CHAPTER V
The "Fusi Yama"
"At this stage of the proceedings, gentlemen," began Sir Hugh. "Ithink it time to reveal all I know concerning the _Fusi Yama_ and hercargo of sunken gold."
It was the first time that the whole of the members of the SalvageSyndicate had assembled at Thalassa Towers, and what might be termeda meeting of the Board was in progress.
The scene was the smoking-room, in which a roaring fire was blazingon the hearth, for the autumn morning was decidedly chilly. On theoaken table, and held down by four leaden weights, was an AdmiraltyChart of a portion of the Pacific.
"The _Fusi Yama_, a vessel of 4500 tons, was, you may remember,"continued the baronet, "sold by a Japanese firm to a British shippingconcern at Shanghai. There was rather a fuss made about it at thetime, because in shipping circles it was regarded as somewhatsignificant that Japan had entered into commercial maritimecompetition to such an extent that she could build and engine vesselsand sell them to a nation that hitherto held the palm forship-construction.
"This was just before the war, and the _Fusi Yama's_ first voyageunder the British flag was from Chi-fu to Liverpool--but the voyagewas never completed in the manner intended. Her cargo consisted ofcotton and silk and specie and bullion to the value of a million anda half.
"Strictly speaking, the bullion and specie ought to have been sent bya regular mail-steamer, but rumours were in the air of trouble withGermany, and the consigners decided that a steamer running off therecognized route stood a better chance of getting clear of thePacific than a liner, for there was then a powerful Germancruiser-squadron based at Kiao Chau.
"However, the _Fusi Yama_ and her cargo were fully insured, she wasclassed A1 at Lloyd's, had an experienced and capable skipper, so theunderwriters thought they'd struck oil, so to speak.
"On the 2nd August, 1914, the _Fusi Yama_ left Chi-fu; on the 9th shewas captured by the German cruiser _N?rnburg_, but not before hermasts were knocked away by shell-fire. You fellows know perfectlywell how frequently the Hun got to know of our movements, so, lookingback, it was not surprising to learn that the _Fusi Yama_ had beenshadowed from the moment she left port. Nor is it when I tell youthat I have good reason to believe that the Huns are after that goldtoo."
A murmur of suppressed excitement ran round the room. Interest in thescheme, already keen, rose to fever-heat. There was a chance, then,of "coming up against Fritz" again, not with steel or bullet but in acontest of wits and skill, and with the almost certainty of a lavishdisplay of low-down trickery on the side of their opponents.
"Then," continued Harborough, "the officers and crew of the capturedvessel were transferred to the _N?rnburg_, a prize-crew was placed onboard the _Fusi Yama_, and the two vessels steamed eastwards. Threedays afterwards they fell in with a three-masted Yankee schoonerbound from Singapore to 'Frisco. Arrangements were made with theskipper to take off the _Fusi Yama's_ crew. In those days the Huns inthe Pacific treated their prisoners well. I'll give them the benefitof the doubt to say that they were fairly straight as Huns go, but itmay have been that they knew they were in a tight corner, and untilthey were out of it they had to behave decently.
"Shortly after that the _N?rnburg_ joined the rest of von Spee'ssquadron, but without the _Fusi Yama_. It was naturally concludedthat the Huns had removed her valuable cargo and, finding her slowspeed a hindrance, had scuttled her.
"At any rate the million and a half had vanished. The under-writerspaid up as cheerfully as they could, and wrote off the _Fusi Yama_ asa total constructive loss.
"Now this is where the affair has a personal note. Here let me remarkthat I bind no one to secrecy over the matter, nor do I make anyattempt to do so; but I would like to point out that not only yourown but your comrades' interests will be at stake if, evenincautiously, you discuss the matter with outside friends orstrangers.
"There was on board the _Fusi Yama_ a man named Williams, whom I knewwhen I was down on my luck in Manitoba. There was a bit of a scrap incamp, and he said I'd done him a good turn. Incidentally, his home inEngland--or birthplace rather--was close to mine.
