"No. 3 torpedo! Fire!"
Once more the click and then nothing but silence. A moment later Lord Hastings hurried below.
"Submerge!" he ordered.
CHAPTER XXII.
TOWARD OSTEND AGAIN.
Jack had been ready for this command and repeated Lord Hastings' words immediately. Not a second was lost, and a moment later the tanks began to fill and the submarine sank lower and lower in the water.
Jack, who had glued his eye to the periscope, gazed at the German battleships as long as it stayed above water. In the few moments that it took the craft to submerge, he saw that two of the enemy's craft had been struck and that the other two had trained their big guns upon the U-6. His heart beat fast, for he was afraid the submarine would be unable to put a thick enough blanket of water above it to withstand the German shell, should the first shot be gauged accurately.
Just before the periscope disappeared beneath the surface, cutting off the lad's view, he heard the faint sound of a gun. He braced himself for the shock that he expected; but none came. The first shell had gone wide and he breathed easier. Before the second shot came, the U-6 was safe in the depths.
"Pretty close," the lad muttered aloud.