At the Fall of Port Arthur: or, A Young American in the Japanese Navy
"As you have said that before, there is no use of repeating it, Captain Ponsberry. We will take command of the vessel at once."
"What are we going to do?" whispered Larry to Tom Grandon.
"I don't know – follow the old man, I reckon," answered the first mate.
"We shall place a prize crew on this ship," went on the Russian officer. "These men" – pointing to Semmel, Peterson, and Shamhaven – "can remain on board. The remainder of the crew and the officers, will be transferred to the Pocastra. I will give you a quarter of an hour in which to attend to your luggage. Please take no more along than is necessary."
"This is certainly high-handed!" cried Larry.
"So we've got to go over to that old coal box, eh?" grumbled Luke, when he heard the news. "It's hard luck, Larry."
"You're right, Luke, but it can't be helped."
"What will they do with us?"
"I haven't the least idea."
"Will they take us to Russia?"
"I suppose so – or stow us away in one of those cold and dirty Siberian prisons until we can get Uncle Sam to make them release us."
When it came time to depart from the Columbia Larry was allowed to take only a bundle of clothing along, and Grandon and the common sailors were treated no better. The captain was allowed a trunk and a suit case. In the meantime Semmel was questioned once more, and what he had to tell made the Russians look darkly at our friends.
"He is pumping all sorts of falsehoods into them, I suppose," said Larry to Luke, and he was right. Semmel made it appear that Captain Ponsberry was really an agent of the Japanese Government and that he (Semmel) had done his best to gain possession of the ship wholly for the benefit of his own country.
"If you really did this, it is very worthy of you," said one of the officers. "But we shall have to investigate before we accept your story in full." This was not so encouraging, but with it Ostag Semmel had to be content.
Fearing that a Japanese warship might put in an appearance at any moment, the Russians lost no time in transferring the officers and men of the Columbia to the Pocastra and at the same time a prize crew of two officers and ten men were taken from the warship to the schooner. Then the sails of the Columbia were hoisted and off she set to the eastward, and the warship moved in the same direction.
When placed aboard the Pocastra Captain Ponsberry was treated politely and given a small room of his own. But the mates and the ordinary seamen were not so fortunate. Grandon, Larry, and Luke Striker were hustled off to a prison pen on one deck of the auxiliary cruiser, and the others to another pen below, which was even worse.
"This is certainly hard luck," said Larry, as he threw his bundle into a corner and sat down on an iron bench, while Grandon and Luke did the same. "And after we had almost reached Nagasaki, too!"
"Well, there ain't no use to cry over spilt milk," came from Luke. "We're prisoners o' war, an' I reckon as how we have got to make the best o' it. Ain't the first time we've been in sech a fix."
"That is true, Luke, but it doesn't help the matter any. I guess we have seen the last of the old Columbia."
"I was afraid of this sort of thing happening ever since we left Manila," came from Grandon. "I told the old man to be careful, that – "
"Hush!" whispered Larry. "They may be listening – to make sure that they have caught the right parties."
"True for you, Larry; I won't say another word about that. But it looks dismal, no two ways on't," and the first mate drew a mountainous sigh.
The prison pen into which they had been placed was an iron structure, reaching from floor to ceiling, and was not over ten feet square. It had a solid back and the remaining three sides were built up of stout iron bars, only a couple of inches apart. There was a door which was doubly locked, the key being held by a petty officer who could speak broken English and who rejoiced in the simple name of Rosenvischpoff. For short Luke nicknamed him Rosey and this name stuck to him.
"Doesn't look as if a fellow could break out of here very easily," said Larry, after an inspection of their prison. "This is a regular bank vault."
"Wouldn't do you any good to break out," returned Grandon. "As we are on the ocean, where would you go to?"
"We might hide until the vessel made a landing."
"Humph, and that would be in some Russian port, so you'd be just as bad off."
"Well, I'm not trying to escape just now. I want to get the lay of the land first, and try to find out what they are going to do with us."
