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Boy Scouts in the North Sea, a fiction by G. Harvey Ralphson |
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CHAPTER IX. A STRANGE VISIT |
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_ CHAPTER IX. A STRANGE VISIT Clearly visible to the members of the crew on the Lena Knobloch the great cloud of smoke slowly spread over the vessel. Directly a sullen "Boom" reached their ears. As the smoke spread away the lads could see a great rent in the side through which water was rushing. Already the ship was listing heavily. Two small boats were being pulled away from the vicinity by the crew of the doomed vessel. The small craft were handled in a seamanlike manner. They made good progress in spite of the still heavy sea. "By golly!" ejaculated Von Kluck, drawing a long breath. "Maybe vhe get id next, vhat? Dere ain'd no vay of tellin'!" "Why do you think that, Captain?" questioned Ned. "Dot verdom 'U-13'!" grunted Von Kluck. "Vhe'll pe lucky,"--here his excitement grew so intense that he delivered himself of several great sailor's oaths--"if vhe make a port in England alretty!" "Keep a sharp lookout, boys," said Ned. "Maybe we can get a sight of the 'U-13' if it's still in this neighborhood." Scarcely had the boy uttered the words before the lookout hailed the deck. His voice vibrated with excitement and fear. "Vot is, aloft, dere?" roared Von Kluck. Excitedly jabbering in his intense emotion the lookout frantically pointed in the direction of the sinking ship. Without waiting for orders he came sliding down the halliards. As he landed on deck he turned an ashen face toward the captain. Again he pointed seaward. "The 'U-13'!" he gasped in an agony of terror. A glance in the direction indicated showed the boys an object like a spar buoy apparently standing upright in the water. The next moment a swell rolled over something beneath the upright object. The next wave disclosed a long, rounded steel hull. In the center the conning tower showed plainly. A moment later the outlines of the dreaded submarine were distinguishable as the craft was propelled to the surface. Each wave broke clear over the arched back of this terror of the seas leaving the black hull gleaming in the faint light. Only the upper portion of the conning tower escaped a ducking. Presently the hatch was opened. A man in uniform stepped out onto the narrow confines of the small deck. His attention was directed toward the schooner. After what seemed to the boys to be an almost endless examination of their vessel the man turned to address a remark to some one evidently close to the hatch but out of their vision. "What is he saying?" Ned asked von Kluck. "He iss telling dot odder feller dot vhe iss das Lena Knobloch!" "What next, I wonder?" speculated Jimmie aloud. "Next?" almost screamed von Kluck. "Next, vhe iss ordered to get by our boats into und row far enough avhay so dey couldt blow up us!" In his intense agitation the captain began pacing up and down the deck. The submarine drew close alongside the schooner easily keeping pace with the sailing vessel at the rate they were progressing. "Von Kluck is certainly worked up about it," remarked Harry as he noted the captain's distracted manner. "He's almost bughouse!" "Well, so would you be, too, if all you had were about to be sent to the bottom of the ocean!" declared Ned. "It's tough luck!" "Maybe we'd better be getting our kits in shape," suggested Jack moving toward the cabin. "I don't want to leave everything!" "I had to leave everything," put in Frank, "when they sunk the ship I was on. I felt lucky to get away with my life!" "Let's make a try for it, anyway," continued Jack. "Wait a minute!" cried Ned, "let's see what they're going to do. The man is going below again! Why don't he hail us?" Strangely enough the officer was descending the hatchway without speaking a word to those on board the schooner. This procedure puzzled von Kluck, but did not serve to reduce in any degree the excitement under which he was laboring. "Lay aft a couble of handts und make reaty der boats!" he shouted. "Come on, hurry oop! Lifely, now, men!" In obedience to this command two members of the crew sprang towards the stern of the schooner to make preparations for launching the boat lashed at the stern. Two others frantically loosened the lashings of the upturned boat lying amidships. A clanking sound indicating that the hatchway of the "U-13" had been closed attracted the attention of the boys in that direction. "What are they going to do now?" questioned Jimmie eagerly. "I fancy they are going to pull away a little so as to launch a torpedo at us," stated Ned. "It don't look as if they're going to be kind enough to let us get off the vessel before they blow it up!" "Then it isn't the same crew I met!" declared Frank firmly. "They treated the men fine! While I must admit that I don't admire their way of sinking merchant ships, I will have to say that they gave the people a chance to get out of danger!" "Well, is it the same submarine you saw?" asked Ned. "It looks exactly like it. Besides," the boy continued, "I see the figures 'U-13' painted on the side of this one, too. I believe it is the very same vessel. Maybe they won't sink us!" With hatch closed the submarine was preparing to execute some maneuver. Gathering speed the craft plunged ahead quickly leaving the schooner alone. Scarcely had the bow of the sailing vessel been passed ere the submarine was so far beneath the water as to show only the periscope. In a moment there was but a swirl to indicate where that had been. Presently it, too, disappeared. The "U-13" was gone. For some time the boys stood at the rail eagerly scanning the water to discover evidence of the submarine's return. Their search was fruitless. Nothing was found to indicate the presence of their late visitor. The waves rose and fell without hint of its location. "Oh, Captain von Kluck!" Ned called. "They