AT SEA AGAIN.
Edwards, also about to leap overboard at that moment, paused, raised his
revolver, took careful aim at Davis and fired. Davis uttered a hoarse
cry, dropped his own weapon, and crumpled up on the deck. Edwards smiled
grimly, dropped his revolver and leaped lightly into the water.
He came up a moment later beside Jack, who was treading water while he
awaited him.
"Which way, sir?" asked Edwards. "You know where we are. I don't."
"This," said Jack, "is the Thames. We'll have no trouble making shore.
Follow me."
Edwards did so and a few moments later both stood dripping on land.
"Now where to, sir?" asked Edwards.
"We'll have to hunt up Lord Hastings. He's gone to make his report to
the British authorities. By inquiring a bit we should have no trouble
finding him."
The lad was right. A subordinate officer directed them to the quarters
of General Hamilton, where Jack felt sure he would find his commander.
At the door of the general's quarters an orderly halted them.
"Is Lord Hastings here?" demanded Jack.
"He is closeted with the general," was the reply.
"Well," said Jack, "you tell him his first officer is here and wants to
see him immediately."
The orderly hesitated, but a second look at Jack and he did as
commanded. A moment later Lord Hastings dashed out, closely followed by
Frank.
"What's wrong?" he demanded.
"Nothing, only that we have been chased off the submarine," replied Jack
quietly. "Davis headed a conspiracy to capture the vessel and I was
unable to act quickly enough. Edwards and I escaped."
"And O'Brien and McDonald?" inquired Lord Hastings.
"Dead!"
"How about Davis and the others? Weren't you able to account for any of
them?"
"A few, sir," returned Jack briefly, "but Davis----"
"I think I got Davis, sir," Edwards interrupted quietly. "I took a shot
at him just before I went over the side. He went down."
"I'm glad to hear that," returned Lord Hastings. "He is too dangerous a
man to be at large. Besides, without him, the Germans will hardly get
very far."
He turned to General Hamilton, who had followed him from his room, and
added: "If you'll be so kind as to give me a detail of ten men, sir,
I'll go and see about this matter. It may be that we can recapture the
vessel."
General Hamilton acted quickly. He summoned an orderly and commanded
that ten men be placed at Lord Hastings' disposal immediately. The men
appeared on the run a moment later and Lord Hastings led them toward the
river, where they all embarked in a small motorboat and headed for the
spot where they had left the submarine.
But there was no submarine to be found. It had disappeared.
Lord Hastings uttered an exclamation of chagrin.
"They've gone," he said. "Edwards, I guess you didn't hurt Davis very
bad. I don't suppose there was a sailor aboard who could navigate the
vessel. Davis probably could."
"I'm sorry, sir," returned Edwards.
"So am I," returned his commander. "We'll have to catch that fellow, and
it is likely to prove a hard job. However, the sooner we get after him
the better."
"And what do you intend to do, sir?" asked Jack.
"We'll take another of these vessels and put to sea again," declared his
commander. "We may come up with him sooner than we expect. But--we'll
take a British crew this time."
It was now after daylight and Lord Hastings set about his preparations
with vigor. Before evening the lads found themselves aboard one of the
German submarines that had been captured and brought to the surface. The
vessel was manned with a full complement of British underwater sailors.
Edwards was among them.
"We'll go down the river immediately," said Lord Hastings, after a tour
of inspection of the vessel, "and when we are at sea we'll fly the
German flag. None of our submarines looks anything like this craft, so
if we come up with the enemy we will be taken for a German. You may
steam at ten knots, Mr. Templeton."
Jack gave the order and the vessel moved down the river.
Shortly after nightfall the submarine, U-6, was proceeding into the
North Sea, for it was there that Lord Hastings believed he would be more
likely to encounter Davis and the U-16.
"Besides," he explained, "our usefulness is not at an end in the matter
of obtaining information from the Germans. We may put into Ostend again
if necessary."
All during the night, although Frank, Jack or Lord Hastings was
continually on the bridge, they did not encounter anything that looked
like an enemy ship, although the U-6 dived several times when it drew
close to a British ship of war--one of the blockading fleet Had the
submarine approached too closely it would have drawn a shot from the
battleship, whose commander could not possibly have known that the
German submersible carried a British crew in the service of King George.
The following afternoon, having traveled far toward the east, they were
to have an adventure.