From Rosenvischpoff they learned that the Pocastra was one of a large number of steamers of various Russian lines which had been lately pressed into the service of the national navy. She had been rushed through at one of the Russian navy yards and provided with a battery of four small and four large guns, none, however, over eight inches. She carried a crew of one hundred and eighty men, drafted principally from other warships. She had an advertised speed of twenty knots an hour but rarely made over seventeen or eighteen. She was old and her engines were constantly in need of repair, much to the disgust of Captain Titorsky, her commander.
"Well, Rosey, how goes this war?" asked Luke, pleasantly, as the petty officer came around to give them something to eat.
"Big fight all der dime," answered Rosenvischpoff. "Russians kill all der Japs – sink all der Jap ships, yes!"
"You're winning right along, eh?"
"Yes, Russians win – Japs no do noddings, no!" And the petty officer left the food on the bench and hurried away again.
"Do you believe that?" asked Larry.
"No, I don't," came from Grandon. "He told us that simply to scare us, or else he doesn't know the real truth."
"Exactly what I think."
"These Russians are a lot of blowers," growled Luke. "Just look at Semmel. He was forever tooting his horn, and yet he couldn't do much of anything."
"He got us into trouble," said Larry, quickly.
"That's true, but he had to have this warship with all on board to help him."
The food which had been brought to them consisted of a big bowl of stew, with three spoons, and three chunks of black bread.
"They are going to treat us to the best," said Grandon, sarcastically. He lifted one of the spoons and tasted the stew. "Phew, it's hot enough! Pepper, garlic, and hot water!"
"Does beat all how these fureigners do love their garlic," grumbled Luke. "'Twas the same way with them Spaniards in the Philippines."
"Garlic and grease," added Larry. "And this bread is hard enough to build a wall with," he continued. "However, we have got to eat or go hungry." And he partook of just enough to stay his stomach. Luke and Grandon were not so particular and despite their grumbling managed to make away with all that remained.
They saw nothing of the captain, or of the sailors who had been taken below, and the time hung heavily on their hands. At night they were given three hammocks and these they slung from one side of the prison to the other and rested as well as could be expected. The Russian sailors often came to the pen to gaze at them, but they had been warned not to attempt to converse with the prisoners, so nothing was said.
On the afternoon of the third day aboard of the Pocastra, those in the pen heard a loud shouting on deck, followed by a rush of feet. Larry, who was resting in the corner for the want of something better to do, leaped up.
"Something is doing!" he cried to his companions.
"Here comes Captain Ponsberry," ejaculated Tom Grandon.
He was right, the captain was coming up in company with Rosenvischpoff and two sailors. The Russian petty officer opened the door of the pen and Captain Ponsberry was thrust inside. Then the door was locked as before.
"How are you, boys?" cried the captain, cordially. "All well, I hope."
"We are," answered Grandon. "And you?"
"I'm well enough, but still angry to think that we lost the Columbia."
"So are we angry," said Larry. "But we've got to stand it. What's that noise?"
"They have sighted a Chinese junk, and I reckon they are going to treat her as they did our vessel," answered the captain.
The noise on deck continued, followed by quarter of an hour of silence. Then came a shot, followed by a second and a third.
"Another order to lay-to," said Larry. "Wonder if the Chinamen will give in as we did?"
"They will if they are wise," said Grandon.
But the Chinamen did not believe in surrendering thus easily. They were carrying rice for the Japanese army, and thought that this was known to the enemy. Consequently they did their best to sail away.
Hardly had the craft started on a new course when the Pocastra opened a direct fire upon her. The noise below decks was deafening and fairly shook the iron pen in which our friends were confined.
"Hullo, that sounds like real war!" cried Larry. "They mean business now."
One broadside was followed by another, and the Chinese junk was raked from end to end with such a deadly fire that more than a sixth of the sailors and officers were killed. Then the captain flung a white flag to the breeze in token of surrender.
"We have won!" cried those on the Pocastra, and it was not long before our friends understood. Small boats were put out, and presently half a dozen Chinese officers from the junk were brought on board as prisoners. A fire that had started on the prize ship was put out after some hard work; and then a temporary crew was put on board, and the junk followed in the wake of the old Columbia, with the warship keeping guard over both.
