Chapter 10 No.10

The Lagoon

Almost in an instant Denbigh decided how to act. He could have crept along the alley-way and surprised the sentry; but stunning the man would be of little use. Nor could he hope to bluff the fellow, since there was too much light to attempt to pass himself off as one of the Pelikan's officers. To retreat was impracticable, for someone, he knew, was on deck in the immediate vicinity of the companion.

Without hesitation the sub opened the door of the cabin adjoining his and entered quickly and silently. The place was in darkness. Whether it was tenanted or not he was unable to ascertain. Closing the door he stood stock-still and listened. He could hear no sound of a person breathing. For five minutes he waited, then began to grope until he found the edge of one of the bunks. The sleeping-place was empty. There were not even blankets and bedding. This looked promising.

He continued his exploration, testing the remaining bunks in turn, until he was able to come to the happy decision that by sheer good luck he had lighted upon an empty cabin.

The glass scuttle in the port-hole was closed, but there was no dead-light in position over the opening. In that case it would be too risky to switch on the light, until he had taken due precautions.

The dead-light squeaked shrilly on its hinges as he drew it to. He wondered whether the watch on deck heard the sound. He waited again. There were many footsteps descending the companion. He could detect von Langer's guttural tones, discussing some matter with one of the other officers.

"Dash it all!" ejaculated Denbigh, a cold perspiration standing out on his forehead. "What if I'm in that fellow's cabin?"

The men stopped outside the cabin. They were evidently indulging in horse-play, for once a heavy body struck the wall with a thud, followed by a chorus of boisterous laughter.

Then, to Denbigh's intense relief, the officers went along the passage. Once again he had been lucky.

Reassured he switched on the light. The cabin was bare of furniture. In one corner lay a pile of books and a couple of sea-stained portmanteaux. Hanging from a coat-hook was an officer's sword-belt. It was mildewed; the stitching of the holster had burst, the buckle was green with verdigris. Attached to the belt was a small, circular leather case secured by a strap.

Denbigh handled it gingerly. There was something hard inside. Curiosity prompted him to unbuckle the strap and open the case. Within was a pocket-compass. What was more, it was a spirit one and seemingly in good order. Without compunction the sub abstracted the compass and slipped it into his pocket.

As he did so he was startled to hear a deep groan. It seemed to sound close to his ear. He wheeled abruptly and shot a glance in the direction of one of the bunks, thinking that he had made a mistake in deeming it untenanted.

There was no one there. Again the groan was repeated. This time the sound seemed to come from the adjoining cabin-the one occupied by Pat O'Hara.

A hole in the bulkhead attracted Denbigh's notice. It was the aperture drilled by the Germans when they made their ineffectual attempt to chloroform the three British officers.

Through it Denbigh could see but a very small portion of the next cabin, but sufficient to observe O'Hara lying on his back in his bunk. He was writhing and groaning. His eyes were wide open and rolling in a horrifying manner.

Outside all was quiet once more.

"I say, old man," whispered Denbigh. "What's wrong?"

At the sound of his voice O'Hara raised himself. He tried to speak, but could not. With an effort he rolled out of his bunk and stood clinging to the edge for support.

"Open the door," said Denbigh peremptorily. "I cannot get in."

"If he's not able to it's the last straw," he soliloquized. "I'll have to give myself up and get assistance."

With a great effort the Irishman lurched across the floor and removed the chair which had been wedged against the lock. Then, unable to regain his bunk, he pitched inertly upon his face.

Denbigh waited no longer. He darted into the alley-way, not even waiting to see if everything were clear. The door opened easily. He entered, and lifting O'Hara as easily as a child placed him on his bunk.

"Felt jolly rotten almost as soon as you cleared out," muttered the Irishman. "Sorry, but I couldn't help it."

"I don't suppose you could," replied Denbigh, for O'Hara's regret was genuine. "I'll ring for assistance."

He touched the electric bell. Then, and only then, he remembered that he had to replace a portion of the lock. Grasping the screw-driver he set to work, and had just driven home the last screw when the locked turned, and a petty officer entered.

The man hurried off for the ship's surgeon. It was nearly a quarter of an hour before the doctor arrived. He came prepared to deal with a trifling case, but when he saw the Irishman he looked grave.

Without expressing his opinion the surgeon went out. Nor did he again put in an appearance. He sent, however, some quinine and written directions as to treatment.

