In the Track of the Troops

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  A DAY WITH THE TORPEDOES.

  The sentence with which I finished the last chapter appears to meessential, because what I am now about to describe may seem to manyreaders more like the dreams of fancy than the details of sober fact.

  When my mother and I, with Nicholas and Bella, arrived at Portsmouth, wewere met by my naval friend, a young lieutenant, who seemed to me the_beau-ideal_ of an embryo naval hero. He was about the middle height,broad, lithe, athletic, handsome, with a countenance beaming withgood-will to, and belief in, everybody, including himself. He wasself-possessed; impressively attentive to ladies, both young and old,and suave to gentlemen; healthy as a wild stag, and happy as a youngcricket, with a budding moustache and a "fluff" on either cheek. Thoughgentle as a lamb in peace, he was said to be a very demon in war, andbore the not inappropriate name of Firebrand.

  "Allow me to introduce my friend, Lieutenant Naranovitsch, MrFirebrand, my mother and sister; not too late, I hope," said I, shakinghands.

  "Not at all. In capital time," replied the young fellow, gaily, as hebowed to each. "Allow me, Mrs Childers--take my arm. The boat is notfar off."

  "Boat!" exclaimed my mother, "must we then go to sea?"

  "Not exactly," replied Firebrand, with a light laugh, "unless youdignify Portchester Creek by that name. The _Nettle_ target-ship liesthere, and we must go on board of her, as it is around and in connectionwith her that the various experiments are to be tried, by means ofgunboats, launches, steam-pinnaces, and various other kinds of smallcraft."

  "How very fortunate that you have such a charming day," said my mother,whose interest was at once aroused by the youth's cheery manner. "Doyou expect many people to witness the experiments, Mr Firebrand?"

  "About five hundred invitations have been issued," answered thelieutenant, "and I daresay most of those invited will come. It is anoccasion of some importance, being the termination of the senior courseof instruction in our Naval Torpedo School here. I am happy to think,"he added, with an arch smile, "that an officer of the Russian army willhave such a good opportunity of witnessing what England is preparing forher enemies."

  "It will afford me the greatest pleasure to witness your experiments,"replied Nicholas, returning the smile with interest, "all the more thatEngland and Russia are now the best of friends, and shall, I hope, neveragain be enemies."

  In a few minutes we were conveyed on board the _Nettle_, on whose deckwas a most animated assemblage. Not only were there present hundreds ofgaily-dressed visitors, and officers, both naval and military, in brightand varied uniforms, but also a number of Chinese students, whose gaudyand peculiar garments added novelty as well as brilliancy to the scene.

  "Delightful!" murmured Bella, as she listened to the sweet strains ofthe Commander-in-chief's band, and gazed dreamily at the sun-flashesthat danced on the glassy water.

  "Paradise!" replied Naranovitsch, looking down into her eyes.

  "What are they going to do?" asked my mother of young Firebrand, whokept possession of her during the whole of the proceedings, andexplained everything.

  "They are going to illustrate the application of torpedo science tooffensive and defensive warfare," said the lieutenant; and just now Isee they are about to send off an outrigger launch to make an attackwith two torpedoes, one on either bow, each being filled with 100 poundsof gunpowder. Sometimes gun-cotton is used, but this 100 pounds chargeof powder is quite sufficient to send the vessel in which we stand tothe bottom in five or ten minutes. Come this way--we shall see theoperations better from this point. Now, don't be alarmed, there is notthe slightest danger, I assure you.

  He spoke in reassuring tones, and led my mother to the side of the ship,whither I followed them, and became at once absorbed in what was goingon.

  The outrigger launch referred to was a goodly-sized boat, fitted with asmall engine and screw propeller. Its chief peculiarities were two longpoles or spars, which lay along its sides, projecting beyond the bows.These were the outriggers. At the projecting end of each spar was fixedan iron case, bearing some resemblance in shape and size to an elongatedkettle-drum. These were the torpedoes. I heard the lieutenant explainto my mother that if one of these torpedoes chanced to explode where ithung, it would blow the boat and men to atoms. To which my motherreplied, "Horrible!" and asked how, in that case, the crew could fire itand escape. Whereupon he responded, "You shall see presently."

  Another peculiarity in the launch was that it had a species of iron hoodor shield, like a broad and low sentry-box, from behind which protectionthe few men who formed her crew could steer and work the outriggers andthe galvanic battery, without being exposed.

