OUR SATURDAY STORY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 28, 1 February 1913, Page 16

OUR SATURDAY STORY.

CONTRABAND.

___>V_3l(Ttn_-B DT THE CHEN A SEAS. (By STANT__Y PORTAL HYATT.) (Concluded.) [Jack Alleyne, shanghaied at Singapore when en route to Shanghai, is taken up by Captain Wilson, who is unknown to his crew carrying contraband for the Russians. A conversation that Alleyne has overheard shows that the Japanese are aware of the nature of the cargo of the i'araware and intend to capture the vessel outside Singapore. Once away from that port the crew become suspicious, and a raid on the steamer's guns Is frustrated by Jack.] Jack had little sleep during the remainder of that night. After a while he took a book from the shelf, and read till dawn, when Captain Wilson came in, damp and heavy-eyed. " The fog has lifted, '■ the skipper said, as he drank his morning coffee. " We're only about a mile from the coast of Borneo. Some current must have been sweeping us inshore. Still, all's well that ends welL Yon stopped the crew from getting the firearms, and the Japs aren't likely to find us down here." Five minutes later he was fast asleep. Jack slipped on an overcoat, and joined the mate on the bricfge. The sun was just rising, and through the glasses the boy could make out every detail on shore —the cocoarmt palms, tbe hnts on the edge of the jungle, the canoes drawn np on the white beach. •• It looks jolly." he remarked, " though I don't like the Idea of the head-hunters." And then, quite by chance, he swept the horizon with the glasses. A moment later he called to the mate. "Mr Parkel" he exclaimed. "There's a steamer there, right abeam!" The officer had one look, then P nt bis hand on Jack's shoulder. " Go and call the old man," he said quietly, so that the man at the wheel could not hear. " Tell ulrm I think it Is a destroyer." A quarter of an hour later they were certain. There was a lean, black, wolfish-looking craft, belching smoke out of her three funnels and overhauling them rapidly. Captain Wilson was perfectly calm. " Have one of these? They're rather good, and It's a pity to leave them behind," he remarked, as be handed a cigar to the mate. " Yes, we'll get a bit more Inshore, Mr Parke. There's plenty of water. I shall hang on till the last moment before I pile up the Parawan. Jack, would yon go and give the second mate and the chief engineer a Call? I want them in the chartroom." As Jack returned to tne bridge, he conld see that the crew had already noticed the destroyer. Moreover the men evidently knew what her presence meant. The watch below had come out. and all hands, save those actually In the stokehold, were gathered on the foredeck. " If the men have had thetr breakfast, let them get on chipping old paintwork, Mr Parke." The skipper raised his voice so that those nearest the bridge could hear blm. The mate leant over the weather-cloth and repeated the order to the boatswain, but the only answer was a derisive laugh, followed by some abuse In German. Jack drew a deep breath. The second mate and the chief engineer had come up now, and were standing at the chart-room door. " Tell them once more, Mr Parke." The master of the Parawan spoke very quietly and clearly. The order was repeated, and this time there was no question about the mutiny. "You've got contraband of war, and that there steamboat is a Jap destroyer," one ot the English seamen shouted back. " We're going to surrender, and be done with it. I'm speaking for the lot. You just stop and wait for her. We don't want no shells fired at us. If yon don't stop, we'll make you." He was trying to cover his nervousness by speaking very fast, though it was evident he did not like the look in the skipper's eye. " Go on, Gosling," Captain Wilson said. " I'll give you a chance to say it all." A murmur of approval had encouraged the sailor, and he took a few steps forward. " We'll give you two minutes to decide. We've got orders from our union what to do In these here cases, and we've got oar members In Parliament. r#n't yon forget that, Mr Captain Wilson. Two minntes " He stopped abruptly, as he found himself covered by a Webley target revolver. " I give yon 30 seconds." The skipper's voice was very quiet. " Repeat your order. Mr Parke." And he took out his -watch. Once more the men laughed. "We naf had enough. Overboard mit them, and the Japs will be mightily pleased. Come on, brothers. I