ack" seized upon the suggestion and acted promptly. In code
the mother submarine answered that she was coming to aid. "Let her
come; we'll give her a hot reception," said McClure grimly.

As the _Bergerhof_ neared them McClure submerged a little and jockeyed
his vessel into position for a sure shot.

This aroused the suspicions of the German and she asked whether the
steering apparatus of the U-los had again gone wrong.

"Here is our answer," exclaimed McClure, and catching the big submersible
full on the sight of the periscope glass, he released a torpedo.

Their suspicions now fully confirmed the Germans sought vainly to get
their vessel under way; but the movement came too late, as the torpedo
from the _Monitor_ cleft the waters like an arrow and buried its
nose against the hull of the gigantic mother ship just abaft the
conning tower. With a mighty roar and a flash that illumined the
night the speeding projectile crashed through the hull of the
_Bergerhof_ and rent the vessel like so much paper.

"Seems like a pity to put them out of business, don't it?" said
McClure with a tone of wistful regret as he surveyed the picture.
Jack was viewing the whole spectacle through the periscope, his chief
at the observation port in the conning tower.

"We sure did get them," commented Jack. There wasn't the least
possibility of the mother ship offering resistance, since it was now
a matter of a few minutes at the longest until she would be taking
her last dive. So the conning tower of the _Monitor_ was opened and
the officers climbed on deck to watch the death struggle of the
_Bergerhof_. The _Monitor's_ torpedo had done its work well, for it
was quite evident, as the American craft drew near the scene of the
explosion, that the German vessel had been blown out of the water.

"Probably a half dozen men were out on deck when we hit them," said
McClure. "Suppose we get right up close and see whether we can fish
a few of them out of the water."

He rang the _Monitor_ ahead directly for the spot where the German ship
had disappeared under the waves, and as it drew closer slowed down the
engines.

"There's one poor chap directly off the port bow," observed Jack as he
pointed to a bobbing figure in the water. The _Monitor_ was stopped
and in a few minutes the unlucky German was hauled on deck. He proved
to be a petty officer, suffering several slight wounds, and he grasped
eagerly the rope extended to him by several