CHAPTER XIV
PROGRESS OF THE WAR
An hour after the capture of the Chinese junk one of the officers of the ill-fated craft was thrust into the prison pen with our friends.
He was a small sallow-eyed Celestial rejoicing in the name of Won Lung, and it was soon learned that he could speak a little English, he having once paid a visit to San Francisco.
"All go up spout!" said he, referring to his own ship. "T'ink we safe when Russian gunboat come, den all up spout!"
"Did they sink your ship?" asked Captain Ponsberry.
"No sink – shoot holes, back, front, side – all up spout. No fightee no more den – all up spout!" The latter was his pet phrase and he used it over and over again.
"You were in the Japanese trade?"
"Yes – carry rice. Now Russians got rice, got junk – all Won Lung's money gone up spout!" And the Celestial made an odd little grimace.
"Well, they took my ship, too."
"Big schooner your shipee?"
"Yes."
"Won Lung weep for you – all ship gone up spout, samee like Won Lung's ship gone up spout!"
"Well, we haven't gone up the spout yet," put in Larry, with a laugh. "Let us thank fortune that we are alive and well."
"Dat so – Won Lung lose fliends on junk – six, seven, ten – don't know how many yet," and the Chinese officer shook his head sadly. "Bad war, bad!"
"Can you tell us how the war is going?" asked Tom Grandon. "These Russians say everything is a Russian victory."
"Russians sayee dat?"
"Yes – they pretend to say they have the Japs about beaten."
At this Won Lung screwed up his eyes into mere slits.
"Big lie dat. Japanese win everyt'ing allee timee. Russian warships gone up spout – Russian army run like – like – up spout!"
After that Won Lung told them all he knew. It was hard to understand him, yet they gathered that there had been another sea fight in the vicinity of Port Arthur, in which the Russian navy had come off second best, and that the Japanese army that had landed in Korea had driven the enemy to the northwestward, over the Yalu River, and was now forcing them back upon Liao-Yang.
"If this news about the army is true, Ben and Gilbert must be having a hot time of it," was Larry's comment. "I must say, I am mighty glad they are on the winning side."
"Didn't I tell ye them Russians are a lot o' blowers?" came from Luke. "The truth ain't in 'em half the time."
"Perhaps they do not get the correct news from the front," came from Captain Ponsberry. "The censors may keep the bad news back, for fear of disheartening the rest of the men in the army and navy."
"They tell me the Russians are very strict about sending out news," rejoined Larry.
"It is true, Larry; no country on the globe is stricter. No telegram can be sent without it is inspected, and the newspapers cannot print a single scrap of news, or a single editorial, until after the press censor has passed upon it."
"If that's the case, I don't wonder that some of the people want to be free."
"Russia is more free to-day than she ever was before, and freedom is bound to come sooner or later – that is, I mean, not such freedom as we have in the United States, but such freedom as they have in England and Germany – where, at least, a man can call his soul his own."
"It's a wonder the Russians will fight for their country, if they are so ground down."
"They know nothing better, and besides, they are really patriotic. If the Czar would only treat them a little better, and give them a little more liberty, they would be the most faithful of subjects. But when a man can't do at all as he wants to do, and can't open his mouth about it either, he is apt to grow sullen and ugly."
As day after day went by life on the Russian warship became almost unendurable for Larry and the others. They suffered greatly for the want of fresh air, and at last made a vigorous protest to the captain of the ship, when he happened to be passing the pen. As a result orders were given that they should be allowed three hours on deck each day, one in the morning and two after dinner.
"This is a little like," said Larry, when coming on deck for the first time. "Oh, how good it feels to breathe fresh air once more!" And he filled his lungs to their fullest capacity.
For their daily exercise Larry and Luke were chained together, and the pair inspected with great curiosity as much of the warship as was allowed.
"It's not so very different from some of our own auxiliary cruisers," said Larry. "But, after all, I like ours better."
"That's right, lad; stick up fer your own country every trip."
"Well, what do you say, Luke?"
"I say I'd rather be on one of Uncle Sam's ships than on any other in the world."
While allowed to roam around on deck, Larry often looked eagerly for the Columbia, but the schooner and the Chinese junk were too far off to be distinguished with the naked eye.