"Williams was a dare-devil sort of fellow, and when the crew of the_Fusi Yama_ were placed on board the _N?rnburg_ he had the audacityto disguise himself as a Chinaman, with the result that he wasretained by the Huns as a servant. I expect he played up to that, butit was a risky thing to do, although he certainly had features of aMongolian type. He wore a false pigtail, which might have been fatalto him had Fritz taken it into his head to pull that. They did thenext best thing; they cut it off, which saved Williams from furtheranxiety on that score.
"All the time he was keeping his eye on the bullion, so to speak.
"Then a Jap squadron got on von Spee's track and hustled him along.The _N?rnburg_ had taken her prize into an unfrequented lagoon inthe Marshall Archipelago, and was preparing to transfer the gold whenvon Spee heard that not only the Jap squadron but the Australianwarships were converging on him.
"So the _Fusi Yama_ was hurriedly scuttled in the lagoon in aboutfifteen fathoms, with the bullion and specie in her strong-room.Williams was the only human being, except the _N?rnburg's_ crew, whosaw the deed done, and he made good use of his eyes and wits.
"Having found out what he wanted, Williams looked out for anopportunity to part company. It was no easy matter, and not until14th September, when von Spee's squadron was lying in TalcahuanoHarbour, did the supposed Chink succeed in getting ashore.
"On 1st November von Spee's vessels sunk the _Good Hope_ and_Monmouth_ in action off the Chilian coast, and about six weeks laterthe German squadron was destroyed off the Falklands, so had the goldbeen placed on board the _N?rnburg_ we should not be sitting in thisroom to-day. In my opinion Sturdee's action and the Zeebruggebusiness were the two smartest bits of work the British Navy ever didduring the war."
"I saw von Spee's squadron," remarked Merridew. "I was onlyseventeen then, and our home was at Port Stanley. A fellow couldn'thelp feeling sorry for von Spee, even though he was a Hun. His shipscame up quite unsuspectingly to find the old battle-ship _Canopus_lobbing 12-inch shells at them over the arm of the harbour. Von Speeknew his guns could outrange hers, so he held on. Then he had theshock of his life when he saw tripod masts coming round the corner.He legged it, but it was like a rat trying to get away from aterrier. There were survivors from the _N?rnburg_."
"Yes," agreed the baronet, "there were. We'll hear about some ofthem, I fancy. But to get back to friend Williams. Apparently he hada sticky time in Chile, for he was eleven months in hospital atValparaiso. Then he worked his passage in a Yankee barque to 'Frisco,made his way across the States, and arrived in New York just aboutthe time when the Huns started their unrestricted U-boat campaign.Signing on on board a British tramp, Williams found that once morehis luck was out, for three hundred and fifty miles west of the Irishcoast the tramp was torpedoed, and the survivors spent sixty hours inan open boat in heavy seas before being rescued.
"By a curious coincidence I was patrolling-officer at Falmouth whenWilliams was brought ashore from a 'P-boat'. I didn't recognize himat first, and no wonder; but he spotted me all right. That was soonafter my brother's death, so when Williams was able to be moved Isent him here, but I knew he was done for.
"I saw him again when I was on leave, and it was then that he told methe story of the _Fusi Yama's_ gold, and a week later he died. Heleft me certain papers and a rough chart showing the lagoon and theapproaches. These I kept in the attach?-case which was stolen threedays ago."
"Will that affect the expedition?" asked Beverley.
"Only to this extent, I believe," replied Sir Hugh. "We'll have tohurry up and get a move on. This brings me to speak of the oppositionshow. At present I'm rather hazy concerning the head of the rivalparty, but I have no hesitation in saying that we are up against atough proposition. To the best of my belief the directing spirit is afellow called Kristian Borgen."
"A Hun?" asked Claverhouse eagerly.
