the British were resorting to the old principle of
boarding, and the German light cruiser _Mainz_ came out to fire upon
them. Two of the British small boats had to be abandoned as their mother
ships made off before the oncoming German. They were in a perilous
position, right beneath the guns of the fortress. But now a daring and
unique rescue took place. The commander of the British submarine _E-4_
had been watching the fighting through the periscope of his craft, and
seeing the helpless position of the two small boats, he submerged, made
toward them, and then, to the great surprise of the men in them, came up
right between them and took their occupants aboard his boat.

Repairs had been made on the _Arethusa_ which enabled her to go into
action again by ten o'clock. Accompanied again by two light cruisers of
ten four-inch guns and the _Fearless_, she turned westward in answer to
calls for assistance from the destroyers _Lurcher_ and _Firedrake_,
which accompanied the submarines and which reported that they were being
chased by fast German cruisers. Suddenly the light cruiser _Strassburg_
again came out of the mist and bore down on the British cruisers. Her
larger guns were too heavy and had too long a range for those of the
British craft, and the latter immediately sent out calls which brought
into action for the first time certain ships belonging to the squadron
of British light cruisers, which had been stationed to the
northwest--the upper left-hand corner of the page.

The vessels which answered the calls were the light cruisers _Falmouth_
and _Nottingham_ with eight eight-inch and nine six-inch guns
respectively, but before arriving the _Strassburg_ still had time to
inflict more damage on the _Arethusa_. The cruisers _Koeln_ and _Mainz_
joined the _Strassburg_, and the British vessels were having a bad time
of it when their commander ordered the _Fearless_ to concentrate all
fire on the _Strassburg_. This, and a concentrated fire from the
destroyers, proved too strong for her and she turned eastward,
disappearing in the mist off Helgoland. The _Mainz_ then received the
attention of all available British guns, including the battle cruiser
_Lion_, and soon fire broke out within her hold. Next her foremast,
slowly tottering and then inclining more and more, crashed down upon her
deck, a distorted mass. Following that came down one of her funnels. The
fire which was raging aboard her was hampering her machinery, and h