Chapter X: The Second Officer Returns

Captain Restronguet remained in his cabin till nearly ten o'clock, then, going into an adjoining dressing-room, he changed into his "duty clothes," donned a thick coat and india-rubber boots, and made his way for'ard to the diving-room in the fore compartment.

Here the men had unshipped the collapsible boat, but as yet it had not been unfolded.

"Are you going to bring her to the surface, sir?" asked Polglaze, seeing that his captain was in his great coat.

"Yes, I have decided to do so," replied Captain Restronguet. "Bring the boat under the upper hatchway, Lancarrow, and you, Gwennap, I want you to lay out a kedge up stream. See that the flukes engage in the rubble-work in the base of the centre-pier of the bridge, and run out another kedge aft."

Lancarrow and Gwennap promptly donned their diving suits and entered the "water-lock," taking with them the anchors and a length of stout Manila rope. Twenty minutes later they returned, the water dripping from their glistening garb.

"All correct, sir," reported Lancarrow, as soon as his headdress was removed. "Nothing short of the rope parting will set us adrift, and there's precious little tide running now. I took good care to ram the fluke of the kedges well home."

"What is it like up above--dark?"

"I went up to have a look round, sir," announced Gwennap. "It is a pitch-dark night, the stars are in, and there's hardly a breath of wind."

"Good!" exclaimed Captain Restronguet approvingly. "Pass the word to Mr. Devoran to bring the vessel awash."

The water in two of the buoyancy tanks was quickly expelled, and majestically the huge submerged hull rose from the bed of the river, till with her deck just a few inches above the surface she fretted gently at her mooring-rope.

Being immediately below the massive pier of the Tubular Bridge there was no danger of a passing vessel--should one be under way at that hour--colliding with the "Aphrodite"; while owing to the darkness and the light-absorbing powers of her hull she was absolutely invisible at a boat's length off.

Rapidly yet silently the hatch on deck was unfastened and slid back. The collapsible boat, weighing less than sixty pounds, was passed through, extended, and kept in position by means of stretchers.

Carclew and Gwennap tossed the oars into the frail craft, and holding the painter launched her over the side.

"Ready, sir," whispered the latter.

Captain Restronguet immediately came on deck and stepped agilely into the boat; the bowman pushed off, the oars dipped, and the canvas cockleshell darted in the direction of Coombe Bay, a tidal indentation just south of the town of Saltash.

"Thank goodness it is a fairly black night," muttered Captain Restronguet. Beyond the pontoon lights at Saltash, the signal lamps of the railway, and the riding lights of a few vessels lying at the buoys on the west side of the river, all was in darkness. To gain the entrance to Coombe Bay it was necessary to pass between two cruisers, whose anchor lamps glimmered fitfully, throwing scintillating reflections on the placid water.

"Boat ahoy!" challenged the look-out on the nearest vessel.

The captain of the "Aphrodite" was equal to the occasion.

"Passing!" he roared, using the shibboleth laid down in the Naval Regulations for this contingency.

This reply apparently satisfied the look-out, and without further interruption the canvas boat drew into the shallow waters of Coombe Bay. Fortunately the tide was nearly at the full, and still rising, and hence no danger of being stranded on the mud was likely to occur.

"Easy, men," cautioned Captain Restronguet, as the gaunt outlines of the railway bridge spanning the creek loomed up against the darkness. Then, "Lay on your oars."

Gradually losing way the boat drifted on till it grounded on the shingle hard at the foot of the bridge. The boat's crew listened intently; beyond the distant rumble of a belated train, and the faint hoot of a liner's syren away out in the Sound, all was still.

Ten minutes passed. Captain Restronguet knitted his brows in perplexity.

"There's some one, sir," whispered Gwennap, as the cautious scrunching of a man's boots upon the shingle could be faintly heard. Then a dark figure appeared out of the night.

"Is that you, Kenwyn?" demanded the Captain in a low voice.

"Ay, ay, sir."

"Then jump in; I thought you had missed us."

"Couldn't get here any sooner, sir," said the man apologetically. "I was stopped and questioned by a patrol as I came down from the station. There are launches up and down the river, I am told, looking for us."

