It was an unfair demand to make of a junior officer.
“I shall give him a good report if he makes a go of this, Mr Pattishall. He will make full lieutenant very rapidly.”
“And if Obelisk is grounded, sir?”
“Then the fault is the captain’s, Mr Pattishall. No doubt the court martial will say just that.”
A captain who grounded his ship would be lucky indeed to retain his command, or go to sea ever again.
“I want all hands on deck through the night, Mr Pattishall. Engine room to be aware of the need for a possible urgent evacuation. Anchors at the ready. Boats turned out on the davits. Life rafts to be checked. Be sure that there is water and biscuit in the boats. All guns to be manned before dawn. Be ready for any eventuality. Tell off a boarding party against need. Small arms to be available on deck. PO Higgins to be ready at a point of his choice with his Mauser. Breakfast to be served early – hot and generous handed. Mr Geddes to the bridge.”
The Paymaster arrived from his working cabin where he had been appraising and cataloguing his loot from Tientsin and Peking, weighing the jewellery and estimating prices. He was within reason certain that he had picked up more than three thousand pounds, the bulk of it to go to his family in England. They might well be able to set his wounded brother up in a small way of business, something to do with horses perhaps, a carrier’s firm, with half of the cash. It was a windfall, far greater than he could have hoped for and one that would make a great difference at home. He was in a generous mood when he reached the bridge.
“We left Peking in a hurry, Mr Geddes, so much so that you were forced to turn much of our stores over to the Expeditionary Force quartermaster.”
This was news to Mr Geddes.
“Well, sir, I was able to send almost everything back, sir. The great bulk of our stores were on the train with us, in the goods wagons at the rear.”
“I did not think that to be so, Mr Geddes.”
Mr Pattishall coughed loudly and shook his head, scowling at Geddes.
“Oh! Well, if you say so, sir. I am sure the captain knows better than me.”
“I do, Mr Geddes. You were forced to leave behind a substantial amount of oats for porridge; some sugar; all of your milk powder; the canned butter; several sacks of flour and bags of yeast. What other breakfast ingredients might you be short of?”
“Apricot jam, sir. The big tins from the Cape which we serve out on high days and holidays.”
“Well remembered, Mr Geddes. The cooks will bake tonight and there will be a large hot breakfast served out at two bells in the morning watch. Cocoa as well, now that I think of it.”
“There are Australian mutton rashers in the store, sir. The ones that were supposed to be like bacon and which we kept in case we ever ran out of real meat. We could cook them up as an extra, sir.”
“Well thought, Mr Geddes. I want the men well fed as I may make extra demands of them in the morning.”
Geddes trotted below to confer with the PO Cook. They were able to add a rice pudding with treacle to the late supper of a bully beef sandwich normally served when there was additional work at night. He retired then to his ledgers where he spent a creative hour that reduced his stores to about a quarter of their actual size. The unofficial Chinese in the engine room and laundry and galley were always able to sell food ashore for a small commission, the remainder going into Geddes’ pocket, as was traditional for Paymasters.
The steam pinnace pottered off into the darkness, a single white light showing clearly. The moon was new and gave little illumination, in some ways a boon. Magnus called the orders for slow ahead and instructed the helmsman to watch the pinnace and hold precisely to her track.
The hands settled down on the deck behind the forebridge and mostly tried to sleep. The bulk of them had a little bag or pouch strapped to their waist containing their valued possessions, in most cases gold coins from the sales of loot in Peking. If they were to be shipwrecked, they would be rich castaways.
Magnus retreated to his cabin for a quick meal.
“All well, Carter?”
“Yes sir, everything tucked safe away, sir. Got it in a duffel bag, all packed up nice and tight, sir. Nothing to worry about.”
Magnus wondered what ‘it’ might be then assumed that Carter must have laid his hands on a bit of loot as well. There had been mention of a share coming to him, but Carter had not mentioned it so that must have gone by the board.
“Good. I’ll wear the belt with a revolver when I go on deck, Carter. Might need it tonight.”