For the rest of the night Denbigh sat up with his comrade. As day broke O'Hara seemed easier. The internal pains passed off. His temperature fell. He was able to talk rationally. By noon he was practically well again. The attack had been sharp and rapid, but once over it seemed to leave no ill-effects.

Without being sighted by any of the British patrol vessels the Pelikan and her prize arrived off the entrance to the Mohoro River. Here the two ships slowed down until there was sufficient water for them to cross the outer bar.

During the interval Denbigh and O'Hara were peremptorily ordered to leave the Pelikan and take up their quarters on the Myra, the reason being that von Riesser was terribly afraid of illness, and in spite of the doctor's assurances he had a firm belief that O'Hara was suffering from yellow fever, malaria, black-water fever, and every tropical disease under the sun.

"Let him jolly well think so," said the Irishman joyfully. "I feel as fit as a fiddle now; and I'm not sorry for the change."

All the same O'Hara acted the invalid to perfection as he was rowed from the raider to her prize. Denbigh accompanied him, taking good care to bring all their scanty personal property that they had been permitted to save from the Nichi Maru, excepting the gold that von Riesser had ordered to be confiscated.

The Myra was in charge of Unter-leutnant Kaspar Klick and fifteen men. There were also the skipper, officers, and crew of the tramp, numbering thirty-two persons. The officers were given a fair amount of liberty, but the men were kept under hatches, to their no small discomfort in the tropical heat.

"Sorry I'm not able to make your acquaintance under more favourable auspices," was the greeting of Captain Pennington, the master of the captured Myra, when the two subs introduced themselves. "But I hope before many hours that we will be set at liberty."

"We've been hoping that for weeks," said Denbigh. "The luck those fellows get is astonishing."

"So I should imagine," agreed Captain Pennington. "I learnt at Cape Town that the Pelikan was given up as lost, as some wreckage and one of her boats were picked up in the South Atlantic. That is why our cruisers relaxed their patrol, and were ordered to rendezvous at Zanzibar. There'll be a dozen or more on their way up."

"And any monitors?" asked O'Hara.

"Four, as far as I know," replied the Myra's skipper. "One was detained for repairs at Simon's Bay. The others must be at Zanzibar by this time. They will be invaluable for work inside the coral reefs."

"And the Pelikan-or Zwaan, as we are accustomed to call her-hopes to ascend the Mohoro River. Her draught is about twenty-two feet, and she may be able to lighten to eighteen."

"She won't do it," declared Pennington decisively. "It will be as much as she can manage to cross the outer bar. She'll be nabbed before she does that."

"When's high water?" enquired Denbigh.

"Let me see. New moon's on Friday. To-day's Saturday. High water, full and change, is at 4 p.m. I take it that it's the top of the tide to-day at eleven or thereabouts. They'll have to be pretty sharp about it to arrive off the entrance to the lagoon by that time."

As a matter of fact von Riesser signalled for the prize to steam full speed ahead, the Pelikan following at four cables' lengths astern. By 8.30 the Myra slowed down off the entrance to the Mohoro River.

There was a considerable amount of mist about, for the land breeze had not commenced to make its influence felt.

All that could be seen was a long, irregular line of coral reefs against which the ground-swell broke with a sullen roar into masses of milk-white foam. There were nearly a dozen visible gaps in the reef, the largest, bearing directly ahead, being marked by a couple of coco-nut palms.

At this point an island was in course of formation, there being a few feet of soil accumulated upon the coral. These trees marked the entrance to the lagoon, into which the Mohoro River made its way by means of three separate estuaries.

The Germans left nothing to chance. Way was taken off both vessels. A boat was manned and lowered from the Pelikan and rowed towards the entrance, soundings being taken methodically and frequently.

Having found the deepest water the officers in the boat signalled to the Myra, and at half speed the captured tramp crept towards the narrow passage.

Between the foam-swept barriers she made her way, until she lay quietly upon the peaceful waters of the lagoon.

The Pelikan prepared to follow.

"Ten to one she'll bump," exclaimed Captain Pennington. "There you are! I said so," he added, as the raider touched the bottom with a dull grinding sound. Still she carried way. Scraping along for nearly her own length she slid into deep water.

"Hope she's stove in her bottom," said O'Hara. "See, they're using her bilge pumps."

A signal was hoisted on the raider. What it meant the British officers were unable to say, but it was evident from the expression of the face of Unter-leutnant Klick that the damage to the Pelikan was but slight.

By this time the mist was rising. The mainland could now be discerned, low-lying ground densely covered with mangroves and backed by rugged hills at a distance of about ten miles from the coast.

