CHAPTER XXII
Von Giespert hears News
"Gott in Himmel!" exclaimed Kaspar von Giespert. "Don't say thatyou've had no luck."
"Ach, Herr Kapitan," replied Strauss, in the tone of a man repeatinga venerable formula, "no luck at all."
For fifteen evenings almost the same exchange of words had takenplace. For fifteen days, without respite, even when the sun wasdirectly overhead, the crew of the _Zug_ had laboured, at first witha remarkable display of energy, in their efforts to locate the wreckof the _Fusi Yama_ in the lagoon of Ni Telang. Almost every squareyard of the enclosed sheet of water had been swept by means of drags,grapnels, and bighted ropes. Divers had gone down whenever anyobstruction had given rise to the hope that the object of the questhad been found, only to ascend with the disconcerting report that thegrapnel had fouled a lump of coral rock.
Von Giespert took very little active part in the operations. He wascontent to leave the "donkey work" to Strauss, and spent most of theday living in a hammock-chair under double awnings.
He had counted upon finding the wreck with the minimum of trouble. Asthe days passed and Harborough's time-limit grew nearer, von Giespertbegan to feel anxious, and anxiety soon began to give place tofeelings of desperation.
Up to a certain point the rough chart, which Harborough had purposelyallowed his rivals to filch, had proved accurate. To a certain extentit would have served equally well for Ni Telang or Nua Leha, for ineither case there was a strong geographical resemblance between thetwo lagoons, their entrances, and the islands themselves, even to thetriple peaks. The latitude and longitude of the former island asstated on the chart agreed to a second with the results of vonGiespert's readings of the sextant and chronometer. The only flaw--avery important one--was the fact that the wreck obstinately refusedto allow itself to be found.
Von Giespert often wondered what the "schweinhund Englander" wasdoing. Self-complacently he pictured his rival going south andputting into Brisbane or some other Australian port to kill timeuntil, according to the mutual agreement, Harborough would return andclaim the right to search the lagoon of Ni Telang. It was only in theearlier stages of the operations that the German was self-satisfied.He firmly believed that by the time the _Titania_ put in anappearance the gold would be safe in the strong-room of the _Zug_.Now he was not feeling so optimistic about it. On the contrary, hewas the victim of jumpiness, which did not improve his temper.
The men, too, were showing signs of unrest. Strauss was a hardtaskmaster. He drove but he could not lead; his education as a rulerof men missed one important fact: to get men to work properly it isessential that they should be well fed. On board the _Zug_ theprovisioning arrangements were far from good. Had von Giespert givenone tenth of the time he had lavished upon the mechanical andscientific appliances on board the _Zug_ to the personal comfort ofthe crew, much of the trouble that subsequently occurred might havebeen avoided.
"What report have you to make?" asked von Giespert, in continuance ofhis previous question.
"We worked northward of a line east of point G for a distance ofseven hundred metres," replied Strauss. "That practically covers thewhole of the lagoon where there is a depth of five metres or more."
"Then the lagoon has been twice examined?"
"Twice--carefully," said Strauss with conviction. "Schrang made threedescents; Woeber, two. In every case it was rock."
"But the wreck must be somewhere here," exclaimed von Giespertpetulantly, embracing the greater part of the lagoon with a swirl ofhis jewelled fingers. "The men must have been careless. To-morrow letthem start it again."
It was an easy thing to say, but even Strauss foresaw difficulties incarrying out the order.
"There is another matter, Herr Kapitan," he said. "We are gettingshort of water. The only spring we have found on the island hasfailed. It was but a small one. I put two hands on the task ofsinking a well, but they found no water at four metres. Theconden----"
"Yes, I know all about the condensers," interrupted von Giespertirritably, and since it was his fault that the work of repairing themhad not been undertaken at Batavia--the last port they touched wherework of that kind could be performed--his subordinate's reference tothe faulty apparatus was unwelcome.
"I would suggest," continued Strauss, finding boldness in the factthat he, too, was experiencing inconvenience from the shortage ofdrinking-water, "that four of the hands take the whaler and runacross to the island where we lay when the English vessel discoveredus. There is water in abundance. We could get three small tanks intothe boat, and the men could fill them by means of barricoes."
"Very well," agreed von Giespert. "Pick four men who can best bespared. How is the glass?"
"Steady, Herr Kapitan."
"I suppose there is a possibility of the numskulls missing the islandentirely? If so, we shall lose a valuable boat."
"I can give them the compass course. It is usually a favourable windboth ways," said Strauss reassuringly. "All being well, they ought tobe back in a couple of days."
"Send them," rejoined von Giespert curtly; then in an undertone headded: "It was a happy thought when I laid in that stock of Pilsenerat Batavia, Herr Strauss. Shall we split a bottle now?"