"The deuce there are!" exclaimed Captain Restronguet; then in a calmer tone he added, "We must risk it. Perhaps it is my fault; but I don't think they'll look for the 'Aphrodite' so close to the bridge. Give way, men."

On gaining the main stream, greatly to the relief of all in the boat, no red and green lights of patrolling launches were to be seen. Boldly Captain Restronguet steered across the bows of the cruiser that had hailed him on the outward trip. To lurk inshore would be courting suspicion.

"Boat ahoy!" came the hail from the lookout.

Captain Restronguet replied as before, but this time the look-out was not satisfied.

"What boat is that?" he shouted.

"Customs!" roared the captain with a lucky inspiration.

Muttering a malediction on all custom-house officials, especially on those in this particular boat, the seaman resumed his walk up and down the fo'c'sle deck. He remembered a certain half a pound of tobacco that had got him into trouble with His Majesty's Customs, and the incident still rankled in his manly bosom.

Without further interruption the boat ran alongside the deck of the "Aphrodite." Her crew jumped aboard the parent vessel, hauled the collapsible on deck and folded it.

"Look sharp, sir!" exclaimed Gwennap. "There's a steam-boat bearing right down upon us."

There was no time to be lost. Hastily the folded boat was dropped through the hatchway, her crew quickly followed and the hatch was reclosed. One touch and the emergency chambers were flooded, and the submarine began to sink to the bed of the river. It was a close thing for the picquet boat. Had she been a quarter of a minute earlier they would have stove her bows in against the massive plating of the elusive vessel. As it was she passed over the after-conning-tower with less than half a fathom of water to spare, utterly ignorant of the narrow escape she had had.

"Welcome home once more, Kenwyn!" said Mr. Devoran cordially, extending his hand, which the new arrival gripped like a vice and shook like a pump-handle.

Had the chief officer of Southsea Coast Guard Station, or P.C. 445 of the A Division of the Borough of Portsmouth Police been present at this reunion, they would have had no difficulty in recognizing Mr. Kenwyn as the quiet and very retiring unknown who had landed under most unusual circumstances on Southsea Beach.

"I had to abandon my diving-suit, sir," explained Kenwyn, who served on board the submarine in the capacity of second officer.

"That I have already learnt from Press reports," replied Captain Restronguet. "And I was glad to know that you took particular pains to get rid of the air reservoir. That did the authorities nicely; they are welcome to the dress, and if they can analyse the metal it is composed of they are also at liberty to make use of the secret. It has not been patented. But how came you to get out of your bearings, Kenwyn? I notice you had to concoct a cock and bull yarn about walking from the beach at Gosport."

"I never tell a lie, sir, under any conditions. As a matter of fact, after I left the 'Aphrodite' I did go ashore at Gosport, somewhere behind a yacht yard. No one saw me. I then tried to cross to the Portsmouth side of the harbour to try and recover the submarine welding tool that Carnon, you may remember, dropped when we examined the entrance to No. 5 Shipbuilding Slip. Before I realized it the ebb tide caught me, and I was whisked off down the harbour at a rate of at least seven knots. As soon as I felt the current slacken I took compass bearings and came ashore, and the rest you know."

"You have, of course, heard that we have a naval officer on board?"

"Heard? Rather. The papers are full of it, sir, and every one is talking about it. At Exeter Station and again at Millbay, on my journey down, it was the sole topic of conversation on the platform."

"And how does the Great British Public like it?"

"In a general sense they are thankful it is no worse, so to speak. It is recognized that you are a power that cannot lightly be ignored, and your magnanimity (that is the way they put it) has created quite a favourable impression. Even in the House it was suggested that it would be a master-stroke in world supremacy if you could be induced to hand over the 'Aphrodite'----"

"Never!" declared Captain Restronguet vehemently, and bringing his fist down heavily upon the table. "Never! They had their chance, but foolishly threw it away. Now, gentlemen, it is nearly one o'clock. I, for one, will be glad to have a few hours' rest," and with an inclination of his head Captain Restronguet retired to his sleeping quarters.