Adventure, June 1911 — page 139: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Looking for Trouble with the others Floriano agreed. We fixed the value of the ship at $600,000 gold, and a contract along these lines was drawn up and signed the next day. The torpedo I built for this business was the largest I had ever made. It was twelve feet long, four feet in diameter in the middle and carried more than five hundred pounds of dynamite, for I wanted to be certain that the ship would be at least disabled by her contact with it. It floated just below the» surface of the water. Floriano came down to witness the final test, and handed me a commission as Colonel in the Bra- zilian army. He approved the plan of campaign which I had mapped out and said the necessary orders would be issued at once. “TI believe you will succeed,” were his parting words. ‘I hope you will come back as General Boynton!” i WHILE Mello had seized all of the Government vessels in the harbor, there were a few tugs left, which, to aes his interference, were flying the British flag, on the pretense. that they were owned by Englishmen. I was to be given one of these tugs, and my plan was to steal around into Nictheroy Bay at night and anchor close under the hill at the end of the peninsula, where I would be hidden from the rebel fleet. In the morning I would load the torpedo and wait for the daily exchange of ‘cannon courtesies between the Aquidaban and the fort. An officer at Santa Cruz was to signal me when Mello left his anchorage and then, towing the submerged torpedo by wire rope too small to be detected, I would steam out across the course of the Aqui- daban, which would pick up the towing-line on her bow, drag the torpedo alongside and be destroyed by the contact. The line was 2,000 feet long, supported at intervals by little floats painted the color of the water. I did not think Mello would see anything suspicious in an insignificant little towboat, under the British flag, running diagonally across his bow at a distance of a quarter of a mile. There never has been any doubt in my mind that the plan would have worked perfectly but for the fact that Mello’s spies in high places had kept him constantly advised as to what we. were doing. My tug, in charge of a French engineer and four Brazilians, was sent down to me on - 325 the afternoon of September 25th, and as soon as it was dark, with the torpedo covered with canvas on deck and twelve 50-pound boxes of dynamite in the pilot house, we steamed around to Nictheroy Bay. To have loaded the torpedo before we started would have been extremely dangerous, for any acci- dental pressure on one of its arms would have blown all of us to pieces. We anchored well out of sight of the rebel fleet, and as soon as it was daylight I unscrewed the manhole of the torpedo and proceeded to pack it full of dynamite. CAPTURED BY THE BRITISH I WAS just putting in the last box of the explosive when there was a shrill whistle, and a launch from the Sirius swung along- side. The lieutenant in charge jumped aboard of us and came aft before I could brush the dynamite from my arms. “Who commands this craft?” he de- manded. “T do,” I replied. “What are you doing with that flag up there?”’ pointing to the British ensign. ' “That flag was there when I came aboard and took command,” I said, which was true. “T am flying it for protection from a pirate fleet, just as others are displaying it on Rio Bay and in the city. Your commanding officer has sanctioned that custom by his silence. I am an officer of the established Brazilian Government, obeying the orders of my superiors in Brazilian waters, and I claim the right to take advantage of that custom, if I care to do so, just as others have done and are doing.” “‘T think the other cases are different from yours,” replied the lieutenant. “What is that?” pointing to the dynamite. ‘Examine it for yourself.”’ “Tt looks like dynamite.” “Probably.” “Well, sir, I am ordered by Captain Lang to take you on board Her Majesty’s skip Sirius.” It was of no use to make a fight, so I ac- companied him, with excessive and sarcastic politeness. He took all my crew with him, leaving a guard on the tug. Captain Lang was on deck waiting for me and was quite ‘agitated when I was brought before him, but -he was much more heated before we parted company, and it was a warm day to begin with. Co JOO AMG SoC