for two hours more the alerte held on a westerly course through a blinding fog before captain cain resolved upon a plan of action. generally capable of forming a swift and workable decision, he was now beset with so many perplexities that for once at least his ready resource failed him.
against one outstanding asset—the admiralty declaration that the patrolling destroyers had been withdrawn—was a more than counterbalancing debit. cap'n silas porthoustoc's sudden demise had not only deprived the pirate of a necessary confederate—it had handicapped him severely in the important matter of refilling the almost empty fuel tanks.
it was impossible for the alerte to enter any commercial harbour and obtain oil from the storage tanks without certain detection. equally impossible was it for the same reason to receive supplies from an oil-tanker on the high seas, unless the pirate resorted to force. british vessels he had resolved to leave severely alone. there were yankee tankers to be met with, but captain cain was chary in that respect. although he had no love for citizens of "the greatest republic on earth," he had a wholesome regard for the physical and mental powers of the officers and crews of ships flying the stars and stripes. men of the latin races were excitable and easily intimidated, according to his estimation. a german could be bluffed, provided he could be made to realise the argument of brute force. but a yankee strongly resembled a briton, both in courage, resource and stubbornness.
no, united states tankers were not to be meddled with, he decided. apparently the only course open to him was to operate on the french side of the channel upon any likely craft using liquid fuel——and during the last few years king coal was being seriously threatened by king oil in the mercantile fleet, both of the old and new worlds.
porthoustoc's death had affected the situation in another way. the alerte had no means of sending her unlawful booty to england. in future she must be her own store-carrier, unless she found a secluded and safe base of operations. it was too hazardous an enterprise to attempt to approach any of the little frequented cornish coves under cover of night and land the spoil by means of boats. besides, the moment the news reached the admiralty that the same or another pirate ship was "out," all the previous destroyer activities would be resumed with increasing zest. it was more than likely that orders would be given to depth-charge the pirate vessel if she sank herself under similar circumstances to that of the memnon in st. ives bay. captain cain had a wholesome respect for the british navy and its methods in dealing with submarine operations.
the only solution captain cain could find, lay in deserting home waters for less frequented seas. there were safe hiding-places off the african coast, ideal spots for burying the pirate's booty, until such times as the master villain could remove the spoil and cheat his partners in crime. but there again cropped up the baffling problem. without sufficient oil-fuel, how was the alerte to cover the sixteen hundred odd miles between land's end and the african coast? was it possible to intercept the first oil-burning vessel they met, british or otherwise, and help themselves to the precious commodity? would a monetary payment in the case of a vessel flying the red ensign smooth over matters and at the same time absolve cain from his promise to his crew and also remove their scruples?
picking up the copy of the times, captain cain looked through the list of shipping as reported by lloyds. suddenly he gave a chuckle of satisfaction. amongst the names appeared that of the s.s. mendez nunez, owned by the bilboa oil company, which left cadiz on the 9th instant bound for swansea.
hurrying to the chart-room, captain cain found and unrolled a chart of the west coast of europe from finisterre to cape clear. assuming the speed of the spanish tanker to be eleven knots, he arrived at the conclusion that the alerte ought to fall in with her within twenty-four hours at about fifty miles s.s.w. of the bishop rock.
it was a daring proposition. apart from the risk of missing the spanish tanker altogether, the position given was not far from the junction of the traffic routes for shipping to and from the straits and the west coast of africa bound to and from the english and bristol channel ports, the bishop light being the first one sighted by homeward-bound vessels approaching land's end. in the event of the mendez nunez being sighted, could the capture be effected without the risk of other vessels coming to the spaniard's aid?
leaving pengelly in charge of the bridge, captain cain called the gunner and the bo'sun to his cabin and put the case before them. he meant to ignore pengelly altogether in the matter. instinctively he knew that his second in command would strongly protest against the idea of an african base. pengelly was all right up to a certain point in home waters, but not once but many times had he expressed his fears about proceeding far from his native cornwall.
both barnard and marchant fell in with the captain's suggestion. already had they come to the conclusion that piracy, even with the assistance of a submarine craft, was too risky a game to be prosecuted for any length of time in british and french waters.
"you see the idea?" said cain. "a couple of good hauls of shipping homeward-bound from senegal, the congo, and other french and belgian colonies, and our fortunes are made. we'll cache the booty, make our way home, charter a vessel all above-board, recover the stuff, and there you are. it's as simple as a b c. our first business is with the spanish tanker. pass the word for'ard, mr. barnard. there's a double share to the first man who sights the mendez nunez."
ten miles to the west of the scillies, the alerte ran out of the bank of fog into a clear expanse of water under a cloudless sky. the sea had moderated considerably, although there was a long, sullen swell that caused the pirate vessel to roll until her scuppers were under water. in these circumstances, should the mendez nunez be captured, making fast alongside the prize would be a manoeuvre fraught with danger.
captain cain had made a correct guess with reference to the sighting of the spanish tanker. a wisp of smoke away to the s.s.w. indicated the presence of a vessel. half an hour later, two masts and funnel showed above the horizon.
glass in hand, the captain went aloft. from his elevated perch he quickly ascertained that the on-coming craft was a tanker. although end on, the vessel's build and rig confirmed his surmise. she was long, low-lying, with a funnel right aft. the only break between the funnel and the bows was a small structure crowned by the bridge and chart-house. she was flying no colours, but the yellow and red bands round her funnel were sufficient to proclaim her nationality.
rapidly the distance between the two vessels decreased. giving a rapid glance to reassure himself that there were no other craft in sight, captain cain descended from the cross-trees to the deck and thence to the bridge.
