The Cruise of the Thetis: A Tale of the Cuban Insurrection Page 9

  CHAPTER NINE.

  AN URGENT APPEAL FOR HELP.

  The two young men reached the casa Montijo, that afternoon, in just nicetime to partake of "afternoon tea", which function had promptly beenadopted by Senora Montijo and her daughter upon the return of DonHermoso and Carlos from England, as the very latest and most up-to-dateinstitution, and absolutely indispensable in every household having theslightest pretensions to be considered as belonging to polite society.They related, _in extenso_, the result of their visit to Havana, atwhich no one was surprised, since everything had happened precisely ashad been expected; but all were agreed that, after the very strongrepresentations made by the English Consul, Jack need have very littleapprehension of further annoyance from Alvaros. Then Singletonmentioned their impromptu visit to the yacht, and expressed to Milsomhis great satisfaction at the state in which he had found both thevessel and her crew; and this, in turn, led to a further discussion ofJack's proposal that the entire family should indulge in a cruise,instead of allowing the craft to remain idle in harbour, fouling herbottom with weed, and impairing the efficiency of her crew. It nowappeared that the original suggestion had very powerfully appealed tothe imagination of the ladies, who had kept it pretty persistentlybefore Don Hermoso, until he, worthy man, finding nothing veryconvincing to advance against it, had been gradually brought into aframe of mind that needed very little further persuasion to induce himto give it his willing assent. Accordingly, before the evening wasover, the matter had been gone into in earnest, and arrangementscompleted for a start in about a week's time; with the result thatMilsom set out for Havana immediately after first breakfast on thefollowing morning, for the purpose of making preparations.

  The week passed, and the arrangements of the family had so far advancedthat their heavy baggage, dispatched in advance, was actually on its wayto Havana, for shipment on board the yacht, and was to be followed bythe family and Jack on the following day, when toward the end of theafternoon a horseman dashed up to the door of the house, his clothingthick with dust and his horse reeking with sweat, and demanded instantaudience with Senor Montijo on business of the utmost importance; andhis demand was enforced by the utterance of a password which secured hisprompt admission, Don Hermoso being at the moment engaged in his office,where he was completing with his overseer the final arrangements to beobserved in his absence.

  Ten minutes later Don Hermoso sent a servant in search of Jack andCarlos, who, with Dona Isolda, had gone for a stroll up the ravine; andwhen the two young men, having been found, entered Don Hermoso's sanctumthey discovered him in close conference with the aforesaid dust-stainedstranger, who proved to be a Cuban half-breed named Jorge Carnero. Thisman, Don Hermoso explained, was the bearer of a letter from Senor Marti,the leader of the revolutionary movement in Cuba, calling upon DonHermoso to assist him in a serious difficulty that had most unexpectedlyarisen. It appeared, according to Marti's letter, that the Juntaestablished in New York had, with the assistance of certain rich andsympathetic Americans, collected an enormous quantity of arms,ammunition, and stores of every description, which they had shipped onboard a shallow-draught steamer named the _James B. Potter_, with theintention of having them landed in Mulata Bay, some fourteen miles tothe westward of Bahia Honda. Everything had gone admirably with thearrangements, up to a certain point: the steamer had succeeded ingetting to sea without being stopped; a pilot was on board who wasperfectly acquainted with the dangerous coast where the landing was tobe effected; and every possible contingency in connection with thelanding and prompt conveyance inland of the munitions had been providedfor, when, at the very last moment, it had been discovered that theSpanish authorities were perfectly aware of the whole scheme, and hadlaid their plans for a torpedo boat to pounce upon the ship at the verymoment when, two days later, the steamer would appear off the coast andenter the bay at which the landing of the munitions was to be effected.The messenger, Jorge Carnero--whose absolute fidelity to the cause ofFree Cuba Marti guaranteed--was the man who had discovered theSpaniards' knowledge of the expedition and their arrangement forquashing it at the psychological moment; and he had been sent on toMontijo, as bearer of Marti's letter asking for help, in order that hemight personally give Don Hermoso all the information possible. Marti'sonly hope was that Senor Montijo might be able to dispatch his yacht tointercept the _James B. Potter_, and warn her of the danger that layahead, thus saving the ship and cargo from what must otherwise beinevitable capture. "That," said Don Hermoso, in conclusion, "is thestory, Jack. The question now is: Can you devise any plan by which thisterrible disaster to our cause may be averted, and the cargo saved tous?"

