or an instant the _Dewey_ quivered as the torpedo shot from the bow
of the submerged ship and raced away under the water. Her commander
hugged the periscope glass and watched for developments.

"Got him!" he shouted excitedly, dancing about wildly on the grating
of the conning tower. "It's a hit beyond all doubt. We struck her
almost amidships."

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 mass 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