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CHAPTER XXX
The End of the "Malfilio"

Burgoyne and Mostyn were radiant when they left the Admiral's presence. By contrast the faces of Messrs. Swayne, Fontayne, and O'Loghlin were glum. The promptness with which the Senior Naval Officer acted had taken the wind out of their sails. They had reckoned upon the preparations taking from five to seven days, during which time the Titania was to be unloaded of her valuable cargo.

"We can't all three go," declared Swayne. "One must stop behind to superintend the unshipping of the stuff and to pay off the Kanakas. Candidly, now the excitement of salving the silver is over, I'd rather go to sea with the squadron any old time. But duty's duty all the world over."

Neither Fontayne nor Paddy O'Loghlin showed any willingness to forgo their share in the marine picnic to the secret base. The old chums looked very much like "parting brass rags" until Peter Mostyn chipped in with a suggestion.

"Why not toss for it?" he asked. "Sudden death. Odd man stays behind."

Three coins spun in the air and were deftly caught by their respective owners.

"Heads!" announced Swayne.

"Same here!" shouted Fontayne. "We're all right, Swayne. We're in the same galley. Now then Paddy."

Lugubriously O'Loghlin began to uncover his coin. Then his features expanded into a broad grin as he, too, disclosed the King's effigy.

The next trial resulted in Swayne having a head and Fontayne a tail. That meant that one of the two was bound to be out.

"Get a move on, O'Loghlin," yelled Fontayne.

Paddy was in no hurry. He rather enjoyed prolonging the agony in view of his chum's cheerful announcement in the first round. It was a head.

"You're ship-keeper, old son," remarked Swayne to the now downcast Fontayne.

"I say, let's go back and interview the secretary-bird," suggested Burgoyne.

"What for?" asked Swayne.

"To tell him that Fontayne's not going," replied Alwyn. "I'll get him to ask the Admiral to let Jasper Minalto go instead. He jolly well deserves to go, and I've been kicking myself for not asking permission for him before."

This suggestion was acted upon, with the result that the Admiral's secretary promised to put the matter before the Admiral after dinner. He also added that perhaps it would be as well if he provided an additional letter of introduction to the Commodore of the squadron detailed for the operations.

Punctually at noon the enumerated vessels left Port Jackson, the destroyers leading, the seaplane carrier coming next, and the light cruisers Armadale and Rockhampton bringing up the rear.

On the fore-bridge of the Armadale, the light cruiser flying the Broad Pennant of the Commodore of the squadron, were Burgoyne, Mostyn, Swayne, and O'Loghlin, whose presence gave rise to wild surmises on the part of the ship's officers and crew.

Jasper Minalto, as lively as a sand-boy, was in one of the petty officers' messes of the same ship, and although his tongue "went nineteen to the dozen" not as much as a hint did he let fall of the reason for the presence of the visitors on the fore-bridge.

At two bells in the afternoon watch the squadron was well clear of The Heads, and was plunging into the steep head seas, for the gale still held. At that hour the skipper of each ship opened his sealed orders and communicated their contents to the officers under his command. Within five minutes every man of the squadron knew that the objective of the operations was the destruction of a pirate vessel. Authentic details would reach them later, but until then the wildest reports pervaded the lower deck.

The Commodore of the Australian flotilla was not taking undue risks. His orders were to capture or destroy, and he meant to carry out his instructions with all the means at his disposal.

Having asked Burgoyne a number of questions he decided upon his plan of action. The ships were to approach to within ten miles of the secret base, the Armadale and two destroyers on the eastern, and the Rockhampton and one destroyer on the western side. By means of aerial reconnaissance he would ascertain whether the pirate cruiser had returned to the anchorage. If she had, then a long-range bombardment of the harbour would either sink her or else compel her to come out. The batteries would be attacked by bombing machines, assisted by the guns of the cruisers.

"There are no anti-aircraft guns on the island, I presume?" asked the Commodore.

"No, sir," replied Burgoyne. "At least, not to my knowledge. I've seen almost every battery, and they are armed with 6-inch and 4.7-inch naval guns."

"The Malfilio when under the Russian flag had four submerged torpedo tubes," continued the Commodore. "Do you happen to know if she has any torpedoes on board?"