Moving slowly along, and presenting the appearance, from a distance, of
a little speck upon the surface of the sea, the U-6 continued toward the
east. Frank had taken the bridge half an hour before and now was
studying a faint smudge on the eastern horizon. A moment later and a
second smudge appeared and then a third, to be followed almost
immediately by a fourth.
"Strange!" he muttered. "Seems to be coming from the direction of
Heligoland. Battleships all right, but the question is, British or
German? Must be the latter, though how they figure to run the British
blockade is more than I know. However, I haven't heard that any of our
vessels are this close to Heligoland. It's too dangerous on account of
the German mines."
He summoned Jack, who also gazed curiously at the smoke for some
moments; but even while Jack gazed, the dim outline of a large
battleship came into sight. Soon a second appeared and then a third.
"Must be German," said Jack. "Call Lord Hastings."
Frank did so and soon the commander of the U-6 appeared on deck.
Lord Hastings wasted no time in fixing the identity of the approaching
vessels.
"Germans," he said briefly.
"Yes; but where are they going?" Jack wanted to know.
"Probably intend another raid on the British coast," returned Lord
Hastings. "By the time they are in waters patrolled by our ships it will
be dark, and they hope to pass them in the night. You haven't forgotten
the raid on Scarborough and Hartlepool, have you?"
"No, I haven't," said Jack. "But I don't figure they would have the
temerity to try another."
"They seem to have temerity enough to try anything," declared Frank.
"However, I guess it's up to us to stop this raid."
"Right you are, Frank," said Lord Hastings quietly. "It's up to us."
"And how do you figure we are going to get all four of them?" demanded
Jack.
"Well, with luck we might do it," replied his commander. "However, it
would hardly be necessary for that. If we can sink two the others will
turn and run."
"And shall we remain on the surface, sir?" asked Jack.
"No. We'll submerge until we are close to them. Then we can come up
safely enough, for they'll believe us friends. We can sink one and get
down again in time. Then, taking our calculations as to where they will
be, we can come up again and have a try at another. We may as well
submerge now."
Jack gave the order, and a few minutes later the U-6 was beneath the
water, not even her periscope being allowed to show. Here she remained
until Lord Hastings believed the German battleships had approached close
enough to be in range of the submarine's torpedoes. Then she came to the
surface again.
Lord Hastings had gauged the distance accurately. The German ships were
now hard by and steaming swiftly forward. As the U-6 sprang up from
beneath the water, there was some excitement aboard the German vessels,
which soon quieted, however, as the Germans made out the lines of the
vessel and caught the German flag with their glass.
"We're safe enough," declared Jack. "They take us for one of
themselves."
"Much to their sorrow," said Frank.
"All ready below?" demanded Lord Hastings.
"All ready, sir," replied Jack.
"Good. Down with both of you then. I'll be down the moment the first
torpedo has been fired, and we'll have to submerge as quickly as
possible."
The lads obeyed Lord Hastings' command and took their positions.
"Ready with No. 1 torpedo," came Lord Hastings' command from above.
"Ready, sir," returned Jack, after a quick scrutiny.
"Ready with No. 3 torpedo," shouted Lord Hastings.
"Ready, sir," said Jack, and then exclaimed in an aside to Frank:
"By Jove! He's going to try and get two of them at once."
And such, indeed, was Lord Hastings' intention. The German battleships
were so close together that Lord Hastings believed he could strike a
double blow successfully and with perfect safety to his own vessel.
Signal flags now were displayed at the masthead of the foremost German
battleship and Lord Hastings knew that some answer was expected from the
submarine.
"Well, I can't decipher your signals," he muttered, "but I can give you
some kind of a reply--which I don't suppose will be much to your
liking."
He turned and gave a command to Jack; and Jack, in turn, flashed it upon
the electric signal board below with the pressure of a button beneath
his finger.
"Attention!" came the command now, displayed in letters of fire.
Then a brief lapse of time, in which all was silence below.
Then another signal showed red on the board.
"No. 1 torpedo! Fire!"
Again came that faint metallic click to which the boys had grown so
accustomed, and a terrible engine of destruction sped over the water
toward the German ships.
A moment later a second command flashed on the board.
"No. 3 torpedo! Fire!"
Once more the click and then nothing but silence. A moment later Lord
Hastings hurried below.
"Submerge!" he ordered.