The picket boat puffed slowly across an almost calm sea, no more than a lop a foot high making it easier for the seaman with the lead to make his casts and quietly give his calls.
“By the deep four… And a quarter, four… By the deep four… A quarter less four… By the deep four…”
It took almost a minute to make a cast and recover the line for the next. At three knots that meant a depth was taken every half cable – at intervals of one hundred yards.
Sublieutenant Knuyper was unhappy – there could be a mud bar fifty yards wide in between any of his soundings, sitting there just below the surface and waiting for Obelisk.
“A quarter less four… And a half three… And a half three…”
A little more than twenty feet of water meant inches below Obelisk’s keel.
“Slow her. Two knots, Mr Warren. Display three lights.”
Obelisk slowed obediently, lost way, came to a near halt, retained just sufficient motion for the rudder to bite.
“Fall back to within shout of Obelisk, Mr Warren.”
Knuyper yelled at the bows lookout.
“Three and a half fathom water!”
He heard the message shouted back to the bridge and a call in return.
“Make soundings ahead and on either quarter, sir.”
They lost half an hour before the picket boat found four fathom water to starboard and led Obelisk to a safer course. Then it was hours of monotony, the leadsmen changing every bell, half an hour long enough for their arms to swing the lead weight.
“By the mark five… And a half four… By the mark five… And a half five.”
Knuyper looked up from his chart. There was a river mouth just three miles south of the headland that they were hoping to shelter behind. It was likely that the river had scoured the seabed, had cut a channel through the mud.
“Make four knots, Mr Warren.”
The lookouts on Obelisk were awake and she increased pace to match the picket boat.
Mr Knuyper glanced at his watch, decided they had a good ninety minutes in hand despite their earlier delay.
They were closer to the shore than they needed to be.
“Ease her starboard, Mr Warren.”
The water became shallower almost instantly, but still stayed at about four fathoms. Dangerous but leaving a few feet below Obelisk’s keel.
“Slow her to three knots, Mr Warren.”
A half hour and Knuyper could see the loom of the headland.
“And a quarter four… Current along shore, sir. Northerly. And a quarter four…”
The tide was still making, an hour from full. Less than three hours and there would be at least a fathom less just here.
“Starboard, Mr Warren. Take her offshore a cable.”
“And a half four…”
The tidal scour probably had created a safe inshore channel, with good fortune. Perhaps.
Knuyper shrugged and decided it must be so.
“Drop back on Obelisk, Mr Warren.”
“Obelisk, ahoy! Request permission to take soundings seaward of the headland.”
Magnus ran forward to the bows to discover what Knuyper had in mind.
“I want to see if we can take a direct line out to sea, sir, when Canton Pearl sails. It would be far quicker than trying to retrace the route we used to get here, sir. And the tide will be ebbing soon.”
“Do it, Mr Knuyper, get back into cover before firs
t light. Place yourself to watch the wharves.”
An hour discovered a narrow channel winding out to sea, three and a half fathoms and a soft mud bottom. It was possible, just. Knuyper informed Magnus of his discovery.
“When the time comes, place the steam pinnace to give me the turning points, Mr Knuyper. Try for five or six knots initially. I shall go to full ahead as soon as we are two miles offshore. It was all four fathom water after that. The steam pinnace to try to keep us in sight. If you lose us, make all speed to the fleet off Taku.”
Mr Knuyper crept as close inshore as the pinnace could manage and edged to the seaward point of the headland, put his binoculars on the wharf. Dawn showed Canton Pearl tied up, smoke trailing from her funnel, ready to cast off. There were three junks at a second wharf. Casting around, Knuyper spotted a line of small buoys leading out to sea, a channel marked for the coaster. Careful observation showed more distant buoys, warning of mudflats, he presumed. The channel itself was at least two cables wide, suggesting a good depth of water. The mudflats seemed to be scattered in no particular pattern, deposited by more or less random currents.
Canton Pearl cast off and slowly turned out into the channel. White showed at her stern as if she was increasing revolutions rapidly. He turned the binoculars on the wharf, could just pick out men with rifles, pointing them at the ship, presumably firing at the bridge.