"We'd give a good deal to be back on her deck, wouldn't we, Luke?" said he.
"Don't mention it, lad; it makes me sick," grumbled the Yankee tar.
"I wish I knew just what was being done on land, don't you? Perhaps this war will end soon, and then we'll be set free."
"It won't end yet awhile, Larry, mark my words on that," answered Luke.
The old Yankee sailor was right – the war was far from ended, and here it may be well to note briefly what was taking place on the sea between Russia and Japan, while the army of the Mikado was pushing through Manchuria in the direction of Liao-Yang.
The loss of the great battleship Petropavlovsk has already been recorded in "Under the Mikado's Flag." This vessel was sunk by a mine in Port Arthur harbor, April 13, 1904, and carried down with her Admiral Makaroff and about five hundred officers and men. At the same time the battleship Pobieda was also injured by a mine.
The loss of the admiral's flag-ship was a great blow to Russia, and while she was trying to recover, Port Arthur was vigorously shelled by the Japanese fleet, and many buildings were more or less damaged. Some warehouses were set on fire, but the local fire department, aided by the Russian garrison, succeeded in putting out the conflagration.
While the Japanese fleet was hammering at the city and the ships from beyond the harbor, the Japanese army encircled Port Arthur on land, taking possession of every available hill beyond the Russian line of defenses. As a consequence, by the middle of May the city was in a complete state of siege, nearly all communication with the outside world being cut off.
But now came a turn in affairs which, for a short while, made matters look favorable for Russia. While the fleet of Admiral Togo was patrolling the whole of the southeastern coast of Manchuria and protecting the Japanese transports which were pouring troops into the country, occurred a catastrophe as appalling as it was unexpected.
On the same day, May 15, the magnificent battleship Hatsuse, of the Japanese navy, was blown up by mines and sunk, and the protected cruiser, Yoshino, also of Admiral Togo's fleet, collided in the fog with a sister ship, and was a total loss. It is estimated that by these two disasters seven hundred men were lost. Among the officers who met their fate were men of marked ability which Japan at this crisis could ill afford to lose.
The loss of the Hatsuse is worth relating in detail. She had been along the coast during a heavy fog, but this had cleared off and the sun was shining brightly. Not an enemy was in sight, and all was quiet on the great battleship when, without warning, a terrific explosion was felt near the stern and a portion of the steering gear was damaged.
"We have struck a mine!" cried some one on board, and without delay signals were hoisted for the other vessels in sight to stand by. The battleship was drifting and the locality was full of mines. It was a moment of terrible suspense. Then came another explosion, greater than the first, which ripped large holes through her heavy plates. At once the battleship began to fill, and presently she sank like a stone to the bottom of the sea. The other warships put out their small boats with all speed, and succeeded in rescuing about three hundred officers and men out of a total of nearly eight hundred. Among those lost were Rear-Admiral Nashiba and Captain Nakao, the commander of the warship.
The Yoshino was lost while steaming slowly southward, after a night's vigil near the entrance to Port Arthur harbor. Other vessels of the blockading fleet were close by, so each ship had to advance with extreme caution. But the fog, instead of lifting, became thicker, and at a little before two o'clock in the afternoon the cruiser was rammed by the Kasuga, another vessel of the fleet. A large hole was torn in the hull of the Yoshino.
"Out with the collision mats!" cried the commander of the cruiser, and the mats were brought out without delay and placed over the side. But the hole was too great to be stopped in that manner. Then the captain called the entire crew on deck, and ordered the small boats to be lowered, five on the starboard side and one on the port. Before the boats could be gotten away, the Yoshino listed heavily to starboard and went down, smashing the five small boats under her. The other boat managed to get away, with only a handful of jackies and a couple of officers. The captain remained on the bridge and went down with his ship. As soon as possible the Kasuga put out her boats and succeeded in rescuing about ninety men, out of a total of over two hundred and fifty.