  "When, do you say, is this steamer timed to arrive in Mulata Bay?"demanded Jack.

  Don Hermoso referred to Senor Marti's letter, and then replied: "At mid-day, on the day after to-morrow."

  "Ah!" said Jack. "That does not allow us very much time, does it? Ofcourse, by leaving here this evening, and spending the night in Pinardel Rio--by which means we could catch the first train to Havana to-morrow morning--we should be enabled to get to sea in very good time tointercept the _James B. Potter_ somewhere in the Strait of Florida; andit may be advisable for us to arrange our plans accordingly, although Iam afraid our proceeding to sea to-morrow will revive and greatlystrengthen all the Spaniards' former suspicions of us, especially if the_James B. Potter_ should afterwards fail to turn up at her rendezvousat the appointed time. Still, if necessary, we must risk that, ratherthan permit the ship and cargo to be captured. Do you happen to knowwhere the torpedo boat is lying that is to effect the capture?" hedemanded, turning to Carnero.

  "Yes, Senor," answered Carnero; "she is torpedo boat Number 19, and sheis lying in Havana harbour, from which she is to sally forth at theproper moment and conceal herself behind one of the cays lying just tothe westward of Mulata Bay, where she will await the approach of theAmerican ship."

  "A very pretty scheme, and one that is exceedingly likely to succeed--ifwe do not interfere," commented Jack. "Are there any other Governmentvessels in Havana harbour?" he asked, turning again to Carnero.

  "Yes, Senor, certainly," answered Carnero. "There are two others: the_Tiburon_ gunboat, and the cruiser _Infanta Isabel_."

  "Any steam tugs, or craft of any kind, capable of taking a few soldierson board and running them round to Mulata Bay?" demanded Jack.

  "Yes, Senor," answered Carnero, "there is the _Ballena_; but she is atpresent hauled up on the slips for repairs, and her boiler is out, soshe need not be considered."

  "And are those which you have named all that the Government has at itsdisposal?" persisted Jack.

  "Yes, Senor," answered Carnero. "There are, of course, trading steamerssailing out of Havana, which the Government might requisition, in caseof need; but--now, let me consider--yes, it happens that on the dayafter to-morrow not a single steamer will be in port; and the first thatmay be expected is due to arrive at midnight of that day."

  "Good!" exclaimed Jack. "Then I think I can see my way. We will dobetter than go out to intercept the American, Don Hermoso; we willrender it impossible for either of those three Government craft to goout of harbour on that day. But when the authorities find their threesteamers disabled, they may take it into their heads to throw a fewsoldiers on board a sailing craft of some sort and send her out toendeavour to capture the _James B. Potter_; therefore you had bettersend word to the people who are to receive the goods that, while theyneed not fear a warship of any kind, they had better be prepared tofight a few soldiers, if necessary."

  "Certainly, that can be managed without difficulty," answered DonHermoso. "But let us hear your plan, Jack. Our friend Carnero, here,is absolutely trustworthy, therefore you may speak without reservebefore him; and if he knows what we intend to do, he will be able totell others, who will know just what is to happen, and what they willhave to provide for."

  "Very well," said Jack. "This is my plan. You will remember how neatlywe doctored the torpedo boat that foll
owed us to sea from Key West?Well, I simply propose to treat the three Government craft in Havanaharbour in the same way, only more so. That is to say, I propose,either by fouling their propellers or otherwise, to prevent them fromgoing to sea at all on that day, or until their propellers are cleared;and that, I think, ought to give the American ship time to run in,discharge her cargo, and get to sea again without molestation. But, inorder to do this, it will be necessary that we--or at all events I--should go into Pinar del Rio to-night, in order to catch either the lasttrain to-night or the first train to-morrow to Havana. Perhaps it willlook less suspicious if I go alone to-night and you follow on at yourleisure to-morrow."

  "If you are particularly anxious to reach Havana to-night, Senor, it canbe done," exclaimed Carnero. "I know a short cut from here that willtake us to Pinar within the hour, if you are a good horseman. But, todo it, we must start almost at once."

  "I am ready now," said Jack, "and as to horsemanship--well, I havehunted over some pretty stiff country in England, which ought to be goodenough. Carlos, old man, will you see to bringing along my bag with youto-morrow?"