“Signal Obelisk. Emergency, Canton Pearl escaping wharf under small arms fire. Mr Warren, take us out into the channel we marked. All speed.”
The midshipman obeyed, yelling at his stoker to give him more steam. Obelisk had been lying to a single anchor and was weighing anchor and surging ahead under as much power as Mr Lockhart could provide at short notice.
The ship came past the pinnace, making a good six knots and leaving a cloud of black smoke behind, visible miles off.
Magnus called the helmsman to turn on the pinnace.
“Bring her round to Green eighty, very tight, nothing to port.”
“Nothing to port, sir. Coming onto Green Eighty, sir.”
Knuyper had reported a twenty degree starboard turn after three cables, to be followed by twenty-five degrees to port after another two cables. Magnus watched the indicator and translated speed into seconds and waited twitching for the exact point to come up.
“Hard astarboard! Twenty degrees, tight. Hold her at that! On my mark you will turn hard aport twenty-five degrees. Now!”
He had a feeling the commands were not those given in the book, but they seemed clear.
Obelisk shuddered and slowed part way through the turn.
“Grounding, sir! Mud to port.”
“Full ahead!” Magnus grabbed the engine room voicepipe. “Emergency, everything you’ve got, Mr Lockhart.”
The smoke thickened in a great gout and Obelisk surged forward, sliding off the mud and rapidly picking up speed.
“Tail of a bank, it would seem, Mr Pattishall.”
“So it was sir.”
“Return to course of eighty degrees, helmsman. Engine room, make revolutions for ten knots.”
“Rather fast for shallow waters, sir.”
“Thank you, Mr Pattishall. You are right. We know there are mud banks here and there is a risk of grounding. You have a duty to remind me of that fact. That said, Mr Pattishall, the risk is mine to take.”
Pattishall said no more. The captain gave the orders and his juniors obeyed them. If Obelisk came through unharmed, then he had already jeopardised his career by opening his mouth.
“On deck, sir. Canton Pearl has left the buoyed channel, sir. She’s in open water, distant about five miles on the port bow, sir.”
It was reasonable to assume that the buoys had ended where the shallows gave way to deeper water.
“Port ten. Make full speed.”
“Ten of the port wheel on, sir.”
“Midships. Steer to intercept Canton Pearl.”
The helmsman was a senior petty officer and could be trusted to use his own discretion.
There was a whistle from a voicepipe.
“Engine room, sir.”
“Mr Lockhart?”
“I can give you sixteen knots for an hour, sir. The burst of emergency speed did the engines no favours, sir.”
“It got us off the mud, Mr Lockhart. All you’ve got for an hour and then I hope to come alongside Canton Pearl and reduce to no more than eight knots as escort.”
“Aye, very well, sir. Recommend a return to a dockyard thereafter, sir.”
“If orders will permit, Mr Lockhart. You have done very well, sir.”
They closed Canton Pearl very quickly, the coaster reducing speed to bare steerage way as Obelisk came up to her.
“On deck. Fighting aboard coaster, sir. Rifle fire from bridge and stern and bow islands, sir.”
Magnus leaned over the bridge and shouted.
“PO Higgins! Aimed fire at pirates to bows and stern of Canton Pearl. Maxims, ready to same targets.”
The marksman opened slow fire with his purloined Mauser rifle, scoring occasional hits at half a mile.
“Take cover on deck. Three pounders ready. Helmsman, bring us close alongside.”
A cable distant and Magnus called the Maxims to open fire.
Short bursts cleared bows and stern of visible riflemen. PO Higgins continued to shoot, searching out partly concealed figures and forcing the few remaining to attempt to run below, exposing them to the pair of machine guns.
“Mr Robbins, board as soon as the ship is alongside.”
The Royal Marines made ready, rifles correctly at the high port.
Canton Pearl was smaller than Obelisk, her rails some feet lower. The Royal Marines, jumped, to order, Mr Robbins properly first.
