Part 10 (2/2)

There were two great s.h.i.+ps abreast of each other, and they were steaming with so great a pressure of steam that the dark green water was cleaved into two huge waves of foam before their bows; and the spray ran right over their fo'castles and fell in tons upon their decks.

The more distant of the two s.h.i.+ps was long in shape and dark in colour; she had four masts upon which topsails and staysails were set, and two funnels painted white, but marked with the anchor which clearly set her down to be one of the famous Black Anchor fleet. My powerful spygla.s.s gave me a full view of her decks, which I saw to be dark with the figures of pa.s.sengers and crew all crowding to the port side, wherefrom the other s.h.i.+p was approaching her.

Yet was it this other s.h.i.+p which drew our gaze rather than the great steamer which seemed to be pursued. Almost of the same length as the pa.s.senger steamer, which she now approached obliquely, she rode the long swell with perfect grace, and many of her deck-houses and part of her prow shone with the brightness of pure gold. Full the sun fell upon her in a sheen of s.h.i.+mmering splendour, throwing great reflected lights which dazzled the eye so that it could scarce hold any continued gaze upon her. And, indeed, every ornament on her seemed to be made of the precious metal, now glowing to exceeding brilliance in the full power of the sunlight.

She was a very big s.h.i.+p, as I have said, and she had all the shape of a s.h.i.+p of war, while the turrets fore and aft of her capacious funnel showed the muzzles of two big guns. I could see by my gla.s.s a whole wealth of armament in the foretop of her short mast forward; and high points in her fo'castle marked the spot where many other machine guns were ready for action. At her towering and lofty prow there was indicated clearly the curve of the ram which now ploughed the dark water and curdled it into the fountains of foam which fell upon her decks; while amids.h.i.+ps, the outline of a conning-tower showed more clearly for what aggressive purpose she had been designed. There was at this spot, too, a great deck erection, with a gallery and a bridge for navigation; but no men showed upon the platform, and, for the matter of that, no soul trod her decks, so far as our observation went. Yet her speed was such as I do not believe any s.h.i.+p achieved before. I have spent many years upon the sea; have crossed the Atlantic in some of the most speedy of those cruisers which are the just pride of a later-day s.h.i.+pbuilding art; I have raced in torpedo-boats over known miles; but of this I have no measure of doubt, that the speed of which that extraordinary vessel then proved herself capable was such as no other that ever swam could for one moment cope with. Now rising majestically on the long roll of the swell, now falling into the concave of the sea, she rushed onward towards the steamer she was evidently pursuing as though driven by all the furies of the deep.

As we watched her, held rooted to our places as men who are looking upon some strange and uncanny picture, the gun in her foremost turret belched out flame and smoke, and we observed the rise and fall of a sh.e.l.l, which cut the water a cable's length ahead of the straining steamer and sank hissing beneath the sea. At that moment she ran up a flag upon her signal mast, and, as I read it with my gla.s.s, I saw that it was the flag of the Chilian Republic.

Now, indeed, the pursuit became so engrossing that my own men began to sing out, and this reminded me that every soul aboard the _Celsis_ had watched with me when I first set eyes on the nameless s.h.i.+p. I turned to our skipper, who stood near on the hurricane deck, and saw that he in turn was looking hard at me. Roderick had come up from his cabin, but rested at the top of the companion ladder in so dazed a mood that no speech came from him. The first officer had scarce his wits about him to steer our own course, and the whole of the hands forward in a little group upon the fo'castle now called out their views, then turned to ask what it meant.

It was a matter of satisfaction to me that Mary still slept, and I looked for the appearance of Paolo with some question. But he remained below through it all. And at that I wondered more.

The skipper was the first to speak.

”That s.h.i.+p yonder,” said he, jerking his thumb to starboard; ”is it any business of ours?”

”None that I know of,” I replied; ”but it's a mighty fine sight, skipper, don't you think, a Chilian wars.h.i.+p running after a liner in broad daylight? What's your opinion?”

He shrugged his shoulders disdainfully, and took another sight through his gla.s.s. Then he answered me--

”It's a fine sight enough, G.o.d knows, but I would give half I'm worth to be a hundred miles away from it”; and here he suddenly wheeled, and, facing me roughly, he asked--

”Do you want me to get this boat into port again?”

”Of course. Is there any great need to answer a question like that?”

”At the moment, yes; for, with your pleasure, I'm going to put up the helm and sheer off. I'm not a man that loves fighting myself, and, with a s.h.i.+p and crew to look after, I've no business in any affair of that sort; but it's for you to say.”

Before I could answer him, Roderick moved from his place and came up on the bridge where we stood.

”Hold on a bit, skipper,” he cried, ”as we are, if you please; why, man, it's a sight I wouldn't miss for a fortune.”

The skipper searched him with his eyes with a keen, lasting gaze, that implied his doubt of the pair of us. His voice had a fine ring of sarcasm in it when he replied after the silence; but all he said was, ”It's your affair,” and then turned to the first officer.

”Don't you think he was right?” I asked Roderick in a low voice, when the chief's back was turned, but he whispered again--

”Not yet--we must see more of it; and they're too much occupied to hunt after us. We'll be away long before those two have settled accounts; and, look now, I can see a man on the bridge of the yellow s.h.i.+p. Do you mark him?”

I had my gla.s.s to my eye in a moment, and the light was so full upon the vessel, which must then have been a mile and a half away from us, that I could prove his words; for, sure enough, there was now someone moving upon the bridge, and, as I fixed my powerful lens, I thought that I could recognise the shape of a man; but I would not speak my mind to Roderick until I had a nearer view.

”You are right,” I answered; ”but what sort of a man I will tell you presently. Did you ever see anything like the pace that big s.h.i.+p is showing? She must be moving at twenty-five knots.”

”Yes, it's amazing; and what's more, there isn't a show of smoke at her funnel.”

This was true, but I had not noticed it. Throughout the strange scene we saw, this vessel of mystery never gave one sign that men worked at her furnaces below. Neither steam nor smoke came from her, no evidence, even the most trifling, of that terrible power which was then driving her through the seas at such a fearful speed.

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