will a start make." It was one of the Germans who spoke. As he finished he whipped a revolver ont of his pocket, and fired at the skipper. The bullet flew /wide. A moment later the man himself spun round, and collapsed In a heap on the deck. Jack Alleyne had proved the better marksman. The effect was extraordinary. Instantly there was a rush, not in the direction of the bridge, but for the shelter of the fo'c'sle. Captain Wilson shrugged his shoulders. "The mutiny is over," he remarked, coolly. "A good shot of yours, Alleyne. And now, where's the destroyer?" All hands had been so fully occupied with what was happening on the Parawan herself that no one had even looked round for the warship. Now they stared with mingled amazement and relief in the direction in whle*. they had last seen the destroyer. The fog of the night before seemed to be sweeping up again. Already the other vessel was hidden in it, and in a few minutes more it had enveloped the Parawan herself. "Put her head right round, Mr. Parke." The skipper was quick to seize the opportunity. "Ifs such a sirilple ruse that they may never think of it." He proved to be right. In which direction the destroyer went they did not know, but when the fog lifted that evening she was nowhere In sightCaptain Wilson rubbed his hands with satisfaction. "I've scored over her once, and I hope to score again. I'm going to do something they won't expect—run through the Straits of San Bernadino, between the Islands of Luzon and Sanrar, and up to Hong Kong that way." The mate made a wry face. "Those straits are aa ugly place to go through, sir. They're narrow, the tide runs down them like a mill-race, and you get a huge swell coming in from the Pacific this time of year." "I know," the skipper answered, grimly. "But I prefer the tide and the swell to those Japs and their destroyer. It's a case of one or the other." CHAPTER ni. "That's the entrance to the famous Straits of San Bernadino," the mate remarked, pointing to what appeared to be i.merely * break lv tl_e coastline. "They're

only a few miles in width, but none the less they're about the most -wicked piece of water I know, full of uncharted reefs, in addition to the tide and the swell, whilst the natives on the shore are the most unholy set of cut-throats Imaginable." "In what way?" Jack asked. "In all ways," the mate answered. "A Filipino is never happy unless he's trying to cut someone's head off with his bolo— a two-foot long knife, that is; whilst in Samap, that Island to the south, you get the worst Bolomen of all, the Pulajanes, or Men-in-Red—horrible fanatics. I know them, because I used to be in the Yankee service." Since the day when the fog had saved them from the Japanese destroyer, nothing in the least degree exciting had happened on board the Parawan. It seemed almost Incredible that, after those few hours of danger and anxiety, matters could have settled down so quietly; yet it was so. The crew had given no more trouble. The total failure of the attempt at mutiny seemed to have taken all heart out of them, whilst fhey knew that the officers now had orders to shoot on the first sign of fresh insubordination. The destroyer appeared to have given up the chase. At any rate the Parawan had steamed in safety right across the Phillpplni Archipelago, and not until she got near Hong Kong was she in the least degree likely to meet another Japanese warship. Captain Wilson was in very good spirits as they entered the narrow strait. "Luck has been on our side after all," he Baid to Jack, who was standing on the bridge, staring at the gloomy, jungle-clad shores of the Island of Sam-ar. The Boy had been hearing some terrible stories of the ways of the Men-in-Red from the mate, and, somehow, that jungle seemed a fitting setting for such atrocities. The words were hardly out of the skipper's mouth when a sudden Jar ran through the vessel; for a few seconds the engines raced wildly, then stopped. "The propeller's gone,'' the second mate remarked calmly. And, a moment later, Captain Wilson, who had jumped to the speaking-tube, confirmed the verdict. The skipper had gone very white, and the perspiration was standing in great beads on his forehead, but he listened calmly to the chief engineer's report"The tail-shaft has gone, sir. There's absolutely nothing we can do. No, she's not making any water." It was not necessary for the second mate to tell Jack that their position was