The Boy Allies Under the Sea Part 49

Lord Hastings paid no heed to this command, but sprang quickly up. He gazed around rapidly. There was not another soul on deck.

"Come on," he cried to Frank and Jack.

The latter also sprang up and looked about.

"Where is he, sir?" asked Frank.

"Gone," replied Lord Hastings. "Must have jumped overboard."

He swept the sea with his eyes, as did the others.

"What's that over there, sir?" asked Jack suddenly.

Lord Hastings and Frank gazed in the direction indicated. There a little object could be seen in the water. It had the appearance of a small stick and beside it there appeared a black piece of cloth whipping in the breeze.

"Looks like the periscope of a submarine," commented Frank.

"And it is," declared Lord Hastings. "Below quick!"

Jack sprang down the companionway, closely followed by Frank and Lord Hastings. The conning tower closed behind them.

"Submerge to the tip of the periscope," ordered Lord Hastings, and put his eye to the instrument as Jack repeated the command.

At that moment the other craft bobbed to the surface and Lord Hastings made out that the black cloth that fluttered in the breeze was nothing more nor less than a black flag.

"Pirates!" he muttered. "What! at this age of the world?" and then a sudden thought flashed through his mind.

"I'll wager a farm it's Davis' own crew," he muttered.

"What's that, sir?" asked Jack, who had caught his commander's last words.

"Nothing much; only that Davis has found his own gang," replied Lord Hastings quietly. "Here, have a look."

He stepped aside and Jack took his place at the periscope. The lad uttered an exclamation of surprise.

"By Jove! he has, sir," he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed. "I can see him swimming toward the submarine; and there is a man on the bridge waiting for him. Can't we launch a torpedo at her, sir?"

"I guess we can," replied Lord Hastings. "What do you make the range?"

"Hundred yards, sir," replied Jack. "Number three torpedo, sir!"

Lord Hastings touched a b.u.t.ton and the signal board glowed. But even as Jack would have given the command to fire, a new object suddenly rose to the surface of the water and he stayed his hand.

It was a third submarine, and Jack, instead of giving the command to fire, for which the men were eagerly waiting, cried:

"Another submarine, sir! Looks like a German. She's moving toward the pirate, sir!"

Lord Hastings stepped to the periscope, pus.h.i.+ng Jack firmly aside.

"We'll move off and let them fight it out," he said. "Full speed ahead, Mr. Templeton!"

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE BATTLE AND THE ATTACK ON THE U-6.

Another few hundred yards from the two other submarines, Lord Hastings ordered the U-6 brought to a stop.

"We'll stop here a bit and watch the battle," he said.

The U-6 rose to the surface and the three officers ascended to the bridge. The pirate craft, _The Vulture_, was still upon the surface and they were able to see that Davis at that moment had climbed over the side. Together with the man who was already on the bridge he hurried below.

"Now they will submerge," said Lord Hastings.

He was right, for a moment later _The Vulture_ began to sink lower in the water. At this moment the German craft fired her first torpedo. It struck a hundred yards to the right of _The Vulture_.

"Poor shooting," declared Jack.

The others nodded.

"She'll do better next time," said Frank.

The lad proved a good prophet for the second torpedo skimmed over the water missing _The Vulture_ by inches. At the same time _The Vulture_ launched a torpedo and the three aboard the U-6 gasped as it seemed that the missile would surely strike home.

But the German submersible swerved just a trifle and the torpedo missed by a narrow margin. At the same moment the German submarine began to submerge. She escaped the fire of the pirate until her periscope also was all that was visible.

Then the pirate rose; a moment later the German craft came from below and both vessels launched torpedoes simultaneously.

Lord Hastings uttered an exclamation of astonishment.

"Of all the remarkable things I ever saw!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed.

Frank and Jack were equally astonished; and the reason was this: both torpedoes had gone true and the periscope of each vessel fell away.

"There'll be no more diving," said Lord Hastings quietly.

Now the fighting submarines, both upon the surface, launched torpedo after torpedo at each other. A shot from the pirate struck her adversary a glancing blow on the bow and the head of the little craft ducked a trifle. But she bobbed up serenely again a moment later and returned the fire.

This time her aim had been true and the torpedo grazed the top of the conning tower. _The Vulture_ also ducked, but came up again.

"It all depends upon who gets in the first square shot," said Lord Hastings, and at that moment the square shot struck.

_The Vulture_, swerving suddenly, barely escaped a torpedo from her foe, while the pirate's next torpedo struck the enemy squarely upon the bridge. There was an explosion and the German craft seemed to leap from the water. A moment later she came down in pieces, blown to atoms.

"It's all over," said Lord Hastings quietly. "Now it is time for us to put an end to that troublesome craft."