a run for its money."
"There's something in that," agreed Harborough, who, in common withthe rest of the members of the expedition, had a strong partialityfor the element of chance and a liking for sport. "They'reinterlopers, it's true, but rivalry adds a zest to life. But you mustbe tired with your long journey, Villiers."
"I am," replied Jack, stifling a yawn. "I'll turn in. I supposethere'll be time for me to nip ashore to-morrow and get a new kit."
"Plenty of time to go ashore," replied Harborough, "but I don't thinkyou'll need a fresh rig-out. Your kit's stowed away in the lockerunder your bunk."