desperate. Both wind and tide were carrying them on to the Samar shore. Nothing could save them so far as that was concerned; the only question was where they would actually take the groundThe boats were cleared away, ready for lowering; then they waited In silence for the end. It was not long before this came. The Parawan, rolling heavily, with a sickening, dead motion, drifted rapidly towards one of tae arms of a small bay. "If only she would drive Into the bay we could anchor safely," the skipper muttered. "What water have you got. Mr. Parker' he shouted to the mate, who was on the fo'c'sle head. Berfore the officer could answer another shiver ran through the vessel, and the rolling ceased. She had grouLded on a coral reef some 6ix hundred yards from the shore. "There's only one thing to be done," the skipper said, as he threw himself wearily Into his chair. "There's a small port, Catarman, about twenty miles from here Possibly there's a steamer there that could tow us off, or they could cable to Manila for help. But if It comes on to blow the Parawan won't last many hours, though she's not really Injured yet. And if our friends the Japs come along " He shrugged his shoulders expressively. "The natives, too, may try to board ns from canoes. It's a bad look-out, my lad!" Jack leaned forward. " What are you going to do?" he asked. " Send the second mate round to Catarman In one of the boats. Yet, I'm scared to trust him alone with some of these mutinous brutes. They reckon she's a wreck, and that they're not going to «obey any more orders," Captain Wilson sighed. " I'll go with the second, sir," Jack spoke quietly. "We can manage to sail the smallest of the boats between us." For a moment the skipper . hesitated, thenj. " Thaiiks," ,he answered, a little huskily. "Of course you know the risks. The second is getting ready now. It's a fair wind, and with luck you may be at Catarman before sundown. I only hope you won't find that those brutes, the Men-in-Red, have burnt the place. It's quite possible." For an hour the little craft made splendid headway, but when they rounded the first big point matters were different. "The wind's drawing ahead," the second mate growled. "What's more, It's going to be an ugly, black night." He proved to be right. Darkness found them tacking backwards and forwards, and, with the tide setting against them, making practically no headway. Stationed on the bow, Jack tried In vain to make out the land. He felt certain that they had already got unduly close to the shore, though his companion disagreed with him. "We've plenty of sea-room," he declared. "I'm sure " "Breakers ahead!" Jack shouted. But It was too late. A big wave took charge of the little craft, and flung her Into a sharp ledge of coral, then the water receded- leaving her there with her bottom stove in. As Jack scrambled from under the sail— the mast had gone by the board—he could hear the sailor cursing his own folly. "Are you there, Alleyne?" he cried. "I can't see a thing." "All right!" Jack answered. 'Tin a bit bruised, that's all. I vote we try and get on dry land. Don't forget your rifle. Can you feel the provision-box anywhere?" The mate, who had already clambered out Into the reef, came back for his weapon; but he left Jack to bring the box of bread and tinned meat. Somehow his nerve seemed to be gone. It was risky work wading ashore. There might be deep water between the beach and the reef, and, moreover, they could only go by guesswork. Once Jack plunged suddenly from knee-deep to waist-deep In a hole, and lost all the bread as he scrambled out; but at last they reached the sand, shivering, exhausted, their trousers torn to rags, their legs bleeding and smarting horribly from the jagged coral. The second mate threw himself down at the foot of a cocoanut-palm. "I'm done," he muttered. "This is a cheerful set-out. We haven't got even a match to light a fire with." It was the most miserable night Jack had ever spent. Not only was he cold and hungry, but there was also the anxiety about their own fate and about that of the Parawan. He had not forgotten the Men-in-Red, and if he and his companion fell into their hands there was little chance of succour coming to the steamer. Not one vessel a month went through the straits at that time of year, Captain Wilson had told hlm. Dm-ing the latter part of the night he dozed fitfully, but at the first streak of dawn he -was fully arwake; then he endeavoured to awaken the sailor. "Mr Jlawton," he said; "Mr La-wton. We've got to tramp to Catarman, and the sooner we start the better." The second mate sat up, still half asleep, i then he remembered where they were. ] "All right. I suppose we nynst My aunt! I'm stiff and thirsty. Is there any fresh j..water J"

