The Boy Volunteers with the Submarine Fleet Part 24

Notwithstanding the gravity of the situation, the captain could not repress a smile, which he quickly suppressed, as he answered:

"Then what would you call me? They have sunk four ships under me by torpedoes, and one by a mine. You have seen and experienced some of the other adventures I have had within the past ten days, and now this is another vessel to go down under me on account of a mine," said the captain.

"A mine! a mine, did you say?" almost shrieked Alfred.

"Yes; one of the floating mines that the Germans are strewing about in open defiance of all the laws," answered the captain with a bitter voice.

CHAPTER XV

A FRIGHTFUL MINE EXPLOSION

The order was given. There was no hope for the ship. "Lower the boats!"

Everything was done with precision and in order, indicating that there was no panic on shipboard. Up to the last moment the wireless S. O. S., _St. Duneen_, 48, 50 N., 10 E., repeated and repeated the message of the disaster.

At a signal the wireless operator obeyed the commander's orders, and emerged from the little room high up aft of the main stacks. He sprang into the boat, as it was moving down.

"Pull away! pull away!" shouted the commander, as the boats reached the surface of the water. The order and its execution did not come too soon.

Like a giant, in a death struggle, there were a few spasmodic movements, and more p.r.o.nounced ones as the bulkheads gave way.

They were fully two hundred feet from the ship, when suddenly it seemed to roll around half-way, and they could look over the entire deck, so fully was it exposed to those on board of the dory in which the boys had taken refuge.

The vessel rested on its side for a moment only, then it slowly staggered back, the bow quickly dipped, and failed to come back again.

Then it seemed actually to slide forward into the depths, the stern rising higher and higher, as the bow moved under. More than fifty feet of the stern of the ship was still out of the water, when a peculiar thing happened. The hull ceased to move. It remained at an angle in the air for a quarter of a minute, while every one stared at it in silence.

"What is the matter with it?" asked Alfred, who was the first to break the silence.

"The bow is on the bottom of the ocean," said the captain.

That was, indeed, true. Soon it began to sink, by falling back, and it quietly sank beneath the waves, leaving scarcely a ripple above the surface.

"That would have been different if she had been struck amidship, for the hull would have gone down on an even keel," remarked the commander.

The nine boats were now afloat near each other. In the distance could be seen smoke in two directions, evidence that vessels were not far away.

Then, almost like an apparition, from the east came two of the speedy little ships, which act like spit-fires and lie so low in the water that they are able to creep up unawares. They do not give forth any smoke to warn an enemy, or indicate their presence to friends.

Long before the ships, which had announced their positions by the smoke on the horizon, came into sight, the saucy chasers were sailing around and about the fleet of _St. Duneen's_ boats.

"It rather makes me feel good to think that we didn't get caught by either of the submarines," said Alfred. "I would hate to give them that satisfaction."

"But what's the difference, after all?" replied Ralph. "So long as they sink the ships, what matter does it make whether they do it by mines or submarines?"

"Yes; one is as bad as the other, both done against all law," answered Alfred.

The first boat to answer the signal was a French cruiser, which came up rapidly after the chasers arrived. There was ample room on board for the pa.s.sengers, but it took fully an hour before all were safe on board and orders were given to start. As the cruiser turned, a great, gray British battleship came up to port, saluted, and pa.s.sed on, followed by another far in the distance, those two great vessels with their black smoke trailing out in the distance and moving along majestically seeming to be the acme of power.

The boys were on the upper deck and watched the scene with admiration.

Before the cruiser had proceeded far the smoke of more than a dozen ships were visible, and the boys could not help but be impressed at the tremendous power of the Allies on the water, notwithstanding the calamity which had just befallen their ship. After all, the ships had been sunk by an enemy which dared not show his face above the surface of the water.

"Submarine sunk near the harbor of Brest and one off Cherburg," was the startling announcement of the wireless operator. "Five American ships have arrived at the Loire," was another message. "America is aflame with excitement, and demands action," came later.

"Is it possible that the United States will go to war?" asked Ralph.

"The United States is now at war," replied the captain.

"What? do you mean to say that the President has declared war?" asked Alfred in astonishment.

"No; it is not necessary that America should declare war. Germany has done so by torpedoing your ships, and killing your citizens; that is an act of war; for every nation, and Germany itself, knows that its submarine war is illegal, and without any standing in International Law.

It is no justification to say that to give notice makes it legal. If a man wished to commit murder it would not make him less a murderer if he had given notice of his intention beforehand," said the captain.

"Then I'm not going back to New York," said Alfred.

"Nor I; we've been in it from the first, and we might as well stick it out;--if I only knew that mother was safe," concluded Ralph with a shadow across his face.

Within an hour the boys saw a faint streak of peculiar gray to the left, far ahead.

"That must be land," said Alfred.

"And that looks like a town, away in the distance," remarked Ralph.

"You are right; that is the coast of France, and the houses you see belong to the town of Fecamp, a seaport and watering place, 22 miles from Havre," said the navigating officer.

Every minute brought them nearer the city of Havre. How they longed to hear some news of their parents, now that all excitement had died away, and they were permitted to think of home and those dear to them.

Vessels began to acc.u.mulate on all sides of them, indications that they were now within the safety zone. For a period of eight days they had not known what absolute quiet and rest meant. First, the terrible suspense within the hull of a submarine, the trying experience attending the capture of the vessel, the unquiet feeling that they had desperate men below who might do anything to gain their liberty, the explosion and sinking of the submarine, their rescue, and then the last sinking, seemed to form a chapter of misadventures which constantly kept them on the alert.

It was such a different feeling now, and, as such things generally do, caused a reaction. They actually felt ill, and Alfred, especially, after the last accident, felt too weak to remain on deck.

They retired to the cabin a.s.signed to them in the officers' quarters, and were soon asleep. The captain, missing them, made a search and soon found them. He smiled, and, turning to the officers, said:

"They are fine fellows; the experiences have been most trying, and would test the mettle of most men; but they went through with it, obeyed all orders, without asking why, and never showed the white feather."

"Who are they?" asked one of the cruiser's officers.

"American boys, caught in the war, where they helped the fighting until two months ago, and were just returning to the United States on my ship.

That is how I happened to meet them and learned to love them," replied the captain with pride in his voice.

As they were leaving the cabin, Alfred awoke. "Are we near Havre?" he asked anxiously.

"We are now turning the point; we expect to reach the dock in a half-hour," answered the officer.

Every one crowded the rails and watched the ever-changing panorama, for Havre is the second seaport in France, has the largest foreign trade, especially with America, and is noted for its great docks, and ship-building facilities.

"Hurrah for the Stars and Stripes!" shouted Ralph, as he pointed to the banner above the mast on a ship, which was just being warped out of the dock.

The pa.s.sengers, as well as officers and seamen of the cruiser, took off their hats and cheered. Ralph blushed at the hearty response, but he knew that it was a tribute which they were paying to America, about to become a new ally. The seamen on board the American ship gave a hearty response to the salute, and this swelled the pride of the boys beyond measure.