The Stolen Cruiser

Spithead lay enshrouded in the sea-fog, while from the deck of H.M. torpedo-boat destroyer _Frome_ neither the low-lying land upon which Portsmouth is built nor the undulating d...

THE _Frome_ came alongside the Fountain Lake Jetty, and her commander repaired to the commander-in-chief's office to make his report as to why the night gunnery exercises had no...

WITHIN a quarter of an hour of the termination of the match Fielding and Cardyke were on board the destroyer, Drake having gone post-haste to the commander-in-chief to receive d...

The scrapped Dreadnought-cruiser Impregnable had been sold by public auction, the purchaser being Mynheer Van der Coote, shipbreaker, of Rotterdam. According to the usual terms...

They were on the bridge; Drake had turned in. It was now two bells of the middle watch (1 a.m.), and the _Frome_ was still heading westward as fast as her motors could impart po...

MIDSHIPMAN CARDYKE was soon hauled upon the quarter-deck of the pirate cruiser, and, in spite of his struggles, was secured by half-a-dozen ruffians. His revolver and dirk were...

JUAN CERVILLO was completely taken aback at the result of the one shot. It had put him absolutely beyond the pale. Piracy without bloodshed was serious enough in all conscience,...

FIELDING glanced significantly at his comrades. He was a young man, brave and resolute, and full of life; but the prospect of being mangled in a steel tomb was enough to quail t...

ARNOLD CARDYKE was the first to recover from the effect of the noxious vapour. He had been sleeping nearest to the entrance to the conning-tower, and had thus more air than his...

MEANWHILE, what had happened to Lieutenant Drake and the rest of the _Frome's_ crew, after the destruction of that little craft? Directly the boats pushed off Drake and those of...

AFTER leaving the French liner _L'Égalité_ helpless in the distance, the _Independencia_ steamed in a south-easterly direction till out of sight; then altering helm, she plugged...

BANG! went another quickfirer, and the accompanying screech denoted the fact that the pirates had let loose a shell. Another and another, followed by a couple of detonations and...

ON returning to his prison cabin, Fielding communicated the details of his interview with the pirate captain to his companions. One and all agreed that the outlook, unless a war...

SEVENTY-TWO hours after the receipt of the misleading intelligence from the hapless _Duke of Negropont_ the scout _Cerberus_ again put to sea. This time there was no doubt that...

UNSEEN, the _Independencia_ crossed athwart the great Atlantic highway without incident. No liner, or even a tramp, fell into her clutches, and for forty-eight hours after witne...

THE collision with the iceberg had, as Fielding anticipated, completely unnerved the Dago crew. Even Juan Cervillo realised that there were great difficulties and perils in his...

SNATCHING up a revolver Fielding left the cabin and made his way along the half-deck till he reached the foremost ladder. Here were standing nearly a dozen men ready to repel th...

"WE wish to know why we are freezing to death in this fearful climate, instead of capturing rich prizes, as we were led to believe, and for which we signed on?" said the spokesm...

MIDSHIPMAN CARDYKE was restless under restraint, and during the long periods of inaction was fond of looking out of the port and listening to the swish of the waves against the...

"Sh!" admonished Fielding. "There's no necessity to alarm the others just yet. As soon as we find the ship is actually sinking we'll get the others through the ports without any...

CARDYKE'S first step in the navigation of the vessel was to get her on her proper course. When the quartermasters deserted their posts the vessel, left to her own devices, slowl...

SUDDENLY Drake whispered to the artificer-engineer to drive full speed ahead, and, springing aft, he thrust the helm hard over. Heeling outwards till her coamings were awash, th...

The _Mosquito_ was moving slowly under the action of her aerial propeller towards the scene of the catastrophe. The lieutenant decided to make a search for any possible survivor...

TO say that Lieutenant Douglas Drake was flabbergasted would not do justice to the state of his mind. In the very hour of his triumph, when the credit of recapturing the stolen...