"THERE'S that Candide asking for trouble, sir," replied Pengelly, as he entered the captain's cabin. "We've just intercepted1 a message saying she's leaving St. Vincent to-day."
"She's been reporting her movements long enough," said Captain Cain. "We'll see what we can do. We'll have to shift from here in any case. We'll find a suitable cubby-hole somewhere down the coast, even if we have to try the Nigerian backwater. One good haul, Pengelly, and we'll pack up and share the proceeds."
"We've done nothing much to write home about since we came south," grumbled2 the second in command. "Sending a Dago destroyer to the bottom doesn't put shot in our locker3."
"Quite so," agreed Cain. "That's why I'm anxious to nab the Candide. Pass the word to Mr. Barnard that I want to be under way in an hour's time—just before high water."
When Cain came on deck all preparations were complete, except for breaking out the anchor. The Alerte was riding to the flood tide. The mud flats on either side of the estuary5 were covered. The air was hot, sultry and still. Outside, the surf thundered heavily on the bar.
At five knots the Alerte headed seawards, scraping past the submerged wreckage6 of the Villamil to starboard and the island to port, where the now-abandoned signal-station alone remained as a visible reminder7 of the pirate submarine's brief and financially disappointing sojourn8 in the estuary of the Wad-el-Abuam.
Just before two bells in the afternoon watch, smoke was observed on the southern horizon. Twenty minutes later the dark grey hull9 of a fairly big steamer emerged from the patches of haze10.
"She's the Candide right enough," declared Cain. "Clear away the gun, my lads. One more hooker and our job's done.... No colours yet, Mr. Barnard. We'll let 'em have a good sight of the Jolly Roger in a brace11 of shakes. Pick your boarding-party, Mr. Pengelly. See that everything's ready in the boat."
The two vessels12 were approaching on their respective courses which, if adhered to, would enable the stranger to pass a good half-mile on the Alerte's port side. The pirate submarine held on in order to avoid arousing suspicion on the part of the stranger.
Suddenly Pengelly, who had been keeping the approaching craft under observation through a pair of powerful binoculars14, turned to his superior.
"She's a Yankee, by Jove!" he exclaimed. "She's flying the Stars and Stripes."
"Ay," agreed Cain, with a grin. "And there's the name Bronx City on her bows as large as life. Yankee colours and Yankee name don't turn a Belgian tramp into a United States hooker. I'm too old a bird to be caught with chaff15.... Starboard a bit, Quartermaster... at that!"
The eyes of the signalman, the gun's crew and the seamen16 standing17 aft with the rolled-up skull18 and cross-bones already toggled to the halyards, were all fixed19 expectantly upon the skipper of the pirate submarine as he stood at the extreme end of the port side of the bridge.
Captain Cain raised his right hand. At the signal the black flag was broken out, the International ID hoisted20 at the fore4, while an instant later a shot whizzed across the stranger's bows.
The warning was promptly21 acted upon. The intercepted craft reversed engines, lost way and then came to a stop. The Stars and Stripes remained fluttering in the faint breeze.
Promptly Pengelly and his men pushed off to the prize, under cover of the Alerte's six-inch gun. Before the boat ran alongside the stranger, the latter's accommodation-ladder had been lowered.
Pistol in hand, Pengelly, followed by his men, swarmed22 up the swaying ladder. At the gangway, supported by several officers and crew stood a tall, hatchet-faced man in white drill uniform and with his peaked cap tilted23 well over his left eye.
"What in the name of tarnation thunder do you want?" he demanded. "Cocktails24, lime-juice or milk? If you do, you won't get—so quit."
Pengelly realised that Cain had made a mistake. The vessel13 was not the Candide disguised, but the Bronx City, registered and owned in the United States. But having boarded her, Pengelly had no intention of returning ignominiously25 to the Alerte.
"No quitting this time, skipper," he replied firmly. "I'm not here to argue—this is my persuader."
He touched the barrel of his automatic with his left hand and then pointed26 to the Alerte, which was still closing the prize.
"Guess you'll swing for this," exclaimed the captain of the Bronx City.
"More ways than one of killing27 a cat," retorted Pengelly. "Now, you—officers and men—for'ard you go and keep quiet, or it'll be the worse for you."