"Probabl
y," replied Harborough. "Although just now he pretends he's aSwede. From guarded inquiries that I made at the Foreign Office Ifind that his papers are in order and that he's a native ofStockholm. If he isn't a Hun, he's probably a pro-German. Most Swedesare or were, because their country is practically contiguous toGermany and also because of the Huns' propaganda in Sweden during thewar. Fear of her old enemy, Russia, also made her inclined towardsGermany. But if Kristian Borgen is a Swede, he's plenty of Hun pals,amongst them some of the survivors of the _N?rnburg_."
"Where is the man?" asked Villiers.
"Here, in England," replied the baronet. "Actually in Southampton andtaking steps to fit out a rival expedition. Of course as a Swede heis quite at liberty to do so; it is only if he can be proved to be aHun that we can take action. Personally I like rivalry. It gives azest to things, provided it is fair and above board, but there'ssomething in the other organization that isn't, as we say in theService, jonnick."
"Meaning that scrap on the Downs?" remarked Beverley.
"Yes, and the loss of the attach?-case," replied Harborough. "Thatalone is sufficient to let us know that Kristian Borgen--if mysurmise is correct--means business."
"Sufficient, I think, to justify the case being reported to thepolice," said Claverhouse.
Sir Hugh shook his head.
"I wouldn't have people say that I brought in the police for thepurpose of obtaining a free hand in the _Fusi Yama_ treasure-hunt,"declared Harborough. "In fact, the least we say about the _Fusi Yama_for the present the better."
"But why does the fellow come to England to fit out an expedition?"inquired Swaine.
"I rather wondered why he did," replied Sir Hugh. "You know thatScandinavia has been buying hundreds of vessels of various tonnagefrom us, and Borgen is admittedly an agent for their disposal. Hethinks, probably, that he can equip a ship here at less cost andwithout exciting suspicion. At the same time he can keep an eye onus. Of course I may be totally wrong in my surmise, but this I know:there's dirty work going on, and we'll have to keep our weather eyelifting. So much for that. Now comes another point: the question of avessel and her equipment."
"Steam or petrol?" asked Fontayne, who in pre-war days had beenarticled to a marine engineer.
"Neither," replied Harborough. "Coal nowadays is scarce andexpensive, especially abroad. Petrol is dangerous: any of you fellowswho served on M.L.'s will endorse that statement. No, I'm pinning myfaith on heavy oil-engines with hot bulb ignition. They areeconomical, reliable and fairly simple. I'm also looking for a vesselthat has a moderate sail-plan. Now, what do you think of these?"
From a drawer of a pedestal desk the baronet produced a bundle ofplans and specifications and placed them on the table.
"Genuine tramp steamers are out of the question," he observed. "Thepresent-day price is much too stiff. Here is a selection of yachts,some returned from Government service, others placed on thesale-list by their owners, who find that the pastime is too expensivefor them and must needs leave them to the New Rich. Now, here's the_Titania_, auxiliary schooner, 260 tons registered and 409 tonsThames measurement, two six-cylinder engines giving her anapproximate speed of twelve knots."
"That's not much of a speed," said Villiers.
"No, not compared with the type of vessel that you and I have beenaccustomed to," agreed Harborough. "Still twelve knots is not to besneezed at. It is an economical speed. For every additional knot youwould require horse-power rising by leaps and bounds and consequentlymore fuel-space than we can afford. And, of course, with high-speedengines the risk of mechanical breakdowns is higher than withslow-running motors, and, after all, the main object is to get to thePacific with the least delay. Hence reliability is the thing. Thevessel, according to the agent's glowing account, has cruisedextensively, including voyages to the West Indies and theMediterranean."
"Have you seen her?" asked O'Loghlin.
"No, but I propose doing so to-morrow," replied Harborough. "She'slying at Southampton in one of the yards on the Itchen. By the by,does any one here understand heavy oil-engines?"
"I do a bit," replied O'Loghlin. "I had a theoretical course, andduring the war I put in three months on the kite-balloon barges. Thatwas in the old R.N.A.S. days."
"All right," concluded Harborough. "That's settled. You, Villiers,had better come along too. Three are quite enough for the selectionboard."