It was a great blow to Japan and the Russians were correspondingly elated. Feeling that Admiral Togo's grip on the sea was now weakened, the Russian squadron at Vladivostok sailed forth and did much damage to the shipping on the northern coast of Japan, sinking several merchantmen and taking a number of others as prizes. The Russian squadron also met the Japanese transport Kinshiu Maru, having on board the 37th regiment of Japanese infantry.
"Surrender, or we will sink you!" signaled the Russian commander. The Japanese refused, and were given exactly an hour in which to think it over. As they still refused, a torpedo was discharged against the doomed ship. As she began to sink the Japanese soldiers opened fire with their rifles, and then the Russians answered with their machine guns, mowing down the Mikado's men by the score. But the Japanese were brave to the last, and sank beneath the waves with the cry of Banzai! (hurrah!) on their lips.
It was an auxiliary cruiser of the Vladivostok squadron which had taken the Columbia and the Chinese junk as prizes of war. The captain of the cruiser was now looking for the rest of the squadron, but so far none of the warships had been sighted.
"They must have returned to Vladivostok," he reasoned, and then turned in that direction with the Pocastra, never dreaming of what the near future held in store for himself, his ship, and his crew.
CHAPTER XV
A SHARP NAVAL BATTLE
So far the weather had been good, but following the conversation recorded in the last chapter there came up a dense fog, and for twenty-four hours the Russian warship did nothing but creep along in the gloom.
During that time, for some unknown reason, Larry and the others were allowed greater freedom than before. Each had his hands chained behind him, but all were separate, which allowed each to roam around as he pleased.
"This is better than being linked to somebody else," said the youth to his old sailor friend. "Not but that we got along well enough together," he added, hastily.
"You're right – there wasn't no sense in joinin' us together," answered Luke. "We can't git away if we want to."
"We might, if we didn't have our hands chained, Luke."
"How?"
"If we all got together some night – providing we could keep out of the pen – and stole one of the small boats."
"Easier said nor done. The guard would ketch ye an' shoot ye down like a dog."
"Oh, I know there would be a great risk. But I hate to think of going to a Siberian prison, or aboard a Russian prison ship."
"So do I, Larry. But even if we stole the boat and got away, where would we go to, – especially if we didn't have much provisions an' water?"
Larry could not answer that question, since he did not know the location of the Pocastra. It might be that they were hundreds of miles from land. If so, to take to a small boat with a scarcity of water and provisions would certainly be foolhardy.
The fog continued during the night, but swept away as if by magic about nine o'clock in the morning. At that time the prisoners had had their breakfast and Larry and Luke were between decks, looking at some gunners' assistants cleaning out one of the large guns.
Suddenly came a call from the lookout, followed by half a dozen commands. As everything said was in Russian, our friends did not understand a word, but they soon realized that something unusual was in the air. A shrill whistle sounded out and drums began to beat to quarters.
"I'll wager a new hat they have sighted a Japanese ship!" cried Larry, and scarcely had he spoken when there came a dull booming over the water.
"Let us go to the deck an' see what's doing," returned Luke, and both started for the stairs. But scarcely had they appeared on the deck when they were ordered below again.
Larry was right; a Japanese warship had been sighted, and this vessel had lost no time in discharging a signal gun to a sister ship only a few miles away.
Hardly had the youth and his friend reached the lower deck once more than the Japanese cruiser opened fire on the Russian vessel. The latter retaliated, and the booming of cannon shook the Pocastra from stem to stern.
"This is a fight for fair!" ejaculated Luke, with a broad smile on his face.
"I hope the Japs win, Luke!"
"So do I, lad. But where do we come in, that's what I want to know?"
"If we could only drop overboard and swim to that other ship!"
"No use of trying – some of the fellows in the tops would pick us off in no time. No, we've got to stay right where we are an' take what comes."
"Where are the others?"
They looked around, but could see nothing of Captain Ponsberry or Tom Grandon. They saw Cal Vincent run past, but he was out of sight before they could stop him.
Suddenly a crash above them told that a solid shot had struck the upper works of the Russian cruiser. Then came another crash at the bow.
"Those Japs know how to fire," came from the Yankee sailor. "Reckon as how they're going to do their best to blow this ship sky-high. I'd give 'most a dollar to be somewhere else just about now!" And he shook his head anxiously.
