f senior officers issuing from
their cabins, mostly clad in pyjamas and uniform caps. The
Gunnery-lieutenant was afterwards heard to declare solemnly that he had
seen the Paymaster issuing from the ship's office with the ledger on
his head, while under his left arm he held his cap.

"Let's stick together, old man!" exclaimed Ross as the chums gained the
quarter-deck.

The first hurried rush aft had now given place to strict discipline.
The men were falling in as calmly as if mustered for divisions. Some
were blowing up their pneumatic swimming-collars, others helping to
adjust a comrade's life-belt. A few were joking and talking, none of
the officers gainsaying them. By virtue of an unwritten law the men
were allowed to smoke, and the odour of strong tobacco wafted across
the broad quarterdeck.

"Got a fag, Lofty?" Vernon overheard a burly stoker ask his neighbour.

"No; I don't smoke, mate," replied the man.

"You will soon," replied the stoker, and a roar of merriment rose from
the lips of the men within hearing. They thought the retort was a
smart bit of humour, and, when at length the implied nature of the
man's words dawned upon him, even Vernon had to smile.

From the after bridge, search-lights were playing upon the waves. The
light quick-firers were manned ready to deal with any visible foe. On
the navigation bridge the Captain, with the officer of the watch, was
pacing calmly up and down the slightly inclined structure.

Presently he was joined by two dark forms--the Commander and the
carpenter. A bugle sounded the "Still". A hush fell upon the swarm of
humanity, the silence being broken only by the hiss of escaping steam,
and the rush of water under the action of the powerful Downton pumps.

"My lads!" shouted the skipper. "The old ship is holding out. We'll
get her into dock yet. Pipe down!"

The _Oxford_ had not been struck by a torpedo. Examination showed that
she had bumped against a mine, with the result that the fore
compartments were flooded. Fortunately the transverse bulkhead and
watertight doors withstood the strain of the terrific inrush of water.
Although well down by the bows the cruiser was in no immediate danger.

The watch below disappeared from sight; those of the officers who were
not on duty retired to their cabins, yet few of them slept again that
night.

As Ross and his chum were about to leave the quarterdeck, the Commander
strode by.

"Pass the word for the