Jack took command now, pending the arrival of Lord Hastings from his cabin below. At the same moment a second and a third periscope, still some distance away, came into view.
"Aft, there!" cried Jack, and the batteries in the stern opened upon the submarines.
Jack signaled the engine room for full speed ahead and at a word to the helmsman the Lawrence swung sharply and headed for the nest of submarines.
Lord Hastings appeared on deck at this moment, closely followed by Frank. The commander of the Lawrence took in the situation at a glance.
"Wireless the two cruisers to keep position," he shouted to Frank. "Order the destroyers to follow us. There may be more of the enemy to port," he explained.
Frank passed the word and the fourth officer dashed for the wireless room.
A moment later the two cruisers to port, which had swerved with the apparent intention of following the Lawrence toward the foe, swung back into position, as did the vessels that guarded the transports on the port side. The two destroyers, however, veered sharply and dashed after the Lawrence.
Again, at Lord Hastings' command, the three cruisers protecting the transports to starboard also remained in line. This, Lord Hastings explained later, he had deemed advisable because a submarine might have pushed a torpedo through to a transport had they moved out of line.
One of the cruisers making up the rear guard, however, the American cruiser Huron, dashed toward the submarines.
And now it became apparent that there were not only three submarines to contend, with—there were at least five or six. The flotilla had run into a veritable nest of the undersea terrors.