"I cannot say, sir," replied Alwyn. "I was never on board; but, as the result of conversation with survivors from the Alvarado and Kittiwake, I know that she never employed these against any of the three vessels captured by her up to the time I left the island. She carries a small seaplane for scouting purposes."

On the evening of the eighth day after leaving Sydney the squadron, maintaining a speed of eighteen knots, arrived at the rendezvous fifteen miles due south of the secret base.

For the whole of the night vessels cruised east and west, turning sixteen points at the expiration of each hour. No steaming lights were shown; the ships were cleared for action and the guns' crews slept by their guns. No wireless was permitted. The destroyers were ordered to stand in pursuit of any vessel that might be sighted, acting upon the supposition that the pirate island was well out of the regular steamer tracks, and signal to her to stop instantly and disclose her identity. If the command were disobeyed the delinquent was to be torpedoed.

But nothing occurred to necessitate this drastic step. The night wore on without anything of a suspicious nature being reported.

At the first streak of dawn two scouting aircraft rose from the deck of the seaplane carrier, and disappeared in the direction of Ramon Porfirio's stronghold. In two hours they were back again, having made an exhaustive survey of the island, without, apparently, being spotted by any of the garrison.

They reported that there were two merchantmen and four schooners lying in the harbour, but the Malfilio was not visible.

A council of war was held to decide upon the course to be pursued. Some of the officers were in favour of attacking the island at once; others advocated the finding and destruction of the pirate cruiser as the first phase of the operations, backing up their arguments with the theory that if Porfirio discovered that his base were captured he would steam away at once to an unfrequented part of the Siberian coast. He might, then, have to run the Malfilio ashore, but there would remain the discouraging knowledge that the arch-pirate was still at large.

The Commodore fell in with the second suggestion, and decided to keep his flotilla out of sight of the secret base, and to keep a sharp look-out for the pirate cruiser by means of destroyers and aircraft, the light cruisers being stationed as previously arranged, one to the east and one to the west of the island.

At one bell in the first Dog Watch (4.30 p.m.) the look-out in the fore-top of the Armadale reported a seaplane approaching from the nor'east. At first the seaplane, which was flying at 5000 feet, was taken to be one of the naval scouts returning; but, when she made no attempt to descend and circled high above the cruisers, suspicions were aroused as to her ownership.

Presently the Armadale picked up wireless messages in code, and since none of the squadron was permitted to use her radio instruments for transmitting the inference was positive.

"She's warning the Malfilio," declared the Commodore. "We'll try her with the antis."

The cruiser's anti-aircraft guns opened fire simultaneously. Judging by the mushroom-shaped clouds of white smoke that marked the bursting of the shrapnel shells, it seemed as if the seaplane could not escape being hit. But to the disappointment of all on board the Armadale the seaplane turned and flew away apparently unharmed.

All necessity for secrecy being now at an end the Commodore wirelessed the seaplane carrier, ordering two fast battleplanes to stand in pursuit, and giving instructions to the destroyer Dawson to support the aircraft.

The battleplanes ascended promptly, but an hour later they returned without having sighted the pirate seaplane. The pilot of the latter was a bit of a strategist, for instead of flying back to the Malfilio he had made a wide circle with the intention of returning to the secret base, having already warned Porfirio of his great danger.

But the pirate scout's luck was out. When still a good twelve miles from the island he was sighted by one of the seaplanes engaged in searching for the Malfilio. The two Australian airmen did their work neatly and effectively. Standing in pursuit they sat on the tail of the pirate seaplane, and with one burst from a Lewis gun sent the latter down in a spinning nose-dive, with the machine a mass of flames.

Ramon Porfirio knew now that the game was up. One chance remained – to seek safety in flight. He had provided for the contingency, for practically the whole of the specie and bullion found on his prizes had been transferred to the Malfilio's strong room. Could he but get away with the treasure without having to share it amongst his crew he would be a rich man. He decided to take a northerly course, lie low amongst the desolate Aleutian Islands until the coast was clear, and then double back to a South American port.

Unfortunately for him he had underrated the capabilities and universal use of wireless. Within an hour and a half from the time the Malfilio received the warning from her seaplane, the pirate cruiser sighted a small American tramp steaming east. The Yankee also sighted the Malfilio, and when the former picked up a non-code general call from the Armadale asking all vessels in that part of the North Pacific to report if they sighted a warship answering to the Malfilio's description, Captain Hiram Stott pulled his goatee beard and looked wise.

