CHAPTER XXIX
The Admiral's Promise
"By the by," remarked Alwyn to the skipper of the _Titania_ justbefore the former turned in, "do you happen to have a White Ensign onboard?"
"By Jove, no," replied Swayne, somewhat astonished at the unusualrequest. "I'm not one to risk chucking away five hundred of the bestfor unlawfully flying colours to which I am not entitled, my pippin."
"I don't suppose you would be fined--in the circumstances to whichI'm going to refer," said Burgoyne earnestly. "It's quite possiblethat we may fall in with the _Malfilio_. She's away cruising, and shemay be well south of the Line. The Pacific's wide, I know, and theprobability of running up against her is small; but strange thingshappen at sea. She's got the speed of you by at least six knots."
"Well?"
"Then you'll have to bluff her," continued Burgoyne. "She'll fightshy of a White Ensign, even if flown from a mud-hopper, although shehasn't hesitated to use it herself.... If you had wireless----"
"We haven't," said Swayne. "Didn't have any use for it."
"Perhaps it's as well," agreed Alwyn. "But let me advise you to get aWhite Ensign made up in case of emergency."
"Right-o, I will," replied Swayne. "We've a spare Red Ensign. Itwon't be much of a job to work in white bunting where necessary. I'llput a couple of hands on that at once. I don't fancy Miss Vivianborrowed both sewing-machines; but I do know she took one into thecabin and yards of white duck and drill."
At one bell in the forenoon watch a vessel was sighted broad on thestarboard beam, and shaping a converging course towards the_Titania_.
"What do you make of her, George?" inquired Swayne.
Burgoyne had already brought his binoculars--formerly the property ofthe late Black Strogoff and possibly that of an honest man before thepirate lieutenant acquired them--to bear upon the stranger.
"Make of her?" he repeated softly. "There's not much doubt about it.That vessel is the _Malfilio_."
"But the third funnel?" demurred Mostyn.
"A fake," replied Burgoyne promptly. "I'd keep your dusky crew out ofsight, Swayne, if I were you; and the sooner we run up the WhiteEnsign the better."
Swayne was no coward--far from it--but he felt decidedlyuncomfortable. It is one thing to face a Hun when your vessel isarmed; another to attempt to bluff a pirate when your armamentconsists merely of one or two shot-guns, a couple of rifles, and afew automatics, and the pirate was able to back up his argument withsix-inch quick-firers. To make matters worse the _Titania_ carried20,000 pounds worth of silver in her hold, the result of ten months'hard and dangerous toil under the sea, and it would be very hardlines if the fruit of her labours was simply snapped up by RamonPorfirio and his gang of freebooters.
Remembering Burgoyne's warning of the great disparity in speedbetween the two vessels, Swayne resisted the impulse to put the helmhard over and show his heels to the cruiser.
"Right-o," he assented. "Up with the Ensign."
The impromptu emblem of the Royal Navy fluttered out bravely.Anxiously the crew of the _Titania_ awaited developments. For someminutes the _Malfilio_ held on. She was flying no flag. Possibly ithad been her intention of hoisting the White Ensign, too; but theappearance of a similar flag on the little white craft rather upsetPorfirio's calculations.
"By Jove! if we only had wireless," sighed Mostyn. "Wouldn't we havea game with him, calling up imaginary battle-cruisers and all thatsort of thing."
A minute or so later the _Malfilio_ hoisted the Rising Sun--theensign of Japan, and still closing made the International Signal,"What ship is that?"
"Port helm a point, please," said Burgoyne; "we'll get withinsemaphore distance and then we'll puzzle him a bit."
The _Titania_ rapidly closed her distance, for the _Malfilio_ hadslowed down and was doing about eight or nine knots. This manoeuvreundoubtedly perplexed Ramon Porfirio. Although he could have blownthe former craft clean out of water, he had a wholesome respect formen-of-war of any description.
Burgoyne balanced himself on the weather stanchion-rails. There wasno chance of the pirates recognizing the clean-shaven man as beingone of the officers of the _Donibristle_.
Waving the two hand-flags Alwyn spelt out the following message:"H.M.A.S. _Titania_. We are escorting submarine flotilla carrying outquarterly torpedo exercise. Please keep clear. Other vessels of thesquadron are also exercising in vicinity. Caution necessaryespecially at night."
Ramon Porfirio swallowed the fable. The word "submarine" scared himstiff, and he had not the faintest desire to run up against any ofthe powerful cruisers of the Royal Australian Navy.
Thrice the Japanese Ensign was dipped on board the _Malfilio_, acompliment that Swayne reluctantly returned. Then turning eightpoints to starboard the pirate cruiser made off at full speed.
"Burgoyne, dear old thing!" exclaimed Swayne exuberantly, "you'vemore than earned your passage. But for you we should have beenproperly in the _consommé_. Well, I hope I've seen the last of thatblighter."
"I won't reciprocate your wish," rejoined Alwyn. "In fact I ratherwant to meet her again on a strictly business footing. I think we cannow tell Miss Vivian that she is at liberty to come on deck."
Hilda was delighted to learn that another serious danger had beenaverted.
"How did you manage it?" she asked.
