CHAPTER XXXI
Exit the "Zug"
"What's that made fast to the shot-line, old man?" inquired Beverley,as Villiers, divested of his helmet and diving-dress, sat in thestern-sheets of the boat that von Giespert had unwittingly given overto the _Titania's_ people.
"That?" replied Villiers. "I dunno. Ballast, I expect. There are tonsof it down there. Wonder if it's lead?"
"If so, it's a fortune for anyone who can get it back to England,"observed Harborough, unclasping his knife and digging the point intothe block of metal.
"Tough for lead," he commented, "and yet too soft for iron, unlessthe stuff's badly corroded. By Jove! Villiers! I believe--yes, I'msure--it's silver."
"Regular Tom Tiddler's ground then," remarked Jack. "When we leftEngland silver was soaring. Wonder what it's worth now?"
"At any rate, we won't fly in the face of Providence," declaredHarborough. "A few days more won't matter very much. When we'vefinished with the _Fusi Yama_, we'll lift some of this stuff."
"There's enough to sink the _Titania_," declared Villiers. "The holdof that ship must have been chock-full of silver. Rum sort ofballast."
"Probably a Spanish treasure-ship or a buccaneering craft that sunkwith her booty," suggested Claverhouse. "They did that sort of thingonce, I believe."
"Then that's settled," declared Harborough briskly. "Finish with the_Fusi Yama_, and then carry on with the silver that friend vonGiespert, by the hand of pal Strauss, kindly discovered for us. How'sthe glass, by the by? I forgot to look this morning."
"It rose a point and a half after eight," reported Villiers, "and nowit is dropping rather too rapidly."
"H'm!" exclaimed Harborough. "That's bad. It may interfere with ourwork, and we can't afford to lose much more plant. We'll work doubleshifts, and keep our weather-eye lifting."
By sunset the task of clearing the _Fusi Yama's_ strong-room wasaccomplished, and an hour later the last of the gold was safely onboard the _Titania_--an event that was signalized by three heartycheers and splicing the "mainbrace" with discreet tots of champagne.
The while the glass was falling rapidly, although not so low as onthe occasion of the devastating hurricane. Nevertheless, everypossible precaution was taken. The boats were hoisted in and lasheddown, awnings and side-curtains stowed, and additional cable veeredout. The engine-room stood by ready to start the heavy oil-engines,and thus ease the strain on the anchor-chains should occasion arise.All hands were on board, preferring to face the storm in a staunchcraft anchored in a fairly-sheltered lagoon to risking a wet anduncomfortable, if not dangerous, night ashore.
At midnight it was blowing a gale, but, in contrast to the precedingstorm, there was no preliminary rain--simply a terrific blast ofwind that heralded an almost uninterrupted blow.
It started from the nor'-nor'-east, or obliquely to the coast-lineoff which the _Titania_ lay at anchor. Although the noise of thebreakers on the reef was like that of a continual roar of thunder,the lagoon itself was only slightly agitated.
But when, at about 3 a.m., the wind veered four points to theeast'ard, the beach became a dead lee shore. Huge billows, crashingmadly upon the coral reef, swept in masses of white foam across thelagoon and churned themselves upon the beach, until in the palemoonlight the palm groves appeared to be growing from an undulatingfield of white water.
Pounding and thudding, quivering under the terrific pressure of thewind, the _Titania_ held grimly to her cables. At one moment fullfifty feet of chain, stretched taut and obliquely like an iron bar,would be visible; the next the yacht would lurch forward as a giantroller passed her by, and would threaten to overrun her anchors,until she "snubbed" with a sickening jerk that almost tore the stoutmooring bits from the deck.
"It won't last long," declared Villiers, as a hissing shower of rainmingled with the driving spindrift. "Wind before rain, you know.It'll ease down by dawn."
He was right. By sunrise, although the wind was still high, its forcehad moderated considerably, and the sun rose in a grey sky,betokening fine weather before many hours had passed.
"Vessel making for the island, sir," suddenly announced Merridew,pointing dead to windward.
"By Jove! It's the _Zug_!" exclaimed Harborough.