  "The Padre will, Jack, of course; but, as for me, I go with you to-night, for I have a notion that I can be useful in the carrying out ofthis scheme of yours. What say you, Padre?"

  "I say, go, by all means, my son, if Jack thinks that you will be of theslightest use to him," answered Don Hermoso. "As for your bags, and soon, I will of course take care that they shall go forward with us to-morrow."

  "Very well, then," said Jack, "in that case let Carlos go with me, for Icannot tell but that we may be glad enough to have him with us duringour operations to-morrow. And now I suppose we had better see aboutmaking a start. What about horses, Carlos?"

  "I will go and give instructions to have them saddled forthwith,"answered the latter; and he rose and went out to the patio, Jackmeanwhile making a few final arrangements as to the hour and place ofmeeting on the morrow in Havana.

  Five minutes later the horses were brought round to the front of thehouse, and the young men, having meanwhile said a word or two ofexplanation to the ladies and bidden them temporarily adieu, mounted,and, accompanied by Carnero as guide, cantered off down the long pathleading to the main road. But ere they reached this their guide turnedoff to the right, and, following a path that led through the tobaccofields, took them over the fence that formed one of the boundaries ofDon Hermoso's property, and the party found themselves in the opencountry, over which Carnero led them in a bee-line, taking brooks,watercourses, and obstructions of various kinds as they came. The paceof the riders was by no means rapid, nothing more than a brisk canter,in fact, but, the route taken being practically the shortest possibledistance between Senor Montijo's hacienda and Pinar del Rio, the journeywas accomplished in little over an hour; and when at length they pulledup at the railway station they had a good four minutes in hand.

  "All right, Senores!" said Carnero, as he received the bridles of thetwo horses, "I will see that the nags are properly rubbed down andattended to, and that they shall be in readiness to go back with thecoach and the servants to-morrow. Adios, Senores; luck go with you!"

  The clocks in the city were just striking ten when, after a somewhattedious journey, the train clattered and jolted into the Western Stationat Havana; and, jumping out, the lads chartered a volante--the localhansom, which is an open vehicle, mounted upon a pair of enormously highwheels, and fitted with such long shafts that it can only be turned withthe utmost difficulty in the narrow streets--and drove down to thewharf, where they hired a shore boat to take them off to the yacht,which was lying moored to a pair of the trunk buoys in the harbour.

  The ships' bells were chiming "five", that is to say, half-past ten, asthe boat, after having been challenged by the anchor watch, sweptalongside the _Thetis's_ gangway ladder, and the two young men ascendedto the deck. Somewhat to their surprise, they found Milsom on board;for, as they were not expected until the following day, they would nothave been at all astonished to learn that the skipper was ashore,amusing himself at the theatre, or elsewhere. But Milsom explained thathe had had enough of Havana: he had been to the theatre twice, andconsidered that it was not a patch upon the Alhambra in Leicester Squareat home; he had been to the Cathedral, and had been shown the tomb ofChristopher Columbus--the genuineness of which he greatly doubted; hehad sauntered in the Alameda in the evenings, listening to the militarybands, of which he thought nothing, and trying to discover a Spanishgirl that could hold a candle to one of our own wholesome, handsomeEnglish lasses, and had failed; and he had also tried, and had failed,to determine the precise number of separate and distinctodours--"stinks", he called them--which go to make up the characteristicsmell of Havana. From all of which it will be gathered that the worthyman, with the restlessness characteristic of the sailor, was beginningto weary of his inactivity--although during the past week he had beenanything but inactive, it may be mentioned--and was pining for somethingfresh in the way of excitement. It appeared that, finding himself withspare time on his hands notwithstanding his preparation of the yacht forthe projected trip, he had amused himself by designing an elaboratedisguise for the craft, under the impression that a time might verypossibly arrive when such a disguise would be found exceedingly useful;and he proudly produced a sketch of the said disguise which, whenunfolded before the astonished gaze of the two young men, showed the_Thetis_ transmogrified into something resembling a two-funnelledtorpedo gunboat, with ram stem and round, spoon-shaped stern allcomplete. It was a contraption most ingeniously built up of wood andcanvas by the joint efforts and skill of Milsom, Macintyre, and thecarpenter; and was so handily contrived that, according to the statementof its inventor or designer, given fine weather and smooth water forfour hours, the vessel's appearance could be so completely changed that"her own mother wouldn't know her."

