The Third Officer: A Present-day Pirate Story Page 10

  CHAPTER IX

  The First Day on the Island

  "No agents' fees," continued Captain Davis. "Situation pleasant,healthy locality, standing on high ground, &c., &c. Frequent trams tothe City--I don't think."

  Burgoyne regarded the collection of huts without enthusiasm. Somewere already rotting. The galvanized iron roofs were rusting throughin several places, while attempts had been made to repair the damageby means of powdered coral worked into a kind of cement. Hibiscusplants flourished between the buildings, tough-tendrilled creepersclung tenaciously to the woodwork, as if endeavouring to cloak thedefects with verdure.

  "We'll soon get the show shipshape," remarked the purser. "I've seenworse cribs in the slums of Southampton."

  "Then the sooner the better, Mr. Holmes," added Alwyn briskly."Coming along, Captain Davis?"

  The ex-skipper of the _Kittiwake_ shook his head.

  "Sorry," he replied. "I'm deputy chief cook for our crowd. They'draise Cain, even though I'm their Old Man, if their grub wasn'tready. See you at 'stand easy'."

  "One moment, Captain," said Burgoyne. "Before you sheer off I want tothank you. Also I want to ask a question: have any of you a razor tolend?"

  Captain Davis laughed heartily.

  "Bless me!" he exclaimed. "I hope you don't count on keeping upappearances, young man. If you do you'll be disappointed. None of ushave seen a razor, let along handled one, for close on five weeks.Don't worry, beards grow quick enough in this climate, and you won'tbe long in the bristling stage."

  "How about hair-cutting?" asked Burgoyne hopefully, with a view toulterior motives.

  "That was a proposition that worried us," admitted the skipper. "Wedidn't object very much to have to grow whiskers, but we drew theline at getting a mop like a bobbed schoolgirl. Take my tip. Whenyour hair gets too long use a chisel, or rather get a chum to use oneon your thatch. You'll find plenty of cutting tools in thecarpenters' shop over yonder, but for Heaven's sake don't bring oneinto the compound, or Black Strogoff will give you a week in the'Glory Hole'."

  Half an hour later the passengers and crew of the _Donibristle_ werein possession of their new quarters. One of the largest huts was setaside for a hospital, and into this Captain Blair, Mostyn, and thewounded seamen were carried. The steward and a deckhand named Twill(who had served an apprenticeship with an Edinburgh chemist, but,failing to pass the pharmaceutical examination, had forsaken thepestle and mortar for a life afloat) were told off to act as hospitalattendants. This reduced the number of "hands" allotted to thecook-house to two: Colonel Vivian and "Young Bill".

  The colonel was appointed to the post of head cook because it was afairly "soft" job, and did not require much manual work. "Young Bill"was chosen to be his assistant because "Young Bill" was his daughter.In her new capacity Hilda Vivian would stand less chance of detectionthan if she had been compelled to work with the men outside thecompound. It was at Holmes's suggestion that Miss Vivian had beensent to the cook-house. She rather resented it, and would havepreferred a more strenuous, out-door occupation, but Burgoyne, in hisofficial position as senior executive officer, clenched thearrangement, at the same time thanking the purser for hiswell-thought-out suggestion.

  Ramon Porfirio had plenty of work on hand. He knew that the armedrabble that formed the crew of the _Malfilio_, and the garrison ofthe secret base, would not follow industrial pursuits. They were"gentlemen-in-arms", whether they were white, black, brown, oryellow, and when not engaged afloat or on guard duties they took careto live a life of ease.

  The menial and industrial work fell to the pirates' captives. Theywere made to toil; but Porfirio was intelligent enough to realizethat no man can perform a good day's work if he is half-starved.There was plenty of food on the island, so the prisoners had enoughto keep them in working trim.

  Amongst the pirates there was one hard-and-fast regulation thatoccasioned considerable discontent, but Porfirio showed unrelentingsternness with regard to it. He absolutely barred the use orpossession of intoxicating spirits; not because he was an adherent tothe tenets of Pussyfoot, but because he knew the dire results ofplying Malays and Chinese with strong drink. Although he, hislieutenants, and the South American section of his band were harddrinkers, they voluntarily agreed to desist from the use of alcohol,so that the Asiatics would have no cause for jealousy.

  Within the two hours allowed by Black Strogoff the _Donibristle's_men, marshalled into working-gangs, went to their stated tasks. Thepick of the engine-room staff, under the supervision of Angus andWithers (the latter had resumed his official status), marched off tojoin the other forcibly-recruited workmen in the blacksmiths' andmachinists' shops. The deck-hands and the remainder of the firemenwere divided into two parties. One, under Branscombe, was to proceedon board the _Donibristle_ and unload her cargo; the other, underBurgoyne, was told off to haul the booty to the top of the cliff andcarry it into the store-houses.