With a keen commercial instinct he inquired by wireless whether there were any pecuniary reward for the desired information, and a reply being received in the affirmative he then promptly gave the latitude and longitude of the position where he had sighted the pirate, and also the approximate course that the Malfilio was taking.

Ramon Porfirio intercepted the message. Had time permitted he would have turned in pursuit of the tramp and sent her to the bottom; but urgent affairs compelled him to carry on under every ounce of forced draught.

Meanwhile the Armadale, doing thirty-three knots to the Malfilio's twenty-two, was rapidly standing in pursuit of the pirate cruiser. Night fell, without the sighting of the latter. The Commodore, inwardly perturbed, showed no trace on his bronzed features of the doubts that assailed his mind. It was quite easy, in spite of the numerical superiority of the squadron, for the pirate cruiser to be lost in the vast expanse of the moonless ocean.

About one bell of the Middle Watch the masthead light of a steamer was reported, bearing 105°. A little later on her red light and then the green were visible.

Thinking it advisable to dispense with wireless during the rest of the night, the Commodore gave orders for the on-coming vessel to be communicated with by means of a masthead flashing lamp.

In reply to the request for her name the stranger Morsed: "KJVT – AUBX – APVE", which, by reference to the Mercantile Shipping Register and the International Code, revealed her to be the S.S. Lanzorate of San Francisco, bound from Olympia, U.S.A., for Batavia.

The Armadale then repeated her general wireless message, and asked if the Lanzorate had seen anything of the pirate ship Malfilio, to which the vessel replied that she had seen a two-funnelled craft answering the description proceeding south by east just before sunset. A hasty reference to the chart proved conclusively that either Captain Stott or the skipper of the Lanzorate had engaged in the pleasurable pastime of talking through his hat. By no possibility could the pirate cruiser travel from one position to the other in even twice the time stated.

Meanwhile the Lanzorate was passing about two miles astern of the Armadale. The former was brilliantly illuminated. Every scuttle and every window of her deck-houses was lit up; while the Armadale was now in total darkness.

"We'll have a look at that hooker," said the Commodore to the Navigating Lieutenant. "Take us to within a couple of cables of her – broad on her port beam."

A warning to the searchlight men to stand by was followed by instructions to the 9.2-guns' crews to load with armour-piercing shells with delayed action fuses. The quick-firers and machine-guns were to be trained on the stranger's bridge.

Describing a wide turning circle the Armadale closed on the stranger's port beam, which was the last thing her skipper would have expected. When the Armadale's masthead signal lamp flashed, the cruiser bore one point on to the former's starboard bow, so the sudden apparition of a huge warship on her port beam was to say the least most disconcerting.

Simultaneously four searchlights were unscreened from the Armadale, and four powerful beams were focused upon the stranger. Instead of showing up a small "intermediate" liner the rays revealed the pirate cruiser Malfilio.

Ramon Porfirio, although unprepared for such a manoeuvre, had already cleared for action. The moment he saw the game was up he gave the order to open fire.

The Malfilio's six-inchers crashed. Blinded by the glare of the searchlights, the gun-layers, smart enough at their work when shelling an unarmed merchantman, were frantic with the knowledge that they were up against a heavily-armed vessel. Most of the shells flew high, but one, exploding outside the shield of the Armadale's for'ard 9.2, played havoc with the fore-bridge, wounding two officers and a signalman, and carrying away part of the chart-room.

The Armadale's reply was prompt and terrible. Every gun that could be brought to bear upon the pirate cruiser opened fire almost before the last echoes of the Malfilio's salvo had died away.

With a blinding flash that outshone the glare of the searchlights the main magazine of the Malfilio exploded. A dense cloud of smoke, like a silvery mist, hid the pirate cruiser from view; and when the last of the far-flung fragments had fallen either into the sea or upon the Armadale's deck, the shattered hull of the Malfilio had vanished, and with her went Ramon Porfirio and four hundred of the vilest sweepings of the South American and Eastern Asiatic ports.

The whole business was over almost before Burgoyne and his companions realized that an action was in progress. Within a few minutes from the time when the Malfilio opened fire her disintegrated remains were foundering to the bed of the Pacific.