"No doubt about it, sir," agreed Villiers, after a lengthy surveythrough his binoculars. "Wonder what she's doing here?"
The _Zug_ was steering due south, and, therefore, on a slightlydiverging course from the eastern side of the island; but whenimmediately abeam of the entrance to the lagoon, she ported helm asif to approach the narrow gap in the coral reef.
"Either von Giespert's mad or he doesn't know the risk he's running,"said Harborough. "Make him a signal, Villiers. Say 'bar unsafe'."
"He's flying some sort of signal, sir," reported Jack. "Can't makeout the flags; they're dead to windward."
"If we can't see his, he can't see ours," observed Harborough. "Butwe'll risk it, and give him a chance."
"I've got it, sir," declared Beverley. "It signifies short ofprovisions '."
Harborough shrugged his shoulders.
"What's wrong with the pigs and the bread-fruit trees at Ni Telang?"he remarked pointedly. "If I were von Giespert, I would tighten mybelt a notch before I'd tackle the entrance to the lagoon. There'sone thing, the wind's moderating, but look at the broken water on thebar."
"It doesn't look so bad from seaward," said Merridew. "He'll feelsorry for himself when he's in the thick of it, I fancy."
With a following wind, the _Zug_ was rolling heavily and frequentlyobscured from view by the thick cloud of smoke from her funnel. Whenquite a mile from the reef, she suddenly fell off her course, vastquantities of steam issuing from her engine-room. She lost way, andwas now rolling excessively in the trough of the seas.
"Looks like a boiler-explosion," exclaimed Harborough, glancing overthe side at the still tumultuous water within the reef. "We'll haveto get the boats ready for lowering, Mr. Villiers. They'll be wantedpretty badly, I expect."
The _Zug_ was doomed. Von Giespert had again overreached himself,although the crew of the _Titania_ had no suspicion of his desperatemove. Von Giespert's orders to his chief engineer had been carriedout only too well. The main steam-pipe, unable to withstand theabnormal internal pressure, had burst, the explosion killing everyonein the boiler-room, while the escaping steam had severely injured thechief engineer and his assistants.
Helpless in the trough of the seas, the _Zug_ was now driftingrapidly on to the reef. Von Giespert, after bellowing incoherencies,ordered a storm trysail to be set in the hope that the vessel's headwould pay off. But the moment the canvas was hoisted it blew toatoms.
As a last resource both anchors were let go. Owing to the depth ofwater outside the reef, it was a long time before they obtained agrip. When they did, the _Zug_ was within two hundred yards of thecoral barrier.
Momentarily she swung to her cables, then with a vicious snub bothchains parted simultaneously. Seven minutes later, with a crash thatwas audible above the roar of the breakers, the _Zug_ ended hercareer upon the outer reef of Nua Leha.
CHAPTER XXXII
Settling Accounts
Harborough had not waited for the doomed vessel to strike. Alreadythe _Titania's_ two boats--the only serviceable ones--had beenlowered, and were pulling towards the leeside of the reef.
Villiers was in charge of the cutter that had formerly belonged tothe _Zug_. Beverley was in command of the gig. Both crews werewearing life-belts.
It was as well they did, for barely had the gig gone fifty yards fromthe _Titania_ when she shipped a heavy sea and filled completely.Luckily all hands managed to gain the yacht by means of ropes thrownthem from the _Titania's_ bows.
Satisfying himself that his comrades late of the gig were safe,Villiers held on, encouraging the crew by word and gesture, andskilfully handling the boat to meet every dangerously-crested wave.
It was grim, desperate work. Sometimes the boat would lose ground inspite of the efforts of the rowe
rs, who, with cracking sinews andaching backs, stuck gamely to their task. More than once the strokehad to boat his oar and bale out the water, for, in spite of herweatherly qualities, the cutter was shipping dangerous quantities ofspray.
As they approached the lee side of the reef, which afforded verylittle shelter as the breakers were thundering right over it,Villiers could hardly see the wreck owing to the volume of spindrift.
The _Zug_ was breaking up fast. Already her after-part, unable towithstand the terrific hammering, had broken off and had disappearedin deep water. On her bows, that were momentarily in danger of beingsmashed to pieces, were five or six of her crew, swept by the waves,and hanging on tenaciously to the heavier fittings. The rest of hercrew had disappeared, having been swept overboard on the impact.