"port a bit!" he ordered.
by so doing the alerte was merely conforming to the usual custom by which vessels meeting nearly end on ported helm. the action served its purpose. quite in ignorance of the danger that menaced her, the mendez nunez followed suit, intending to pass the supposed tramp at not less than two cables' distance.
already the alerte's quick-firer was cleared for action, but was hidden from the spaniard by the rise of the former's fo'c'sle. the moment the pirate vessel was in a position to enable the gun to bear, a shell was fired across the tanker's bows, instantly followed by the signal to heave to.
signs were not lacking that this peremptory action had thrown the spaniards into a state of panic. apart from the threat of being sunk, they realised what the dire result would be of a shell exploding the highly inflammable cargo. some of the crew rushed to lower the boats. the captain and some of his officers on the tanker's bridge were beside themselves with terror.
"stop instantly," signalled the pirate.
some one on board the mendez nunez—certainly it was not the captain—rang down for the engines to be reversed. the tanker soon lost way, and was presently lying head to wind in the long atlantic swell.
with her machine-gun mounted on the bridge and trained upon the spaniard, and with every available man conspicuously displaying his automatic pistol, the alerte was cautiously manoeuvred to come alongside the prize. there was very little risk to the submarine's hull. her false upperworks might be stove in. the danger lay in the fact that the alerte might fracture the light steel hull-plates of the tanker, in which case the former would have to do without the precious oil.
"get your fenders out!" shouted captain cain to the still dumbfounded crew of the mendez nunez.
apparently some of the spaniards understood english, or else they realised the intentions of the approaching alerte. three large fenders made of faggots bound with wire rope were lowered over the starboard side.
with a heavy jar, the pirate craft and the mendez nunez came together. one of the fenders nipped as the two craft ground each other's sides and was flattened like a pancake. another carried away. the partially lowered boat was crushed to matchwood. rolling a full fifteen degrees, the huge tanker stove in ten feet of the alerte's bulwarks and buckled the stanchions at one end of her bridge.
"an hour of this and we won't have a shred of upperworks left," expostulated pengelly. "sheer off, sir, while we have the chance."
for a wonder, captain cain concurred. with her port screw going full astern, the alerte drew clear of her prey.
it was no intention on the part of the pirate captain to abandon the attempt. easing down a cable's length to leeward, he signalled hnt—"smooth sea by pouring oil on it."
in a few minutes the pumps of the mendez nunez got to work. volumes of crude oil were released, spreading in vast iridescent patches to lee'ard of the tanker. although the swell still continued, it lost its dangerous aspect.
"that's the ticket!" exclaimed captain cain to his second in command. "well, it's their oil they're using, not mine.... steady on your helm... port a bit... meet her at that."
again the alerte closed her prey, this time on the port side. held by hawsers and springs fore and aft, the two vessels no longer ground against each other with any danger of violence.
at the head of fifteen armed men, captain cain boarded the prize. no resistance was offered. the spanish captain and all his officers, with the exception of two engineers, were ordered for'ard and locked in the forepeak with the rest of the crew. two of the tanker's ejector pumps were led to the alerte's tanks and the work of refuelling the pirate submarine began.
while this business was in progress, the boarding party were by no means idle. a systematic search of the officers' quarters yielded a little booty. the ship's stores and provision rooms were pillaged, and anything likely to be of service to the pirates removed.
then the wireless gear was rendered useless, the operator of the mendez nunez having previously been ordered to produce a record of messages sent and received during the last four hours. none had been sent since the alerte fired a warning shot across the tanker's bows, the operator having deserted his post in the general panic that ensued.
meanwhile, marchant the gunner, with a couple of hands, went below to the tanker's engine-room. breaking open the tunnel of the main shaft, they fractured the propeller shaft by means of a slab of gun cotton. within the space of fifty minutes captain cain had accomplished his task. he had replenished the alerte's fuel supply, plundered the tanker, and had left her helpless in the atlantic, with no means of summoning assistance other than by visual signalling.
"recall the hands, mr. marchant," ordered captain cain, when the gunner returned on deck and reported the fracturing of the propeller shaft.
a shrill whistle had the immediate effect of bringing the boarding-party to the side.
"all correct, sir," reported the gunner, after the men had numbered off. "how about those chaps, sir?" he added, pointing in the direction of the forepeak. "do we let 'em out?"
"no," replied cain, with a sardonic smile. "let 'em batter the hatch down when they find we're gone. a little extra damage won't signify."
returning to the alerte, the pirate captain signed to the two engineers of the tanker to cast off the hawsers; then, backing clear of the mendez nunez, the alerte made off at full speed in a nor'easterly direction, towards the irish coast.
forty-five minutes later, having dropped the tanker beneath the horizon, the pirate submarine altered her course for the distant african shore, secure in the knowledge that when assistance did come to the disabled tanker, the spaniards would declare that their attacker was making in a direction far different to the course she eventually took.
just before eight bells in the first dog watch, the bo'sun came up to pengelly, who was in charge of the bridge.
"two men missing, sir," he reported.
"who are they?"
"broadmayne and vyse, sir."
"then make a search for them. they didn't smuggle themselves on board yon tanker by any chance?"
"oh no, sir," declared barnard. "they were seen some time after we sheered off."
but the bo'sun had made a genuine mistake. at that precise moment broadmayne and his chum were having a very lively time on board the spanish tanker mendez nunez.