The lagoon was quite three miles in breadth and extended in a northerly direction beyond the range of vision. Southward it gradually converged towards the coast, apparently joining it at a distance of five miles from where the ships lay.

"An anchorage big enough to take the whole of the British Navy," declared Denbigh. "It's the bar that spoils the place, apart from the pestilential swamps. Do you see that peculiar isolated tree? It's a casuarina. It marks the principal entrance to the Mohoro-or did when I was here last, but these African rivers have a peculiar knack of altering their course entirely in a night."

"I suppose we are going straight up," remarked O'Hara. "There's depth enough for us."

"Goodness knows," replied his chum. "At all events the Pelikan can't."

Apparently the Germans had a good knowledge of the lagoon, for boldly closing with the land, the Pelikan dropped anchor within three hundred yards of the highest part of the shore, where a cliff rose abruptly to the height of thirty or forty feet. On the summit the ground shelved gently. There were several native huts to be seen in the clearing between the mangroves, while farther back was a galvanized-iron shed with a whitewashed roof.

Acting under von Riesser's instructions the Myra's anchor was let go, the tramp bringing up at a cable's length from her captor, and so close to the shore that when she swung her stern was within forty yards of the cliff. The water here was ten fathoms deep, the shore being steep-to, but in spite of the depth the bottom could be clearly seen.

"Suppose you vant to go 'shore, hein?" asked Unter-leutnant Klick. "No tricks. Plenty of shark about."

The German was right. Already the surface of the lagoon in the vicinity of the two ships was furrowed with diverging lines of ripples as the black dorsal fins of numerous tigers of the deep cleft the water.

"No, I don't think I want to bathe, lieutenant," remarked Captain Pennington. "It hardly looks tempting."

Kaspar Klick laughed boisterously.

"You see even der shark is der ally of Zhermany," he said.

"The information does not astonish me one little bit," rejoined the master of the Myra.

"Vot you mean?" demanded the under-leutnant, instinctively guessing that he had made a verbal blunder.

At that moment, when the German was beginning to exhibit signs of anger, another signal was made from the Pelikan, ordering the Myra to ship as much additional cargo from her captor as she could carry.

Until sunset the work progressed. Under threats from their captors the British crew were turned up from below and compelled to assist in handing and stowing the gear, for it was von Riesser's intention to lighten his vessel as much as possible, so as to attempt the inner bar at least a couple of days before the new moon.

Night put an end to the day's work, for not a light that could be visible from seaward was shown.

The two subs slept badly. Their cabin accommodation was indifferent compared with that on board the Pelikan, for Unter-leutnant Klick had appropriated the skipper's quarters, and Pennington and his chief engineer were obliged to share the small space that had been the mate's cabin, while that officer was told to occupy the same cabin in which Denbigh and O'Hara were placed.

They lacked the ventilating fan and the liberal air space. The cabin was low and stuffy. It had no direct communication with the outside air, as it opened into the state-room, where in normal times the Myra's officers used to have their meals. At present that limited space was still further restricted by the huge cases of military stores removed from the Pelikan. These had been struck down the hatchway and carried aft, where they remained under the charge of an armed sentry.

"Those fellows think they've got us safely under lock and key," said the mate, a burly North-countryman of the name of Armstrong. "They don't know that each officer of this hooker has a duplicate key to his cabin. I took jolly good care to keep mine, and I know where to put my hand on the key to this one. To-morrow, now I know how we're berthed, I'll get that key."

At daybreak the work of transhipping the cargo was proceeded with before the miasmic mists that hid the shore had dispersed. Two boats were dispatched from the Pelikan to the shore and returned laden with tops of coco-nut trees. Before noon the foliage was stowed below out of sight.

Just before high water the Myra, being loaded far below her Plimsoll mark, prepared to weigh and ascend the river. Even in her deeply laden condition she drew a good nine feet less than the Pelikan, and could negotiate the bar without much risk.

The cable was almost "up and down" and the anchor on the point of "breaking-out" when a warning shout came from one of the look-out men on the Pelikan. A bugle call for "General Quarters" followed in quick succession.

"Hulloa, that's great!" ejaculated Denbigh excitedly. He pointed in the direction of the passage through the reef. Heading for it was a small gunboat. Although the distance was too great for the British officers on the Myra to distinguish her ensign they had no doubts as to her nationality.

"She's one of our gunboats," announced O'Hara.

His assertion was confirmed by a flash, followed by a sharp bark as the Pelikan, unmasking her guns, opened fire upon the approaching vessel.