Under the Ensign of the Rising Sun: A Story of the Russo-Japanese War, Page 2

  CHAPTER TWO.

  THE RUSSIAN DESTROYER.

  At a quarter to eleven o'clock on the morning of December 8, 1903, Istepped out of a cab at Charing Cross railway station, and forthwithproceeded to get my luggage properly labelled and checked through toMarseilles. While I was doing this, I became aware of some one by myside, and, looking up, saw a little man, the formation of whose featuresand the colour of whose skin at once apprised me that he was a Japanese.He was dressed in a neat travelling suit of tweed, and wore a bowlerhat and brown boots. He was reading my name, legibly painted on my seachest, and as I looked at him he turned to me and bowed.

  "You are Mr Paul Swinburne, bound for Japan?" he said, putting thestatement in the form of a question, and speaking in perfect English.

  "I am," I replied. "And you?"

  "I am Captain Murata Nakamura, of the Japanese army, in England onGovernment business, and now returning to Japan in the _Matsuma Maru_,the steamer in which I understand you are going out. Half an hour ago Iwas with Mr Kuroda, whom you know, and he told me about you, and bademe look out for you. I am pleased to make your honourable acquaintance,Mr Swinburne, and shall be happy to place my humble services at yourhonourable disposal."

  "Gad! that's very good of you," I said. "Very glad to know you,Captain. Is your baggage ready? Then, let us try to secure acompartment to ourselves and travel through together."

  "It will give me great pleasure to travel in your honourable company,"replied my new acquaintance. "And I have already secured a compartmentby, as you say, `squaring' the guard. There he is now. Let us go and--how do you say? Oh yes, I remember--`interview' him."

  We obtained a compartment to ourselves, and my new friend at oncestarted smoking cigarettes and chatting in the most animated manner uponthe prospects of war. He was in high spirits, and apparently had nodoubts at all as to the outcome of the fighting--if fighting there wasto be. And of this also he appeared to entertain no doubt, althoughthere were people who still believed that either Russia or Japan wouldclimb down and so avoid a fight.

  By the time that the train reached Dover we were "as thick as thieves,"for Nakamura's perfect frankness and his geniality of manner quicklyconquered my insular aloofness toward the foreigner; and upon boardingthe Channel steamer we at once went below and were busy with ourluncheon almost before the boat had cast off from the pier.

  At Calais, Nakamura, who seemed to speak every language under the sun,took charge of my baggage as well as his own, and by some mysteriousprocess, probably not altogether unconnected with "backsheesh," managedto clear the whole through the Customs in about five minutes. Then heagain "squared" the guard and secured our privacy as far as Paris, wherewe arrived about five o'clock in the evening. There was a train leavingfor Marseilles at half-past seven, so we took a cab, drove across thecity, and dined at the railway station in comfort before beginning thelong night journey. Then, once more securing a compartment toourselves, we settled down for our twelve hours' run to the shore of theMediterranean.

  I was very much amused at the naivete of some of my companion's remarks.He asked the most intimate questions in the coolest possible manner,and if I had not already resolved to be absolutely frank with my newcomrades in arms I should have been somewhat embarrassed to find repliesfor some of them. He was greatly surprised to learn that I was not yeteighteen years of age, and was still growing, for although he appearedto be not more than twenty-five, he informed me that he was actuallythirty-three, and I was a head taller than he, the fact being that I hada natural tendency toward bulkiness which my passion for athletics hadfurther encouraged. He jocularly remarked that he hoped the authoritieswould have sense enough to appoint me to a battleship, for he was surethat in no other quarters would I find room to stand upright.

