econd torpedo could have but one purpose--the
wanton destruction of so many more helpless women. Besides, it revolted
his sense of sport; it was like blowing a sitting bird to pieces with a
shot gun. . . .

He saw it strike amidships; he had a fleeting vision of a screaming,
struggling boat load--of curses and shouts, and then he knew no more.
There was a roaring in his ears, and he seemed to be travelling through
great spaces. Lights danced and flashed before his brain, and suddenly
he felt very cold. The noise had ceased, and everything was very still
and silent. . . . The cold grew more intense, till it seemed to eat into
him, and his head grew curiously light. Almost as if it was bursting
with some unaccustomed pressure. Then, just as it seemed as if it was
the end, and that his skull would literally fly to pieces, relief came
with a great rush, and Vane found himself gasping and blowing on the
surface of the water. Around him was a mass of debris, and instinctively
he struck out for a deck chair that was floating close by. He reached
it, and for a long time he clutched it, with only his head out of the
water--content to draw great gulps of the air into his panting lungs.
Then after a while he raised himself in the water and looked round.

About fifty yards away the "Connaught" was sinking rapidly, and Vane
wondered feebly how he had got where he was. People were still
struggling and scrambling over her slanting decks, and he watched a man
slashing with a knife at the falls of a partially filled boat.

He heard a voice cursing the man for a fool, and wondered who it was who
spoke. Then the boat crashed downwards stern first, shooting its load
into the water, and the same voice croaked, "I told you so, you bloody
fool. I told you so." It was then he realised that the voice was his
own. . . .

Vane closed his eyes, and tried to think. Presumably the wireless
messenger had sent out an S.O.S.; presumably, in time, someone would
arrive on the scene. Until that happened he must concentrate on saving
himself. His head was still swimming from the force of the explosion,
and for a long while he lay supporting himself mechanically on the
half-submerged chair. Then he felt that he was moving, and opening his
eyes he realised that the ship had disappeared. Very soon the suction
stopped, and he found himself alone on the grey, sullen water. In the
distance, bobbing up and down on the short swell, he could se