wl, nor good red herring in these times."

It seemed to Ross that he had been asleep only a few minutes when he
was suddenly awakened by a terrific crash, followed by a concussion
that shook the cruiser from stem to stern. His hammock rolled so
violently that he promptly fell out on the floor of the flat. Before
he could rise, the occupant of the next hammock tried his level best to
thrust his toes into Trefusis' mouth. The rest of the midshipmen, who
were watch below, were either thrown from their hammocks or had leapt
hurriedly from them. The electric lights were out. The shock had
either shattered the carbon threads or had broken the wires.

"Torpedoed!" exclaimed a junior midshipman.

"Dry up!" ordered Sefton sternly. "On deck all of you; there's the
'Action' bugle--no, it's 'Collision Stations'."

Just then a light appeared. The sentry in the steerage flat had lit
one of the bulkhead lamps, which are always in readiness for use in the
event of a break-down in the electric current.

The cruiser was listing perceptibly to starboard.

She was in danger of turning turtle and foundering, but even in the
face of death not one of the handful of young officers showed the
faintest sign of fear. If in their inmost minds the lads were a little
timorous, they bravely kept their feelings to themselves. They were
part and parcel of a British warship's complement. They had a
reputation to maintain--the reputation of a Navy dating back for
centuries. It was in safe keeping, for the _Oxford's_ midshipmen were
made of the right stuff.

A few made a hasty dive into their sea-chests to make sure of some
precious article. Others scrambled into their thick coats, bantering
each other as they did so.

Overhead, the noise of hundreds of feet could be heard as the men
doubled aft to the quarter-deck. Above the tumult rose the shrill
pipes of the bos'n's mates' whistles, and the hoarse shouts of "On
deck, every mother's son of you!" bawled by a leather-lunged petty
officer.

"We don't want to leave you, but we fear that we must go," parodied one
of the midshipmen, giving a farewell glimpse into the gun-room that had
been his home for the last fifteen months. "Come on, you fellows,
who's going to enter for the long-distance swimming race?"

Up the ladder swept the throng of youthful humanity, followed by the
sentry, who had received orders to abandon his post. On the half-deck,
the gun-room officers met the swarm o