  We reached Marseilles without adventure at eight o'clock on thefollowing morning, and, after breakfasting at the railway station,chartered a cab and drove down to the Joliet, where we found our ship,the _Matsuma Maru_, lying alongside a wharf piled yards high withcrates, bales, and cases of all sorts and sizes waiting to be stowed inthe ship's holds. The skipper was somewhere ashore, it appeared, but wehunted up the chief officer and introduced ourselves, upon which welearned that every effort was being made to have the ship ready for seaby three o'clock that afternoon, but that it would be impossible for herto get away a minute earlier than that; we therefore found the chiefsteward, got him to show us our cabins, and had our baggage carriedaboard. Then we went ashore again and, Nakamura happening to learn thatthe place boasted a zoological garden, nothing would satisfy him but wemust needs go there, which we did, afterwards finding our way to thehandsome Museum. Then down into the town again to lunch, finallyreturning to the ship at a quarter to three. I had been accustomed toseeing work smartly done in our own navy, but I was amazed to see what afew hours of strenuous labour had effected upon that wharf. It waspractically cleared, and even as we stood and watched, the last caseswere slung aboard, and the first bell, warning visitors that the shipwas about to start, was rung, whereupon we trotted aboard and took up aposition on the poop, where some fifty or sixty other passengers, allmen, with about half a dozen exceptions, were already congregated.Nakamura looked eagerly about him and quickly spotted at least a dozenacquaintances and fellow-countrymen, to all of whom he insisted uponintroducing me; and his mention of the fact that I was _going_ out forthe express purpose of fighting for Japan at once ensured me a mostfriendly welcome among them. While this was going on, the ship wasunmoored, and a few minutes later we were outside the harbour andshaping a course that took us at no great distance past the islet whichHugo has immortalised in his _Count of Monte Christo_.

  Once clear of the harbour, the skipper rang for full speed; and the_Matsuma Maru_, a white-hulled, steel-built ship of some four thousandtons, rigged as a topsail schooner, soon showed that she was thepossessor of a nimble pair of heels. She was loaded well down, yet anhour after the patent log had been put overboard it recorded a run ofseventeen knots. The weather was gloriously fine and the seaglass-smooth, so that one had not much opportunity of judging herquality as a sea boat, but when I went forward and, duly paying myfooting, looked over the bows and noted their outward flare as the sidesrose from the water, I had not much difficulty in deciding that shewould prove very comfortable and easy in a seaway.

  Upon going below to dinner that night, a glance round the saloon tablesshowed that at least seventy-five per cent, of the passengers wereJapanese, while, of the remainder, half, perhaps, were English, the restbeing composed, in pretty nearly equal proportions, of French, Germans,and, somewhat to my surprise, Russians. These last, however, iteventually transpired, had booked only as far as Hong Kong, from whenceit was probable that they intended to proceed to Port Arthur, althoughthey said nothing to that effect.

  We passed through the Straits of Bonifacio and Messina, and in duecourse arrived at Port Said without incident, except that, thanks toNakamura, I soon became upon friendly and even intimate terms with allthe Japanese passengers in the saloon, as well as the ship's officers.There was one old gentleman in particular, rejoicing in the name ofMatsudaira Hashimoto, an ex-professor of languages at the ImperialCollege of Tokio, who, happening to hear that I was anxious to utilisethe large amount of time occupied by the voyage in acquiring as muchknowledge as possible of the Japanese language, at once came forwardwith an offer to gratuitously teach me, in order that, as he remarked, Imight be equipped with a working knowledge of the language upon myarrival, and so be in a position to immediately render my servicesvaluable. The old gentleman, it appeared, had been remarkablysuccessful in his day as a teacher of languages, working upon a systemwhich he had himself invented; and, luckily for me, his system was soexcellent that, working with me for five hours daily, he actuallysucceeded in redeeming his promise so thoroughly that when we at lengthreached Yokohama I was able to manage quite fairly well without theservices of an interpreter. This by the way.

  It was a part of the skip
per's plan to replenish his bunkers at PortSaid, an operation involving a detention of three hours. We thereforeall went ashore, and I posted a letter to my friends, the Gordons,attaching to it a number of stamps of different denominations, for thebenefit of Ronald, who was an enthusiastic collector. We then rovedabout the town, but, finding nothing to interest us, soon returned tothe ship, which we found enveloped in a cloud of coal dust which wasplaying havoc with her fresh white paint, despite the canvas screensspread to protect it.

  We got under way again shortly after three o'clock that afternoon, twoof our passengers--Russians who looked very much like military men inmufti--cutting things so fine that they were actually compelled tofollow after us in a steam launch; and when at length they overtook us,scrambled aboard, and went at once to the cabin which they shared, theskipper, with whom Nakamura and I had become very chummy, caught oureyes and signed to us both to come up to his cabin on the bridge, theship then being in charge of a canal pilot, with Sadakiyo, the chiefofficer, standing beside him on the navigating bridge.