  This little boat seemed to me like a vicious wasp, as it left the sideof the ship with a rapid throbbing of its engine and twirling of itsminiature screw.

  When at a sufficient distance from the ship, an order was given by theofficer in charge. Immediately the outrigger on the right or starboardside was run out by invisible hands to its full extent--apparentlyfifteen feet beyond the bow of the launch; then the inner end of theoutrigger was tilted violently into the air, so that the other end withits torpedo was thrust down ten feet below the surface of the water.This, I was told, is about the depth at which an enemy's ship ought tobe struck. The launch, still going at full speed, was now supposed tohave run so close to the enemy, that the submerged torpedo was about tostrike her. Another order was given. The operator gave the needfultouch to the galvanic battery, which, like the most faithful ofservants, _instantly_ sent a spark to fire the torpedo.

  The result was tremendous. A column of seething mud and water, twentyfeet in diameter, shot full thirty feet into the air, overwhelming thelaunch in such a shower that many of the unprofessional spectatorsimagined she was lost. Thus an imaginary ironclad was sent, with atremendous hole in her, to the bottom of the sea.

  That this is no _imaginary_ result will be seen in the sequel of ourtale.

  "Why, the shock has made the _Nettle_ herself tremble!" I exclaimed, insurprise.

  "Oh, the poor boat!" cried my mother.

  "No fear of the boat," said young Firebrand, "and as to the _Nettle_--why, my good fellow, I have felt our greatest ironclad, the mighty_Thunderer_, of which I have the honour to be an officer, quiverslightly from the explosion of a mere five-pounds torpedo dischargedclose alongside. Few people have an adequate conception of the power ofexplosives, and still fewer, I believe, understand the nature of thepowers by which they are at all times surrounded. That 100-poundstorpedo, for instance, which has only caused us to quiver, would haveblown a hole in our most powerful ship if fired in _contact_ with it,and yet the _cushion of water_ between it and the tiny launch that firedit is so tough as to be quite a sufficient protection to the boat, asyou see."

  We did indeed "see," for the waspish little boat emerged from the delugeshe had raised and, steaming swiftly on, turned round and retraced hertrack. On reaching about the same position as to the _Nettle_, sherepeated the experiment with her second torpedo.

  "Splendid!" exclaimed young Naranovitsch, whose military ardour wasaroused.

  "It means, does it not," said Bella, "a splendid ship destroyed, andsome hundreds of lives lost?"

  "Well--yes--" said Nicholas, hesitatingly; "but of course it does notalways follow, you know, that so _many_ lives--"

  He paused, and smiled with a perplexed look. Bella smiled dubiously,and shook her head, for it did not appear to either of them that theexact number of lives lost had much to do with the question. A suddenmovement of the visitors to the other side of the ship stopped theconversation.

  They were now preparing to show the effect of a gun-cotton hand-grenade;in other words, a species of bomb-shell, meant to be thrown by the handinto an enemy's boat at close-quarters. This really tremendous weaponwas an innocent-looking disc or circlet of gun-cotton, weighing not morethan eight ounces. Innocent it would, in truth, have been but for thelittle detonator in its heart, without whic
h it would only have burned,not exploded. Attached to this disc was an instantaneous fuse of somelength, so that an operator could throw the disc into a passing boat,and then fire the fuse, which would _instantly_ explode the disc.

  All this was carefully explained by Firebrand to my astonished mother,while the disc, for experimental purposes, was being placed in a caskfloating in the water. On the fuse being fired, this cask was blown"into matchwood"--a wreck so complete that the most ignorant spectatorcould not fail to understand what would have been the fate of a boat andits crew in similar circumstances.

  "How very awful!" said my mother. "Pray, Mr Firebrand, what _is_gun-worsted--I mean cotton."

  The young lieutenant smiled rather broadly as he explained, in a gliband slightly sing-song tone, which savoured of the Woolwich MilitaryAcademy, that, "gun-cotton is the name given to the explosive substanceproduced by the action of nitric acid mixed with sulphuric acid, oncotton fibre." He was going to add, "It contains carbon, hydrogen,nitrogen, and oxygen, corresponding to--" when my mother stopped him.

  "Dear me, Mr Firebrand, is a _popular_ explanation impossible?"

