Part 26 (2/2)
”Wal, I reckon yer can,” he replied coolly.
”You don't seem concerned by the fact.”
”Not I, stranger. This hyer s.h.i.+p an' cargo is jest insured up to the hilt in 'The Narragut Marine a.s.surance Company'. An' since the bulk of the shareholders are Huns--wal, I guess it's 'nuff said.”
”Ach! Then I suppose I must let you go,” exclaimed the baffled German officer. ”If you fall in with any British war-vessels you might tell them that we have two Englishmen on board.”
”Maybe you'd care to let us give 'em a pa.s.sage?” hazarded the Boston skipper.
”If that had been our intention we should have done so without asking a favour,” rejoined the unter-leutnant.
”Perhaps you would care to examine the s.h.i.+p's papers?” enquired the master. His keen eyes had detected a small, swiftly moving object on the horizon--the expected patrol boat. Cap'n Hiram Goslow, although a tough Republican, was quite in sympathy with the Allies. On previous voyages he had fallen foul of the Huns, and the treatment he had received still rankled. ”Maybe you aren't quite satisfied about the 'Narragut Marine a.s.surance Company' stunt?”
For the next half-minute the fate of U99 with all on board trembled in the balance. The unterleutnant, only too pleased to have the opportunity of finding a flaw in Captain Goslow's statement, was about to accept the invitation, when a warning shout from the kapitan of the U boat brought the boarding-party scrambling on board with the utmost alacrity.
To the accompaniment of a chorus of jeers and laughter from the American crew, the submarine submerged and was lost to sight.
Although Jack Sefton and his brother were in ignorance of the precise nature of the meeting with the tramp and the imperturbable Captain Goslow, they knew by the unwonted noises and the shutting-down of the motors that something had transpired. The sudden closing of the hatchways, and the hasty dive taken, told the sub that once again the ceaseless vigilance of the British navy had been responsible for a bad quarter of an hour for the Germans.
The kapitan's boast to the effect that his prisoners would be landed at Wilhelmshaven at nine o'clock was an empty one. Wildly exciting moments, when the U boat found herself foul of a maze of steel nets, delayed her progress, until at length U99 arrived at a position forty-five miles N.N.W. of Heligoland.
Here a wireless message was received, the purport of which was not hailed with any degree of enthusiasm by the weary and almost exhausted crew. They were on the point of completing a fortnight's cruise of strenuous discomfort, physical exertion, and mental strain. Now, instead of proceeding to Wilhelmshaven for a period of recuperation, they were ordered to make for a certain rendezvous and await the submarine depot-s.h.i.+p _Kondor_.
Officers and crew knew what this meant. Heavy losses amongst the German _unterseebooten_ flotillas had necessitated the U99 being pressed into an extension of present service. She was to replenish stores and torpedoes, and to be attached to the submarine flotilla operating with the High Seas Fleet. Evidently another big movement was contemplated in the North Sea.
Something had to be done to bolster up the rapidly crumbling tissue of lies by which the German Admiralty had gulled the Teutonic world. Never in the history of naval warfare had a victorious fleet been compelled to remain inactive in its home ports beyond the period necessary for revictualling, replenis.h.i.+ng of warlike stores, and making defects good.
Nine weeks or more had elapsed since the glorious victory off Jutland, and still the Hun fleet clung tenaciously to its moorings. Even the fat-headed burghers who frequented the _bier-gartens_ of Berlin began to realize that the crus.h.i.+ng defeat of the British in the North Sea had not resulted in any increase of provisions or in the abolition of the hated food tickets.
There was a fly in the ointment. Steps had to be taken to counteract its baneful influence.
Almost in desperation, several German Dreadnoughts, accompanied by light cruisers and destroyers, emerged from the Heligoland Bight. Amongst them were the _Westfalen_ and _Na.s.sau_, sister s.h.i.+ps, whose scars received in the Jutland fight had been hurriedly patched up in the Wilhelmshaven dockyards. Escorted by several Zeppelins, the Hun fleet steamed westward--not to give battle, but to make an attempt to copy Beatty's incomparable strategy.
Night was falling when U99 made fast alongside the _Kondor_. She was not alone. In the vicinity were a dozen or more _unterseebooten_ of a similar type, awaiting wireless orders from the giant airs.h.i.+p that was scouting fifty miles or so in the direction of the sh.o.r.es of Great Britain.
”Up on deck!” ordered the petty officer in whose particular charge the two Seftons had been placed.
The sub and his brother obeyed promptly. Had they lingered, their movements would have been accelerated by a kick from the Hun's heavy sea-boot.
The transformation from the artificially-lighted compartment to the rapidly gathering night made it impossible for Sefton to take in his surroundings until his eyes grew accustomed to the gloom. At first he was under the impression that the submarine was berthed in harbour, until he discerned the towering outlines of the sea-going depot-s.h.i.+p and the absence of wharves and buildings.
Far away to the eastward the horizon was streaked with the rapidly-moving search-lights of a large fleet. The skyward-directed rays were a direct challenge to Beatty's squadrons. In unlike conditions to those of the Jutland battle, the Huns made no attempt to steal off under cover of darkness. They had a set purpose in exposing their position to the British fleet.
”By Jove!” exclaimed Sefton. ”The Huns are out again. What's the game this time?”
He glanced westward, half expecting to see the misty outlines of the Grand Fleet silhouetted against the last faint streak of crimson on the horizon, but the sky-line was unbroken.
”Hurry, pigs of Englishmen!” ordered the German petty officer, indicating a ”Jacob's ladder” that hung from the side of the _Kondor_.
”We have had enough of you. Soon you will see----” He stopped abruptly, fearing that his words might be overheard by the grim kapitan of the submarine.
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