  Although the work of despoiling his own ship was an irksome anddepressing task, Burgoyne felt glad to a certain extent that it fellto his lot. It gave him an opportunity to study the lay of the land,which, had he been sent to toil in the workshops, would have beendenied him.

  Escorted by two Peruvian half-castes, armed with automatic pistolsand long, heavy knives, the Third Officer's men were taken to theedge of the cliffs surrounding the spacious landlocked harbour. Fromthis point of vantage Burgoyne could observe not only the greaterpart of the anchorage, but a considerable portion of the island aswell.

  At one time there had been a powerful electric crane built on theedge of the cliff, its longer arm projecting well beyond the almostvertical wall of rock. The electric plant had given out, but thecrane still remained, rusty, but to a certain degree serviceable. Ithad to be worked and trained by manual power, the hauling-up gearconsisting of a large winch bolted to the bed of the former electriccapstan.

  It took the party the best part of two hours to overhaul and preparethe flexible steel ropes and treble-sheaved blocks, while Burgoyne,keenly on the alert lest any of the men should incautiously runneedless risks, kept all his attention upon the movements of theactive fellows swarming on the latticed steelwork. But when allpreparations were completed, and the hard-worked men had to await thefirst consignment of cargo from the _Donibristle_, Alwyn found anopportunity to survey his surroundings.

  Except for the conical hill that he had noted on his way from thetunnel to the compound, Burgoyne found that the crane was situated onthe highest part of the island, although, when not in use, it couldbe run back on four parallel lines until it was invisible fromseaward.

  He judged the island to be in the form of an irregular oblong, threemiles from north to south, and two miles from east to west. On theeast side lay the landlocked harbour with its outer barrier ofdetached granite cliffs. Judging by the colour of the water theharbour was almost uniformly deep, with the exception of a rockypatch immediately inside the entrance on the port hand, and anotherabout a cable's length from the extreme southernmost part of thecurve of the shore. A mile beyond the entrance was coral reef, buthow far it extended, and in what position was the entrance to thelagoon, Burgoyne had at that time no means of ascertaining, as bothon the right hand and on the left the edge of the cliff cut theskyline.

  Directing his attention inland, Alwyn saw little to be of assistanceto him. The barracks, workshops, stores, and a building which heconcluded was a magazine all lay on a lower level than that of thetop of the cliffs. He had no chance of seeing what the southern andwestern sides of the island were like, except that he knew they mustbe precipitous. Whether coral reef completely encircled the secretbase remained as yet a matter for speculation.

  Towards the horns of the landlocked harbour, he could make out atleast half a dozen gun emplacements, constructed for weapons withdisappearing mountings.

  "I must make a closer acquaintance of those gentlemen," he decided."4.7's, or 6-inchers at the very outside. Even then it must havetaken the Huns a deuce of a swot to get the guns up the clif
f. Hello!There's the first boatload coming ashore. I guess Branscombe's jollysick over his job."

  The _Donibristle_ had been moved a hundred yards closer inshore, andwas lying between the _Kittiwake_ and the _Alvarado_. The _Malfilio_had left, probably in pursuit of another prey.

  It somewhat puzzled Burgoyne to know why the pirates had decided totake the _Donibristle's_ cargo ashore. Cases of hardware andmachinery would be of little use to them on the island; but, disposedof in Vladivostok or Petropavlovsk, where they might be sent intoSoviet Russia, their contents would be of almost priceless value.But, Alwyn remarked, life just now was full of surprises, most ofthem being very disagreeable ones, and for the time being it was bestfor him to knuckle under and look small until the opportunity aroseto be up and doing.

  Steam had just been raised on board the _Donibristle_ to enable herto use her derricks, but the work of loading up the boats proceededslowly. For one thing, the men under Branscombe's orders showed noenthusiasm for their task. Neither did Branscombe for that matter. Itwas quite a different proposition having to work with forced labour.The men just kept going and no more, so that they would not incur thewrath of the pirates by obviously "hanging on the slack".

  It was six o'clock by the time the first boatload of cargo had beenhoisted up the cliff and placed in one of the stores. The crane wasrun back out of sight. The various small craft used in connectionwith the operation were hauled up and secured by stout padlocks to aheavy chain; the oars and gear removed and placed under lock and key.This task completed, the working-parties were to a limited extentfree until the following morning.

  On the return journey to the compound, Burgoyne and Branscombe wereable to compare notes. Neither was enthusiastic over his share in theoperations, but each had made good use of his eyes with a view tosubsequent events. Presently they were joined by Withers and Angus,who had finished their daily task in the shops. All were agreed thatthe pirates, although unspeakably lazy, were smart at their unholytrade, and left nothing undone to safeguard the secrets of theisland.

  "It will take some doing to get clear of this show," remarked PhilBranscombe. "You couldn't see from up there, Burgoyne, old man, butthe beach is bristling with machine-guns. They've mounted a couple onthe _Kittiwake_."