  Accordingly, we sauntered up in a nonchalant sort of way, as thoughintent upon watching the progress of the ship through the canal, forthere had been something of furtiveness in the skipper's action whichseemed to hint that he did not wish his sign to be observed by others,which led me at least to imagine that there might be something in thewind.

  And so, apparently there was, for when we had entered the cabin, theskipper softly closed the door and drew the curtains across the twoafter ports, as though desirous of concealing the fact of our presencein his cabin. Then, having produced whisky and soda and a box ofcigars, he seated himself on the sofa, facing us, and said in English:

  "You saw those two Russians come aboard, just now, after nearly losingtheir passage?"

  And when we nodded affirmation he continued:

  "I am wondering whether the circumstance means trouble for us. And forthis reason. When I was ashore, about an hour ago, I had business thattook me into McIntosh's store. Now, McIntosh is a very good fellow,whom I have known for some time. He is very friendly to us Japanese,and `has his knife'--as you English term it--into the Russians. Well,after chatting together for a little while, he took me into his innerroom and informed me that there is a steamer, flying the Russian navalensign, and a Russian destroyer lurking near the southern extremity ofthe Red Sea, which seem disposed to give trouble to Japanese merchantcraft. It appears that only last week, one or the other of these--McIntosh is not sure which--stopped and boarded the _Mishima Maru_ andinsisted upon examining her papers and inspecting her passengers, forwhat reason McIntosh could not say, as he had merely heard the barefacts of the case. And about a quarter of an hour later, shortly afterI had left McIntosh's place, I saw those two Russians who nearly missedus enter the telegraph office, and I began to smell mischief. Of courseit may only be imagination, but remembering what McIntosh had told me, Iwondered whether by any chance they were wiring to Dgiboutil the news ofour arrival, and warning their friends to be on the lookout for us."

  "But why wire to Dgiboutil?" I demanded.

  "Because," replied Kusumoto, "Dgiboutil belongs to the French, who arestrongly pro-Russian; and those craft must have a sort of headquartersat which they may receive news and instructions, and where they canreplenish their bunkers and storerooms, and I know of no place so likelyfor this as Dgiboutil."

  "I see," said I. "Yes, you are most probably right, so far. But why onearth should those fellows interfere with Japanese ships? By what rightdo they claim to do it? The two countries are not yet at war, whatevermay be the case within the next few months."

  "That is true," agreed the skipper. "But the mouth of the Red Sea is along way from Japan; we have no warships anywhere near there to protectus; the Russians are by nature a very high-handed people, and not tooscrupulous when dealing with a prospective enemy; and perhaps they thinkthat before Japan could make an effective protest, we may be at war, andhave other things than pin-pricks to occupy our attention."

  "Very true," I assented. "That may be so. But I should like to knowupon what pretext they presume to molest and interfere with Japaneseships. Such action is contrary to international law, and in fact isclosely akin to piracy, if indeed it is not piracy, pure and simple.Now, suppose these fellows attempt to interfere with us, what do youpropose to do?"

  "Ah!" ejaculated Kusumoto, "that is an exceedingly difficult question toanswer. I do not want them to come aboard me, if it can be helped,for--to let you into a secret--our cargo consists of munitions of war ofvarious kinds, and if the Russians should discover that fact, as theymust if they board us and force me to show my papers, they may beunscrupulous enough to play some trick upon me, either jeopardising mycargo, or possibly detaining me in some way until war is actuallydeclared, and then confiscating both ship and cargo. I must think thematter over, and try to hit upon some plan of `besting' them, as youEnglish say. And perhaps you two gentlemen will also give it a thought.I am only a mercantile shipmaster, and have had no experience inmatters of this sort to guide me, but you are both military men, and outof your knowledge you may be able to suggest something helpful to me.Of course nothing may happen; we may not fall in with the Russians atall, which will be so much the better; but if we should encounter them,and they should attempt to interfere with me, I want to be prepared."

  We continued to discuss the matter for some time longer; but it is notnecessary to repeat more of what was said, sufficient having beenalready recorded to indicate the nature of the trouble that was possiblywaiting for us.

  The engines were only stopped long enough at Suez to enable us to landthe pilot and the big searchlight which we had shipped at Port Said tohelp us through the canal; and, this done, we steamed on into the Gulfof Suez and the Red Sea.

