The Third Officer: A Present-day Pirate Story

"II. Throughout these operations no trace has been found of the Alvarado, Kittiwake, and Donibristle.

"III. I have been constantly in touch by means of wireless with the British and Japanese warships engaged in searching for the missing ships. H.B.M.S. Adventurer has now received orders to return to Hong Kong, and H.I.J.M.S. Kanazawa has been recalled to Nagasaki. In no case have these vessels reported any signs of the above-mentioned missing ships.

* * * * * * * * * *

"VII. At midnight on the night of the 14th – 15th March, visibility being fair, wind Force 1 and sea smooth, a breaking sea was heard ahead. Knowing that I was in the vicinity of an island marked position uncertain on U.S. and British charts (Lat. 31° 10' 12" N., Long. 171° 30' 10" W.) the speed of the ship was reduced to five knots. At 12.15 a.m: course was altered eight points to port. Frequent casts gave a depth of from 49 to 30 fathoms. At 12.30 a.m. I ordered a searchlight to bear upon the island, continuing the inspection at intervals until 2.15 a.m. Deeming it prudent not to close the island during the hours of darkness I steered north by west until dawn.

"VIII. When sufficiently light I again approached the island, which is about three miles long on each of its four sides and forms a plateau fronted by cliffs averaging 200 feet in height. There is a considerable indentation on the western side, but no harbour. The closest examination by means of glasses failed to reveal any means of gaining the summit of the island, which is recognizable by a conical hill towards the center and a conspicuous group of palms on the south-eastern extremity. The island is surrounded by a continuous reef, over which the surf was breaking heavily.

"IX. In the circumstances I deemed it prudent not to send a boat ashore, as landing would be extremely hazardous if not impracticable. At intervals sound signals were made in the hope of attracting the attention of possible castaways, but there was no sign of life upon the island.

"X. At noon I caused independent observation to be made, determining the position of the island as follows: Lat N. 31° 10' 5"; Long. W. 171° 30' 15".

"XI. While regretting that the search has proved to be unsuccessful I wish to call your attention to the indefatigable zeal of the officers and men under my command, with a request that the Navy Board be informed of my recommendations set forth in paragraph V.

"I have the honor to be,

"Sir,"Your obedient Servant,"CYRUS P. CONSETT,"Captain, U.S.N."

CHAPTER XVII

The Scuttling of the "Donibristle"

On the morning following the departure of the U.S.S. Yosemite from the vicinity of the secret base the forced labour parties turned out to find the rain descending in torrents. It was the first rainy day since the arrival of the Donibristle's crew, and they viewed the climatic conditions with marked disfavour.

There was no wind. Overhead from a mirky, dark-grey sky the heavy drops were falling vertically, thudding upon the corrugated iron sheets like the beating of a hundred kettle-drums and rebounding from the puddles already formed, until as far as the eye could see – a distance of less than fifty yards – everything appeared to be a confused blurr of moisture.

"There'll be wind behind this lot," remarked Captain Blair. "Let's hope it'll blow over before Thursday."

It was his first day outside the compound. Partly owing to the desire to share the discomforts with his men and also to make himself acquainted with the harbour, he had insisted upon taking charge of the working-party told off to proceed to the beach.

Ramon Porfirio was in a hurry to complete the operations hindered by the appearance of the Yosemite, which were to result in the blocking-up of the southern approach channel by sinking the Donibristle in about eight fathoms of water between the detached ridge and the southern arm of the cliff enclosing the harbour. It was for this purpose that buoys had been laid down in order to warp the Donibristle to the position chosen for the act of scuttling.

Already the vessel's masts and derricks had been taken out of her, and the wreckage of the funnels and bridge removed. Almost everything of a portable nature likely to be of use to the pirates had been landed, until with the exception of her engines and boilers very little remained but the hull and a few fittings considered of no value for removal.

Ill-equipped for the wet weather the Donibristle's company turned out and awaited the arrival of Fernando, who invariably superintended the calling of the roll. About fifty feet away and just visible through the rain were the Kittiwake's crew, who for the last week or more had been engaged in excavating dug-outs and trenches on the cliff through which the approach-tunnel had been driven. Farther away and lost to view, the remnants of the Alvarado's men were mustering for their daily toil.