  "Not impossible, madam, but rather difficult. Let me see. Gun-cottonis a chemical compound of the elements which I have just named--a_chemical compound_, you will observe, not a mechanical _mixture_, likegunpowder. Hence it explodes more rapidly than the latter, and itspower is from three to six times greater."

  My mother looked perplexed. "What is the difference," she asked,"between a chemical compound and a mechanical mixture?"

  Firebrand now in his turn looked perplexed. "Why, madam," he exclaimed,in modulated desperation, "the ultimate molecules of a mixture are onlyplaced _beside_ each other, so that an atom of gunpowder may besaltpetre, charcoal, or sulphur, dependent on its fellow-atoms for powerto act; whereas a chemical compound is such a perfect union ofsubstances, that each ultimate molecule is complete in its definiteproportions of the four elements, and therefore an _independent_ littleatom."

  "Now, the next experiment," continued Firebrand, glad to have anopportunity of changing the subject, "is meant to illustrate our methodof countermining. You must know that our enemies may sometimes sinktorpedoes at the entrance of their harbours, to prevent our ships of warentering. Such torpedoes consist usually of casks or cases ofexplosives, which are fired either by electric wires, like thetelegraph, when ships are seen to be passing over them, or by _contact_.That is to say, an enemy's ship entering a harbour runs againstsomething which sets something else in motion, which explodes thetorpedo and blows it and the ship into what natives of the Green Islecall smithereens. This is very satisfactory when it happens to anenemy, but not when it happens to one's-self, therefore when _we_ haveto enter an enemy's harbour we _countermine_. This operation is nowabout to be illustrated. The last experiments exhibited the power ofoffensive torpedoes. There are several different kinds, such as MrWhitehead's fish-torpedo, the Harvey torpedo, and others."

  "Dear me," said my mother, with a perplexed air, "I should have thought,Mr Firebrand, that all torpedoes were offensive."

  "By no means; those which are placed at the entrance of harbours andnavigable rivers are defensive. To protect ourselves from the offensiveweapon, we use crinolines."

  My mother looked quickly up at her polite young mentor. "You play withthe ignorance of an old woman, sir," she said, with a half-jocular air.

  "Indeed I do not, madam, I assure you," returned Firebrand, with muchearnestness. "Every iron-clad is provided with a crinoline, which is apowerful iron network, hung all round the ship at some distance fromher, like--pardon me--a lady's crinoline, and is intended to interceptany torpedo that may be discharged against her."

  Attention was called, at this point, to the counter-mining experiments.

  It may be said, in regard to these, that they can be conducted invarious ways, but always with the same end in view, namely, to destroyan enemy's mines by exploding others in their midst.

  For the sake of illustration, it was supposed that the surroundingsea-bottom was studded with invisible torpedoes, and that the _Nettle_was a warship, determined to advance into the enemy's harbour. Toeffect this with safety, and in order to clear away the supposed sunkentorpedoes, a counter-torpedo was floated between two empty casks, andsent off floating in the desired direction by means of the tide. Thiscountermine consisted of an iron cylinder, containing 300 pounds ofpowder, and was electrically connected with the _Nettle_. A smallcharge of gun-cotton was fixed to the suspender that held the torpedo toits casks. When at a safe distance from the ship, this charge wasfired. It cut the suspender and let the torpedo sink to the bottom.There it was exploded with terrific violence, as was quickly shown bythe mighty fountain of mud, water, and smoke that instantly shot up intothe air. It has been proved by experiment that 500 pounds of gun-cottonexploded below water, will destroy all the torpedoes that lie within aradius of 120 yards. It is obvious, therefore, that a warship couldadvance into the space thus cleared and then send a second countermineahead of her in the same way. If neither tide, current, nor wind willserve to drift the casks, the operation might be accomplished by a smallboat, which could back out of danger after laying each torpedo, andthus, step by step, or shot by shot, the advance could be made in safetythrough the enemy's defences.

  After this, twelve small charges of gun-cotton were sunk in variousdirections, each representing a countermine of 500 pounds. These weredischarged simultaneously, to demonstrate the possibility of extendingthe operations over a wide area. These miniature charges were sent downin small nets, and were quite unprotected from the water, so that thegun-cotton was wet when fired.

  This fact caught the attention of my mother at once.

  "How can it go off when _wet_?" she exclaimed, turning her bright littleeyes in astonishment on her young companion.