For the present Villiers could do nothing but keep the boat's head onto the seas and wait. A hundred feet of coral reef, showing in thetrough of every breaker that swept over it, lay between him and thewreck. To attempt to get alongside the _Zug_ would be hopeless. Hadthere been a ghost of a chance, he would have taken it in his effortsto save life, but there was none. All he could do was to stand by andwait, trusting that some of the luckless Germans might be swept overthe reef into the smoother water inside the lagoon. At length one ofthe _Zug's_ crew took a desperate step and plunged into the sea.Caught by a crested breaker, he was hurled for a full fifty yardsbefore he disappeared from view.
"Watch for him!" shouted Villiers. "He's over the reef."
A few seconds later the man reappeared, feebly striking out. He wasin danger of being swept past the cutter before he was seen. Toattempt to turn meant the boat being caught broadside on and swamped.
"Back all," ordered Villiers, gripping the tiller to prevent therudder broaching to as the boat gathered sternway.
The cutter backed almost half-way across the lagoon before Villiersgave the order to "give way". Then, gradually edging towards theswimmer, the boat, ably handled, came within an oar's length of theexhausted man.
A few seconds of breathless suspense, then:
"Got him!" yelled Swaine the bowman.
At a cost of enough water to fill the cutter to the thwarts, theGerman was hauled into at least temporary safety, and while two menkept the boat head to wind and sea the others baled desperately,using canvas bucket and baler until most of the water was ejected.
Once more the cutter approached the reef, the rowers strainingdesperately at their oars to recover the lost distance.
"There's another of 'em off," shouted Jack, bawling to make himselfheard above the roar of the breakers and the rush of the wind.
A stout German, wearing a pair of canvas trousers only, cast off theropes that secured him to the deck and leapt into the foaming water.In vain the cutter's crew looked for his reappearance. He was neverseen again.
The remaining four, deterred by the fate of their luckless comrade,held on. The _Titania's_ men, rowing frantically the while to keepthe boat from being driven to leeward, watched them over theirshoulders. Villiers realized that his crew were now almost playedout. It looked as if it were a case of the triumph of matter overmind. The men were grimly determined to "stick it", but the ceaselesslabour for the last hour at the oars was wearing them out. It was notstraightforward rowing, but a constant tussle in confused breakingwater and against a furious wind.
The while the bow portion of the _Zug_ was breaking up fast. Alive tothe latest danger, the four men, abandoning their position, took tothe water. Three of these were picked up, the last not before thecutter had been backed to within half a cable's length of the beach.
Then, with rescued and rescuers almost in the last stage of physicalexhaustion, Villiers succeeded in running under the _Titania's_quarter.
"Only four saved, sir," reported Jack.
"More than I expected," replied Harborough. "Get them below. Dryclothes and hot drinks are what they want. Right-o, Villiers, youturn in; you're in need of a rest, I'm sure."
Jack was. Although he had not had the actual manual labour at theoars, he had been badly knocked about by the buffeting of the boat.One side was black and blue, owing to the tiller thumping his ribs,while his left hand, which was still unhealed of its injuriesreceived during the submarine encounter with the poisonous fish, wasnow raw and smarting horribly owing to the action of the salt water.
Later in the day it was discovered that five others of the _Zug's_crew had succeeded in escaping with their lives. By some strangefreak on the part of a wave, they had been swept through the entranceto the lagoon, and unobserved by anyone on board the _Titania_, werewashed up on Nua Leha.
When the wind moderated and a landing was possible, they were broughtoff to the _Titania_, almost dead by reason of their terriblestruggle to gain the beach. Amongst them was the _Zug's_ carpenter,but Kaspar von Giespert did not figure in the list of survivors.
Jack Villiers, protesting that his injuries did not much matter, wason deck at the second dog watch. After dinner Harborough called himaside.
"I think we'll cut the silver stunt, Villiers," he said. Then hepaused to watch the effect of the announcement.
"Very well, sir," replied Jack.