Presently the skipper of the Kittiwake, seeing Captain Blair with his men, strolled over to him.

"Mornin', Blair," said Captain Davis. "Not a nice sort of morning for you to be turning out. Feelin' fit?"

"Fairly," admitted Captain Blair. "Eh, what is it?"

For the Kittiwake's Old Man had taken the Donibristle's skipper by the arm, and was leading him away from the rest of the party.

"A word in your ear, Blair," replied Captain Davis, lowering his voice "You've got a young woman amongst your crowd, haven't you?"

"How on earth did you get to know that?" demanded the astounded skipper.

"'Taint a question of my knowing," rejoined Captain Davis. "There are others in the know also I'm just warning you, Blair; you can count on Captain Davis and the Kittiwakes to help you put up a fight if need be, although the lot of us don't stand a dog's chance."

"Thanks for the warning, Davis," replied Captain Blair grimly. "I'll act upon it."

The arrival of the half-caste overseer terminated the conversation. Captain Blair, greatly perturbed, walked slowly back to his men.

An hour later the soaked and dispirited prisoners were launching several of the boats, amongst them the lifeboat that Burgoyne had definitely in view for the projected flight from the island. It was raining so heavily that by the time the boats ran alongside the Donibristle the bottom-boards were floating, in spite of the fact that the plugs had been withdrawn and the water allowed to drain out before launching.

Wearing an almost new dark blue bridge-coat that looked suspiciously like the skipper's, Black Strogoff was sheltering under the boat-deck when the working-party arrived. With him were half a dozen pirates armed with automatic pistols.

"You there!" shouted Black Strogoff on catching sight of Captain Blair. "Come you here. Do you know what is to be done? Run out warps ahead and astern, buoy and slip the cables to move the ship round that point. You understand? Good; then do it, and tell me when the work is finished."

There was no option but to obey. Calling Burgoyne and Branscombe Captain Blair allotted them their respective posts, sending the former away in a large pulling cutter to pass the bow warp to the nearmost buoy. He also took the opportunity of conferring hurriedly with Alwyn on another matter.

In the absence of steam the work of warping out had to be carried out by hand. The cable was slipped, and, under the united efforts of the score of men walking away with the bow warp, the Donibristle moved slowly, almost reluctantly, through the rain-beaten waters of the harbour.

As the battered hulk passed within a cable's length of the pirate cruiser, Ramon Porfirio stepped to the rail of the Malfilio and shouted a curt order to the sheltering Strogoff. Apparently the command was to the effect that the work must be hurried up, for the pirate lieutenant, emerging from his retreat, gave a brief and surly reply. Then, bawling to Captain Blair to tell the men to haul away quicker, he retired to his temporary den.

"Meaning, I suppose," observed Captain Blair to Branscombe, "that the Malfilio is about to sail and that Porfirio wants the job finished before he weighs. How is that fractured steam-pipe getting on, by the by, Angus?"

"It's patched up," reported the Chief Engineer with a dry chuckle. "She'll be raising steam I've nae doot, but she'll blaw yon patch clean out when they wark up tae onything like a pressure."

Captain Blair's surmise was a correct one. Porfirio, having picked up the wireless messages exchanged between the British, American, and Japanese cruisers engaged in searching for the missing merchant vessels, was aware that they had given up hope of finding the survivors and were returning to their respective bases. He was a believer in the old adage "Men and ships rot in port ", and was loth to keep the Malfilio and her polyglot crew in harbour any longer. Inactivity not only meant no prizes; the pirates, lawless except for the iron rule of their captain, were particularly apt to get out of hand when their enthusiasm flagged by standing idle.

But before he set sail he wanted to see the Donibristle sunk in the South Approach Channel. That entrance, he considered, was a weak spot in the natural defences of the secret base, and by sealing it against the passage of all but the smaller craft he would be able to devote all his resources to the defence of the sole remaining approach. Not that Ramon Porfirio had any desire to pit the guns of the island against a squadron of warships. He hoped to be able to disappear decently long before the secret was out, leaving Henriques and Strogoff to shift for themselves. Similarly Black Strogoff was fostering a plan to get away from the island with the bulk of the booty in specie, and, once clear, obtain his revenge on Porfirio by denouncing him to the British Admiralty or the U.S. Navy Board.

