The Wireless Officer Part 16

The lascars cast off a portion of the tarpaulin and removed the aftermost of the metal hatches, disclosing the rusty coaming and the upper portion of a vertical ladder of iron--or, to be more precise, a ladder that was nominally vertical. In present conditions it was swaying with the ship, and describing an erratic curve with a maximum heel of twenty degrees.

Steadying himself by the coaming, Anstey felt with his left foot for the topmost rung. Then, gripping the sides of the ladder, he began the descent.

Very little daylight found its way into the narrow s.p.a.ce afforded by the displaced hatch. In fact Anstey soon found himself in gloom approaching total darkness. The air too, after being confined for weeks, was dank and distinctly unwholesome. There was an acute smell from the fumes given off from the red oxide with which the steelwork had been coated.

With his rubber-soled boots slithering on the slippery rungs as the vessel rolled, and gripping strongly with both hands, the Third Officer descended until at length his feet came in contact with the metal floor of the hold. The din was terrific. Without, the seas were hammering on the comparatively thin hull-plating. Bilge-water was foaming and hissing in the cellular bottom, while the vibration of the engines--the noise intensified in the confined s.p.a.ce--added to the turmoil.

To these noises Anstey paid scant heed. He was listening intently to a metallic sound, which told him that Preston's precautions had not been taken in vain. Somewhere in the for'ard part of the hold there was a regular metallic thud. It came from a ma.s.s of metal that had worked loose from the securing chains.

Anstey's first intention was to order a couple of lascars below.

"May as well do the jolly old job myself," he soliloquized, on second thoughts.

Fumbling in his pocket he produced his electric torch. For some minutes he was dazzled by the blinding glare. Then, as his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he could form a good idea of the difficulties of his surroundings.

He was standing in a narrow fore-and-aft pa.s.sage. The walls consisted of red-painted girders piled up to a height of ten feet on either side of him. Although secured by chains and upright steel bars they presented a formidable appearance, as alternately each wall towered obliquely over his head, the whole ma.s.s straining and groaning at its lashings like a t.i.tan striving to burst his bonds.

Staggering along the narrow pa.s.sage, for the erratic movement of the hold was totally different from the heave and pitch to which Anstey was accustomed on deck, the Third Officer made his way cautiously forward, critically examining the metal gripes that secured the awkward cargo.

Suddenly he stopped. A cold perspiration stood out on his forehead.

Danger, imminent danger, stared him in the face. Danger not only to himself but to the ship and her pa.s.sengers and crew.

Three feet above his head a huge girder was chattering and quivering.

The chain that secured it to its fellows had at one time been set up by a ma.s.sive bottle screw. Possibly the thread was an easy one, but, in any case, the constant working of the ship had caused the bottle screw to "run back". It was now holding by a couple of threads at the most, and momentarily the securing chain might fly asunder.

Anstey realized what that meant. The fifty-ton girder would crush and pulp him to a jelly. Not only that; it would to a certainty start the bottom plates of the hull and shatter the bulkheads of No. 1 hold as well. That meant that the _West Barbican_ would plunge like a stone to the bed of the Atlantic.

Thrusting the barrel of his torch under the strap of his peaked cap, Anstey replaced the headgear, jamming it on so that the peak was over his right ear. That gave him a direct light to work with.

Then, pulling out the marline-spike of his knife, and holding it between his teeth, Anstey began to scale the precarious wall of steel until he could tackle the almost disjointed bottle screw.

It seemed an eternity climbing that five or six feet. To his agitated mind it seemed as if the girders were already slipping bodily upon him.

As his toes sought an insecure hold he could feel the steelwork trembling. With each lurch of the vessel to starboard the bottle screw strained, until the young officer felt certain that the last two threads had stripped and the last restraining bonds had been loosed.

At last he found himself in a position to tackle his task. With one foot resting on a girder on one side of the pa.s.sage, and the other on the opposite side, and steadying himself as best he could with his left hand, Anstey inserted the point of the marline-spike in the slot of the bottle screw.

Then he began to turn the locking device, slowly and firmly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HE BEGAN TO TURN THE LOCKING DEVICE, SLOWLY AND FIRMLY]

At first he was seized with the terrifying idea that the threads were not gripping. With the torch in his cap throwing its rays erratically with every movement of his head, Anstey felt convinced that his efforts were in vain.

He went on turning and turning, barking his knuckles as the tapering spike slipped again and again. Then, with a grunt of satisfaction, he saw that the ends of the threaded bolts had reappeared.

Even as he looked, the torch slipped from his cap and clattered to the metal floor. The hold was plunged into darkness.

His first impulse was to make for the open air. In the darkness the difficulties of working in the place were redoubled. It required a determined effort to force himself to his incompleted task.

Solely by sense of touch he carried on, until he had the joy of feeling the reunited ends of the threaded bars. That part of the business was finished until next time, he decided.

Regaining the floor, he felt his way between the piled-up girders until his hand came in contact with the ladder. Twenty-five feet above his head he could see a rectangular patch of light, one edge broken by the heads and shoulders of half a dozen lascars.

Up the ladder Anstey swarmed, drinking in copious draughts of the pure, salt-laden air.

But his task was incomplete. He must make sure that everything in No.

1 hold was secure.

"Thatcher, old son," he exclaimed, as he encountered one of the junior engineers. "Lend me your torch, there's a good sort. I've scuppered mine."

Thatcher fumbled in the pocket of his dungarees.

"Here you are, you careless blighter," he replied. "Skylarking, I suppose? Well, take care of my gadget, anyway."

Again Anstey descended the hold and completed his survey. The clang of shifting steel had ceased.

When, after an hour's absence, he regained the bridge, Preston was not to be seen, but the skipper spotted the dishevelled youth and sung out to him.

"Well?" queried the Old Man.

"All correct, sir," reported Anstey. "The----"

"Good," rejoined the Captain, without waiting for the Third's explanation. "Carry on."

Anstey turned away to "carry on". It was his watch below. The job in No. 1 hold was merely an extra. He was still feeling the effects of his desperate efforts in the confined s.p.a.ce, and the idea of turning in before he had had a "breather" did not appeal to him.

On the lee side of the bridge he encountered Mostyn.

"h.e.l.lo, old thing," was Peter's greeting. "What have you been up to?

You look a bit green about the gills."

"Nothing much," replied Anstey. "Just been giving an eye to your father's ironmongery. Yes, it's all right. Got a cigarette? My case is down below. Thanks awfully."

CHAPTER XVII

The Decoy Wireless

The _West Barbican's_ stay at Cape Town was of short duration. She landed about a score of her pa.s.sengers and a small quant.i.ty of cargo, coaled, and proceeded, giving Peter little opportunity of a closer acquaintance with the oldest city of South Africa.

He was fairly busy during the run round to Durban, since the ship was within wireless range both of Cape Town and the seaport of Natal.

Consequently he spent most of his waking hours in the wireless-cabin, rather than have to be continually called by Partridge and Plover.

The _West Barbican_, having spent a night at anchor under the Bluffs at Durban, proceeded alongside the quay to disembark the bulk of her pa.s.sengers and a considerable amount of cargo.

It was here that "Mr. Porter" severed his personal acquaintance with the ship, although his interest in the _West Barbican_ did not in the least degree wane. On the contrary it was rapidly increasing.

With a Kaffir porter carrying his portmanteau and suit-case von Schoeffer pa.s.sed along the gangway and gained terra firma. He had found no suitable place in which he could secrete his explosives, nor had he an opportunity for so doing; so the only course that remained open, short of dumping the stuff into the sea, was to take it ash.o.r.e with him.