  Having duly admired Milsom's ingenuity, Jack explained in detail thereason why he and Carlos had advanced the time of their arrival, anddisclosed his scheme for the temporary disablement of the three men-o'-war in the harbour, into which scheme Milsom entered with the utmostgusto, even going to the length of rousing poor Macintyre out of hisberth and ruthlessly breaking in upon his beauty sleep, in order thatthe parties might have the benefit of the chief engineer's advice andassistance. And when at length the little band of conspirators broke upat midnight and turned in, the plan of campaign had been arranged, downto the last detail.

  After all, there was not very much to be done in the way of preparation;a couple of hours' work next day by Macintyre and his crew at theportable forge down in the stokehold, and everything was ready for thework which was to commence as soon as possible after ten o'clock thatnight. There was only one difficulty that still remained to beovercome, and that was the evading of the vigilance of the custom-houseofficers, who still remained on board the yacht. It is true that thatvigilance had been very greatly relaxed of late, since it had been bornein upon even their limited intelligence that nothing remotely resemblingan attempt to smuggle anything ashore had ever been made; still, itwould be awkward in the extreme if one or more of them should happen tobe troubled with insomnia on that particular night, and elect to passthe sleepless hours on deck: but Don Hermoso might be trusted to attendto that matter when he should arrive on board about four o'clock, or alittle after, as he did, accompanied by Senora Montijo and Dona Isolda.The difficulty was explained to Don Hermoso during the progress ofafternoon tea, which refreshment was partaken of on the top of the deck-house that adjoined the navigating bridge of the vessel; and after themeal was over, Carlos went ashore in the steam pinnace and brought off asmall phial of liquid that looked and tasted like water. Then, the facthaving been elicited from the chief steward that the custom-houseofficers had evinced a very marked preference for whisky over theaguardiente of their native land, a bottle of the former was opened and,half a wineglassful of the spirit having been poured from the bottle, alike quantity of the liquid from the phial was substituted for it, the
cork replaced, and the bottle well shaken. It was then sent forward tothe _empleados de la aduana_ for their especial use, with thecompliments of Don Hermoso, that they might drink his health and that ofhis family, and wish them a pleasant voyage, on this their last night onboard, since the yacht would, weather permitting, go to sea some time onthe morrow. Half an hour later the steward, with a knowing grin,reported to Milsom that the bottle was already three-parts empty.

  "That is all right," commented Don Hermoso, when the statement waspassed on to him; "the gentlemen of the customs will not be troubledwith sleeplessness to-night!" Nor were they; for four bells in thefirst watch had scarcely struck when, with many yawns, they retiredbelow and--those who were supposed to be on watch as well as those whowere off--in ten minutes were sleeping like logs.

  "Now is our time, Phil, before the moon rises," exclaimed Jack, as soonas the report of the custom-house officers' retirement had been broughtaft by the chief steward. "It is important to get the submarine intothe water unobserved; but, that done, we can wait until midnight, oreven later, before commencing operations. By that time everybody willhave turned in; and moreover we shall have the light of the moon to helpus."

  Accordingly, the canvas cover was removed from the particular boat inwhich the small submarine was hidden, and the mischievous little toy wascarefully hoisted out, lowered into the water, submerged until only thetop of her diminutive conning tower showed above water, and theneffectually concealed by being moored to the boat boom, between the gigand the steam pinnace. Then advantage was taken of the darkness to passdown into her everything that had been prepared for the success of theforthcoming enterprise; after which everybody turned in, except Carlos,who undertook to keep a watch on deck until everything should seemsufficiently quiet in the harbour to admit of the adventurers beginningtheir work without incurring undue risk of detection.

  At length two bells in the middle watch (one o'clock) pealed out fromthe various ships in the harbour; the moon, just past the full, wasriding high in the cloudless sky and affording quite as much light asthe adventurers desired; and not a sound was to be heard save the faintmoan of the wind in the rigging of the various craft in the harbour andthe lap of the water alongside: everybody seemed to have gone to bed,except the anchor watch on board the men-o'-war--and they would probablylie down and endeavour to snatch a cat-nap until the moment should comeround to again strike the bell. Carlos therefore thought the timepropitious; and, treading noiselessly in his rubber-soled deck shoes,went below and quietly called Jack, Milsom, and Macintyre.

