The Brighton Boys with the Submarine Fleet Part 13

The German vessel had been dealt a deathblow. She was sending up distress signals.

"She's afire now and can't last long," mused the _Dewey's_ commander as he continued to survey the ship in distress. "Her magazines will go in a minute."

The chief concern of the _Dewey_ now was the reclaiming of her sailors from the sea.

There was little likelihood of gun fire from the sinking German warship.

Her crew were bent on launching lifeboats and getting away before the final plunge that would carry the ship down to the bottom.

Accordingly, the Yankee submarine came to the surface and commenced preparations for the rescue of her own crew. Lights were hung at the mastheads fore and aft and a huge searchlight hurriedly adjusted on the forepart of the conning tower and the electrical connections made amidships.

Out of the mist that overhung the sea burst forth suddenly a great glare. Through the fog loomed a white ma.s.s of flame like the blast of a thousand furnaces, with tongues of fire piercing the night gloom.

The sea was rocked by an explosion that reverberated over the waters like the crash of a million guns and tossed the submarine like a piece of driftwood.

"One less warship for the Kaiser's navy," remarked McClure.

"And all because of your rare cunning, old boy," countered his executive enthusiastically.

Out of the darkness came a shout for help close at hand. Switching the searchlight in the direction of the cry, Commander McClure beheld a head bobbing in the water only a few yards away. It was one of his own crew, one of the electrician's helpers who had gone overboard with the rest in the mad scramble to outwit the Germans. In a few minutes he was hauled aboard, dripping wet, his teeth chattering from the exposure in the water.

"They are all around here," the boy chattered. "We managed to keep pretty close together in the water."

McClure grasped his hand.

"You are a brave lad," he said. "Every man of you has proved his mettle by taking a daring chance. Go below now, son, get into warm clothing and gets something hot to drink."

Coasting to and fro in the water, scanning the sea now to the right, now to the left, the _Dewey_ continued the search for her crew.

Singly, in twos, and in one case three, men were picked up until it seemed to the commander that every boy who had gone overboard had been reclaimed from the sea.

"Call the roll below decks," the commander instructed his executive officer. Jack and his commander remained in the conning tower still operating the searchlight.

In a few minutes Officer Cleary returned.

"All safe?" asked "Little Mack."

"No; two still missing," was the executive officer's reply.

"Who are they?" McClure queried.

"Ted Wainwright and Bill Witt," came the answer.

CHAPTER XIII

THE SURVIVORS

Jack's knees sagged for a moment and it seemed his heart stood still.

His old Brighton chum and good old Bill Witt still unaccounted for!

Out there in the dark and the water somewhere they were floating alone!

Then he heard "Little Mack" speaking.

"We'll stay right here until we find them," he was saying.

Megaphones were brought on deck and the _Dewey's_ officers began calling into the darkness of the sea. Another searchlight was run up through the stern hatch and affixed aft to sweep the sea from that end of the vessel. For a time there was no response to their calls; then, when it seemed that all hope had fled, there came a hoa.r.s.e cry, now seeming far away, now closer and louder.

"Something there to starboard just off our bow!" shouted Jack, who had climbed up on the conning tower.

McClure directed that both searchlights be flashed in the direction of the m.u.f.fled calls and was rewarded by the faint outlines of a small boat buffeted about in the water like a cork.

"Well, they are not our boys," said the _Dewey's_ skipper listlessly.

Then, taking Jack's megaphone, he shouted: "Who are you?"

A tail, gaunt figure loomed up in the bow of the lifeboat. He was waving a life-belt frantically with an appealing gesture for aid.

"Survivors from der German gunboat Stra.s.sburg," came the reply in broken English.

McClure ordered them to come alongside and cautioned his men to be on guard against any surprise attack.

Out of the gloom came the lifeboat like a weird specter, propelled by the sweeping oars of half a dozen frantically working seamen. It was crowded with a motley crew of bedraggled sailors. They presented a pitiable spectacle as their craft slowly made its way toward the _Dewey_ and into the bright rays from the searchlights.

"We have two of your men in here," shouted the leader of the party, who was evidently an officer of the sunken warship. At the same time two boys well to the stern waved their arms frantically toward the group on the conning tower of the _Dewey_.

"Here I am, Jack, and Bill Witt is right with me," came the familiar voice of Ted Wainwright.

"Hurrah!" the cry arose from the deck of the American submersible.

Overcome with joy, Jack could scarce restrain his emotions as he clutched the periscope pole and shielded his eyes with his other hand to make sure that his ears had not deceived him. Yes, it was Ted---and there was Bill just behind him!

Making its way clumsily forward, the boat finally drew up alongside.

Willing hands helped Ted and Bill up the steep side of the _Dewey_ and they were tendered such a reception as they had never known before.

Then ensued a parley between the petty officer of the sunken gunboat Stra.s.sburg and the commander of the _Dewey_.

"We are very happy to be your prisoners, under the circ.u.mstances,"

began the German officer in his best English.

"I thank you for rescuing my men," said McClure. "Sorry I can't take you aboard, but I'll tow you to the Dutch coast or transfer you to the first inbound trader. Satisfactory?"

"Thank you, sir," said the German.

Before making fast the towline from the lifeboat to the stern of the _Dewey_ for the journey toward the coast McClure had Jean Cartier and his commissary a.s.sistant bring up pots of steaming hot coffee and dole it out to the forlorn Teutons.

Jack went below with Ted and Bill Witt to hear the story of their escape. It appeared that they had floated around together in the dark; had witnessed the sinking of the gunboat Stra.s.sburg and, when it went down, had been caught in the swell of the water and carried far from the lights of the _Dewey_. They had seen the submarine when it turned on its powerful searchlights.

"Bill and I thought we were done for," said Ted between gulps of coffee. "We had just about given up for good. We tried to swim, but our clothes and the life-belts weighed us down, and our legs and arms were so cramped we couldn't make any headway. Then while we were trying to keep our eyes on the faint lights of the _Dewey_, what should we see but a boat steering right at us! Without any words, the Germans stooped right down and dragged us into their boat.

None of us could see each other very well, but we soon made out they were Germans. They discovered our nationality about the same time and they wouldn't believe us when we told them we were from the U.S.

submarine that had sunk them."