At length the Donibristle was warped out until her bows nearly touched the sheer face of the cliff that formed the detached screen to the anchorage. Hawsers were then led from her port quarter and starboard bow, until she swung straight up and down the Southern Approach Channel. A cable's length more and the ship arrived at the scene of her watery grave.

Captain Blair, looking much like a parent would when called upon to sacrifice a child – for the idea of scuttling his ship was hateful to him in the extreme – shouted for the boats to be recalled. The life-boat, in which Burgoyne and half a dozen men had been working, ranged alongside under the Donibristle's port quarter. Astern of the life-boat was a gig; while a couple of cutters and another gig – the latter only manned by pirates – came alongside the starboard accommodation ladder.

"We're in eight fathoms of water, Mr. Burgoyne," sang out the Old Man.

"Ay, ay, sir," replied the Third Officer.

Captain Blair turned and made his way to the spot where Black Strogoff was standing.

"We are in position," he reported gruffly.

"And about time, too," was the ungracious response. "All right, tell your men to push off."

The skipper of the Donibristle then crossed to the starboard rail, and leaning over the side ordered the men to lay off at a distance of about half a dozen boats' lengths. Then, calling to everyone of his party on board to abandon ship, he waited until the deck was clear of all but Black Strogoff and two or three of his followers, and lowering himself by a rope gained the gig on the port side.

The scuttling was quickly accomplished. In order to prevent the vessel from being raised at any future date the Kingston Valves were not employed to flood the ship, but in each of the holds and in the engine-room explosive charges had been placed in position ready to be electrically fired from the deck.

"You know what to do, Perez?" inquired Black Strogoff, addressing an olive-featured ruffian whose costume consisted of a pair of canvas trousers, a poncho made of pampas grass, and a cork lifebelt.

The man nodded. He had no great liking for the task, and was wondering what would happen to him if the charge was sufficiently powerful to blow up the decks as well as shattering the keel plates.

"You will feel only a slight shock," declared Strogoff reassuringly, but Perez noted that the lieutenant showed no inclination to remain. In point of fact Strogoff hurried down the accommodation ladder, jumped into the gig, and ordered the men to row twice the distance of the other boats from the ship before he signed to Perez to depress the firing-key.

Simultaneously with a muffled report the charges burst. Without waiting for the good ship Donibristle to sink under him the operator took a flying leap over the side, hit the water with a tremendous splash, and struck out frantically, swimming as fast as the huge cork lifebelt permitted.

The Donibristle, her keel-plates rent asunder, sank rapidly, with a slight list to port. Amidst a smother of foam caused by the escaping of the confined air, she settled on the bed of the channel, with about five or six feet of her upperworks showing on the starboard, and less than one foot clear on the port side.

Above the hiss of escaping air and the turmoil of the agitated water came the voices of a dozen men shouting at once:

"The life-boat's taken under."

The gig containing Black Strogoff appeared on the scene, just as five or six men forming the life-boat's crew were scrambling over the gunwales of the boats nearest them.

"What game of fools is this?" demanded the lieutenant angrily.

"Life-boat's sunk. Pinned down by the foot of one of the davits," announced one of the men.

"Sunk like a stone, with her sides crushed like an egg-shell," added another.

"Just about as much as we could do to get clear," declared a third. "She was gone in a brace of shakes. An' where's Mr. Burgoyne?"

"Anyone seen Mr. Burgoyne?" inquired Captain Blair loudly.

"I seed 'im in the boat, sir," declared the bowman of the lost life-boat.

"So did I, sir," volunteered another seaman. "He was a-holdin' on the yoke-lines, and was goin' to tell us to – "

"He was a blamed idiot," declared Strogoff. "What did he mean by hanging on alongside when the ship was sinking?"

"She went that sudden-like," explained the bowman.

"Didn't give us no chance no-how."

"Anyone else missing?" demanded Captain Blair.

There was a pause, then half a dozen voices replied in unison:

"Yes, sir, Minalto, the quartermaster of the port watch."

