CHAPTER XIII.
THE BATTLE!
There was an instant of awful silence; then came the command:
“Fire!”
There was a horrible noise, louder by far than the loudest clap of thunder; the Sylph quivered, then seemed to leap back. The big guns on the starboard side of the little vessel had poured forth their volley.
So close had the Sylph approached to the enemy without being discovered that a miss was impossible; and the suddenness of this unexpected attack took the Germans completely off their guard. There came a voice from above:
“A hit! A hit!”
The Sylph now shook and trembled continuously, as broadside after broadside was poured into the enemy, first from one side and then from the other, as the little vessel maneuvered, presenting first one side and then the other to the enemy.
Although taken practically unprepared, the Germans had no mind to give up without a fight. One of the shells from the Sylph had passed through the cabin of the commander, leaving death and ruin in its wake; a second tore a great hole through the smokestack, and she had been pierced in other vulnerable spots.
The marksmanship of the British gunners was superb!
But now the Germans had brought their big guns to bear on the little vessel. There was a gigantic boom, followed immediately by the sound of a great crash. The shell had struck one of the guns of the Sylph, blowing it to pieces.
There was a shower of iron, and men fell on all sides as it rained upon the deck. At Gun No. 2 the gunner crumpled up and fell to the deck just as he was about to fire.
“Report this to Lord Hastings!” cried Jack to Frank, and the latter rushed upon deck.
Jack leaped to the gun and touched it off with his own hand. His action was rewarded by a great shout from on deck, followed by a terrific explosion.
Another German shell struck the gun deck of the Sylph, and again several men went to the deck. But as they fell others jumped to take their places, Jack among them.
For another few minutes the battle raged without cessation. Jack continued to work like a Trojan; Frank, returning from above, where he had reported to Lord Hastings, saw his friend running, shouting, fighting with the others, stripped to the waist.
With a shout, Frank rushed to his side, arriving just in time to touch off a gun as the gunner fell beside it.
Then, suddenly, there came from above the command:
“Cease firing!”
As if by magic the night became still. After the great noise and confusion of the battle the sudden stillness was so intense that the boys’ ears hurt. Then they made their way to the deck.
And what a sight met their eyes!
Before them the sea was covered with a mass of wreckage. The stately German cruiser of a few minutes before was like so much floating débris.
“Great Scott!” exclaimed Jack. “Did we do all that?”
“I guess we did,” replied Frank.
“Mr. Chadwick! Mr. Templeton!” came the voice of Lord Hastings. “You will man two of the boats at once and pick up as many as possible of those poor fellows in the sea!”
The lads rushed to obey this order, and soon were busily engaged in rescuing the German sailors clinging to the débris and swimming about in the water.
For almost an hour they rowed about, picking up the unfortunate Germans.
Although a mass of wreckage, the German cruiser had not yet sunk, but it was plainly apparent that it was settling rapidly. On the bridge Jack made out the form of a man in uniform. It was undoubtedly the commander.
“By George,” declared Jack, “we must get him off!”
“It’s no use,” spoke up one of the German officers who had been picked up. “He refused to leave the ship. We tried to prevail upon him to jump, but he said he would stick to his post.”
“Even so,” replied Jack, “we must make an effort to save him.”
“It’s useless,” repeated the German.
The little boat was rowed closer in spite of the German’s words, and Jack called to the German commander:
“Jump, sir, and we will save you.”
The German looked at the lad, but made no reply, and Jack repeated:
“Jump. We will get you all right.”
Slowly the German commander drew a revolver, and, pointing it at the boat, exclaimed:
“Keep away, or I shall fire!”
As Jack did not immediately order his men to move away, the German officer in the boat exclaimed:
“You would better do as he says. Besides, the ship will sink in a moment, and the suction will draw us under if we do not move from here.”
At the same moment Frank, returning to the Sylph with his boat filled with survivors, called:
“Get back quick, Jack, or you will be drawn under!”
Jack looked once more at the German commander, who still stood with leveled revolver, and then turned to his men:
“Give way!” he commanded, and the little boat headed once more for the Sylph.
The small boat withdrew from the danger zone none too soon.
When still a few yards from the Sylph, Jack turned his face toward the sinking cruiser. As he did so, the sinking craft gave a convulsive shudder, then the sea closed over it. The last thing that Jack saw was the commander, standing calmly on the bridge, awaiting the end. He went to his death with bared head, standing at attention. Jack will remember the sight till his dying day.
“A brave man!” was all he said, lifting his cap from his head.
Back on the Sylph, Frank and Jack learned that the casualties in the battle had been comparatively slight. Ten men had been killed and twenty-two wounded. Two of the latter were not expected to live. The German shells had done considerable damage to the Sylph, particularly upon the gun deck. Lord Hastings declared, however, that this could be patched up with very little difficulty.
It was during a talk with Lord Hastings, while the commander of the Sylph and the two boys watched the approach of the British cruiser Lancaster, that Jack learned just what an important part he had played in the engagement.
“It was a single shot that put the German out of business,” declared Lord Hastings. “It was just after the first fire from the German hit us, killing some of the gun crew.”
Jack looked surprised, but said nothing.
“A second later,” continued Lord Hastings, “there was a single shot from the Sylph. The shell penetrated to the magazine on the cruiser, and it exploded. Although the Germans fought for some time thereafter, that was the shot that decided the battle; it was the shot that sunk the ship.”
He turned to Jack. “You were in the gun room at the time,” he said; “do you know who fired that shot?”
“Yes, sir,” replied Jack, in some confusion.
“Who was it, then?”
“I fired it, sir!”
“What!” exclaimed Lord Hastings and Frank in the same breath.
“Yes, sir, I fired it; but it was just luck that I hit anything.”
“A shot like that can hardly be called luck,” replied Lord Hastings.
“Well, it was luck as far as I am concerned,” said Jack. “The gun had already been sighted. I just touched it off when Mitchel fell to the deck.”
“The hand of Providence has surely been with us this night,” declared Lord Hastings.
A sailor approached with a message.
“A message from the wireless room, sir,” he said.
Lord Hastings took the paper he extended. He read aloud:
“Your report received. Congratulations on your gallant victory. We are proud of you all, and are sorry we could not be in at the death. Stand by, I am coming on board. Will relieve you of your prisoners.
Lieutenant Edwards approached at this juncture and saluted.
“A boat from the Lancaster is coming alongside, sir,” he reported.