It -was light enough now for Jack to „. out what appeared from the vegetatC be a stream about fifty yards awavT! them. He was so anxious to set L « he did not waste any words, but ££ one of the tins of meat, pot the co_fi__ on a palm leaf, then, taking _ ta the empty tin, went in search of the _,* He found the latter at once clear cool, had a good drink, filled his tin m was just coming out of the screen of*w when he heard a shont. HS It was the war-cry of the Men-in-R^ "Tad-tad!" ("Kill-kill!") A dozen of them, white-clad, with a lam, red cross on their breasts, and red croi_!! ou their looped-trp straw hats, had ro&ta out from the cocoanut grove. A bolo dew death to Jack's companion before either* them could raise a rifle. Jack crouch* down. Had they seen him, too? He fin. gered his trigger, not daring to shoot bathe was sure he had been observe! a minute later It was evident that t_* Dt sence was unsuspected. ** It was late in the afternoon **«, M «, the sentries in the blockhouse which sro. : teeter! the approach'to Catanaan ca_rtt , sight of a ragged, mud-stained figure st__ gertng out of the jungle. It tad only been I a matter of seven miles In a straight __. that Jack had had to do, bnt the swam~ and rivers had increased that seven tourer thirty miles. The heat in that -teat-lea jungle had been appalling, and every rte_ he took he had half expected to see. oneof those fiends with a red cross jn_rp out oa him from behind a bush. As the sergeant of the guard lei Mi at, the blockhouse he staggered and' would _m fallen had a white oflicer not caught _u_ "Guess you've had pretty well eaoM], stranger," the American drawled. "You've struck it lucky." the offlce, exclaimed, when Jack had recovered am. cient'y to tell his story. "There's a'_aite_ States gunboat here, and she'd plnci job steamer off that coul reef i n jnst bo "sSI We'd better get aboard her right notr." " An hour later Jack found himself o_ (j, e bridge -of one of Uncle Sam's cr_Ueri, __j. ing at full speed for the Parawan. AjfW steamed out of Catarman Harbour the e». tain, a splendid type of seaman, had ja_tf out an exclamation of astonishment .."• • "Why, there's one of those Japanese destroyers. What the dickens is she ftfaj here, in our waters? We don't wast fttse little yellow men down ainoojpt' fl_ islands." Jack did not hesitate. He conld gee, petfectly clearly, that it was going to he i question of minutes as to who readied the Parawan first The truth was bomia to come out, and it was better for Mia t» __[ it there and then. In a few wordi he explained. The captain smiled. "All right. This i» my salvage ait" Then he sent down urgent orders to fie chief engineer. Perhaps the captain of the destrajtr guessed that the big cloud* of. bla_r mole which began to steam ont of the crake'i funnels was dne to the presence of i-T_-sel; at any rate, he followed the Amed_ii example. "She's faster than we are," the Amsiaa remarked to Jack ten minutes later. fßst we've got three miles' lead, and t__"t i lot in twenty miles." It proved to be just enough. The crate had finished signalling to Captain WUkq that she was sending a tow-d'ne .asa_4 when the destroyer stopped her aji_a and lowered a boat. The Japanese lieutenant was more tta polite. He was sure the honourable __*_■ can captain did not know that _» P_arm was carrying contraband o?i "war, an. _ was a Japanese prize. It wai more this kind to offer to tow her off, bnt t_e destroyer would now do that herself. The American was not so po—te... "If you look out of the cabin, air," he drawled, "yon will just perceive that we are cleared for action. Good aft_moon. I'm a policeman for these narrow 'waten just now. Tell your captain that Irt jot another forty or fifty miles to go-before he's on the high seas again." - •■ A -week later Captain WilsonV voice "#» unusually low as he said good-bye to' _i» passenger on board the Hong Kong mailboat in Manila. " - " "You've brought mc luck," he «at_; "lathe owners won't forget it, believe m_ If I could find those thugs who laid job otto Singapore I should feel like rewari-. them. They did mc a good torn." The End.