"No sign of them?"

Several of the men peered into the now transparent water, for the sand disturbed by the sinking vessel had now settled. Twenty feet below the surface, pinned down by something engaging the starboard gunwale, the life-boat could be seen with fair distinctness. She was lying on her beam ends with her bows slightly lower than her stern.

"Can't see 'em, sir," replied one of the men. "P'raps they're trapped between the boat and the side of the ship."

"You might have given us more warning," said Captain Blair addressing the taciturn lieutenant. "If you had I should not have lost a promising officer and a smart seaman."

"Imbeciles, both of them," snapped Black Strogoff. "They have themselves only to blame. It is none of my affair."

"Now I come to think on it," resumed the irresponsible bowman. "I think I saw Mr. Burgoyne mixed up wi' some gear as we dipped. An' – "

Captain Blair held up his hand to enjoin silence. Having succeeded in bluffing Black Strogoff he considered it high time for the mendacious recital to terminate. He was too good an actor to risk wrecking the piece by an excess of "gagging".

CHAPTER XVIII

Successful so Far

Snugly hidden in the almost denuded compartment known as the captain's pantry, Alwyn Burgoyne and Jasper Minalto waited breathlessly for the impending explosion.

Discussing a hurried plan of action with Captain Blair – a quick change of programme necessitated by events over which they had no control – Burgoyne had acted promptly. Taking advantage of the confusion when the order had been given to abandon ship, the Third Officer and the faithful Minalto had climbed up the side and disappeared down the companion ladder without a single member of the pirate crew having the faintest suspicion of their presence. In the meantime the men in the life-boat, hurriedly coached by Captain Blair, had done their part of the business well.

A stout block had been bent to the heel of one of the davits. Through it was led a three-inch rope, one end being made fast to the life-boat's middle thwart close up to the knees, while the other was secured by means of a clove hitch to the crown of the davit. Unless looked for the rope would easily pass muster as one of the disordered falls of the davit. The idea was that, when the Donibristle sank, the strain on the rope would capsize and swamp the life-boat, pinning her hard and fast against the submerged side of the ship, and that was what exactly did happen.

The stowaways were confronted by two great and distinct perils. The pirates engaged in making up the explosive charges were not experts. They might easily err on the side of generosity when preparing the quantities, and when the explosion took place the whole ship might go up instead of down.

The second risk was that the Donibristle might sink in deeper water than the total height of her hull from keel-plates to the rail. In that case Burgoyne and Jasper Minalto would be trapped in a metal box and drowned without the ghost of a chance of saving themselves.

Yet unhesitatingly, though dubious of the result, they had taken the risk and were awaiting developments.

They could hear the plash of the oars as the boats pushed off, and the gentle grinding of the life-boat's gunwale as it rubbed against the rusty iron sides of the ship. Then came an ominous silence as Black Strogoff raised his hand and gave the signal.

The charges were fired.

Alwyn felt the floor-plates give as the whole fabric of the ship quivered under the internal impact. A waft of acrid fumes drifted into the enclosed space.

The two men exchanged glances as if to say, "Well; it's all right so far, but there's more to come."

The water was surging and hissing along the alley-way. The pantry-door, burst open by the outside pressure, was flung hard back against the bulkhead, and in an instant the two men were knee deep in water.

The level rose to their waists, and still there was no indication that the ship had settled on the bottom. The level was rising more slowly now. Without a jar the ship had touched the bed of the channel and was gradually sinking in the soft sand. Disappear she would eventually, but for the time being, perhaps for several hours, the subsidence was barely perceptible.

Then as the Donibristle listed slightly to port the level in the pantry fell a foot or eighteen inches, leaving the occupants standing nearly thigh deep in water.

Again they exchanged glances, but this time both men's faces wore a grin of satisfaction. They even chuckled softly, as they listened to the ravings of Black Strogoff and the carefully rehearsed lamentations and explanations of the boat's crew.

Half an hour later all was quiet without, save for the rattle of the rain upon the exposed portion of the deck. Black Strogoff, his assistants, and the working-parties had departed, their task accomplished; but there remained the unpromising prospect of their returning that afternoon to salve the sunken life-boat.

