ROUNDING UP THE RAIDER

Contents


CHAP.

I. THE CAPTURED LINER
II. THE LAST OF THE _NICHI MARU_
III. ON BOARD THE RAIDER
IV. THREATENED
V. THE PURSUIT OF THE _PELIKAN_
VI. THE DECOY
VII. FOILED BY A COLLIER
VIII. REINFORCEMENTS
IX. THE MIDNIGHT LANDING
X. THE LAGOON
XI. DENBIGH'S PLAN
XII. A PERILOUS JOURNEY
XIII. NOCTURNAL INVESTIGATIONS
XIV. A NEGLECTED WARNING
XV. ARMSTRONG'S PART
XVI. THE DISASTER TO THE _MYRA_
XVII. A BID FOR FREEDOM
XVIII. DISAPPOINTMENT
XIX. "OUR LUCK'S OUT"
XX. ADRIFT IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
XXI. VON ECKENSTEIN'S SURPRISE
XXII. THE MONITORS IN ACTION
XXIII. HOW THE _PELIKAN_ SURRENDERED
XXIV. THE LANDING PARTY
XXV. ACCOUNTED FOR




Illustrations


DENBIGH AND HIS COMPANIONS ARE PICKED UP BY A
MONITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_

"BY JOVE!" EJACULATED O'HARA. "SHE MUST BE ONE OF OUR MONITORS"

THE 'LOG' WAS A HEALTHY SPECIMEN OF A CROCODILE

"UNLESS THE GERMAN ENSIGN is HAULED DOWN ON BOARD THE _PELIKAN_ WITHIN
AN HOUR, I OPEN FIRE"




ROUNDING UP THE RAIDER



CHAPTER I

The Captured Liner

"Fifteen days more and then Old England once again!" exclaimed Frank
Denbigh.

"And bonnie Scotland for me!" added Charlie Stirling.

"You'll not be forgettin' 'tis Ould Oireland I'm bound for,"
remonstrated Pat O'Hara, purposely dropping into the brogue.

The three chums had just been reading the "miles made good"
announcement that, printed in English and Japanese, was daily exhibited
in various parts of S.S. _Nichi Maru_.

"Hostile submarines permitting," remarked Denbigh with a laugh, after
he had taken good care that no lady passengers were within earshot.

"Rot!" ejaculated Stirling. "We've cleared them out of the Channel
pretty well. It's part of the work of the British Navy under----"

"Stop it!" interrupted O'Hara good-humouredly. "I know what you were
going to say: that old tag from the Articles of War. I propose that
every time the word submarine is mentioned by anyone of us while on
board this vessel the delinquent shall be suitably punished as soon as
the sun's over the fore-yard."

"Hear, hear! I second that," agreed Stirling. "No more 'shop'. We'll
get plenty of that in a few weeks' time. I fancy My Lords won't let us
kick our heels in idleness for long, and honestly, the sooner we settle
down to business the better."

The three chums were Sub-lieutenants, homeward bound from a portion of
a certain group of islands off the coast of New Guinea, having till
recently the high-sounding title of the Bismarck Archipelago. The
youthful but none the less glorious Australian Navy had quickly changed
the colour of that portion of the map, but the climate was a more
formidable foe than the former German garrison. Thus the three young
officers, who had been "lent" to the recently-formed navy, had the
misfortune to be stricken with fever.

After a long convalescence, which by a pure coincidence lasted almost
exactly the same time in each of the three cases, Denbigh, Stirling,
and O'Hara were ordered to return to England and to resume their duties
with the navy of the Motherland.

They had travelled by an intermediate boat to Singapore, whence, in
order to save delay, they had proceeded by a Japanese liner, the _Nichi
Maru_, bound from Nagasaki to London. It was a case of misdirected
zeal, for, owing to the torpedoing of a large Japanese liner in the
Mediterranean, the _Nichi Maru_ had been ordered to take the longer
passage round the Cape instead of the usual route via the Suez Canal.

"Hulloa! What's the excitement?" enquired Denbigh, pointing in the
direction of the bridge. The chums had gained the promenade deck,
whence most of the navigating bridge of the liner could be seen. There
was evidently something to warrant his exclamation, for the dapper
little Japanese officer of the watch was steadily keeping his
binoculars upon some distant object.

"There's a smudge of smoke away to the nor'east'ard," announced
Stirling. "The mild excitement of sighting a vessel will help to push
the hands of the clock. Now if someone will kindly suggest a
sweepstake on the nationality of yonder craft----"

The door of the wireless room opened. The sharp peculiar cackle of the
instruments announced that an exchange of messages was in progress. A
messenger made his way to the bridge. Almost immediately after, the
captain hurried from his cabin.