  "Ha, that is one of the strange peculiarities of gun-cotton," repliedFirebrand, with an amused look; "you don't require to keep it dry likepowder. It is only necessary that there should be one small lump of drygun-cotton inside the wet stuff, with a detonator in its heart. Adetonator, you must know--"

  "Oh, I know what a detonator is," said my mother, quickly.

  "Well then," continued Firebrand, "the exploding of the detonator andthe dry disc causes the wet gun-cotton also to go off, as you have seen.Now they are going to exhibit one of the modes of defending harbours.They have sunk four mines, of 300 pounds of gunpowder each, not far fromwhere you see yon black specks floating on the water. The black specksare buoys, called _circuit-closers_, because they contain a delicatecontrivance--a compound of mechanism and galvanism--which, when thebuoys are bumped, _close_ the electric circuit and cause the mine toexplode. Thus when a ship-of-war sails against one of thesecircuit-closers, she is immediately blown up."

  "Is not that rather a sneaking way of killing one's enemies?" asked mymother.

  Young Firebrand laughed, and admitted that it was, but pleaded thateverything was fair in love and war.

  In actual warfare the circuit-closers are placed just over the mineswhich they are designed to explode, but for safety on this occasion theywere placed at a safe distance from their respective mines. Asteam-launch was used to bump them, and a prodigious upheaval of wateron each explosion showed clearly enough what would have been the fate ofan iron-clad if she had been over the mine.

  "Oh, shade of Nelson!" I could not help exclaiming, "how shocked youmust be if you are permitted to witness such methods of conducting war."

  "Ah, yes!" sighed Firebrand; "the bubble reputation, you see, is beingtransferred from the cannon's mouth to the torpedo."

  I made no reply, for my mind reverted to my laboratory in Devonshire,where lay the working-model of the terrible weapon I had spent so muchtime in perfecting. It seemed strange to me now, that, in the eagerpursuit of a scientific object, I had scarcely ever, if at all,reflected on the dire results that the use of my torpedo involved, and Ifelt as if I were really guilty of the intent to murder
. Just beforeleaving home I had charged my model, which was quite a large one,capable of holding about 50 pounds of dynamite, in the hope that I mightprevail on the First Lord of the Admiralty and some of his colleagues tocome down and see it actually fired. I now resolved to throw thedynamite into the sea, break up my model, and have done with explosivesfor ever.

  While my mind was running on this, I was startled by an explosion closealongside. On turning towards the side of the ship, I found that it wascaused by the rending of a huge iron chain, the links of which were morethan one and a quarter inch in thickness. This powerful cable, whichcould have held an iron-clad, was snapped in twain like a piece ofthread by the explosion _against_ it of only two and a half pounds ofgun-cotton.

  "Very well done," I said to Firebrand, "but I think that a much smallerquantity of dynamite would have done it as effectively."

  "Now, Mrs Childers," said the young lieutenant, "the last experiment isabout to be made, and I think it will interest you even more than theothers. See, they are about to send off the electrical steam-pinnace."

  As he spoke, a boat was being prepared alongside the ship.

  "Why!" exclaimed my mother, almost speechless with surprise, "they haveforgotten to send its crew in it."

  "No, madam," said Firebrand, with one of his blandest smiles, "they havenot forgotten her crew, but there are services so dangerous, thatalthough the courage of the British sailor will of course enable him toface _anything_, it has been thought advisable not to put it to toosevere a test, hence this automatic boat has been invented. It issteered, and all its other operations are performed, by means ofelectricity, applied not on board the boat but on board of the_Nettle_."

  This was indeed the case. The electric pinnace went off as he spoke,her steam-engines, steering-gear, and all the other apparatus beingregulated by electric wires, which were "paid out" from the ship as theboat proceeded on her mission of supposed extreme danger. Right underthe withering fire of the imaginary enemy's batteries she went, andhaving scorned the rain of small shot that swept over her like hail, andescaped the plunging heavy shot that fell on every side, she dropped amine over her stern, exploded it by means of a slow fuse, turned roundand steamed back in triumph, amid the cheers of the spectators.

  This last was really a marvellous sight, and the little boat seemedindeed to deserve the encomiums of Firebrand, who said, that, "If cool,calm pluck, in the face of appalling danger, merited anything, thatheroic little steam-pinnace ought to receive the Victoria Cross."

