n of British cruisers, ready to close
in when needed; in the northwest--the upper left-hand corner of the
page--there were stationed a squadron of British light cruisers and
another of battle cruisers, and it was toward these last two units that
the decoys were leading the German fleets.

The _Arethusa_ and _Fearless_ felt the first shock of battle, on the
side of the British. The German cruiser _Ariadne_ closed with the
former, while the latter soon found itself very busy with the German
cruiser _Strassburg_. For thirty-five minutes--before the _Fearless_
drew the fire of the _Strassburg_--the two German vessels poured a
telling fire into the _Arethusa_, and the latter was soon in bad
condition, but she managed to hold out till succored by the _Fearless_,
and then planted a shell against the _Ariadne_ which carried away her
forebridge and killed her captain. The scouting which had been done by
the smaller craft of the German fleets showed their commanders that
there were other British ships in the neighborhood besides the two they
had first engaged, and it was thought wiser to withdraw in face of
possible reenforcement of the British, consequently the _Strassburg_ and
_Ariadne_ turned eastward to seek the protection of the fortress. The
_Arethusa_, a boat that had been in commission but a week when the
battle was fought, was in a bad way; all but one of her guns were out of
action, her water tank had been punctured and fire was raging on her
main deck amidships. The _Fearless_ passed her a cable at nine o'clock
and towed her westward, away from the scene of action, while her crew
made what repairs they could.

The flotillas of both sides had meanwhile been busy. At the head of the
squadron of German destroyers that came out of the waters behind
Helgoland was the _V-187_. Without slacking speed she steamed straight
for the British destroyers, her small guns spitting rapidly, but she was
outnumbered by British destroyers, which poured such an amount of steel
into her thin sides that she went under, her guns firing till their
muzzles touched the water and her crew cheering as they went to their
deaths. A few managed to keep afloat on wreckage, and during a lull in
the fighting, which lasted from nine o'clock till ten, boats were
lowered from the British destroyers _Goshawk_ and _Defender_ to pick up
these stranded German sailors.

The commanders of the German fleet, perceiving these small boats from
afar, thought that