have gone!" "Vhat?" asked the captain in a tone expressing doubt. "Yes," continued the boy. "They have slipped back into the ocean again and have left us. Possibly they think we're too small for them to waste a torpedo on. Torpedoes cost a lot of money, you know!" "Vhell, dot's lucky!" answered the captain, much relieved. "Sure is!" assented Jimmie, throwing out his chest. "You see, Captain, we're mascots for you. We've brought you good luck!" Joining in the laugh that greeted this remark the captain ordered the men who had been at work upon the boats to cease their operations. A hand was again posted aloft to act as lookout. After a short consultation between von Kluck and the mate it was decided to proceed on the course traveled by the steamer from which Frank Shaw had recently escaped. They intended to pass between the Shetland islands and the coast of Scotland in an attempt to make a port on the west side of England, believing that there would be less danger in this procedure. Accordingly all sail possible was made. As if understanding the necessity for haste the vessel leaned far over under the press of canvas and sprang forward with increased speed. "We ought to make the west coast of England in a short time, Captain, at this rate," said Ned as he noted with satisfaction the rate at which the Lena Knobloch was traveling through the water. "I don'd know!" declared von Kluck. "Dere's nasty vedder oop dere!" he added, pointing to the western sky. "I don'd like id!" "It can't very well blow hard enough to stop us, can it?" "Don'd you tink it can't blow hard in dese vatters! Ask me--I know!" replied the captain sagely wagging his head. With eager looks the boys watched the gathering clouds to westward. The captain's prediction seemed about to be verified. An uncommonly strong puff of wind struck the schooner heeling her far over to starboard. The blast bore a chill as of ice. "Oh, boys," cried Jimmie turning his head away from the biting blast, "look up to windward and see how smooth the ocean is getting!" "That's wind coming!" shouted Ned. An order was roared out by von Kluck. Men sprang to the lines. The sails were stowed with a speed that seemed scarcely credible. Heeling round on a port helm the Lena Knobloch turned from the approaching blast. Leaving only the shortened jib von Kluck and the mate stood on the after deck peering anxiously at the violent disturbance overtaking the little vessel. Now and again the mate glanced apprehensively at the schooner's masts or along the decks. With a shriek the storm struck. For a moment the very weight of wind seemed to settle the schooner farther into the water. The next instant they were tearing along with the speed of a race horse. Flattened by the pressure of the wind the waves no longer gave her motion. By reason of her being headed directly away from the blast the schooner rode on an even keel. Every line, every shroud hummed like the strings of a gigantic harp. The noise was terrific. A glance at the compass in the binnacle showed Ned that they were headed nearly northeast. They were fast leaving England astern. Conversation was almost impossible in the howling gale that tore and fretted at the vessel. Yet Ned managed to shout to the captain: "How much sea room have we got in this direction?" A shrug of the shoulders indicated the captain's doubt. He accompanied this movement with a wagging of the head. "Vhe'll get into der lee of somedings bretty soon," he replied. "I surely hope so!" declared Ned, cupping his hands to carry his voice to the other's ear. "I'd hate to hit anything at this rate!" Nodding an acknowledgment to this assertion the captain by signs indicated to the mate that he desired a hand sent aloft as lookout. In a short time it seemed to the boys that the terrific force of the gale had somewhat spent itself. Waves began to toss the vessel at an alarming rate. Each mountain of water appeared about to board the schooner at the stern, threatening to crush the craft by its weight. Anxious for the safety of the vessel and for their own welfare the lads, nevertheless, understood that they could do little good on deck. They, therefore, made their way into the cabin, where they sat on lockers. Here the noises of the tempest were somewhat stilled, but the creaking and groaning of the timbers was far more noticeable. It seemed to the lads that the vessel was being torn asunder by every billow. "I wonder what weather the old 'U-13' is making of it about now?" said Frank, as the boys grouped themselves about the little table. "She's in smoother water than this, I'll venture to say," put in Jimmie, clutching the edge of the table in an effort to support himself. "If they are not in better water than this," remarked Harry, "they're getting shaken up some! I'd like to be under water right now!" "Why, Harry," spoke up Ned, "you shouldn't say that!" "I mean in a tight little submarine!" explained Harry. "I wish we had the Sea Lion over here!" cried Jimmie. "We could have more fun than we had when we tried to rescue the papers out of that ship in the Gulf of Tong King with Moore and his nosey son butting in!" "That was sure some fine boat!" declared Ned. "Just as easy to ride in as a rocking chair. And it was always smooth and--" The boy's speech was cut short by a violent roll of the vessel. All the lads were thrown in a heap to the cabin floor. Directly the schooner righted herself, but began pitching with a violent motion. From the sounds the boys knew that the captain had hove to, bringing the vessel into the wind. Apparently he intended riding out the storm. Waves were breaking over the bows, falling with tremendous blows upon the forward deck. The scuppers were not able to release the flood. Suddenly a terrific crash sounded directly beneath the cabin floor. The stern seemed to lift bodily into the air. A shudder ran through the fabric. Again the boys fell to the deck. _ |
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