  I was still meditating on this subject, and listening to the animatedcomments going on around me, when I myself received a shock, compared towhich all the explosions I had that day witnessed were as nothing.

  It suddenly recurred to my memory that I had left a compound in mylaboratory at home in a state of chemical preparation, which requiredwatching to prevent its catching fire at a certain part of the process.I had been called away from that compound suddenly by Nicholas, justbefore we left for London, and I had been so taken up with what he hadto tell me, that I had totally forgotten it. The mere burning of thiscompound would, in itself, have been nothing, for my laboratory was anold out-house, quite unconnected with the dwelling; but in thelaboratory also lay my torpedo! The worst of it was that I had inserteda detonator and affixed a fuse, feeling quite secure in doing so,because I invariably locked the door and carried the key in my pocket.

  My face must have turned very pale, for Nicholas, who came up at themoment, looked at me with anxious surprise, and asked if I were ill.

  "No," said I, hurriedly; "no, not ill--but--yes--it is a slow process atbest, and not always certain--sometimes takes a day or two to culminate.The fusion may not have been quite completed, or it may have failedaltogether. Too late, I fear, too late, but I cannot rest till I know.Tell my mother I'm off home--only business--don't alarm her."

  Regardless of the amazed looks of those who stood near me, I broke fromthe grasp of Nicholas, leaped into one of the boats alongside, seizedthe oars, and rowed ashore in mad haste.

  Fortune favoured me. The train had not left, though it was just inmotion. I had no time to take a ticket, but leaping upon the movingfootboard, I wrenched open a carriage-door and sprang in.

  It was an express. We went at full sixty miles an hour, yet I felt asif we moved like a snail. No words can adequately explain the state ofmy mind and body--the almost uncontrollable desire I felt to spring outof the train and run on ahead. But I was forced to sit still and think.I thought of the nearness of the laboratory to our kitchen windows, ofthe tremendous energy of the explosive with which the model-torpedo wascharged, of the mass of combustibles of all kinds by which it wassurrounded, of the thousand and one possibilities of the case, and of myown inexcusable madness in not being more careful.

  At last the train pulled up at the town from which our residence isabout two miles distant. It was now evening; but it was summer, and thedays were long. Hiring a horse at the nearest hotel, I set off at abreak-neck gallop.

  The avenue-gate was open. I dashed in. The laboratory was not visiblefrom that point, being at the back of the house. At the front door Ipulled up, sprang to the ground, let the horse go, and ran forward.

  I was met by Lancey coming round the corner. I saw at once that all wasover! His face and hands had been scorched, and his hair singed! Igasped for breath.

  "No one killed?" I asked.

  "No, sir, nobody killed, but most of us 'orribly scared, sir."

  "Nobody hurt, Lancey?" I asked again, leaning against the side of thehouse, and wiping my forehead.

  "No, sir, nor 'urt," continued my faithful groom, hastening to relievemy mind; "you've no need to alarm yourself, sir, for we're all alive and'earty, though I must say it's about the wust buster, sir, that you'veyet turned out of 'ands. It sent in the kitchen winders as if they'dbin made of tissue paper, sir, an' cook she went into highstericks inthe coal-bunker, Margaret she swounded in the scullery, and Mary wentinto fits in the wash'us. But they're all right again, sir,--onlyraither skeery ever since. We 'ad some trouble in puttin' it out, forthe cumbustibles didn't seem to care much for water. We got it under atlast, early this morning."

  "This morning?"

  "Yes, sir. It blow'd up about two hours arter you left for London, an'we've bin at it ever since. We _was_ so glad your mother was away, sir,for it _did_ make an uncommon crack. I was just sayin' to cook, not'alf an hour since, the master would have enjoyed that, he would; it was_such_ a crusher."

  "Any of--of--the torpedo left, Lancey?" I asked, with some hesitation.

  "The torpedo, sir. Bless your 'art, it went up to the 'eavens like asky-rocket, an' blowed the out-'ouse about to that extent that youcouldn't find a bit big enough to pick your teeth with."

  On hearing this I roused myself, and hastened to the scene ofdevastation.

  One glance sufficed. The spot on which my laboratory had stood was ablackened heap of rubbish!

  "Now, mother," said I next day, after relieving her mind by a full andrapid account of what had happened, "there is nothing that I know of todetain me at home. I will therefore see to having the yacht got ready,and we shall all go to sea without delay."