Part 17 (1/2)

And therewith the little fellow and his staff turned away and proceeded to overhaul the rest of the patients.

The nurse whom I had at first seen upon recovering consciousness appeared to have been specially told off to look after me, for upon the departure of the staff she came and knelt by my bedside, as is their fas.h.i.+on, instead of sitting.

She was just within the range of my vision, as I lay, and I suppose I must have stared at her pretty intently for some time, for presently I saw her colour rising, which at once brought me to my bearings.

Thinking to put her at her ease, I said to her:

”Nurse, what is your name?”

She coloured still more, and after regarding me steadfastly for a moment, answered:

”My contemptible and insignificant name, ill.u.s.trious Captain, is Peach-blossom.”

”Peach-blossom!” I repeated. ”And a very appropriate name, too, by Jove! See here, Peach-blossom. The Chief Surgeon seems to have forgotten that I said I was thirsty. Do you think you could find me something to drink? Two or three tumblers of cold water, now, eh? I have an idea that they would taste particularly good.”

”I will speak to the Chief, n.o.ble Captain, and if he consents I will honourably let you have it,” she replied.

The Chief evidently consented, and a few minutes later I was quenching my thirst with the most delicious draught I had ever tasted. It was only pure, cold water, but as I slowly imbibed it I told myself that at last I really understood the full meaning of the term, ”nectar.”

Well, there is no need for me to dwell at length upon my sojourn in the hospital. I was given to understand that I was making a splendid recovery, yet although I was brought back to the Elliot Islands and admitted to the hospital on the morning of 20th June, it was not until nearly three weeks had pa.s.sed that I was permitted to receive visitors, the first of whom was that fine fellow Ito, to whom I owed my life.

I shall not readily forget the little chap's delight when, upon entering the ward, he discovered me sitting up in bed, reading, propped up by cus.h.i.+ons and a bed-rest. He sprang forward, his eyes fairly snapping with pleasure and excitement, and seizing my welcoming hand, shook it with such energy that good little Peach-Blossom felt constrained to spring hastily to her feet and rescue me from his too strenuous demonstrations of joy. At her vigorous remonstrances, however, he dropped my hand as though it had burnt him and, sinking into a chair by my bedside, proceeded to apologise with almost abject contrition, and would not be comforted until I had a.s.sured him, not quite truthfully, I am afraid, that he had not hurt me. Then, in answer to my questions, he proceeded to tell me what he knew of the matter.

It appeared that at the moment when the explosion occurred, the _Akatsuki_ was so close to the _Kasanumi_ that the two craft were all but touching each other, although, from the _Kasanumi's_ bridge, where I was then standing, I could not see the other destroyer. It also appeared that at the moment when I ordered the course of the _Kasanumi_ to be altered, the _Akatsuki_ was close astern of us, and broad on our port quarter, the consequence being that the s.h.i.+fting of our helm carried us so close athwart her bows that she all but touched us when crossing our stern. It was at this moment that the explosion occurred; and Ito, instantly divining what had happened, at once manoeuvred his craft in such a fas.h.i.+on as to lay her alongside the fast-sinking _Kasanumi_, so that the crew of the latter were able to transfer themselves directly from one s.h.i.+p to the other without using boats.

Meanwhile, the helmsman and signalmen on the _Kasanumi's_ bridge had seen me tossed over the rail by the force of the explosion, and, although themselves severely shaken, had instantly flung themselves down upon the turtle-back, where they found me lying bleeding and insensible.

To pick me up and carry me aft was the next thing to be done, for they realised at once that their own s.h.i.+p was sinking, and they did it, transferring my senseless body to the _Akatsuki_ the moment that she got alongside. I was at once taken below and temporarily patched-up, while the crew of the _Kasanumi_ were being transferred, together with such of their belongings as they were able to save, my cabin steward with the utmost devotion concentrating all his efforts upon saving the most valuable of my belongings, regardless of the loss of his own.

It was at first thought that possibly the _Kasanumi_ might be saved, and Ito did his utmost in that direction, working for more than half an hour upon the stricken craft. But the damage was too serious, and despite collision mats and pumps the craft continued to settle until at length, recognising that all efforts were useless, he ordered all hands aboard his own s.h.i.+p, and cast off, the _Kasanumi_ foundering almost before the _Akatsuki_ could back off clear of her.

Ito made no attempt to attack the s.h.i.+ps in Port Arthur roads single-handed, but at once shaped a course for the Elliot Islands, running clear of the fog half an hour later. Arrived at our base, he lost no time in having me conveyed ash.o.r.e to the hospital, where, as already recorded, I lay for a week in a state of alternating delirium and coma before I recovered my senses.