At daybreak the whaler set off on its voyage to Nua Leha. Barely werethe boat's sails out of sight when one of the Huns who had beenemployed ashore came off with the news that he had discovered anample supply of water.
Von Giespert showed no signs of thankfulness at the intelligence.Instead, he cursed the man for not finding the spring earlier, andupbraided Strauss for sending away the whaler on an unnecessaryerrand.
For the greater part of the day the sweeping-operations were resumed,the men working sullenly and taking advantage of every opportunity toskulk. About three in the afternoon one of the grapnels fouledsomething, and a diver descended to examine and report upon thenature of the obstruction.
He came to the surface with the information that the grapnel hadcaught in the fluke of a large stockless anchor to which was shackleda heavy studded chain. He had traced the latter for a distance of tenmetres, at which point it had sunk deeply into the ooze.
This was the one promising incident of the fortnight's operations.Von Giespert, shaking off his lethargy, showed tremendous interest inthe find.
"They would, of course, have anchored the prize before they scuttledher, Strauss," he observed, "or she might have drifted into veryshoal water. Tell that fool of a diver to go down again. What's theuse of half doing a job? If he takes a crowbar with him he can tracethe whole length of the cable, even if it is under mud."
While the diver was engaged upon his task von Giespert departed fromhis usual routine by getting out of his hammock-chair and going tothe rail, from whence he could watch the operations.
When, after an interval of forty minutes, the man reappeared, vonGiespert hailed a boat to fetch him off. Into this he jumped, notwaiting until it was alongside the accommodation-ladder, and orderedthe rowers to pull their hardest.
The report was a most disappointing one. The diver had succeeded infinding the free end of the cable. There were only four links buriedin the mud. In order to confirm his statement he had bent a rope tothe last link and had brought the line up with him.
That evening von Giespert was a prey to alternate hopes and fears. Heupbraided Strauss when the latter suggested that the anchor mighthave belonged to a vessel that had put into the lagoon and had eitherparted or had been compelled to slip her cable; and he ravedincoherently when Strauss hinted that the British or the AustralianGovernment might have already recovered the treasure and blown up thewreck.
Ten hours after the time of her expected arrival the whaler returnedfrom Nua Leha, deeply laden with water obtained at considerable riskand by dint of hard work.
"We have found the English ship, _Titania_, Herr Kapitan," reportedthe man in charge of the watering-party.
"Where?" demanded von Giespert.
"At the island where we were sent to get wate
r, Herr Kapitan."
"What is she doing there?" demanded von Giespert.
"She was lying at anchor in the lagoon, Herr Kapitan. All her boatswere out, and they had buoys placed round a certain spot."
Von Giespert uttered a round oath.
"Did they see you?" he asked.
"No, Herr Kapitan," replied the man. "We thought it best to beprudent, so directly we sighted the vessel we rowed away and landedon the opposite side of the island. There was water there----"
"Never mind about the water," interrupted the owner of the _Zug_. "Isthat all you saw?"
"We made our way round the island and climbed a hill overlooking thelagoon. Max had his glasses with him. They were diving for something.On the beach were tents and huts, and a pile of boxes. Early nextmorning we went there again, but the Englishmen were ashore playingcricket. So we did not stop, but filled up with water and set sail.The breeze fell light on our way back----"
Von Giespert asked several more questions, then curtly dismissed theman.
"Come to my cabin, Strauss," he said abruptly.
Behind locked doors the two Huns discussed the disconcerting news.
"Huts, tents, and diving in the lagoon," quoted von Giespert. "It'squite certain that Harborough is not killing time there. He's trickedus--tricked us, Strauss."
"It looks like it, Herr Kapitan," remarked his second in command. "Hemust have known when he lured us here."
For once von Giespert accepted his subordinate's suggestion withouteither flatly contradicting or scoffing at him.
"That cursed Englishman has been grossly deceiving me," he exclaimed."It is a breach of good faith, but I'll be quits with him yet."
It was a typically German and consequently one-sided view to take.Not for one moment did von Giespert consider that he had nothesitated to employ underhand methods beside which Harborough's rusewas simple in the extreme. The Hun had commenced operations bystealing what he took to be the genuine charts and plans; he had nothesitated to employ physical force in his attempts to cripple theBritish expedition, and now, like a boomerang, his villainy had comeback upon himself. His mind was filled with feelings of rage at thefact that his rival had scored heavily.
"What do you propose to do, Herr Kapitan?" asked Strauss, after theclimax of his employer's temper had been passed.
"Do?" exclaimed von Giespert. "Something desperate. I will stick atnothing. Listen; how will this do?"
His subordinate's eyes gleamed as he listened to the hastily-outlinedscheme.
"It is indeed colossal, Herr von Giespert," declared Strauss, hissense of proportion swept away by the magnitude of his employer'spowers of imagination. "Carried out in its entirety it will be simplyperfection."
"It will be," agreed von Giespert grimly. "We must see to that."