For fifteen minutes the searchlights were kept playing upon the spot where the pirate cruiser had disappeared on the faint chance that there might be survivors. Civilization decrees that a pirate can be hanged or shot, but he must not be allowed to die a lingering death by drowning. But the search revealed no trace of any of the crew of the Malfilio.

"On bow and steaming lights! Wireless the rest of the squadron to take up pre-arranged positions off the secret base!"

Then at a modest fifteen knots, the Armadale, bearing evidences of the scratches she had received, steamed westward. One part of her mission was accomplished: the destruction of the hornet. There remained more work for her to do: to assist in the wiping out of the hornet's nest.

CHAPTER XXXI
The Capture of the Secret Base

"Yes, I'll admit that," conceded Captain Blair to Captain Davis, late of the S.S. Kittiwake. "We've had bad weather. It blew like great guns twelve hours after the life-boat got away from here. But Burgoyne knows what he's about. He's used to small sailing craft and so are the other fellows. He'll win through."

"A good many days have passed since the boat left," remarked Captain Davis. "He has had time to fetch the Marshall Islands and get a warship here long ago. Of course, he might have escaped the gale, or even struck the tail end of it."

The two skippers were having their after-supper yarn, and as usual conversation turned upon the subject of Burgoyne's dash with the life-boat. Both men had their doubts, but Captain Blair refused to admit his. The skipper of the Kittiwake, sanguine for the first fortnight, was beginning to express grave concern as to the possible fate of the life-boat and her crew.

"That bilious-faced Strogoff isn't back yet," continued Captain Blair. "There's no doubt about it, he's in pursuit of Burgoyne. If he'd found him he'd be back before this, especially as the Malfilio's expected back at any moment."

"Mind you, I'm only speculating on it," said Captain Davis. "But I've a notion that Strogoff took that Canuk passenger of yours along with him. When did you see the lubber last?"

"The night the life-boat got away," replied Captain Blair. "Or, rather, Mr. Tarrant saw him talking to Strogoff just before the evening muster."

"Pity you hadn't – " began Davis, then, clutching his companion's arm, he pointed to the two block-houses by the gate of the compound. "Something up over there," he added.

In the light of a couple of portable petrol lanterns considerable activity was observable amongst the guards. Their numbers were being much diminished by the withdrawal of twenty armed and obviously excited pirates, while the remainder were gesticulating violently, some pointing to the compound, others to the two machine-guns that commanded that far from delectable spot.

Presently the gate of the compound was unlocked, and Fernando, accompanied by half a dozen armed men, entered the enclosure. A whistle sounded – the signal for the prisoners to assemble.

In five minutes every officer and man remaining out of the original crews of the three captured vessels turned out and fell in, taking up their allotted positions, and forming three sides of a hollow square.

Into the centre strode Fernando and his bodyguard, and without further ado, without even calling the roll, the half-caste began reading in execrable English the orders for the night.

All lights and fires were to be extinguished. No one was to leave his hut until further notice. No shouting or demonstration of any sort was to be permitted. Any breach of these regulations would be punished by a heavy and prolonged burst of machine-gun fire upon the prisoners' camp.

"This looks like business, Angus," remarked Captain Blair to the Chief Engineer, after the parade had been dismissed and Fernando had left the compound.

"Ay, sure," agreed Angus. "Weel, I doot we'd best bide the noo. I ken fine yon Porfirio person has took mair than he can abide by. We'll be seein' shot and shell flyin' come the morn."

The Chief Engineer's surmise was a correct one. A wireless message from the Malfilio's seaplane had just been picked up in which the pilot informed Porfirio of the disconcerting news that a couple of large cruisers, some destroyers, and a few aircraft were looking for him.

The news was enough to strike terror into the hearts of the pirates who formed the garrison of the secret base. They knew perfectly well that it mattered little as to whether the Malfilio escaped, returned to the island, or was sunk. In any case they couldn't get away, and before long they would have a powerful squadron trying conclusions with them. They might fight to the last, but there was no escape. Surrender meant death, save for those who might obtain respite by turning evidence against the others.

To increase their desperation was the belief that Porfirio, Henriques, and Black Strogoff had deliberately abandoned them to their fate. The prolonged absence of the Malfilio and the disappearance of Strogoff with a band of boon companions seemed to confirm this theory, and when rogues distrust each other their plans fall to the ground.