"Better inquire of this merchant, Miss Vivian," replied Swayneindicating Burgoyne, who turned a dusky red and shuffled his feet.
"The _Malfilio_ sheered off. That's the long and short of it, MissVivian," he replied gruffly, in a vain attempt to deprecate his shareof the affair.
The rest of the run down to Sydney passed almost without incident.Fine weather favoured the _Titania_ until she made her landfall atMoreton Island, off the extreme south-east corner of Queensland. Fromthere right down to Sydney she bore the brunt of a stiff easterlygale, and all hands were glad when the little craft passed betweenThe Heads into the land-locked Port Jackson.
"Now we are in civilization once more, Miss Vivian," remarkedBurgoyne, as the _Titania_ approached the wharf where she was to beberthed. "You have no friends in Sydney, I suppose?"
Hilda shook her head.
"Then," continued Alwyn briskly, "you are still under my charge. Imust be responsible for you until I hand you over to your father. Asa matter of fact I've an uncle and aunt living at Balmain, just overthere, and they'll make you welcome."
The girl had resumed feminine attire for the first time on board whenthe _Titania_ "made her number" to the Outer North Head Lighthouse.For several days she had been most industrious, spending hours in hercabin with a sewing-machine for company. The result of her labourswas a neat, well-fitting coat and skirt of plain workmanship and ashady hat to match.
"You seem to take your guardianship for granted, Mr. Burgoyne," sheremarked with mock severity, although in her heart she admired themasterful way in which he had gone about things.
"Precisely," he rejoined. "Having had the responsibility of lookingafter you for so long, I am not going to throw up my trusteeship atthis juncture, Miss Vivian. I mean to see this business through, anduntil I can report to Captain Blair and Colonel Vivian that I havedone my duty you must consider yourself as--as--what shall I say?--apiece of merchandise of great value. You understand?"
"Yes," replied the girl. "We'll leave it at that, Mr. Burgoyne."
As soon as the _Titania_ was moored. Burgoyne and Mostyn took Hildaashore after she had said farewell to the good-natured Swayne,Fontayne, and O'Loghlin. Mr. and Mrs. Dalrymple Burgoyne readilyconsented to have Miss Vivian with them until the Colonel came toclaim her, and this arrangement being satisfactorily transacted,Alwyn and Peter bade Hilda good-bye promising, if possible, to beback within a month or six weeks.
"Now, old son," remarked Burgoyne, as the two officers made their wayback to the _Titania_, "we've business to attend to. You and I musttry and wangle a place in the operations against our friend Porfirio.It'll take some doing. Pukka naval officers don't take kindly t
ooutsiders when there's a job on. They'll probably try and get us togive all the information we can, and then tell us to stop still andbe good boys while they go out and mop up the pirates. I rather fancySwayne and the others want a look-in, too."
That was precisely what the part-owners of the _Titania_ wanted,although they were not sanguine about it. Finally it was decided thatthe five should go in a body to the Senior Naval Officer, report thefact that the _Donibristle_, _Kittiwake_, and _Alvarado_ were notlost at sea but were captured by pirates, and request that the fiveex-officers be employed during the operations necessary for thedestruction of the pirates.
That same afternoon they secured an interview with the Senior NavalOfficer. The Admiral heard Burgoyne's startling statement without asign that betrayed his surprise. In his mind he was sceptical. He hada suspicion that his visitors were skylarking young Australians"trying to pull his leg". Neither Alwyn nor Peter could producedocumentary evidence proving what they claimed to be--officers of theMercantile Marine belonging to the lost S.S. _Donibristle_.
Spreading out a chart of the North Pacific the Admiral questionedBurgoyne at some length. Alwyn's answers, prompt and to the point,carried conviction, and the naval officer had to admit that theexistence and deeds of Ramon Porfirio formed one of the mostsurprising pieces of information that he had heard in the wholecourse of his career.
When Burgoyne came to that part of the story in which a vesselarrived off the island and displayed her searchlights the Admiralinquired:
"How long ago was that?"
Alwyn told him. The Admiral rang a bell and one of the officers onhis staff appeared.
"Bring me the docket containing the report of Captain Consett, of theU.S.S. _Yosemite_, please," he said.
In a few minutes the document was forthcoming. The time given byBurgoyne and the Captain of the American cruiser exactly tallied,while there was a further similarity between the description of theisland as recorded by the written reports and by Burgoyne, exceptthat the former had not discovered the existence of life on theisland.
"There's one thing," remarked the Admiral, "we have the exactposition of this island. You say it is fortified? Can you let me havea rough plan of the anchorage, the approaches, and the batteries?"
Burgoyne complied. The Admiral looked at the drawing carefully andcritically.
"You're a bit of a cartographer, I see," he remarked. "Where did youlearn that?"
"At Osborne and Dartmouth, sir," replied Alwyn. "I was one of the'redundant' officers, withdrawing with a gratuity in 1920. Since thenI have been in the Mercantile Marine."
Three hours passed before the deputation withdrew. Its members werein high feather. The Admiral had given his word that the five shouldbe temporarily engaged for special duties with the Australiansquadron ordered to the North Pacific.
At 8 p.m. orders were issued for two light cruisers, a seaplanecarrier, and three destroyers to proceed under sealed orders at noonon the following day.