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Our bow was pointed straight toward the U-boat now as I heard word passed to
the engine for full speed ahead. I instantly grasped the brazen effrontery of the
plucky English skipper--he was going to ram five hundreds tons of U-boat in the
face of her trained gun. I could scarce repress a cheer. At first the boches didn't
seem to grasp his intention. Evidently they thought they were witnessing an
exhibition of poor seamanship, and they yelled their warnings to the tug to
reduce speed and throw the helm hard to port.
We were within fifty feet of them when they awakened to the intentional menace
of our maneuver. Their gun crew was off its guard; but they sprang to their piece
now and sent a futile shell above our heads. Nobs leaped about and barked
furiously. "Let 'em have it!" commanded the tug-captain, and instantly revolvers
and rifles poured bullets upon the deck of the submersible. Two of the gun-crew
went down; the other trained their piece at the water-line of the oncoming tug.
The balance of those on deck replied to our small-arms fire, directing their efforts
toward the man at our wheel.
I hastily pushed the girl down the companionway leading to the engine-room, and
then I raised my pistol and fired my first shot at a boche. What happened in the
next few seconds happened so quickly that details are rather blurred in my
memory. I saw the helmsman lunge forward upon the wheel, pulling the helm
around so that the tug sheered off quickly from her course, and I recall realizing
that all our efforts were to be in vain, because of all the men aboard, Fate had
decreed that this one should fall first to an enemy bullet. I saw the depleted gun-
crew on the submarine fire their piece and I felt the shock of impact and heard
the loud explosion as the shell struck and exploded in our bows.
I saw and realized these things even as I was leaping into the pilot-house and
grasping the wheel, standing astride the dead body of the helmsman. With all my
strength I threw the helm to starboard; but it was too late to effect the purpose of
our skipper. The best I did was to scrape alongside the sub. I heard someone
shriek an order into the engine-room; the boat shuddered and trembled to the
sudden reversing of the engines, and our speed quickly lessened. Then I saw
what that madman of a skipper planned since his first scheme had gone wrong.
With a loud-yelled command, he leaped to the slippery deck of the submersible,
and at his heels came his hardy crew. I sprang from the pilot-house and
followed, not to be left out in the cold when it came to strafing the boches. From
the engine room companionway came the engineer and stockers, and together we
leaped after the balance of the crew and into the hand-to-hand fight that was
covering the wet deck with red blood. Beside me came Nobs, silent now, and
grim. Germans were emerging from the open hatch to take part in the battle on
deck. At first the pistols cracked amidst the cursing of the men and the loud
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