  Macintyre was the first of the trio to appear on deck, for, his businessbeing in the interior of the boat, he had no special dress to don; thepyjama suit in which he had been sleeping would serve as well as anyother, and he accordingly wore it. Walking forward with bare feet, heslung himself over the rail, lay out on the boom, and, sliding down thepainter of the steam pinnace, got on board that craft--as a "blind" toanyone who might perchance happen to have noticed his movements--andfrom thence surreptitiously transferred himself to the interior of thesubmarine--having already cast the boat adrift--which he immediatelysealed by fastening down the hood of the little conning tower. Then heset the electric air-pump going, in order to store up for himself asupply of air sufficient to last until the return of the boat. Andwhile this was doing he quietly dropped the boat astern until she lay inthe deep shadow cast by the overhanging counter of the yacht, where theother two could board her without the slightest risk of being seen.

  Some ten minutes later Jack and Milsom appeared on deck, each attired inan improved Fleuss diving dress, by the use of which the necessity forair-pumps and pipes was done away with. Each man wore a long, stout,double-edged dagger in a sheath attached to his belt, as a protectionagainst possible attacks by sharks, with which the waters of the harbourare known to swarm; while Milsom bore, in addition, a formidable lancefor the same purpose, or, rather, for the purpose of protecting Jackwhile the latter worked. And each man wore, attached to his wrist by alanyard, a small, light steel bar, about four inches long, to enable himto communicate with his companion--by means of the Morse code--by thesimple process of tapping on his helmet. They also carried, attached totheir belts, small but very powerful electric lanterns, the light ofwhich they could switch on and off at will, to enable them to see whatthey were about. They had made all their arrangements during theprevious day, and had exchanged a few brief last words just beforescrewing in the front glasses of their helmets. Each therefore knewexactly what he and his companion had to do, and they now accordinglyproceeded straight aft, found the Jacob's ladder hanging over theyacht's stern, and by it descended to the submarine, Milsom going firstand stationing himself on the boat's deck just abaft the conning tower,while Jack took the corresponding place on the fore side.

  The weight of the two men was sufficient to just submerge the boat andbury them to their chins when sitting down, while they could disappearaltogether by lying flat on the deck. The degree of submersion,therefore, was just right for the beginning of the adventure, and Jackaccordingly signalled Macintyre, by means of an electric button, firstto back away from the yacht, and then to go ahead dead slow, guiding himat the same time how to steer by means of another button.

  The torpedo boat, being the most formidable of the three craft, wasselected as the first to be operated upon, and the submarine wasaccordingly headed for her. The water of Havana harbour is unspeakablyfoul, the sewers of the town discharging into it, and it is almostopaque with the quantity of matter of various kinds that it holds insuspension; it was therefore necessary for the submarine to approach thetorpedo boat pretty closely ere sinking any deeper, or it would havebeen difficult for the adventurers to find their prey in the muddywater, but they managed excellently, approaching within ten yardswithout being detected. Then Jack, unwilling to court failure byrunning any unnecessary risks, gave the order to sink slowly, at thesame time turning on his electric lamp. Another moment, and he saw thetorpedo boat's stern and propeller before him, and the submarine,magnificently managed by Macintyre, who had worked her in all herprevious trials, drew gently up until she stopped motionless in such aposition that Jack could do just what he wanted. He had decided not toattempt to remove the propeller in this case, lest the violent exertionrequired to start the nut should cause him to overbalance and fall tothe bottom of the harbour, in which case he would inevitably be lost inthe deep layer of foul mud which formed the harbour bottom. Hetherefore took a length of stout chain, already prepared for thepurpose, and, having first carefully wound it round the three blades ofthe boat's propeller, passed the loose ends round the keel bar andrudder where, having drawn them as tight as he and Milsom could drawthem, he shackled them together, thus rendering it impossible to movethe boat until the chain had been found and taken off. The whole joboccupied them a bare quarter of an hour, and could have been done inless had it not been for the hindrance which they experienced from thefish, which--sharks luckily excepted--attracted by their lamps, swarmedround them so persistently that it was almost impossible to do any workfor the obstruction of them.

  The cruiser was the next craft to be dealt with, and, after her, thegunboat; the whole operation of disabling the three vessels beingaccomplished with almost ludicrous ease in about an hour and a quarter:after which the adventurers returned to the yacht and hoisted in thesubmarine, stowing her away and concealing her in the quarter boat,without, so far as they were aware, having attracted the attention of asingle soul.