CHAPTER III
SAVED FROM THE SEA
The three other German vessels now singled out the Undaunted andconcentrated their fire upon her, thinking first to dispose ofthe more formidable vessel and then to turn their attention tothe lighter craft.
A fierce duel ensued. Suddenly there was a terrific explosion.One of the German torpedo destroyers seemed to leap into the air,only to fall back a moment later and disappear beneath the seawith a loud hiss.
A heavy shell struck the Undaunted and carried away part of hersuperstructure. The two remaining torpedo boats of the enemy,except the one being pursued by the Sylph, suddenly turned anddashed directly at the Undaunted, evidently intending to ram her.
Captain Fox avoided a collision with promptness and skill, andthe torpedo boats sped by without touching her. Now the Loyallaunched a torpedo at the first German craft. It sped swift andtrue, and a moment later there was but one German left incondition to continue the fight. Thinking to avoid unnecessaryloss of life, Captain Fox called upon the German to surrender.The kindly offer was rewarded with a defiant reply, and theGerman made another swift attack upon the Undaunted.
For a moment it seemed that a collision was unavoidable, butCaptain Fox managed to get his ship out of the way just as theenemy plowed by. It was close work and required great coolness.
Meantime the Sylph was close on the heels of the other Germanvessel. Salvo after salvo the British poured into the apparentlyhelpless German torpedo boat, which, however, continued itsflight rather than surrender.
Frank and Jack, both happening to be on the bridge at the samemoment, stood for a brief second to watch the effect of theSylph's fire. The damage to the German had been terrific. Thevessel listed badly, and seemed in imminent danger of sinking.
"By Jove!" ejaculated Jack, and would have said more but for asudden interruption.
There was a terrific explosion on the German vessel, and as if bymagic, it disappeared beneath the sea. The Sylph's battle wasover.
"Get out the boats, men!" came Lord Hastings command. "It may bethat we can save some of them."
Jack and Frank leaped quickly into the same boat, and a momentlater were rushing to the spot where the German torpedo destroyerhad disappeared. For perhaps five minutes they cruised about,unable to find a single survivor, and then both were startled bythe sound of something whistling overhead.
Looking up they beheld the cause of this trouble. The lastGerman destroyer had come almost upon them, and the Britishgunners, evidently not seeing the little boat, were continuingtheir fire at the enemy.
The lads were in imminent danger of being struck by a Britishshell. The German launched a torpedo, and it went skimming rightby the little boat in which the boys sat.
"Quick!" cried Jack. "We must get out of here or one of thosethings will hit us."
The men bent to their oars; but they were not quick enough.Struck by some missile, the boat suddenly sank beneath them, andthe boys found themselves in the water, swimming.
And still they were between the two fighting ships.
Looking over his shoulder, Jack could make out the Sylph, andcalling to Frank to follow him, he struck out in that direction.
They swain rapidly, but seemed to make little progress. LordHastings, standing on the bridge of the Sylph, discovered the twoforms in the water. A second boat was hastily launched, and putoff toward them.
When it was within a few yards of them a fragment of a shellstruck it and it also disappeared. It went to the bottom withall on board, nor did any of its ill-fated victims come to thesurface again.
The two lads, now clinging to pieces of wreckage, continued atthe mercy of the sea, and also in constant danger of being struckby an exploding shell, while they swam slowly toward the Sylph.
In one final despairing, attempt to sink the Undaunted, the lastGerman destroyer launched another torpedo. By a wonderfulmaneuver the British cruiser again avoided the projectile, whichsped on through the water.
Swimming, the boys could plainly follow its flight. As theUndaunted swung out of the way to avoid it they could see thatthe missile had a clear path to the Sylph.
With a gasp the boys saw the torpedo speed toward the littlescout cruiser. Lord Hastings had not seen the projectilelaunched--because a view of the German ship had been obstructeduntil the Undaunted swung out of the way--and no effort wasmade to avoid it.
The torpedo crashed into the Sylph on the water line, and theexplosion which followed must have torn through all the variouscompartments to the engine room, for there was a second loudexplosion, steam leaped up on all sides of the Sylph, and when ithad cleared away, there was no Sylph to be seen.
The little scout cruiser had disappeared; vanished, had beendestroyed.
Of Lord Hastings and the other officers and men, the lads couldsee nothing.
For a moment the boys were unable to speak, so astounded werethey at the suddenness of this terrible disaster.
"Great Scott!" gasped Frank at last. "Do you realize what hashappened?"
Jack was more calm.
"Perfectly," he replied faintly, with a sob in his voice. "TheSylph has gone, and with her Lord Hastings and all on board--allour friends, the only ones we have in the world."
The two boys unconsciously swam closer together.
"The fortunes of war," said Jack, more quietly now. "It is aterrible thing."
Further conversation was interrupted by the sound of anotherterrific explosion. Startled, the boys turned in the water justin time to see the last German destroyer disappear beneath thesea.
"Good!" exclaimed Jack, in fierce joy. "I am glad of that."
Frank also gritted his teeth, and muttered ferventcongratulations to the British gunners.
And now the British ships proceeded on their course. None hadbeen seriously damaged. They turned their backs upon the sceneof the engagement and made off in the direction from which theyhad come.
The boys shouted loud and long for assistance; but their crieswere not heard aboard the British ships of war, which, graduallygathering more headway, steamed off to the south. Not until theywere almost out of sight did the lads cease their shouting, andresign themselves to their fate.
In despair, they turned to each other for comfort. Jack wasfirst to speak.
"Well, Frank," he said quietly. "We shall soon join LordHastings and our other good friends in a place where there is nowar and no losing of friends."
"Isn't there something we can do?" asked Frank, trembling withcold.
"I am afraid not."
There was a sudden stirring of the water beneath them. Jackcried out suddenly:
"What's that?"
Frank had regained his coolness now.
"Probably a shark come to finish us up quickly," he repliedcalmly.
Both lads, with a last effort, swam desperately from the place.
But suddenly the waters of the North Sea parted, and a long,cigar-shaped object came to the top and rested lightly on thewater.
"What is it?" asked Jack again in no little alarm
Before Frank could reply, a man suddenly appeared on the top ofthe object, apparently from nowhere, and glanced about. Heespied them, and as suddenly disappeared. He reappeared almostin an instant, however, followed by another.
And now both lads discovered what the object was, an object thathad arrived just in time to save them from a watery grave. Theycould see that the two men wore the uniform of the German navy.
The long, cigar-shaped object was a German submarine.