All that night the feeling that there was something in the air kept everyone awake. The pirates were apprehensive and jumpy; their captives sanguine and excited, in spite of the tedious passage of the night hours.

Just as dawn was breaking Phil Branscombe went to the open window of his hut and listened intently. Then he turned to Withers, his "cabin-mate".

"Old bird," he announced, "I hear an aeroplane."

"The Malfilio's seaplane returning, I expect," rejoined Withers, stifling a yawn.

"Wrong, my festive!" exclaimed Phil ten seconds later. "They're British seaplanes."

Of that there was no doubt. Flying high they were already in the rays of the sun, while the ground was yet in shadow – three large biplanes fitted with both floats and landing-wheels. Above the island they separated, one passing over the harbour, another circling above the Observation Hill, and the third, swooping down to within a couple of hundred feet, described figures of eight above the prisoners' huts.

Presently a powerful Aldis light flashed from the third seaplane. Blinking rapidly it Morsed the following, "Are prisoners compelled to man batteries?"

Regardless of Fernando's warning, at least half a dozen men signalled replies, using any fabric nearest to hand to "flag-wag" the reassuring message that all hands were within the limits of the fence.

"O.K." flashed the seaplane's lamp, and then the information was promptly transmitted by wireless to the Armadale.

Meanwhile the second seaplane had dropped a message, with distinctive streamers attached, close to the Observation Hill. It was an ultimatum, ordering the garrison to surrender at discretion, and signify the same by hoisting a white flag within thirty minutes of the receipt of the demand.

But the ill-advised action on the part of the machine-gunners in the block-houses destroyed the chance of the pirates surrendering without bloodshed. The seaplane over the prisoners' camp offered an irresistible bait, and a burst of machine-gun fire was directed upon the rapidly-moving aircraft.

Retribution came swiftly. The seaplane, absolutely untouched, rose steeply until it was impossible for the pirates to elevate their machine-guns sufficiently to bear upon the aerial target. Then in quick succession it released four powerful bombs. One secured a direct hit, blowing a block-house to atoms, while the others, falling close to the second machine-gun post, damaged it so severely that only three badly-scared men emerged from the ruins, and fled panic-stricken to a shelter of a more substantial nature.

Remaining aloft sufficiently long to wireless the news to the Commodore and to wind up her trailing aerial, the seaplane volplaned down and made a faultless landing close to the huts occupied by the Donibristle's crew.

"We'll hike you all out of this in another three or four hours," declared the flight-lieutenant to the crowd of merchant seamen gathered round the machine, "but you'll have to bear a hand. In case the pirates start reprisals on you, take these."

He handed out canvas bags containing Service revolvers and ammunition, sufficient to arm eighty men.

"Right-o!" he continued. "Our heavy guns will start firing in half a shake, but don't get the wind up. We've located your position all right. Your only danger is if these yellow blighters start running amok this way. If they do, shoot hard and straight. Well, cheerio! My work's not done yet. I'm spotting for the Armadale– one of our crack cruisers."

"One moment," interposed Captain Blair. "Have you any news of my Third Officer, Mr. Burgoyne?"

The Flying Officer shook his head.

"Never heard of him," he replied. "What do you want?"

"He got away from here in a boat to obtain help," replied Captain Blair. "We thought perhaps it was he who reported the existence of the pirate Porfirio."

"May have done," rejoined the Australian flying officer dubiously. "I'm from the seaplane carrier Murchison, and all I know is that we received sealed orders to proceed here. Well, s'long, and the very best of everything."

The seaplane had barely risen a thousand feet, when with a shrill scream a heavy shell hurtled through the air from one of the invisible warships. From a distance of twelve thousand yards the 9.2-inch missile struck its objective with a precision that was the result of the work of the highest scientific instruments purposely constructed for the destruction of mankind and mankind's defences.

Landing fairly upon the cup-shaped summit of the Observation Hill, it completely transformed the configuration of the landscape. Jagged scraps of sheet-iron and splintered baulks of timber flew high in the air, accompanied by a cloud of black smoke and dust. In an instant the pirates' carefully camouflaged observation post was wiped out, and with it the principal range-finding station of the secret base.

For the next half-hour the bombardment was hotly maintained. At first the pirates replied feebly, but by degrees they warmed to their task, working their 6-inch quick-firers well in spite of the numerous disadvantages under which they were placed.

