.

"Submerge!" he ordered.

CHAPTER XXII.

TOWARD OSTEND AGAIN.

Jack had been ready for this command and repeated Lord Hastings' words
immediately. Not a second was lost, and a moment later the tanks began
to fill and the submarine sank lower and lower in the water.

Jack, who had glued his eye to the periscope, gazed at the German
battleships as long as it stayed above water. In the few moments that it
took the craft to submerge, he saw that two of the enemy's craft had
been struck and that the other two had trained their big guns upon the
U-6. His heart beat fast, for he was afraid the submarine would be
unable to put a thick enough blanket of water above it to withstand the
German shell, should the first shot be gauged accurately.

Just before the periscope disappeared beneath the surface, cutting off
the lad's view, he heard the faint sound of a gun. He braced himself for
the shock that he expected; but none came. The first shell had gone wide
and he breathed easier. Before the second shot came, the U-6 was safe in
the depths.

"Pretty close," the lad muttered aloud.

"What was pretty close?" demanded Frank, who had not heard the sound of
the shot. "Didn't we hit either one of them?"

"Oh, yes, we got them both," replied Jack. "I was talking about our own
escape. The Germans fired one shell at us and they can't have missed
very far. Fortunately, we came down before a second."

"Shape your course due east, Mr. Templeton," commanded Lord Hastings at
this juncture. "We'll have a try at another of them."

Jack gave the command.

"Twenty knots!" ordered Lord Hastings.

The U-6 leaped forward beneath the water like a thing alive. For fifteen
minutes she sped on and then rose until her periscope showed above the
surface.

"As I expected," said Lord Hastings. "The enemy is making for home, but
we have outrun them and are now between them and their goal." He gauged
the range carefully and then ordered: "No. 2 torpedo!"

Again all was expectancy aboard the submarine as all eagerly awaited the
next command. It was not long coming.

"Attention!" the signal board read.

And a moment later came the next command:

"Fire!"

A shell sped across the water straight for the third German battleship.
Through the periscope Lord Hastings saw the German vessel give a great
lurch, then leap almost clear from the water, where it seemed to hang
suspended for a full minute, before it came down again. As it did