Under the White Ensign: A Naval Story of the Great War Page 6

  CHAPTER V

  The Encounter with a Spy

  WITH hardly a sound Sub-lieutenant Webb made his way to the side ofhis sleeping chum, and roused him effectually and silently by thesimple expedient of grasping him firmly by the hand.

  "'Ssh!" cautioned Tom.

  Side by side the two officers crawled to a place of vantage fromwhich the three men could be kept under observation.

  "By Jove!" thought Osborne. "Two German officers and our old palAlfonzo. Jabbering away in German, too; and I don't understand thelingo. Now if they were to try Spanish----"

  "Ach, friend Georgeos Hymettus!" exclaimed the senior Hun officer inexecrable English. "Your German a disgrace is. You kultur haveneglected. We confused are in your explanations. Therefore, since wetalk not Spanish nor Greek it will be more easy to talk in deraccursed English. You say you no haf der list of ships?"

  "No," replied Perez, or, to give him his true name, Hymettus. "It nosafe. Me no trust ze writing. Carry all here," and he tapped hisforehead significantly. "S'pose me caught and nodings found in zewriting. Zen, nodings doin' as ze Englise say."

  Thereupon, with great fidelity the Greek spy named the Britishwar-ships on the station and their probable destinations. Oneexception was the _Portchester Castle_. Either the name had slippedhis memory, or else he was ignorant of her presence in the Bay ofGibraltar. He then proceeded to detail the names of British andforeign merchantmen at Gib. and their probable date of departure,which information the Germans jotted down in a notebook.

  An off-shore wind, rustling across the sand-dunes, rendered aconsiderable portion of the following conversation inaudible, but thechums could see that a sum of paper money changed hands.

  "U-boat officers!" whispered Webb, taking advantage of the hush ofthe grass. "Game to tackle them?"

  "Yes, I'm game," replied Osborne, "but it can't be done yet. I'llexplain later. Steady!"

  The spy and the Huns were on the point of separating.

  "Till Friday," cautioned the senior German officer. "Meanwhile tellGonales dat we be off Alminecar on Wednesday, an' dat we vos havemore petrol. Leben Sie wohl, Georgeos. Do not from dis place movemake until twenty minutes."

  The Huns moved off diagonally in the direction of the shore. Beforethey had gone very far two greatcoated seamen jumped to their feetand saluted. Osborne, then, was wise in not attempting to tackle theofficers, since there were members of the submarine's boat's crewwithin easy hailing distance. Silently the Germans pushed off in acollapsible canvas boat, and were rowed seaward until they were lostto sight and hearing of the British officers.

  True to his instructions, Georgeos Hymettus remained at the spotwhere he had parted with his uniformed confederates. He wasstealthily counting the notes he had received as the price of hisespionage, as if to make sure that he had not been cheated by hisTeutonic paymasters. Rapidly Osborne revolved the situation in hismind. With the assistance of his chum the capture of the solitary spyought to present no special difficulties; but, having laid him by theheels, the question arose, what could they do with him? The spy wasin Spanish territory, and, if the facts became known, his arrestconstituted a breach of neutrality. Again, between them and theNeutral Ground were the Spanish Lines, through which it would bealmost a matter of impossibility to conduct the captive withoutdetection by the Civil Guards. On the other hand it would be athankless task to give the Greek over to the Spanish authorities. Notonly would it mean delay, when it was imperative that Osborne and hischum should return to the ship as soon as practicable, but thechances were that the Spanish officials would refuse to keep thefellow under arrest, since he had been merely engaged in conversationwith two subjects of a friendly power. In Spain, especially in thesouthern part, the officials are notoriously pro-German, havingsuccumbed to the wiles and pecuniary charms of the Hun agents.

  "I'll risk it," decided the Lieutenant. "Even if we don't succeed inplanting him down in Gib. it will give him a rare fright."

  He pointed towards the unsuspecting Greek. Webb nodded. Stealthilythe twain advanced, treading on the soft sand and avoiding contactwith the dry driftwood that abounded in the grass.

  Without warning Georgeos Hymettus turned and saw two formsapproaching through the gloom of the starlit night. He took to hisheels, doubtless imagining that he was about to be attacked by someof the numerous robbers who, under the guise of beggars, infest thecountryside.

  Swift of foot though the Greek might be, the two Englishmen wereswifter. Before the fugitive had covered a hundred yards he realizedthat escape by means of flight seemed hopeless.

  He was almost on the point of stopping and feigning surrender whenOsborne's foot tripped over a projecting stone, sending theLieutenant sprawling in the grass. Webb, springing aside to avoid theprostrate form of his chum, shouted to the spy to give in.

  Promptly the Greek held both hands, with the fingers outspread, highabove his head.

  "That's sensible," declared Tom, and incautiously he turned to seehow his companion was progressing. Like a flash of lightning thespy's right hand sought his voluminous sash, and grasping a long,keen-bladed knife he slashed viciously at the Sub's chest.