Shepherded by half a dozen of the Alerte's armed boarding-party, the crew of the Yankee were made to go for'ard. Pengelly turned to the Old Man.
"I don't know your tally," he remarked.
"Cap'n Hiram Adams is my name," replied the skipper of the Bronx City. "Guess people know me from Quebec round the Horn and up to Seattle and on this side of the herring-pond, too, I reckon. Hope you're wiser."
Accompanied by the prize-master and followed by two of the Alerte's hands, Captain Adams went to his cabin, unlocked a safe and produced the necessary documents.
Pengelly's eyes opened with astonished satisfaction. The Bronx City, a twin-screw boat, had a rich cargo29. She had come from Beira with a heavy consignment30 of gold from Lisbon. At Accra she had picked up a thousand barrels of palm oil. Amongst other articles enumerated31 on her manifest were ivory and ostrich32 feathers. In addition to her cargo, she carried nine Portuguese33 passengers—residents of Beira and Quilimane—on their way to Lisbon.
Unable to decide what was to be done, Pengelly ordered one of the hands to semaphore the Alerte and inform Captain Cain of the identity of the prize and the nature of her cargo.
Back came the reply: "Stand fast. Am coming on board."
Cain lost no time in so doing. He was far more perturbed34 than was his second in command. He had gone against his resolution not to molest35 a United States ship. He had done so in all good faith—if such a term can be applied36 to rank piracy—but the fact remained that he had fired upon a vessel flying the Stars and Stripes.
Long before the Alerte's second cutter came alongside the Bronx City, Cain had made up his mind as to the course to pursue.
Ascending37 the accommodation-ladder, he made his way to the bridge where Captain Hiram Adams was standing under guard.
"I am sorry, Cap'n Adams," said Cain, after he had requested Pengelly to introduce him; "there's been a mistake on my part."
"Sure thing," replied the Yankee skipper. "But I calculate there ain't no darned mistake about that."
He pointed to the skull and cross-bones flying from the Alerte's ensign-staff.
"There isn't," agreed Cain, with a disarming38 smile. "The mistake was entirely39 upon my part. I took you for the Candide. S'pose you haven't spoken her?"
"Nope."
"She's doubtless skulking40 at St. Vincent, scared stiff and afraid to meet me," continued the pirate. "Well, Cap'n Adams, I'm not going to do you any harm. I'm not going to touch an ounce of your cargo——"
"But, sir," interrupted Pengelly, holding out the ship's papers. "Look here."
Cain gave a quick glance through their contents. Most of the cargo, including the gold, was Portuguese property. It was a great temptation.
"I know my business, Mr. Pengelly," he said sternly. "Now, Cap'n Adams, to resume. You'll be free to resume your voyage in a few days. In my own interests I am reluctantly compelled to employ you for my own protection. If you give no trouble you'll receive none. Is that clear?"
Captain Hiram Adams nodded. A grim smile spread over his lean features. After all, he was coming out lightly. His ship was not to be sunk; his cargo was to remain intact.
"Guess it's your funeral—not mine," he replied. "Get busy!"
As soon as the fictitious42 message announcing the ramming43 and sinking of the Alerte had been sent out, Cain ordered the operator below, locked the door of the wireless cabin, and placed an armed guard outside.
"Gee44! Guess you're some lineal descendant of Ananias, Cap'n!" exclaimed the master of the Bronx City admiringly. "Reckon you'd make a pile in Wall Street in next to no time."
Cain's next step was to place Pengelly with five men in charge of the Bronx City, and to order the chief and second officers of the latter on board the Alerte.
"Just as a matter of form, Cap'n Adams," he remarked: "it will save a heavy strain on your steward's department.... Now, Mr. Pengelly, keep station four cables astern of me, if you please; speed twelve knots. Under no consideration, should we sight another craft, will the Bronx City communicate."
The pirate captain returned to the Alerte. If the misleading wireless message "went down," then the Alerte had yet another lease of life and activity. The possible presence of British and foreign warships45 off the Rio del Oro was a danger which he fully46 appreciated. Once the coast was clear of that type of craft he could prey47 on merchantmen during the next few weeks with comparative impunity48. He was very keen to snap up the hitherto much-advertised Candide.
