VAGABOND VOYAGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 June 1938, Page 10

VAGABOND VOYAGE

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

COPYRIGHT

BY

ALROY WEST

(Author of “Stratosphere Express”)

CHAPTER XXIII. There were five men in the launch. As she came nearer to the trawler Peter saw that they were all armed. One of them was pointing his rifle at them, and he fired a warning shot, which sang past the bows. Peter laughed at the absurdity of it. he realized that they were caught, not having heard the information given to the captain by Sinclair. Hence he was not prepared for the next development. Crockett and Foster went to the rail and looked down on the boat. Gordon, coming from the engine-room, joined them. The trawler suddenly lurched forward, swung slightly to starboard and drove clean into the launch. There were cries of alarm and then silence. The trawler’s head swung round and she raced towards the opening in the reef. “Rammed!” cried Crockett, running aft to see what damage had been done. This action probably saved his life, for there was a sudden explosion forward. A shell from the yacht’s gun struck the starboard bulwarks within a few feet of where Gordon and Foster were standing. There was a shower of fragments scattered all over the deck. A splinter struck Peter’s hand and grazed the skin. The trawler shook under the shock but continued on her way. Wicks jerked the wheel over, and the next shell from the yacht fell into the water and sent a column of it high in the air. The scene, both on the deck of the trawler, and the water immediately about her, was ghastly. The first shell from the yacht had done considerable damage, although it was all well above the water line. Both Gordon and Foster were killed, the former lying on his back half-way across the deck and the other near the side. The movement of the ship as in the reef gave an uncanny semblance of life to Foster. His body, near the side, moved once or twice and then slipped over to fall in the water with a splash. Peter ran forward, saw the pool of blood on the nearest wave and the white flash of a shark’s belly. There was another flash, and .yet another. A shark, presumably stunned by the shell which had fallen short, floated on the surface for a minute or so before being ripped to shreds by his fellows, who were swarming round the wreckage of the launch. One man had succeeded in climbing on to it. He reached out to help a companion, who was swimming to safety. There was a sudden scream and the swimmer vanished from sight. An ominous stain on the

water explained what had happened. A second launch flashed from the side of the yacht and rescued the solitary survivor from the first one. “They should never have been rammed,” Doyle .said to Peter. , He seemed unconcerned about what had taken place. Peter made no comment. “Fancy a clumsy old trawler like this smashing up a fast launch!” Doyle exclaimed. “It’s absurd! Shows what rotten sailors these people are.” Smoke was coming in dense masses from the funnel of the yacht. “You’d better get below,” Peter advised Doyle. “We shall be under fire again in a minute.” Doyle laughed. “The range has increased since the first shot,” he said cheerfully. “They won’t do any damage.” Peter glanced at him curiously. “ft doesn’t seem to trouble you—Foster being killed,” he commented. “Of course not! Why should it? I expect I should have had to kill him sooner or later. He couldn’t be trusted—that was what was wrong with him.” Peter gave a sardonic smile, and turned away. Crockett came near to him, his face pale under its tan. “Shall I take him below?” he asked nodding his head in the direction of Gordon. “We weren’t exactly bosom pals, but he was a pretty good sort. I’m the only one left now. First Howe. Now Gordon. It gives me the creeps. I may be the next! This is a rotten ship to be on! There must be a curse on her. We shall all be killed!” “Be quiet!” Peter snapped. “It won’t help matters if you lose your head. You’d better get Gordon’s body out of the way. When you’ve done that stand by to lend a hand with repairing the damage.” The sharp manner in which Peter spoke seemed to have a good effect on the man. He straightened up, gave a nod, .and hurried away to carry out instructions. The distance between the trawler and the yacht was steadily increasing. It was evident that the man at the wheel of the yacht was not too comfortable about the channel. On the bridge of the trawler everything went smoothly. Sinclair constantly gave directions which Wicks obeyed without question. “We’re clear of the lot now,” Sinclair declared with considerable satisfaction. “If the yacht gets through we are in for a stern chase, but I feel certain that she will come to grief.” He was correct in this assumption, for as the yacht moved along the channel they heard the grinding noise of her sides scraping agains tthe submerged rocks. It was impossible to tell what damage had been done, but the yacht remained where she was, and there was no further attempt at pursuit. Sinclair gave a slow smile. “We got out of that well,” he announce!, “apart from the one shell. That was most unfortunate.” “It was,” Wicks agreed. “Gordon was a good man. This means that Gallop will have to carry on alone.” “I don’t know,” Sinclair said. “You might send Doyle down to help. He’s fairly smart at learning things.” “I’ll ask him,” Wicks decided. “I’ll do it if you like,” Sinclair offered. “No thanks. It would be better for me to deal with it. I shall have to explain things to Gallop.” “Very well,” Sinclair agreed. Wicks called for Peter to take the wheel, and then went below to the engine-room. After a time he came back on deck and spoke to Doyle, who listened to him, nodded his head, and went down to see the engineer. Sinclair had gone forward to inspect the damage, so that when the captain returned to the bridge he was alone with Peter. “I don’t like losing Gordon,” Wicks said thoughtfully. “I am not so troubled about Foster. He was no good, anyway.” “I felt much the same about him. What are we going to do now? Gallop will want somebody to relieve him.” “He’s having Doyle,” Wicks explained. “He wasn’t too eager about it, but he realized that he couldn’t carry on alone. Doyle has gone down now in order to get some instruction. I doubt if he’ll be of much use, but he can probably be trusted to keep an eye on the engines and call Gallop, if anything seems to be going wrong.” “Will Sinclair help us?” Peter asked. “Yes. We’ve lost two men, you see, so he and Doyle can have their shares in the gold.” “Do you think it will satisfy them?” Peter asked, but Wicks did not reply. Sinclair came back on the bridge, so Peter had no opportunity of saying anything further. He handed over the wheel to the captain and went on deck to help Crockett repair the damage which had been done by the shell. Crockett seemed to have got over his apprehensions and he worked willingly enough. After a time Sinclair joined them. “I might as well lend a hand,” he said cheerfully. “I don't think we shall have much more trouble. As the destroyer didn’t turn up I should imagine that she delevoped considerable trouble with her engines.” “Do you think the yacht was badly damaged?” Peter asked. “I couldn’t see very well from where I was. Apart from that I don’t know the channel too well, so I can’t judge how dangerous the rocks would be.” Sinclair frowned. (To be Continued.)