One by one the concealed guns on the edge of the cliff were knocked out by direct hits upon the concrete gun-pits. Occasionally a battery would cease fire for about ten minutes; then the desperate gunners, who were fighting with halters round their necks, would re-man their weapons in the faint hope of "getting one home" on the daring destroyers which were rapidly approaching the island.

At length the 6-inchers of the secret base ceased to reply. Not a pirate remained in the emplacements save the dead and dying. The rest had fled to their deep subterranean retreats, whence by bombs and machine-gun bullets they still hoped to take a heavy toll of the invaders.

By ten in the morning the heavy gun-fire had almost died down. The cruisers had reduced distances to 2500 yards, and were occasionally firing mainly with the idea of keeping the pirates penned down to their underground shelters.

A quarter of an hour later the crews of the captured merchantmen, who were now able to roam at will over the north-western part of the island, noticed a destroyer negotiating the intricate passage between the reefs and the northern side of the secret base. She had run the gauntlet of the light quick-firers commanding the main approach channel, and had not come off lightly, for the funnels were riddled in several places, while there was a gaping hole in her hull just abaft her after torpedo-tube. Although the damage was mainly above the water-line, her powerful steam-pumps were hard at work.

She was no longer in danger of being under fire, for not a gun could be brought to bear upon her now that she had rounded the north-eastern extremity of the island. Moving slowly, and with the leadsman in the chains continually sounding, she weathered the north-western end of the island, and, lowering boats, dropped anchor almost directly abreast of the cave which Burgoyne had found so helpful during his preparations for flight.

Presently a rocket soared from the destroyer's deck taking with it a line that fell well beyond the edge of the cliff.

Instantly there was a rush on the part of the merchant seamen, and in twenty minutes four stout rope ladders afforded communication between the beach and the top of the cliff.

Up the ladders swarmed bluejackets, armed with rifles and bayonets, while boxes of smoke bombs, Lewis guns, and ammunition were dexterously hauled to the summit.

During these operations a second destroyer entered the lagoon and added her quota to the landing-party. By noon the entire force of three hundred men, including a draft hastily transhipped from the Rockhampton, was ready to move forward.

One of the observation seaplanes gave a pre-arranged signal to the cruiser and the bombardment ceased. Simultaneously the landing-party advanced for a systematic searching of the pirates' subterranean lairs.

Their method of working was simple and effective. At the entrance to each dug-out they summoned the inmates to surrender. The invitation was invariably declined with expressions of rage and defiance until a smoke bomb was neatly lobbed into the underground retreat. In a very brief space of time a dozen or more half-suffocated rogues would appear staggering through the smoke, to be secured and bound almost without resistance by the burly Australian bluejackets.

Work over, the conquerors settled down to play. Their first effort in that direction was to provide a sumptuous meal for all hands.

There was fresh meat in plenty, and ample stocks of flour, tea, sugar, and coffee. The bluejackets, taking possession of the galleys, soon had enormous fires going. Those not employed as cooks whiled away the time in playing rounders, football, and leap-frog until a bugle sounded for tea.

It was a joyous feast. The bluejackets enjoyed it with the zest of men having successfully accomplished a difficult task; the merchant seamen, because for the first time for many weeks they were revelling in the delights of freedom. Their irksome captivity was fast fading into the limbo of reminiscence. Once more they were at liberty to do almost as they wished without the ever-present dread of their armed guards. No longer had they to toil under conditions approaching slavery at the behest of Ramon Porfirio and his minions.

Although Captain Blair and the remaining officers of the Donibristle made many inquiries, no one seemed to be able to supply any information concerning Burgoyne and his companions. None of the landing-party was aware of the presence of two of the officers of the scuttled merchantman on board the Armadale. All they could say was that they sailed in execution of sealed orders, but as to what prompted these orders they were entirely in the dark.

Amongst the hilarious throng there was one man who felt utterly despondent. Although Colonel Vivian had borne up wonderfully from the time Hilda had left the island, he was now overcome by the thought that he had lost both wife and daughter. In the case of the latter he felt sure that, had she survived, the story of her rescue would have been known throughout the length and breadth of Australia. He forgot that the success of the expedition depended upon absolute secrecy, and from the fact that none of the men from the Rockhampton and the two destroyers knew anything of the missing life-boat and her crew, he formed the conclusion that the boat had been overwhelmed by the furious gale.