Ring of Fire II(36)

Ginny watched as the bell sank down, with the comforting stream of life-giving bubbles rushing upward. And then she yelled, "STOP! Lift the bell. Now!"



"Raise it," said Karl firmly to his team. And then he ran over to her on the edge of the barge. "What is it?"



She pointed. "Air is coming out of the hose. Not the escape holes on the edge of the bell."



"My God! The canvas must have broken. Thank heaven, you spotted it!"



But the sturdy canvas tube was not broken.



It had been slashed.





"But who would try to kill us?" said Lars, for about the fifth time.



"I have enemies," said Mazalet.



"So does Sweden," said Captain Stolpeskott, sneering at him. "Enemies who would be glad to see this fail. And you'd take money from anyone."



Mazalet stood up slowly. "Captain. At least Lieutenant Sparre has manners. Yours more closely resemble those of a pig. And you are nearly as clever as one, too. I was planning to go down with the bell. Now, would you like to name your seconds, sir?"



"There will be none of this," said Per firmly. "Lars. Cut the damaged section out, and you and Olof reattach the hose. Captain Stolpeskott, Mazalet. You two are coming down with us. You may wish to change your clothes."



Stolpeskott looked at Per incredulously. "Are you mad?"



"Probably," said Per. "But you Navy people were here before us this morning, and you've shown your contempt for Herr Mazalet. If Mazalet is with us, he can hardly be engaged in sabotage. If someone wished us to fail—the best thing we can do is to succeed. Today. And if you fight down there, Lars and I will deal with you. You will have no swords and no pistols. Of course if you are too scared . . ."



Stolpeskott stood up straight. "Scared, you peasant? I am an officer of the Swedish Navy."



"Good," said Mazalet, taking off his shoes. "As we're about to go onto the deck of a royal ship, you should be with us."



"You are going down?" asked Stolpeskott, shaking his head.



Mazalet nodded. "I am not afraid."



Stolpeskott plainly was, but was left with no way out. "Pull my boots off," he said stiffly to Per.



"Get one of your men to do it," said Per shortly. "I am going to check the equipment very carefully. You want me to do that, don't you?"





Ginny got the helmet maker to come to her. She decided she wasn't leaving the barge until Per . . . and the others came up. After an eternity . . . something did. It was a messenger buoy. Whatever else was happening in the cramped lamplight down there, they had also managed to get a rope onto a cannon. The brass barrel was hauled to the surface a few minutes later. Ginny had to comfort herself that they were at least alive. Then Karl began the slow haul, following the tables that Ginny had written out for him. They eventually swung the bell out as well. Stolpeskott was the first out, looking both pale and relieved. And deflated from his normal bombastic self. He staggered across to a bench.



Then came Karl and Per, grinning. "Did you get the cannon up?"



Ginny found herself unable to speak. She pointed to it, as Mazalet climbed out of the bell. He walked over to her, as the others went to admire the first booty, with the lion embossing still crisp on it. Mazalet mopped his brow. "I will never admit this to them, but they earn too small a share in this venture. I braved the swim a little. The water is barely above freezing and it is not very much warmer in that bell. And you can wring the air out. But it took the bravado out of our captain. He plans to complain to the admiral." Mazalet looked at the cannon. "Let him. When Fleming sees those come up, he's more likely to order the idiot to accompany us. The boys want to try for another now. They're stronger men than I."



"What would you have done," Ginny asked, "if Stolpeskott had wanted a duel?"



"It would have been unfortunate." A Gallic shrug. "I gave lessons in swordfighting."





Mazalet's prediction proved accurate. Admiral Fleming was indeed more than happy to have some of his officers take part in the exercise, and willing to have the bell guarded night and day. It was just a little more difficult to find officers keen to do this. Only Lieutenant Sparre was regularly willing. It was equally difficult to get Mazalet back into the bell until the deck cannons were up. But, a few weeks later, with the new helmet system working—with air pumped from those in the bell—the Frenchman decided to do so. Admiral Fleming had requested that the divers try to retrieve the log—if it was still in one piece, and the astrolabe from the captain's chamber. "The captain's widow has asked for it for her son," said Fleming quietly. "The request has the blessing of His Majesty himself."