  Springing backwards Webb avoided what would otherwise have been afatal blow. As it was, the sharp steel ripped his coat from lapel towaist, while so much energy had Georgeos put into the blow that hisarm swung outwards behind him.

  The Sub was quick to counter. Throwing himself upon the ground, hegripped his antagonist by the ankles. With a crash the fellowmeasured his length on his back, while Webb, following up the attack,seized him by the throat.

  Over and over the two rolled, Hymettus striking blindly with hisknife, while Tom, shifting one hand, strove to pin the spy's rightarm to his side and render him incapable of dealing furtherdangerous, but fortunately ineffectual, blows.

  By this time Osborne had regained his feet, and was awaiting anopportunity of coming to his chum's assistance. It was no easymatter, for in the starlight it was hard to distinguish betwixtfriend and foe as they writhed and rolled in a close embrace.

  The glint of steel prompted Osborne to take the risk. At any chancemoment a thrust might bury the weapon in Webb's body. Both combatantswere obviously becoming exhausted. Their quick breaths sounded likethose of a pair of dogs spent after running a long distance, while,in addition, the Greek was snarling like a wild beast.

  Grasping a favourable moment, Osborne took a flying kick at the knifeas for a brief instant it paused in mid-air. The weapon flew a dozenyards, the bright blade twirling and scintillating in the dim lightere it vanished from sight in the soft sand.

  With the loss of the weapon the Greek ceased to offer resistance.Upon that knife he had relied to win clear; it was the mainstay ofhis defence.

  "What you was do?" he whined in broken English, for he had alreadyrecognized his assailants. "Me harmless Spanish caballero."

  "We'll see about that," retorted Osborne. "The question is: are youcoming quietly or are you not?"

  "Where?" asked the spy.

  "To Gibraltar."

  "What for ze reason?"

  The Lieutenant thought it best to ignore the question. With Webb'sassistance he set the spy upon his feet, securely bound his armsbehind his back by means of his shawl, and, cutting off a portion ofthe latter, effectually gagged the prisoner.

  Osborne listened intently. There was nothing to show that the SpanishCivil Guards had been alarmed by the noise of the struggle.Everything seemed quiet. There was a fair chance of being able topass the captive through the Spanish Lines without detection,especially as it was now close upon dawn and the sentries apt, inconsequence, to relax their vigilance.

  All went well until the two officers and their prisoner were withinfifty yards of one of the guard-houses that mark the termination ofSpanish territory and the commencement of the Neutral Ground. Therewere no signs of any of the sentries; and Osborne was beginning tocongratulate himself upon the successful issue of his attempt, when acock-hatted, gaudily uniformed man sprung
seemingly from the ground.

  Levelling his rifle he called upon the British officers to halt,following up this order by a warning shout to others of his comradeswithin the block-house.

  "It's all right," declared Osborne in his halting Spanish. "We'rebringing back a deserter."

  "Do not be in a hurry," was the exasperating reply. "Have you anypapers bearing the Alcalde's signature for the prisoner's removal?"

  The thought flashed across the Lieutenant's mind that it was morethan likely that none of the Spanish guards could read. Education inSpain, he remembered, is in a very backward state, barely ten percent of the population being able to read or write. As president ofthe mess on board the _Portchester Castle_ he had in his possessionseveral receipted bills. The most imposing of these he produced forthe Civil Guard's inspection. At the same time he noticed that othersof the Spaniards were about to remove the gag from the spy's mouth.

  "Get them to hang on a minute, old man," he exclaimed, addressingWebb. Then tendering the document to the inquisitive soldier, heostentatiously displayed a handful of coins.

  The natural cupidity of the man was unable to resist the bait. "Palmoil" would have done the trick had not the spy contrived at thatmoment to slip the bonds that secured his wrists. With a deftmovement he produced the bundle of English Treasury notes that hadbeen paid him by the German submarine officers, at the same timefumbling with the knot that held his gag in position.

  Before Webb, whose attention had been centred upon restraining therest of the Civil Guards, could prevent it, the spy had freed himselffrom the gag, and was protesting in voluble Spanish that he was anAndalusian who had been kidnapped by English brigands.

  Hopelessly outbidden, for the Greek was doling out pound notes in amost lavish fashion, Osborne realized that he had been beaten at hisown game. The climax came when Georgeos Hymettus scattered a handfulof paper money in the dim light, and while the Spanish troops werescrambling for the spoil he took to his heels.

  Since it was useless to follow, Osborne and Webb watched him till hevanished in the darkness. Then silently they waited until the morninggun from the citadel announced that the fortress of Gibraltar wasopen until the setting of the sun.

  "A pretty pickle!" remarked Osborne. "Nothing done, your undressuniform ripped to ribbons, the spy gone, and we ourselves have toface the music for having overstayed our leave. Rotten, I call it!"

  "Don't know so much about that'," remarked Webb, the cheery optimist."We've discovered something that will be of interest to theauthorities, and, after all, we've had quite an exciting adventure.Some night, eh, what?"