  Our passage down the Red Sea was quite uneventful until the HanishIslands hove in sight over the port bow--uneventful, that is to say,with one exception only, but it was an exception which seemed to causeour two Russian passengers much perturbation of spirit. For the chatwhich Nakamura and I had had with the skipper, shortly after leavingPort Said, had been succeeded by another on the following day, theoutcome of which was that Kusumoto, with the full approval of my friendNakamura and myself, had resolved to take the very serious step ofbroaching cargo, with the result that, when the passengers came up ondeck, on the morning which found us off Shadwan Island, they were amazedto discover two 1-pounder Hotchkisses mounted, one on theforecastle-head and the other right aft over the taffrail, while a Maximgraced either extremity of the navigating bridge. The circumstance,with the reasons which seemed to make such a step necessary anddesirable, was recorded at length in the _Matsuma Maru_ official log,signed by the skipper and countersigned, at his request, by Nakamura andmyself, as accessories, so to speak.

  It was about three o'clock in the afternoon when the Hanish Islands hoveup above the horizon, at which moment, as it happened, Nakamura and Iwere in the captain's cabin, where indeed we had spent most of the timeof late, when we were not in our bunks. The Hanish Islands are, roughlyspeaking, within about one hundred miles of the Strait of Bab el Mandeb;and as we had not been interfered with thus far, we had practically madeup our minds that if the Russians intended to molest us at all, it wouldbe here, the back of the islands affording an excellent place ofconcealment from which to dash out upon a passing ship.

  Nor were we disappointed in our expectations; for when we had broughtthe northernmost island square abeam, a long, black, four-funnelleddestroyer suddenly slid out past its southern extremity, heading west,so as to intercept us. And, looking at her through our glasses, we sawthat she was flying the International Code signal, "Heave-to. I wish tospeak you."

  "So! it's time for us to be making a move, Nakamura," said I. "Youquite understand the line you are to take with those fellows, skipper?Good! Then, all that remains to be done is to get some ammunition ondeck, and we shall be ready. Will you give the necessary orders?"

  The skipper's response w
as to send for the chief officer, who, at leastnominally, was off duty for the time being; and five minutes later I wason the forecastle-head, the Hotchkiss' tarpaulin jacket was off, a caseof ammunition for the weapon stood conveniently at hand, and "All readyfor'ard!" I reported. A minute or two later, Nakamura on the bridgewas also ready, with a belt of cartridges in each of his Maxims, andmore at hand, if required. Meanwhile, by the skipper's order, theanswering pennant had been run up to our span, and dipped to show thatthe signal was understood, while the Japanese mercantile flag--white,with a red ball in the centre, which is also the Japanese "Jack"--washoisted at our gaff-end.

  Ten minutes later we were within hail of the destroyer, which, flyingthe Russian naval ensign, was lying motionless right athwart our hawse,broadside-on to us. Our engines were still running at full speed, andour safety valves were lifting, allowing a "feather" of steam to show atthe head of our waste-pipe, while our quartermaster grimly kept our stempointed fair and square between the second and third funnels of theRussian.

  Then skipper Kusumoto raised his megaphone and hailed the destroyer, inRussian, with:

  "Ho! the destroyer ahoy! Why are you lying athwart my hawse? Do youwish me to run you down?"

  There were two officers on the destroyer's bridge, one of whom sprang tothe engine-room telegraph and thrust it over to "Full speed ahead,"while the other seized a megaphone and hailed back:

  "Stop your engines instantly, sir! Did you not understand my signalthat I wished to speak you? Starboard your helm, you confounded fool;hard a-starboard, or you'll be over us."

  "Then get out of my way," retorted Kusumoto. "Starboard a little," (tothe quartermaster), "and just shave his stern. I'll teach him to layhis tin kettle athwart a Japanese ship's bows."

  The destroyer leaped from under our bows like a frightened thing, thoughnot so quickly but that we caught her quarter with the rounding of ourbows and gave her a pretty severe shaking up. Her skipper shook hisfist at us and stamped on the bridge with fury. Then he raised hismegaphone again and hailed:

  "You infernal scoundrel, I'll make you suffer for that outrage!Heave-to at once, or I'll fire into you."

  The boat was sweeping round on a starboard helm, and was now runningpractically parallel to us, at a distance of about a hundred feet.

  "You will fire into me, if I don't stop, you say? Is Russia at war withmy country, then?" hailed Kusumoto.

