o stand by and order full speed
when I give the word. We shall want it in a jump."

"Very good, sir. Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all."

Erskine put the receiver back on the hooks.

"That's it. Now we'll try your shells. If they're what I think they are,
we'll smash that fellow's top works into scrap-iron, and then we'll go
for him."

"I think I see," said Lennard, "that's why you've half submerged her."

"Yes. The _Ithuriel_ is designed to deal with both light and heavy
craft. With the light ones, as you have seen, she just walked over them.
Now, we've got something bigger to tackle, and if everything goes right
that ship will be at the bottom of the sea in five minutes."

"Horrible," replied Lennard, "but I suppose it's necessary."

"Absolutely," said Erskine, taking the receiver down from the hooks. "If
we didn't do it with them, they'd do it with us. That's war."

Lennard made no reply. He was looking hard at the now rapidly
approaching shape of the big French cruiser, and when men are thinking
hard, they don't usually say much.

The _Ithuriel_ completed her quarter-circle and dead head on to the
_Dupleix_, Erskine said, "Centre gun ready, forward--fire. Port and
starboard concentrate--fire."

There was no report--only a low, hissing sound--and then Lennard saw
three flashes of bluish-green blaze out over the French cruiser.

"Hit her! I think those shells of yours got home," said Erskine between
his clenched teeth. And then he added through the telephone, "Well
aimed, Castellan! They all got there. Load up again--three more shots
and I'm going to ram--quick now, and full speed ahead when you've
fired."

"All ready!" came back over the telephone, "I've told Mackenzie that
you'll want it."

"Good man," replied Erskine. "When I touch the button, you do the rest.
Now--are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Let her have it--then full speed. Ah," Erskine continued, turning to
Lennard, "he's shooting back."

The cruiser burst into a thunderstorm of smoke and flame and shell, but
there was nothing to shoot at. Only three feet of freeboard would have
been visible even in broad daylight. The signal mast had been
telescoped. There was nothing but the deck, the guns and the
conning-tower to be seen. The shells screamed through the air a good ten
feet over her and incidentally wrecked the Marine Hotel on Selsey Bill.

Erskine pressed the top button on the right-hand side three times. The
smokeless, nameless guns spoke