Chapter XI: Concerning Captain Restronguet's Rival

It was broad daylight when Arnold Hythe awoke. He was surprised to find the "Aphrodite" lifting to the heave of the open sea, and the sunlight pouring in through a small circular scuttle above his bunk. Hastily springing out of bed he looked out. As far as his limited vision extended he could see nothing but blue water--a sure sign that the submarine was far from land. Judging by the apparent motion of the waves the "Aphrodite" was running at a bare ten knots--possibly less. And a few hours previously she had been lying motionless on the bed of the River Tamar.

Slung to the beams overhead was a metal bath, of a similar pattern to those supplied for officers' use in the Royal Navy, while in the bulkhead were two taps marked "hot" and "cold." On a chair by his bunk were his clothes, brushed and folded, while quite a large stock of new under-garments were lying on a folding table.

Hythe always prided himself upon being a sound sleeper, yet able to arouse at the slightest sound, but for once at least his faith in his capabilities received a rude shock. Some one had certainly entered whilst he slept, and also the "Aphrodite" had made a lengthy trip without his being aware of it.

The astonished young officer quickly tubbed and dressed. Then it occurred to him that he had not shaved. Lying on the dressing-table was a safety razor, also brand-new. Evidently his host had left nothing undone to contribute to the comfort of his guest.

His toilet completed Hythe stepped out into the alley-way. At the fore-end, and hitherto unnoticed by him, was a hatchway. It was now open and a ladder had been shipped under it.

An appetizing odour came from the captain's cabin. It made the sub feel hungry; but curiosity conquered, and he made his way on deck, or on Platform Number One as Captain Restronguet preferred to call it.

Hythe found himself on a flat deck nearly two hundred feet in length, and unbroken save for the low coamings of three hatchways and the fore and aft conning-towers. Metal stanchions and rails had been placed in position round the sides to prevent anyone from slipping overboard. As the sub looked down on the deck he noticed that, like the sides, it reflected his own image and those of other persons and objects on deck, but there was no dazzling glare from the sun that was now high in the heavens.

Clustered for'ard between the bows and the foremost conning-tower were nearly every member of the crew: twenty-five stalwart men all dressed in plain but serviceable rig. Pacing up and down between the two conning-towers were Mr. Devoran and some one whom Hythe had not previously seen--the Second Officer Kenwyn.

As they turned at the end of their promenade the two men caught sight of the sub.

"Good morning, Mr. Hythe," said the chief mate genially. "Quite a fine day after our sample of the English climate, eh? By the by, I don't think you know Kenwyn, our second officer? He only rejoined last night."

The three engaged in conversation of general interest for a few minutes, then Mr. Devoran asked Hythe if he had seen the captain that morning.

"Not yet," replied the sub. "I came straight on deck. It was a surprise to find myself at sea. Where are we?"

"Nearly twenty miles S.W. of Ushant," replied the chief mate. "We shall be cruising about here for a few days, as we expect to fall in with a certain vessel. We have left English waters for a time, at all events, but you need not worry about that, for the captain informed me that he received a reply to his note at four this morning. You are officially 'lent' to the 'Aphrodite' until further orders. But breakfast is ready, and Captain Restronguet will explain matters more fully."

The captain greeted Hythe with great affability, and both thoroughly hungry did justice to a good breakfast. Very little was said, and when the meal was over Captain Restronguet left the sub to his own devices while he made the customary rounds of the vessel under his command.

Accordingly Hythe went on deck once more. The "Aphrodite" was slowly forging ahead at a bare five knots, her course being N.N.W 1/4 W. That meant although not actually retracing her course she was heading at an acute angle to it. It was a sort of "wash-and-mend clothes day," a function resembling the time-honoured custom of keeping Thursday afternoon on board the ships of His Majesty's Navy.

The French coast was still invisible, but less than five miles off the sky line was broken by curiously cut tanned sails of the Concarneau fishing fleet. Away to the north-west a huge liner, looking without masts and funnels more like an exaggerated Noah's Ark than anything else, was pelting through the water at a modest thirty-three knots. Perhaps had her officer of the watch chanced to direct his telescope in the direction of the "Aphrodite" he would at once conclude that he had sighted the sea serpent, for, owing to the invisible hue of her hull only the seated figures of the men on deck would come within the field of vision.

The submarine was floating fairly high out of the water. More than half of her ballast tanks had been "started," and consequently there was sufficient freeboard to allow the side scuttles to be opened. With considerable buoyancy she rolled a good deal, but with a true-born sailor's delight Hythe revelled in the motion.

At noon Captain Restronguet appeared on deck. Kenwyn had just "shot the sun" and was working out the vessel's position.

"It's about time she was here, Devoran," remarked the captain. "That is, if the report is authentic. Has the submarine detector given no warning?"

"No, sir, I've stationed Polglaze by it, and he won't be caught napping. She couldn't have passed before we arrived, sir?"

