s we still hear the roaring and crackling in the water, as if it
were in an impotent rage. I turn and smile at the mate who is standing
with me in the conning tower--a happy, care-free smile. I point upwards
with my thumb.

"Do you hear it? Do you hear it?"

It is an unnecessary question, of course, because he hears it as plainly
as I do, and all the others aboard hear it, too. But the question can
still be explained because of the tremendous strain on our nerves which
has to express itself even in such a simple question.

Dear, true, splendid little boat, how one learns to love you during such
trying moments and would like to pet you like a living human being for
your understanding and obedience! We, here on board, all depend upon
you, just as we all depend upon one another. We are chained together. We
will face the dangers together and gain success.

You blond heroes who are standing down there in the bowels of the boat
without knowing what is happening up in the light, but still knowing
that the crucial moment has arrived--that life or death to every one
depends on one man's will and one man's decision; you who, with a calm
and strong feeling of duty, stick at your posts with all the strength of
your bodies and souls strained to the breaking point and still keep full
faith in him who is your leader, chief, and commander; you show the
highest degree of bravery and self-control, you who never have a chance
to see the enemy but still, with sustained calm, do your duty.

Not a word was uttered, not a sound disturbed that deadly stillness on
board. One almost forgot that the men were standing with strained nerves
at their posts in order to keep the wonderful mechanism running right.
One could hear the soft whirr of the dynamos and, more and more distant,
the crackling of the exploding shells. Suddenly even this stopped. The
Britisher must have noticed that the fish had slipped out of his hand.
Shortly thereafter we heard his propellers churning the water above us.
Soon this noise died away as it had come, growing fainter and fainter in
a kind of grinding whirr.

"Did you hear how he circled around over us?" I asked through the
speaking tube which led down into the "Centrale."

"Certainly. That could clearly be distinguished," was the short answer.

I was pondering over what to do next. At first we had no choice but to
dive at the first sight of the destroyer suddenly appearing with the
break of day.

In our capa