broken pinion it swerved drunkenly in its course
and began slowly to come down. Sustaining wires had been cut by the
shell fire from the _Dewey_ and the airplane was out of commission.

"Guess that fellow is done for," said Mowrey.

It was soon evident that the machine was badly crippled, for it came
on downward like a feather floating in the still air. Only a few
minutes elapsed until it had settled on the water.

"Hydro-aeroplane," announced Commander McClure as he stood in the
conning tower observing the wounded airship. The other planes were
engaged over the remainder of the allied fleet and the _Dewey_ was
free to take care of the craft in front of it.

There was now a chance that the American submarine might move alongside
and take prisoner the German birdmen in the damaged machine. The
ship's course was altered toward the floating plane and the _Dewey_
crept up on her foe.

"Train your forward gun right on that fellow; he is apt to shoot unless
both pilot and observer are injured," cautioned McClure.

And that was just what happened, for the words had hardly escaped the
lips of the Yankee skipper before a gun rang out from under the canvas
wings of the airplane and a shell came whizzing over the _Dewey_.

"There's another machine almost directly overhead," bawled Mowrey, as
he spied a second flying craft near at hand.

Having witnessed the fall of the crippled airship, another member of
the attacking squadron had put back to the rescue. As it soared now
within range of the American submarine a bomb came splashing into the
water not two hundred feet away.

Commander McClure began to figure that it was getting too dangerous
longer to risk his thin-skinned vessel before the rain of the lyddite
bombs, and accordingly gave orders to submerge. Jamming their guns
back into their deck casings, the crews melted away through the
hatches into the hold of the _Dewey_. Ballast poured in through
the valves and the ship began to submerge.

And then, just as the submarine began settling in the water, a shell
came whizzing over the water from the wounded airplane and burst
directly over the conning tower. There was a crash of rending steel
and then a great clatter on the forward deck of the submarine that
reechoed through the interior with an ominous sound.

"Great Scott!" ejaculated McClure. "They've torn away both our
periscopes!"

CHAPTER XI

IN THE FOG

Completely blinded by the fire from t