CHAPTER III
WARSHIP AND ZEPPELIN
A bell tinkled in the engine room of the _Queen Mary_. The ship sloweddown. Captain Raleigh had been called by the third officer. He took thebridge and issued his orders sharply.
There was no telling whether the Zeppelin sighted by the man at the gunwould attack the ship, but Captain Raleigh considered it best to be onthe safe side. That was why he had left orders to be called immediatelyshould an enemy appear.
Again a bell tinkled in the engine room, following an order from thecommander of the _Queen Mary_.
The great engines stopped and became silent.
"Cut off all lights!" was the next command.
A moment later the great ship was in darkness.
Frank and Jack, in their quarters, were awakened by the sounds ofconfusion above. All hands had not been piped on deck, so most of themen still lay asleep, unconscious of what was going on above, but thetwo lads, dressing hurriedly, made their way on deck. They walkedforward, toward the bridge.
All was dark and it was this that told Frank and Jack that somethingwas going on.
"Wonder what's up?" said Frank.
"Airship, I guess," was the reply. "Can't see any other reason forextinguishing all lights."
Near the bridge the lads stopped and waited to see what would happen.All was quiet aboard. Not a sound came from the officers or the men ondeck. Then Captain Raleigh commanded:
"Try the forward searchlight there. See if you can pick her up!"
The light flashed aloft; and there, so far above the _Queen Mary_ as tobe little more than a tiny speck, hovered a giant Zeppelin; and even asthey looked, the airship came lower.
"She's sighted us," said Captain Raleigh to his first officer, whostood beside him. "Try a shot, Mr. Harrison."
The first officer passed the word and a second later there came thesound of the anti-aircraft gun. The gunner had taken his range at themoment the flashlight revealed the airship.
The shot brought no noticeable result.
"Fifteen knots ahead, Mr. Harrison!" ordered the captain.
He was afraid that the Zeppelin might drop a bomb on the ship; and fromthat moment until the end of the battle the _Queen Mary_ did not pause.First she headed to port and then to starboard, manoeuvering rapidlythat the German airmen might not be able to reach her with a bomb.
"Another shot!" commanded Captain Raleigh.
Still no result.
"Funny she doesn't rise and try and escape," said Frank.
"No, it's not," returned Jack. "They don't know anything about this newanti-aircraft gun. They believe they are out of range."
"Well, they're likely to hit us with one of those bombs, and then wherewill we be?" said Frank.
"If they hit us you won't know anything about it," was Jack's response.
Again the _Queen Mary_ tried a shot at the Zeppelin.
A cheer went up from the members of the crew who stood upon deck; forthe Zeppelin was seen to wabble.
"Nicked her," shouted the first officer.
Jack, standing near the rail, heard something whiz by his head.Instinctively the lad ducked. He knew in a moment what had passed him;he heard something splash into the sea.
"Bomb just missed us, sir!" he cried, stepping forward.
"Where?" demanded Captain Raleigh.
"Right here, forward, sir," replied Jack.
Captain Raleigh gave a quick command to his first officer, who passedit to the man at the wheel.
"Hard a-port!" he cried.
The ship veered crazily; and at the some moment, Frank, who wasstanding where Jack had been a moment before, heard something swishpast.
"Another bomb, sir!" he reported.
There was no reply from the bridge. Captain Raleigh felt that, bybringing the ship's head hard to port, he had spoiled the range of theenemy in the air.
For some time no more bombs dropped near.
Again the _Queen Mary_ fired at the Zeppelin; and again and again.
The last shot was rewarded by another cheer from the crew. The giantZeppelin was seen to drop suddenly.
The crew cheered loud and long for it appeared that the Zeppelin wasabout to drop into the sea. Down she came and still down; and then herdescent suddenly halted.
To those aboard the _Queen Mary_ this was unexplainable.
"Fire again, quickly!" shouted the captain.
The air gun boomed. At the same moment a man was seen to lean over theside of the Zeppelin. He dropped something.
Again Captain Raleigh acted promptly and brought the head of the _QueenMary_ around. The German bomb missed. Before another could be dropped,the man who manned the anti-aircraft gun fired again.
Another cheer from the crew.
The Zeppelin began to sink slowly.
"Full speed ahead!" cried Captain Raleigh. "They'll sink us!"