"I made due allowances, giving her ten knots above her estimated speed. But we must exercise patience. Ah! Mr. Hythe, no doubt you are wondering why we are dodging about here instead of playing harmless little tricks upon His Britannic Majesty's ships and naval establishments? Well, I think I ought to give you some explanation, so if you will kindly step below we can talk without interruption."

"By the by," continued Captain Restronguet, as the two men made their way to the cabin, "you asked me how the 'Aphrodite' is manoeuvred to bring her to the surface and vice versa. We have three distinct methods. The first is by means of horizontal rudders, there being a pair at both bow and stern; the second is by means of expelling water ballast, which is all very well so long as the ejecting pumps work properly. Hitherto we have had no trouble in this direction, but it is well to be prepared. Consequently we employ a third method--one for use in emergencies only. I make no secret of the fact that I borrowed the idea from the French. I prefer to be original, but at the same time in the interests of my crew I do not hesitate to adopt well-established devices. To each of the three sections of this vessel is fixed a detachable iron keel. The bolts are secured on the keelson by a single yet effective looking device. One thrust of a lever and a section of this keel is dropped. Should a compartment be half full of water there is sufficient buoyancy gained by the release of this dead-weight to lift the vessel to the surface."

"Isn't there a chance of the 'Aphrodite' buckling her plates in a heavy sea with that dead-weight split into three separate sections?" asked Hythe.

"As far as the 'Aphrodite' is concerned there are no heavy seas," replied his host. "At the first suspicion of bad weather we dive to eight fathoms, or more if necessary. Since, even in mid-Atlantic the waves rarely exceed forty feet in height, and the depth maintained by the submarine is regulated by the vertical height of water over her, there is nothing to be feared as far as the 'hogging' and 'sagging' stresses are concerned."

At Captain Restronguet's invitation the sub threw himself into an easy chair. He was eager to hear everything about this mysterious man and his marvellous vessel, and the fact that the Admiralty had given a formal consent for him to remain on board as an official observer relieved him of all anxiety.

"You may have noticed," said Captain Restronguet, "that I hinted that I had had a quarrel with the Admiralty. First let me tell you my real name is not Restronguet. What it is is outside the question."

"The name is French, I believe?"

"No, Cornish. Had you been well acquainted with the district around Falmouth you would have recognized the names of Restronguet, Kenwyn, Devoran and the rest of my crew as those of places in what I consider the foremost county in England. Of course that is a matter of opinion, but that opinion is shared by every Cornishman.

"Some years back my father owned several copper mines, or wheals as we call them, in the neighbourhood of Redruth, and as, in time, I would have control of them, had articled me to an electrical engineer in order that I might get an insight into that branch before I took over the mining supervision. Hardly was my apprenticeship complete when the wheals failed and my father was a ruined man. He died shortly afterwards and I was thrown utterly on my own resources, and although I was very sore about it at the time I have since realized that misfortune is often the purifying fire of a man's strength of mind.

"Just about that time the South African War broke out. I volunteered for the front, and was accepted. There I saw enough of war--although supposed to be conducted under the most humane principles--to make me hate it. You may look astonished, Mr. Hythe, but I mean what I say. War might be a necessary evil, but all the same it must be avoided if possible. You do not know how thankful I am that the present crisis between Great Britain and Germany is over. It may sound paradoxical, but with this powerful instrument of destruction under my control I hope to be a deterrent to any Power that attempts to dispute the supremacy of the sea with the country that is mine by birth.

"But to proceed. On my return to England I was down on my luck, and as a final resource I joined the electrical department of Devonport Dockyard as a fitter. It was not long before I saw that there was little chance of bettering myself. I had ability and energy, but no influence. Profiting by the experience gained in my apprenticeship I devised an improved method of electrical welding. It saved hundreds, possibly thousands of pounds, and I was rewarded with a paltry bonus of forty shillings.

"Needless to say I was very sick about it. Then an opportunity came. The copper boom revived the Cornish mining industry. The 'wheals' that my father had left me became prosperous, and I was able to throw up my employment with an unsympathetic State Employer. Arguing that a wave of failure might once more return over the mining industry I sold those under my control to a Company; took all my best workmen and one or two of my special friends--Devoran and Kenwyn amongst them--and bought a concession in the Island of Sumatra.

"Sumatra is a Dutch colony, as you doubtless know. The Dutch officials lack the energy of their fellow-countrymen at home and the consequence is that the whole of the Dutch East Indies stagnates. For years past the Germans have had an eye on those islands, but my belief is that Japan will be the future master of them. Possibly that accounts for numbers of Germans who settle in Sumatra and Java.

"Personally I rather like the German, when free from the excessive officialdom that pervades in the German Empire. They are good colonists, hard-working and law-abiding, in every foreign possession save their own, for in the latter the blighting effect of the be-uniformed official is fatal to individual success. We got on very well with our neighbours on the adjoining concessions, with one exception. That exception was a German named Karl von Harburg."