  "And what do they propose doing with the old _Donibristle_?" askedAlwyn. "Did you find out anything?"

  "A couple of greasy, gold-laced blighters came on board," replied theFourth Officer. "Apparently they didn't think much of things, 'causethey shook their heads and jabbered rather dolefully when theyexamined the results of their own gun-fire."

  "It seems to me that our one chance is to cut out the old ship whileshe has steam up," said Burgoyne. "She's sound enough below thewater-line, and her engines are all right, aren't they, Angus?"

  The Chief grunted in assent.

  "Oh aye," he replied without enthusiasm. "But I'll tak the libertytae inquire what ye just propose to do?"

  "The _Malfilio_ is away cruising," observed Burgoyne tentatively.

  "Yes," agreed Branscombe, "but there are at least fifty armedruffians left behind, to say nothing of the quick-firers andmachine-guns. We'd be a scrap heap before we cleared the entrance.Hello! Stand by! We're nearly there."

  The four officer's separated to rejoin their respective parties.Other batches of men, crews of the _Kittiwake_ and _Alvarado_, wereheld up outside the compound gate, while the guards from the twoblock-houses counted them and compared the numbers with those who hadpassed out earlier in the day.

  It was now night, but two powerful acetylene lamps aided the guardsin their task. Nevertheless it was more than a quarter of an hourlater before the _Donibristle's_ men were able to be dismissed totheir huts.

  From each building one man was told off to fetch the evening mealfrom the galley. Considering the limited supplies and utensils at hiscommand, Colonel Vivian had risen to the occasion. No doubt Hilda hadbeen in a great measure responsible for the success of the cooking,for each man received a pint of soup, in which floated minute piecesof mutton, and a small loaf made of wheat flour and taro. This theyate in their various quarters by the dim light of a small candle ineach room.

  "How do you like your new job, Young Bill?" inquired Alwyn, after hehad complimented her father upon the cooking arrangements.

  "I rather like it," she admitted. "It's a novelty; but I don't thinkI'd care to be a professional cook."

  "You did jolly well," said the Third Officer admiringly.

  "Wait until you've eaten yours," cautioned Hilda. "Then you mighthave cause to regret your hasty opinion."

  Burgoyne stepped back and altered the position of the candle untilthe light shone on the girl's face. She returned the steady gazeunmoved.

  "I suppose you know," he remarked slowly, "that I am responsible, assenior executive officer, for the passengers and crew of the_Donibristle_? You do? That's good. Then I'm going to reprimand you.Why have you washed your face?"

  Hilda looked astonished.

  "Washed my face! Of course I had to wash, especially as I'm a cook.You wouldn't like your meals prepared with dirty hands."

  "No, I wouldn't," admitted Alwyn. "But I might point out that it isnot customary to touch food with one's face. Now look here--I'mserious. In future rub your cheeks and chin over with ashes, oryou'll be spotted for an absolute cert. Right-o! I'm glad you see mypoint."

  Burgoyne's next step was to visit the wounded men. He found CaptainBlair considerably better. The steward reported that the skipper'stemperature had fallen, and was now only one degree above normal,while his wounds showed no sign of complications. Mostyn was not sowell. He recognized Burgoyne and greeted him with a faint smile.

  "I'm just slacking," he remarked feebly, "but you won't want me for awhile, I guess. An operator without his 'set' is like Hamlet withoutthe Prince of Denmark. But we had a run for our money, hadn't we?"

  With one exception the men appeared to be doing well; but, as thesteward was cautious enough to remark, it was too early to tell howthings would pan out.

  "Considering the limited appliances at your disposal, Barnes, you'vedone toppingly," declared Burgoyne.

  "Glad to hear it, sir," replied the steward, but he omitted tomention that a great share of the credit was due to Twill, hisassistant, whose medical knowledge gained in his student days wasbeing put to good use.

  His round completed, Burgoyne returned to the quarters allotted tothe ship's officers, where he found his belated meal cold but nonethe less acceptable.

  By that time the huts were invaded by the crews of the other capturedships. Keen to know the latest possible news of the outside world,they were anxious to fraternize.

  Amongst the visitors to the officers' room was Captain Davis.

  "All shipshape an' Bristol fashion, I see," he remarked cheerily."Nothing like making the best of things. I'd like to have your cook.He must be a gem. The whiff of your grub drifted over our way andnearly drove the boys frantic with envy. Well, it's close on time todouse lights, so we won't stay."

  "Douse lights?" repeated Burgoyne. "Is there any rule about that?"

  "There is and there isn't," replied the skipper of the _Kittiwake_,with a grin. "If you put 'em out at nine, well and good. If youdon't, often as not old Strogoff will beat up a party to hoist upashes or some such job. So we've learnt a trick and out go thelights. Cheerio, everybody."

  Ten minutes later Alwyn Burgoyne was in a deep, dreamless slumber.