| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 1 | 20 | 41 | 61 | 81 |
|
www.freeclassicebooks.com
"If she's friendly," he said, "we'll speak her. If she's not, we'll sink her--eh,
captain?"
"Yes, lieutenant," I replied, and it was his turn to smile.
We hoisted the Union Jack and remained on deck, asking Bradley to go below
and assign to each member of the crew his duty, placing one Englishman with a
pistol beside each German.
"
Half speed ahead," I commanded.
More rapidly now we closed the distance between ourselves and the stranger,
until I could plainly see the red ensign of the British merchant marine. My heart
swelled with pride at the thought that presently admiring British tars would be
congratulating us upon our notable capture; and just about then the merchant
steamer must have sighted us, for she veered suddenly toward the north, and a
moment later dense volumes of smoke issued from her funnels. Then, steering a
zigzag course, she fled from us as though we had been the bubonic plague. I
altered the course of the submarine and set off in chase; but the steamer was
faster than we, and soon left us hopelessly astern.
With a rueful smile, I directed that our original course be resumed, and once
again we set off toward merry England. That was three months ago, and we
haven't arrived yet; nor is there any likelihood that we ever shall.
The steamer we had just sighted must have wirelessed a warning, for it wasn't
half an hour before we saw more smoke on the horizon, and this time the vessel
flew the white ensign of the Royal Navy and carried guns. She didn't veer to the
north or anywhere else, but bore down on us rapidly. I was just preparing to
signal her, when a flame flashed from her bows, and an instant later the water in
front of us was thrown high by the explosion of a shell.
Bradley had come on deck and was standing beside me. "About one more of
those, and she'll have our range," he said. "She doesn't seem to take much stock
in our Union Jack."
A second shell passed over us, and then I gave the command to change our
direction, at the same time directing Bradley to go below and give the order to
submerge. I passed Nobs down to him, and following, saw to the closing and
fastening of the hatch.
It seemed to me that the diving-tanks never had filled so slowly. We heard a loud
explosion apparently directly above us; the craft trembled to the shock which
threw us all to the deck. I expected momentarily to feel the deluge of inrushing
1
6
Page
Quick Jump
|