Part 16 (2/2)

By this time they had observed the _Calder's_ approach; but, content that they had been seen, the exhausted men engaged in no demonstration of welcome. They sat listlessly, with their salt-rimmed eyes fixed upon their rescuers.

At a great risk of crus.h.i.+ng the men in the water, the destroyer closed.

The ”Carley” was secured and brought alongside, and the work of transferring the survivors commenced. Without a.s.sistance the majority would never have been able to gain the _Calder's_ deck, so pitiful was their condition owing to a night's exposure to the cold.

They were British seamen, but Sefton forbore to question them until they had received attention from the hard-worked Dr. Stirling, and been supplied with food and drink from the already sadly-depleted stores.

When the men had recovered sufficiently to relate their adventures, they told a typical story of British pluck and heroism. They were part of the crew of the destroyer _Velocity_, and had taken part in a night attack upon von Hipper's squadron.

In the midst of the melee a hostile light cruiser, tearing at 27 knots, rammed the _Velocity_, cutting her completely in twain just abaft the after engine-room bulkhead. Swallowed up in the darkness, the stern portion of the destroyer floated for nearly ten minutes before it foundered. Of what happened to the remaining and larger part of the vessel the survivors had no definite knowledge, although some were under the impression that it was towed away under fire by another destroyer.

Left with sufficient time to cut away a ”Carley”, the remnant of the _Velocity's_ crew found themselves adrift, with the still engaging vessels steaming farther and farther away.

Without food and almost dest.i.tute of clothing, for in antic.i.p.ation of a swim the men had taken off the remainder of their already scanty ”fighting-kit”, their position was a precarious one. The rising seas threatened to sweep them from the over-crowded raft, while the bitterly cold night air numbed their limbs. Yet, with the characteristic light-heartedness of the British tar, the men pa.s.sed the time in singing rousing choruses, even the wounded joining in.

At daybreak they were pretty well exhausted. No vessel was in sight.

They were without food and water, and unable to take any steps to propel their unwieldy, heavily-laden raft in any direction.

Presently a large German battle-cruiser loomed through the mist. The Huns must have had a bad attack of nerves, for, contrary to all the dictates of humanity, they let fly a dozen quick-firers at the raft.

Possibly they mistook the low-lying object for a submarine. Fortunately the sh.e.l.ls flew wide.

Then, to the surprise of the remnant of the )Velocity's* crew, the German s.h.i.+p suddenly heaved her bows clear of the water and disappeared in a great smother of foam and a cloud of smoke.

A rousing cheer--it is wonderful how much sound men can give vent to even when almost dead through exhaustion--hailed this unexpected deliverance from one of many perils, and the seamen settled themselves to resume their prolonged discomforts, buoyed up by the unshaken hope that a British vessel would bear down to their a.s.sistance.

It was indeed remarkable how quickly most of the _Velocity's_ men regained their spirits after being received on board the _Calder_.

One, in particular, was displaying acute anxiety as to the condition of a bundle of one-pound notes, which, sodden with sea-water, he had carefully removed from the pouch of his solitary garment--a body-belt.

Amidst a fire of good-natured chaff, the man spread his precious belongings out to dry--an almost impossible task owing to the showers of spray--until, taken compa.s.sion upon by a sympathetic stoker, he went below to the stokehold and successfully completed the delicate operation.

Another survivor stuck gamely to a wooden tobacco-box. His messmates knew the secret, but, when questioned by the _Calder's_ men, he cautiously opened the lid, displaying a couple of white rats. Before going into action, the man, having doubts as to the safety of his pets in the fo'c'sle, had stealthily removed them aft, placing the box in the officers' pantry. When the _Velocity_ was rammed he did not forget his dumb friends. At the risk of his life, he went below and secured the box. Throughout the long night he kept the animals dry, only surrendering them to his chums when his turn came to leap overboard and lighten the already overcrowded life-buoy.

The rest of the day pa.s.sed almost without incident. Food was running short, for, in spite of the sadly depleted number of the _Calder's_ crew, there was barely another day's provisions left on board that had not been spoiled by fire and water. In addition, the augmentation of the s.h.i.+p's company by the rescued crew made the shortage still more acute.

Just as night was coming on a petty officer approached Sefton and saluted.

”For'ard bulkhead's giving, sir,” he reported, as coolly as if he were announcing a most trivial occurrence. ”There's four feet of water in the for'ard stokehold.”

The safety of the _Calder_ and her crew depended upon that transverse wall of steel. Once this bulkhead yielded to the terrific pressure of water, no human ingenuity and resource could save the battered destroyer from plunging to the bed of the North Sea.

CHAPTER XV--A Day of Suspense

”Confound the wretched thing, Sefton!” exclaimed Major-General Crosthwaite explosively.

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