Coulthorne’s head appeared at the bridge window.
“Three casualties here, sir. One dead, I think.”
“Sick berth attendant to Canton Pearl!”
The party from the sick bay appeared at the run, half a dozen rifle carrying bluejackets acting as escort, to an extent shielding them with their bodies.
“Well organised, Mr Pattishall.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Mr Robbins appeared from the bow section, calling that his part of the ship was clear. His sergeant shouted from the stern that all was in hand there. A short delay and they produced seven prisoners between them. A further few minutes elapsed and they began to bring bodies on deck.
“One Marine wounded, sir. None dead.”
“Bring him aboard if he can be moved.”
Coulthorne unlocked the bridge and limped out on deck, requested a ladder to make it up Obelisk’s side.
Magnus brought Obelisk away from Canton Pearl’s side before they could scrape any more paint away.
Coulthorne sat on Magnus’ bridge stool, holding blood-soaked trousers away from the wood.
“Glass, sir. Shattered under rifle fire and cut my leg.”
“Well done, Mr Coulthorne, for bringing her off. What’s the story?”
Coulthorne laughed, showed a little embarrassed.
“Well, sir, I brought her in as planned, a bit less than an hour before nightfall. Tied up and an English-speaking Chinaman yelled at me to open the hatches. I told him to do it himself – none of the crew were leaving the central island. He didn’t like it but was used to foreigners who did not trust any Chinese. He sent longshoremen aboard and they opened up the forward hatch and started to swing a cargo aboard. There’s a single tall derrick on the wharf, steam powered and in good condition. The cargo was in boxes and it put a net of four across at a time – so the boxes are heavy.”
Coulthorne seemed more embarrassed as a sick berth attendant demanded he dropped his trousers to allow his wounds to be cleaned.
“Go ahead, Mr Coulthorne – I doubt you’ve got anything we haven’t seen before.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Two minutes of swabbing blood and the announcement was made that he must be stitched.
“After he’s finished his first report, man. It can wait five minutes.”
“The officer has nine separate lacerations, sir. Three need stitching and all need further cleaning. I think there’s glass in two of them, but I’m not probing on the open bridge with the dirt there might be here, sir.”
“Bugger! Go below, Mr Coulthorne. Mr Geddes!”
The Paymaster, who also acted as captain’s secretary, came running.
“Go below with Mr Coulthorne and take his report while he is being treated. I must not leave the bridge just now.”
The bridge lookout called the picket boat coming up fast astern.
“Good! Yeoman, signal the boat to send Mr Knuyper aboard Canton Pearl and to assume command.”
Twenty minutes and Knuyper was shouting from Canton Pearl that he had the ship.
“Well done! Follow in Obelisk’s wake at two cables. Mr Warren to return to Obelisk.”
Magnus stayed silent a few seconds, thinking his way through the next few minutes.
“Mr Pattishall, find flags for Warren to take to Canton Pearl. I want a White Ensign flying high on her. We will leave Mr Robbins and the Marine detachment aboard. Bring the wounded and the prisoners back to Obelisk. Course for the fleet off Taku. The sooner I am under Admiral Bruce’s lee, the happier I shall be. Increase speed to the most Canton Pearl can manage.”
An hour and the lookouts called the Russian and German warships in sight.
“Acknowledge their presence, Yeoman.”
The big signalling light stuttered Morse code for a minute. The Yeoman of Signals picked up his telescope and read off the answer from the German cruiser.
“In English, sir. Captain SMS Bussard requests the pleasure of your company to discuss the coaster, Canton Pearl.”
“Send regrets, Yeoman. Under orders to return to Flag with no delay.”
“Acknowledged, sir. SMS Bussard will accompany us.”
“My compliments. Suggest not closer than four cables to Canton Pearl.”
“Acknowledged, sir.”
“Good. Canton Pearl to close on Obelisk. Place herself one cable from our bows, line ahead.”
Ten minutes passed and the three ships were placed to Magnus’ satisfaction.
04 Peking Nightmares (The Earl’s Other Son Series, #4) Page 15