  There was silence for a minute or two aboard the destroyer, during whichthe two officers on her bridge consulted eagerly together. We could seethat her engine-room telegraph stood at "Full speed," yet, strange tosay, she was only just holding her own with us. Then the commander ofher again raised his megaphone.

  "My instructions are that I am to examine the papers of all foreignvessels passing down the Red Sea," he shouted; "and I must insist thatyou heave-to and let me board you."

  "I shall do nothing of the kind," retorted our skipper. "I do not admityour right to board me, so try it if you dare. I believe you arenothing less than a pirate masquerading as a Russian ship of war; and Ishall treat you accordingly if you do not sheer off."

  This defiance was more than enough for the proud and choleric Russian,accustomed to have his every order servilely obeyed. Such unparalleledinsolence from a "little yellow-skinned monkey"--as the Russians hadalready begun to dub the Japanese--and in the presence of his own crew,too! It was unendurable, and must be severely punished. He called anorder, and the Russian seamen, who had been standing about the deck,listening half-amused and half-indignant, to the altercation, made amove in the direction of the destroyer's 4-pounder and her port torpedodeck tube. But our skipper had been expecting and keenly on the watchfor such a move, and he now hailed again:

  "Destroyer ahoy! Keep away from the tube and the gun, you men! If Isee a man attempt to approach either, I will sweep your decks with Maximfire. Do you hear what I say?"--as half a dozen men continued to slouchtoward the tube. "Open fire, there, the starboard Maxim!"

  Nakamura was at the gun mentioned, which he was keeping steadily trainedupon the tube. At the word, he fired a single shot, and the bulletspattered into a star as it struck the mounting. The Russians halted asif turned to stone, and glanced anxiously at their commander. Kusumotoraised his megaphone and hailed:

  "Is that enough, or will you have more? Now, sheer off at once, if youplease. If you don't, I shall fire again; and my next shots--with myHotchkiss guns--will be at your waterline and your boilers."

  The Russian commander was by this time literally foaming at the mouth;he seemed speechless and beside himself with rage, and there is noknowing what the outcome might have been, had not his second in commandhere intervened, and, forcibly seizing him by the arms, shook himviolently as he said something which we were too far off to hear.Meanwhile, ever since the firing of the shot, the helmsman of thedestroyer had been quietly edging away from us; and presently, at asign, apparently, from the junior officer, he put his helm hard over toport, and the venomous-looking craft swung sharply upon her heel,listing heavily as she did so, and a few seconds later was speeding awayin the opposite direction to ourselves. But even now we had not quitedone with her, for almost immediately she swung round to cross ourstern, and a moment later we saw the silvery flash of a torpedo as itleft her tube. Kusumoto, however, was not to be caught unawares;apparently he more than half suspected something of the kind, and was onthe watch. For an instant he watched the bubbles which marked thecourse of the missile, and then shouted an order to our helmsman; the_Matsuma Maru_ swerved from her course, and the torpedo sped harmlesslypast us, a hundred yards to port. I, too, had quite expected that thefiery Russian would not allow us to go scot-free if he could help it,therefore the moment that the destroyer swerved away from us I sprangoff the forecastle and ran aft to the other Hotchkiss, which I reachedtoo late to prevent the discharge of the torpedo. But I saw menclustering about her 4-pounder, as though about to bring it into action,and as I was more afraid of this gun than of the torpedoes, Iunhesitatingly opened fire upon it, and at the fifth shot had thepleasure of dismounting it. This was enough for the Russians; theyrealised at last that they had caught a Tartar, and bore away for theirlurking-place behind the Hanish Islands, where we eventually lost sightof them.

  As soon as the destroyer had disappeared, Kusumoto retired to his cabinand wrote a lengthy account of the affair in his official log-book,getting Nakamura and me to sign it, as before, in testimony of itsveracity. This he did in order to justify himself for broaching cargoand temporarily mounting the Hotchkiss and Maxim guns; and it may besaid here that not only was his justification accepted, but his conductwas highly commended by the authorities.

  About four bells in the first watch that night, we passed through thestrait, and shifted our helm for Cape Guardafui, not calling at Aden,since we had coal enough to carry us on to Colombo; and we saw nothingmore of the Russians until after our arrival in Japan on 22nd January1904.