The _Queen Mary_ leaped ahead just in time.
And then the Zeppelin dropped.
With a splash it hit the water perhaps a quarter of a mile from theBritish battleship. Came cries from the men, caught beneath the gasbag. At that moment Jack stood close to the bridge. Captain Raleigh sawhim.
"Man a boat, Mr. Templeton," he called, "and rescue those fellows inthe water."
Quickly Jack sprang to obey. Frank leaped after him. Hurriedly a smallboat was gotten out and launched. A half dozen sailors sprang in andtook up the oars. Frank and Jack leaped in after them.
The oars glistened in the glare of the searchlight as the men raisedthem and awaited the word.
"Give way," said Jack.
The boat sped over the smooth surface of the sea.
Close to the wreckage of the Zeppelin it approached; and cries toldJack that some of the Germans still lived.
"Hurry!" he cried, and the men increased their stroke.
Near the wreckage Jack gave the command to cease rowing. A German swamtoward the boat. Hands helped him in and he lay in the bottom panting.Other forms swam toward them. These, too, were lifted in the boat. Andat last Jack counted fifteen Germans who had been saved.
"Are you all here?" he asked of a German officer.
"All but Commander Butz, sir," was the man's reply.
Jack commanded his men to row closer to the wreckage.
"Ahoy there!" he shouted, when he had come close.
The lad thought he heard a muffled answer, but he could not make sure.He called again. This time the answer came plainer.
"Where are you?" asked Jack.
"Under the wreckage," was the reply.
Jack scrutinized the wreckage closely.
"Looks like it might sink any minute," he said "But we can't leave himthere."
"What are you going to do?" asked Frank.
For answer Jack arose in the boat. Quickly he threw off his coat andkicked off his shoes. Then he poised himself on the edge of the boat.
"I'm going after him," he replied.
Before Frank could reply, he had dived head first into the sea.
With a cry of alarm, Frank also sprang to his feet and divested himselfof his coat and shoes.
"Stay close, men!" he commanded. "I'll lend a hand if it's needed."
He, too, leaped into the water.
Rapidly, Jack swam close to the wreckage. He continued to call to theGerman, and while he received an answer each time, he could not locatethe man. Twice he swam around all that remained of the huge Zeppelin.By this time Frank had come up with him.
"Can't you find him?" he asked.
"No," returned Jack, "and I am rather afraid to swim under there. Theballoon may sink and carry me under. But if I were certain in exactlywhat spot the man is imprisoned, I'd have a try at it."
Frank listened attentively; and directly the German's voice came again.To Frank it seemed that the voice came from directly ahead of him.
"Lay hold of this end here," he said to Jack. "If you can lift it a bitI'll go under and have a look."
"Better let me do it, Frank," said Jack.
"No; you're stronger than I am. You can hold this up better."
Jack did as his chum requested and a moment later Frank disappearedunder the wreckage, diving first to make sure that he got under.
Under the water the lad swam forward. His hand touched something thatwas threshing about.
He felt sure it was the German. He rose. His head came in contact withsomething, but the lad opened his eyes and saw that he was above thesurface. The imprisoned German was close beside him.
"Dive!" said Frank. "You can come out all right."
"Can't," was the reply. "My arm is caught."
Frank made a quick examination.
"I can loosen it," he said at last, "but I'll probably break the arm."
"Loosen it," said the German, quietly.
Frank took a firm hold on the arm at the elbow and gave a quick wrench.He felt something give, and when he released his hold on the man's arm,the latter sank suddenly.
Frank dived after him quickly. It was even as the lad feared. TheGerman had fainted from the pain of the arm, which Frank had brokencleanly as he released it.
Frank dived deep and his outstretched hand encountered the German. Thelad grasped the man firmly by the collar and then struck upwards. Amoment later he succeeded in making his way to where Jack still tuggedat the balloon.
Jack lent a hand and they dragged the German from beneath the wreckage.Then they towed him to the boat and other hands lifted him in. Frankand Jack clambered aboard.
"Give way!" said Jack, sharply.
The boat moved toward the battleship; and even as it did so, the massof wreckage suddenly disappeared from sight with a loud noise.
Jack shuddered.
"Pretty close, Frank," he said quietly. "You can see what would havehappened if you had still been under there."