The doctors a.s.sured me that I was making a splendid recovery; yet to myself my progress appeared to be horribly slow, and it was certainly not accelerated by the knowledge that while I was lying there helpless, big events were happening which had all the appearance of leading up to still bigger events in the near future. For instance, there was the second sortie of the Russian squadron from Vladivostock, in the middle of June, lasting over a fortnight, during which it inflicted great loss and damage upon the j.a.panese. It was a most risky thing to do, and must certainly have resulted in disaster had not poor, unhappy Admiral Kamimura been morally chained down, and prevented from taking effective measures against the raiders, by a stringent order that he was to hold the Strait of Korea at all costs. Yet, such is human inconsistency, notwithstanding the above stringent order, which bound the unfortunate admiral hand and foot, and effectually precluded his pursuit of the raiding s.h.i.+ps, he was so severely blamed by ”the man in the street” for the damage done that a mob actually attacked and wrecked his house!

This, of course, was most unjust and cruel treatment of a thoroughly capable and zealous man who, hampered though he was, did all he could to bring the raiders to book, and indeed, but for a sudden change of weather at a critical moment, would probably have brought them to action and given them a severe punis.h.i.+ng.

Then, there was the abortive sortie of the Port Arthur fleet, three days after the destruction of the _Kasanumi_. True, the s.h.i.+ps were only at sea for about twenty-four hours, and did nothing, narrowly escaping capture only by Togo's over-eagerness to engage them, thus discovering himself to the Russians in time to allow the latter to make good their retreat back to Port Arthur; but, all the same, I felt that I was losing much in not being present. To me it seemed that our plucky little Admiral had missed a splendid chance over this last event; for we did the enemy no perceptible damage, and only succeeded in driving him back to his lair. As a matter of fact the only injury sustained by the Russians was that which happened to the battles.h.i.+p _Sevastopol_, which struck one of our mines as she was returning to Port Arthur anchorage, and was only got into the harbour with the utmost difficulty.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

UNEXPECTED PROMOTION.

Among other naval customs which the j.a.panese had copied from the British, was that of trying by court martial all officers who were so unfortunate as to lose their s.h.i.+ps; and on the day when I first received permission from the doctors to take a short turn in the open air, I also received an intimation that my trial for the loss of the _Kasanumi_ would be held, a week from that date, on board the flags.h.i.+p _Mikasa_, which would then be in harbour.

Of course I was still very much of an invalid, for although the ghastly wound in my chest had so far healed that it no longer needed dressing, I was warned that even very trifling exertion might cause it to burst open again, while I had by no means recovered my former strength.

Nevertheless, on the day appointed, I made s.h.i.+ft to walk down to the beach, supported by the arm of an orderly, and, with the same a.s.sistance, to climb the flags.h.i.+p's side ladder when I arrived alongside her in the steam launch which had been sent ash.o.r.e to fetch me.

There is no need for me to describe at length the proceedings of a naval court martial; it has been admirably done by Captain Marryat; and as it was in his day, so it is to-day, in all essentials. Of course the trial was the merest formality, for there could not be the slightest shadow of doubt that the craft had been lost through collision with a mine, while under way in a dense fog, and that it was one of those incidents of war for which n.o.body but the enemy can be held responsible; and accordingly I was honourably acquitted, and my sword was returned to me amid the congratulations of the Admiral and the officers who had const.i.tuted the court.

Five days later I received a visit from Togo himself, who seemed to have conceived rather a liking for me. After making most friendly inquiries as to my health and the progress which I was making toward convalescence, he repeated his congratulations upon my acquittal by the court martial, and then asked me how much longer I thought it would be before I should again be fit for active service. I was happily able to a.s.sure him that, unless anything quite unforeseen happened, I hoped to be quite ready for duty in a fortnight, or even less if my services were urgently required, and I remember that I gave the answer with considerable eagerness, for there was a certain subtle something in the tone of the Admiral's question which somehow suggested that events of importance were in the air.

”Good!” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Togo. ”That is excellent news, my friend, for if what I hear be true, it would appear that the time is drawing near when I shall be in urgent need of all the a.s.sistance which my officers can give me. I will say no more at present--except that I hope you will take the utmost care of yourself, and get quite well again as quickly as possible--for at present my information is too vague to permit me to make a definite statement. Meanwhile,”--putting his hand into his breast pocket and producing a long, official-looking doc.u.ment--”it affords me the utmost pleasure to hand you this, which is your appointment to the command of the _Yak.u.mo_. It has been my pleasant duty to mention your name in my dispatches, in connection with many services meritoriously rendered, the latest having reference to the very valuable a.s.sistance rendered by you prior to and during the battle of Nanshan; and this appointment is the outward token of the authorities'