"We've wrestled with Fortune and won, where other men have failed,"continued the baronet. "I'm sorry that lives have been lost over thebusiness; but we've this to be thankful for: we've come through it,if not with whole skins, without a single D.D. on the muster-book. Ipropose making for Sydney, transferring the gold to a liner, andtaking passage home in her."
"Quite a good scheme," agreed Jack.
"We can sell the old _Titania_ at a good figure," resumed Harborough,"and no doubt get a round sum for the secret of the silver. Let someother fellows have a run for their money; personally, I don't believein playing Dame Fortune too hard. This gale is blowing itself out, soto-morrow we'll fill up the water-tanks, lay in such provisions asthe island supplies, and say good-bye to Nua Leha."
On the following day all available hands, including the two Germanswho had been under arrest, but were now released from their cells,went ashore to complete the preparations for the voyage, and bynightfall the _Titania_ was revictualled and had water-tanksreplenished.
At daybreak she sailed, her crew watching, with a certain amount ofregret, the triple peaks of the island sinking lower and lower behindthe horizon. Not only had the arduous work been successful, but thevaried experiences had cemented a band of life-long comradeshipbetween the members of the expedition.
After an uneventful run the _Titania_ arrived at Sydney, whereHarborough put his plans into execution.
To him came Swaine.
"If you've no objection, sir," he began, "I'd like to make an offerfor the _Titania_ and the right to exploit the silver stunt."
"What!" exclaimed Harborough. "You're a sticker, Swaine. You haven'thad enough treasure-hunting, eh?"
"Must do something to keep me out of mischief," replied Swaine. "Evenwith pots of money a fellow is at a loose end when he's got nothingto occupy his mind. I reckon I've more than enough of my share of the_Fusi Yama_ gold to pay for the yacht and float a company here forthe recovery of the silver."
"I'm quite agreeable," assented Harborough. "But I'll have to arrangewith the others concerning the value of the yacht and the othermatter."
When the idea was put before the now-dissolving syndicate, not onlydid they agree to let Swaine have the _Titania_ at a reasonable sum,but O'Loghlin and Fontayne offered to join in the new venture.
Claverhouse and Trevear expressed their intention of remaining atSydney, prior to taking up farming in New Zealand. To them Harboroughadvanced a sum sufficient to carry them on, pending the realizationof the gold in London. Griffiths and Bell, inseparable chums, decidedto try their luck at fruit-growing in Tasmania.
Pete, with a pocketful of notes that represented to him a smallfortune, departed for the West Indies via Panama. He went withgenuine regret, followed by the good wishes of the erstwhile crew ofthe _Titania_, who regarded him as a cheerful hard-work
ing cook wholooked after their inward needs with the utmost fidelity.
The rest of the _Titania's_ party accompanied Harborough to England.Villiers and Bobby Beverley, acting upon Swaine's principle, formed acoastal shipping company, which not only kept them busy but gave agood return for their outlay. Within six months of his return homeDick Beverley gained tenth place in the entrance examination toSandhurst.
Sir Hugh Harborough, rich and contented both in mind and body, wasable to run Thalassa Towers in a manner that bid fair to make it oneof the choicest country seats in Hampshire. He entertained lavishly,but of his numerous guests none were more welcome than his formercomrades of the good ship _Titania_.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN_By Blackie & Son, Limited, Glasgow_
[Transcriber's Notes:
This book contains a number of misprints. The following misprints have been corrected:
["It's like this," resumed Billy] -> ["It's like this," resumed Bobby] There is no Billy in this book. This should be Bobby. [messenger to Thelassa Towers] -> [messenger to Thalassa Towers] [Straus had tried] -> [Strauss had tried] [the compact air-craft begin to] -> [the compact air-craft began to] [the still tumultous water] -> [the still tumultuous water]
Two illustrations were missing in the paper version used for producing this digitised text. These are: 'A SUBMARINE DUEL' and 'UNMASKED HE WAS NO LONGER AN AMIABLE SWEDE'. They are marked with "(missing from book)" in the Illustrations-list and at the place where the image would have been.
A few cases of punctuation errors were corrected, but are not mentioned here. ]
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