Captain Restronguet paused as if he feared that the growing excitability would overmaster him. He was evidently labouring under a strong recollection of bygone insults. Hythe had the sense to keep silence, he realized that the listener is the one who hears most.

"But before I say anything more about Karl von Harburg," continued the Captain, "I must mention another incident. The concession I had acquired paid beyond all expectations, for not only were copper and tin found in abundance but also gold. We were all rich men. Some of my workmen went back to Redruth; others, having no home ties, and liking the free open life, stayed on. Since I was naturally fond of electrical engineering and the allied sciences, I spent a great deal of my time experimenting. One day, almost by accident, I discovered an alloy--as light as aluminium, absolutely showing no traces of corrosion when exposed to the action of salt water, as proof against acids as pure gold, and possessing the strength and resilience of steel. It was also as non-porous as a metal can possibly be. Under pressure that would cause water to 'weep' through a steel vessel, a cylinder made of this metal showed no sign of moisture. I realized that I had made a discovery that would prove of inestimable value in the construction of air-ships, and as at that time the Admiralty were 'tied up in knots' over the utter failure of the naval airship 'Mayfly,' I sent a sheet of the metal to a trusted agent in London with instructions to submit it to My Lords.

"Believe me from that day to this, beyond a curt acknowledgment and a bald statement that the subject was under consideration, I have heard nothing further of the matter. I was angry--disgusted because the powers that be had bluntly shut their eyes to an actual discovery that would give Great Britain the command of the air.

"Since airmanship did not appeal to me I resolved to make use of my discovery in another direction. By further experiments I found that my metal 'Restronium,' I have been ambitious enough to call it, could be made capable of absorbing bright light, yet at close distance would act as a reflector. The result was that I devised a submarine, steel-clad, and cased with restronium. It was constructed by native workmen under the supervision of my comrades and myself.

"The craft was a success. It prompted me to attempt another on a more ambitious scale, but ere it was completed Karl von Harburg appeared on the scene.

"This fellow is as crafty as a rogue can possibly be. By his German co-colonists he was cordially hated. He had ability but was lazy. His factory did not do so well as the others; instead of working harder he sulked. In the Fatherland he had once held a high diplomatic position. He it was who a few years back tried to force a quarrel upon Holland in order that a pretext might be found for Germany to acquire a longer coast-line on the shores of the North Sea. He failed, and since failure is not tolerated in Teutonic diplomatic circles, he was disgraced. He came to Sumatra, ostensibly with the idea of working a concession, but in reality looking for an opportunity of recovering his lost prestige by smoothing the way for a German annexation of the Dutch East Indies. Again he failed--how and why I need not now mention; but rightly or wrongly he formed the idea that I had a say in the matter.

"He had his revenge. He stole the secret of my new alloy. He obtained possession of the plans of my latest submarine, the 'Aphrodite,' and set himself to build a vessel that would be more powerful than mine. But he had not mastered one important idea--the secret of the defensive and offensive powers of my vessel.

"It was a case of war to the knife. His idea was to take his submarine--the 'Vorwartz' he named her--into British waters and deliberately do as much destruction to British ships of war and merchantmen as he possibly could; this with the idea of giving the Fatherland an advantage in the coming naval war that has been so long anticipated and which has not yet, thank God, caused untold misery and disaster to two nations who could be rivals yet friends.

"That is where I stepped in. I sent word and told the fellow plainly that the 'Aphrodite' was also bound for British waters, and that I would take the first opportunity of smashing up the 'Vorwartz' should one hostile act be committed against British property. That frightened him, for at heart he is a coward. Accordingly Karl von Harburg, knowing that the 'Aphrodite' had left for the Atlantic, concocted a truly diabolical plot. He deliberately navigated his 'Vorwartz' to German waters and committed outrages against his own country."

"Whatever for?" asked the Sub. "It is inconceivable."

"To a Briton, yes!" assented Captain Restronguet. "But Karl von Harburg had no compunction. He had a spite against his Government, he had a grudge against me; and whatever the issue he had nothing to lose by being the means of a terrible conflict between Great Britain and Germany. Thus he impersonated me, and by committing these outrages upon the German fleet and harbours he very nearly provoked the war he wished to engineer.

"It was time for me to dissociate myself with the authorship of these acts of piracy. Although I have registered a solemn oath never to hand my 'Aphrodite' over to the British Government (yet there are times when I feel tempted to perjure myself) I am still an Englishman. Should the Empire require my aid I for my part will do my best. And thus, having succeeded in demonstrating that I could not possibly be responsible for the work of destruction at Wilhelmshaven, Kiel, and elsewhere, I mean to lay in wait for the 'Vorwartz' and destroy her as ruthlessly as I would a venomous reptile. For this purpose, Mr. Hythe, is the 'Aphrodite' now cruising off Cape Ushant, for according to fairly reliable information the 'Vorwartz,' with Karl von Harburg on board, has passed through the straits of Dover bound west."