CHAPTER XVIII

THE CAPTAIN'S REVENGE

GERALD'S ruse had been successful. Knowing that the Indians of Patagonia frequently take prisoners any small parties of the crews of whaling vessels who allow themselves to be treacherously surprised, so as to plunder and afterwards hold them to ransom, he reasoned that the savages would remove their captives to their village directly the _Olive Branch_ had left the anchorage. Evidently the natives wished to keep the locality of their village a secret, and only Tregarthen's scouting instincts had given him the clue.

So the submarine, in which were Lieutenant Palmer and the usual crew of that craft, was submersed in mid-channel till the canoes attempted the passage, the result of which was fatal to the savages and nearly so to the originator of the enterprise.

When Gerald came to himself he found himself lying in the fore part of the submarine in the company of the still unconscious members of Slade's force. The fore-hatch had been uncovered to admit the air, for 'tween decks the atmosphere was almost stifling.

"Well, old fellow, how goes it?" asked Mr. Palmer.

"I feel a bit rocky, but I shall be all right in a minute or two."

"Case for the sick bay, eh?"

"No fear; but it was a narrow squeak. I wonder how I managed to shake that brute off my back."

"You didn't. If it had not been for Watson noticing that the boat's head was pointing dead on shore you would not be here. He managed the rascal very neatly by a tap with a spanner, and grabbed you as you were on the point of disappearing overboard."

"Where are we now?"

"Brought up at the anchorage. We've telephoned to the _Olive Branch_, and she's on her way back."

Ten minutes later the cruiser appeared round a bend in the channel, and without undue delay the submarine was made fast alongside her parent ship. Stockton and Slade and the surviving seaman were hoisted over the side and sent below to the sick bay, while Gerald, still feeling the ill effects of his encounter, hastened to make his report to Captain Brookes.

"Excellent," was the captain's comment. "By the bye, you appear to have thoroughly adapted yourself to my views. This is a practical instance of the extermination of war. But we haven't done yet; I'm going to send a charge of dynamite ashore, stow it in the centre of their village, and blow the place to bits."

"Haven't we done enough, sir?" asked Gerald, for, now the excitement of the struggle was over, the appalling nature of the business was beginning to assert itself.

"Enough? No! Be thorough--that's my motto. Look here, Mr. Tregarthen, can you give me one good reason why I should withhold my hand when dealing with these rascals?"

"Suppose the whole tribe be wiped out--where does the warning to the others come in? They won't know who is responsible for the act, neither will they be able to understand why it was done. On the other hand, if we give these rascals a thundering good fright, they will have good cause to remember us, and behave better in the future."

Captain Brookes frowned. For the space of a minute he remained gazing in the direction of the inhospitable shore, then, wheeling swiftly, looked Gerald squarely in the face.

"Mr. Tregarthen, I don't know why it is, but you are the only man on the ship that dares to thwart my purpose. Nevertheless, I like you for your outspoken manner. Now carry on, and let me know what is your alternative."

"We have not as yet given the ZZ-rays a practical test," remarked Gerald, tentatively.

"Good gracious! The ZZ-rays!" exclaimed the captain, with astonishment. "The only argument in favour of the ZZ-rays in preference to a bombardment is that their action is instantaneous and consequently painless. Is that your idea of mercy?"

"No, sir. In any case we must land a party to search for our missing comrades. No doubt we can also 'round up' the savages, since they won't be in a state to offer much resistance."

"And then?"

"We can land a hundredweight of explosive, place it on yonder rock, which I believe is plainly visible from the village, and take the _Olive Branch_ down to the mouth of Desolation Inlet, whence she can explode the stuff by means of the ZZ-rays."

"In the meantime what will the natives be doing?"

"We can leave a party to keep them under guard. I will undertake that task if required, sir."

"You have more faith in the infallibility of my invention than I have," observed Captain Brookes, with a grim smile. "What if I miscalculated the distance and wiped you out instead?"

"With due precautions there is no risk, sir."

"All right, Mr. Tregarthen. Since you are willing I make no objection. Only remember, the men required to guard the prisoners--if we succeed in taking any--must be volunteers, duly warned for the service."

Meanwhile the submarine had been submersed and housed in its accustomed berth; the divers had made rapid progress towards replacing the repaired propeller, and preparations were in hand for the proposed visit to the native village.

At sunrise on the following morning the launch, with the explosive safely stowed on board, lay alongside the cruiser. Captain Brookes signified his intention of heading the landing-party, which consisted of eighty well-armed men.

"I am going to land on the eastern side of the inlet first," said the captain. "I mean to visit the site of the ambuscade. This done, we will cross to the other side and make a survey of the village."

It was some time before the track of the unfortunate expedition could be picked up, since the snow had obliterated the footprints, and none of the survivors were sufficiently recovered to accompany the landing-party.

At length a "blaze" was found, and from that point the direction taken by the former expedition was followed with little trouble.

Although it was practically certain that all the natives who had taken part in the treacherous attack had been completely demoralised, Captain Brookes took no risks. Advanced and rear guards were told off, the men keeping their arms ready for instant use. In addition, the silencers had been removed from the rifles.

"Why are those men halting?" demanded Captain Brookes, as the advance guard came to an abrupt stop.

"They've found something, I think, sir," replied Lieutenant Sinclair.

"Then tell them to continue the advance."

