Captain Nicholson noticed the expression on their faces, and took time to remark:
"I suppose we should all be thinking with pity of the dead and dying above us, but when you're a hundred feet or so below, the shots and cries of battle are neither exciting nor gruesome."
The gallant commander was now steering a course for the third of the Turkish cruisers.
"Guess I won't go so close this time," he remarked. "I'll fire at longer range, so we won't have so far to go among the wreckage of all three when we leave."
Ten minutes, later the submarine came within the desired range, unobserved by the cruiser, which was lowering her boats to go to the help of the others. Captain Nicholson stood with his hand on the toggle of the firing valve, reading the range scale.
Suddenly there was a terrific shock. Every man on board the submarine was knocked off his feet, and the submarine went rapidly to the bottom. Jack was knocked unconscious by the suddenness and force of the shock.
When he opened his eyes again, Frank was bending over him.
"What's the matter?" he gasped.
"Shot hit us, I guess," was Frank's calm reply.
The lad was right. Two small Turkish gunboats, whose presence in the harbor was not known to Captain Nicholson, had approached the scene of battle, and making out the submarine's periscope, had opened on her with the big guns. One shot had gone true, and it was this that had sent the Y-3 careening to the bottom.