He felt considerably49 elated over the Bronx City affair. His magnanimity would be an asset in his favour. His discrimination in refusing to plunder50 a cargo carried under the Stars and Stripes would show that he was not a wild dog at large. Altogether, he was very pleased with himself.
For the rest of the day the Alerte, with the Bronx City keeping demurely51 in her wake, kept a southerly course. As night fell she stood in towards the coast, sighting land soon after dawn. Ahead lay the Bahia Arenas52, an enclosed anchorage nearly ten miles in length and averaging one in breadth, with an extreme depth of fourteen fathoms53. Separated from the Atlantic by a long low, sandy island, it received the Faltuba River, a fairly deep stream meandering54 between banks of mangroves and bounded for miles by miasmic55 swamps.
Years ago the Portuguese had attempted to convert Bahia Arenas into a commercial port. They built a stone fort, wharves56 and huts. The experiment was a failure. They had reckoned without the deadly climate. It was healthy enough for vessels lying at anchor in the sandy bay, but no European could for any length of time withstand the pestilential air that rose from the mangroves. The fort fell into decay, the wharves rotted. When in course of time the French took over the country between Cape57 Blanco and British Gambia, they sedulously58 avoided any scheme to open out the Faltuba River, and consequently no shipping59 had occasion to use Bahia Arenas for commercial purposes.
The entrance was an easy one. Even at low springs there were eighteen feet of water on the bar, with an additional height of twelve feet at high water.
Once inside, the Alerte signalled to the Bronx City to heave to. Captain Cain boarded the American and took charge of the bridge.
"I am going to run your ship aground, Cap'n," he announced to the Yankee skipper. "You'll come to no harm. The mud's soft. You'll come off before next springs—say in a week's time. By then, we shall be miles away."
Captain Hiram Adams made no audible comment. He merely put his tongue in his cheek.
Two miles up the river and hidden from the sea by a spur of high ground thickly covered with coco-palms, Captain Cain ordered the quartermaster of the Bronx City to put her helm hard-a-port.
At a speed of about five knots, the ship ran aground on the starboard side of the river, ploughing through the soft mud for quite her own length before coming to a dead stop. There she lay, on an even keel, with her bows within a hundred yards of the bluff60 of hard ground.
"You're lying nicely, Cap'n," observed Cain, as he prepared to withdraw the prize-crew. "I've taken the liberty to remove certain essentials of your wireless; but I'll do my level best to send the stuff along to your nearest agents."
Returning on board the Alerte, Cain's first act was to send for her wireless operator.
"Any signals from the Candide?" he inquired.
"None, sir," was the reply. "I've had the 'phones on almost continuous-like since midnight."
"Unfeeling swine!" muttered the operator, as he made his way back to the wireless cabin. "Me carry on after sixteen hours' trick? Not much."
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1
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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2
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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3
locker
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| n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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estuary
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| n.河口，江口 | |
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6
wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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7
reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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9
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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10
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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11
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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12
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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13
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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14
binoculars
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| n.双筒望远镜 | |
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15
chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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16
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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17
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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18
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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19
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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20
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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22
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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23
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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24
cocktails
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| n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物 | |
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25
ignominiously
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| adv.耻辱地，屈辱地，丢脸地 | |
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26
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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27
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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28
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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29
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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30
consignment
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| n.寄售；发货；委托；交运货物 | |
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31
enumerated
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
ostrich
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| n.鸵鸟 | |
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33
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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34
perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
molest
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| vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏 | |
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36
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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37
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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38
disarming
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| adj.消除敌意的，使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 )；使息怒 | |
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39
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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40
skulking
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 ) | |
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41
wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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42
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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43
ramming
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| n.打结炉底v.夯实（土等）( ram的现在分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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44
gee
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| n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转 | |
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45
warships
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| 军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只 | |
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46
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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47
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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48
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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49
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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50
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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51
demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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52
arenas
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| 表演场地( arena的名词复数 )； 竞技场； 活动或斗争的场所或场面； 圆形运动场 | |
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53
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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54
meandering
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| 蜿蜒的河流，漫步，聊天 | |
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55
miasmic
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| adj.瘴气的；有害的 | |
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56
wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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57
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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58
sedulously
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| ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
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59
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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60
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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61
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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