By this means the gap between the three divisions being maintained, the main body arrived at the spot where their comrades had halted; then exclamations of rage burst from the lips of the infuriated seamen, for lying, half covered by a mantle of snow, were the bodies of the victims of the savages' treachery. "Isn't that enough to knock the sickly sentimentality out of the most case-hardened humanitarian?" asked Captain Brookes. "I may be wrong in my opinion, but with the experience of not only today, but of years past, I feel convinced that fear is the only means of keeping these savages in order, and, by Jove, I'll teach them a lesson!"

Having made this unpleasant discovery, Captain Brookes led his men back to the shore, whence they were transferred to the opposite bank of the inlet.

Here they again formed up and marched towards the village, which was cunningly concealed save from one particular direction--namely, from where Gerald had noticed it from the eastern shore of the creek.

Detaching a party of twenty men under Lieutenant Sinclair, with instructions to make a detour to the opposite side of the village, so that the savages' retreat would be cut off, Captain Brookes halted the main body till a prearranged signal was given to show that arrangements for surprise were complete.

"Now, forward, my lads!" exclaimed the captain, as the report of a rifle was heard in the distance.

At the double the seamen rushed towards the collection of hovels that formed the Patagonian village. A few of the natives showed fight, but the majority fled, yelling with terror, in the direction of the narrow defile held by Sinclair and his men.

Soon the fugitives were driven back; men, women, and children bolted to their huts, and the work of capturing the natives began.

The savages offered but little resistance as they were seized and securely bound. As for the women and children, they stoically remained with their men-folk and finding that they were not to be put to death--as they fully expected to be--the savages began to lose their sullen manner and to take a faint interest in the seamen's preparations.

On an open space in front of the village the natives were placed--the men, individually bound and roped together as an additional safeguard, sitting on the ground in a circle, with the women and children in the centre.

Meanwhile another party of seamen had carried seven tins of dynamite, each containing 16 1/2 lbs., to the base of the crag that Gerald had indicated--at a distance of a mile and a half from the village--and separated from it by the main channel of Desolation Inlet.

Gerald had detailed his volunteers for the task of guarding the prisoners, and all the preliminary preparations were now complete.

"Now for a practical test of the ZZ-rays, Mr. Tregarthen," exclaimed Captain Brookes, as he bade Gerald farewell. "It is now 10.30 a.m. At noon punctually I shall liberate the electric current from the _Olive Branch_, at a distance of nine sea miles from yonder crag. You will please remain here, and on no account release the prisoners till my return, which, I hope, will be at 1.30 p.m."

"Very good, sir," replied Gerald, with a salute, as the captain ordered the remainder of the landing-party to fall in.

Meanwhile the divers had been working incessantly, and the propeller was again fit for its task; the anchor was weighed, and the _Olive Branch_ once more glided down the waters of Desolation Inlet.

Left in charge of the prisoners Gerald had ample time to reflect upon the action he had taken. In his anxiety to save the savages from extermination he had made a somewhat hasty proposal; and now, with the execution of his plan in progress, the force of Captain Brookes' objections came home to him.

The hitherto untried ZZ-rays might prove themselves far more destructive than their inventor claimed; their radius of action might overlap the area governed by those sinister chequers on the indicator; the distance and direction of the pinnacle from the _Olive Branch_ might be misjudged--and then?

Tregarthen glanced at his watch. It was a quarter to twelve.

"Smith!" he called out, addressing one of the petty officers.

"Sir?"

"Pass the word for the men to take off their bandoliers, empty the magazines of their rifles, and stow the cartridges under yonder tree."

Without betraying his surprise at the unusual order the man hurried off to communicate Gerald's instructions. Implicit obedience was Smith's sheet anchor.

"There, I've taken every possible precaution," mused the young officer. "Now things must take their course."

As the minutes slowly sped the tension amongst the seamen increased. Even the savages seemed to have an inkling that something extraordinary was afoot.

Watch in hand Gerald waited till the long hand pointed at a minute to the hour.

"Look!" he shouted, pointing to the distant crag.

The natives, although they did not understand the word, followed the direction indicated, and a tense deathly silence seemed to fill the air.

Precisely at noon a terrific detonation shook the ground, and a thick cloud of dust and smoke obscured the view of the pinnacle. When the cloud had dispersed the rock had completely vanished, only a heap of boulders marking its position.

The effect upon the natives was astonishing. In an agony of fear they threw themselves face downwards in the dust, shrieking and moaning in a most dismal manner. By a pure coincidence the rock that Gerald had selected for destruction had been regarded by the savages as the home of the tutelar god of war, and its disintegration had appalled the superstitious savages far more than any personal chastisement. They realised that the power of the white man was greater than that of the deity whom they regarded as their protector in their treacherous attacks upon harmless trading and fishing vessels that stress of weather had driven into their harbours.

Punctually at the time stated Captain Brookes returned with the rest of the landing-party.

By means of signs the savages were told that they were spared on condition that they refrained from molesting the crews of any ships that might at some future time visit Desolation Inlet. This they seemed to understand, and by gesticulations promised to conform to their captors' commands.

"Cast them adrift," ordered Captain Brookes, then turning to Gerald he continued: "Well, that's done with. There's not much doubt as to the efficacy of the ZZ-rays. But the wireless is now in working order once more, and the first message that I received is one that requires our urgent presence in the Mediterranean Sea. Until I hear further details I had better not say any more, but, rest assured, Mr. Tregarthen, that compared with our next venture, recent events are mere child's play."

(_To be continued_)