The downpour was a blessing in disguise. It enabled Burgoyne and his companion to talk without risk of being overheard by anyone on the cliff.

"Things'll be a bit more comfortable presently," said Minalto. "Tide'll be falling."

"Yes," agreed Alwyn. "It was half-ebb when they scuttled her. That means high-water about seven o'clock. Let's hope it will be a dark night and not too much wind. You say you know where the two buckets are stowed?"

Minalto made no reply. He was staring thoughtfully at a corner of the pantry.

"Anything wrong?" inquired Burgoyne. "You haven't got cramp, I hope?"

"No, sir," replied the man. "It's a mort too warm to give I cramp. I'm just a-thinkin', sir. See that li'l boiler? Couldn't us get 'en away an' use 'en for a water-tank?"

Burgoyne jumped at the idea. The "li'l boiler" was in reality a galvanized iron bin used for storing flour, and would hold about fifty gallons of water without much chance of its contents spilling over the top, as it was fitted with a metal lid.

"You're a gem of the first water, Jasper!" exclaimed Burgoyne enthusiastically. "Come on, let's get it adrift at once. It will be something to do."

By the aid of broken-off ends of files it was a fairly simple matter to unscrew the brass clamps. Examination of the tank showed that it was half filled with mouldy flour.

"Soon clean 'en," declared Minalto. "Then when us gets round t'other side fill 'en wi' water, and put 'en aboard the boat again."

"Hardly," demurred Burgoyne. "That tank even if only filled to within two inches of the top would weigh well over four hundredweights. No, we'll have to leave it in the life-boat and fill it up by means of the buckets. By Jove! that knocks Angus and his canvas tanks into a cocked hat. We'll clean it out now. Salt water won't hurt if we wash it with fresh later on."

The hours dragged wearily on. Both men were hungry and thirsty, for they had come unprepared for the task on which they were at present engaged. But at length the darkening gloom in the alley-way announced that night had drawn in, and the time for strenuous activity was at hand.

Glad to escape from their cramped quarters, for the rising tide was beginning to make things far more uncomfortable than before, the two men emerged from the pantry, dragging their prize after them.

It was now quite dark. The rain had ceased, but the sky was overcast. A north-easterly breeze was ruffling the waters of the lagoon. Shorewards there was nothing to denote human occupation. The cliffs of the secret base rose gaunt and forbidding against the faint loom of the sky, with no indication to show the hive of piratical industry that flourished within the limits of those unscaleable precipices.

Very cautiously Burgoyne and his companion crept towards the davit to which had been made fast the rope pinning down the life-boat. The manila had shrunk in the wet to such an extent that the clove hitch had jammed. It was only by using the broken file as a marline spike that Alwyn succeeded in teasing out the tenacious hitch.

The result though expected was nevertheless startling. The whaler, under the buoyancy imparted by six large air-tight copper tanks, bobbed up like a cork, making a splash that might be heard on board the Malfilio and even by the pirates on shore.

"They'm thinkin' it'll be a girt shark," commented Minalto, as he slipped over the side with a bucket to bale the boat.

Burgoyne joined him, and in twenty minutes the bottom boards were figuratively "dry". The exercise also helped to restore the circulation to the cramped limbs of the two men.

There were oars in the boat. Some thoughtful person had considerately lashed them down to the thwart so that they had not floated away; but the question now arose how were the masts and sails to be procured?

"It's too risky making a double trip across the harbour," said Burgoyne. "One would have been bad enough and we've been spared that. And there's the Malfilio to be taken into account, although I don't suppose they'll be so keenly on the look-out as they were when that vessel was using her searchlight. We'll have to swim for them. They will tow easily, since they are in canvas covers."

"I'm on, sir," agreed Minalto.

Both men stripped, and wringing out their saturated clothes spread them over the thwarts of the life-boat. Burgoyne held up the revolver.

"We'll not be wanting this on this trip," he remarked to his companion. "I'll hide it in the boat. It's too early to start using firearms."

Minalto nodded. He quite understood that if detected at this juncture the revolver would be of no help. Once the boat was ready to leave the island, then, perhaps, the little weapon might prove to be of service.