"Oh!" he gasped. "That was a close shave. I might have been electrocuted!"
By this time he heard Andy calling to him.
"Here I am, in the engine room," he called back.
"Stop the boat! We are shipping water fast!" came from Andy.
"I can't stop her!" replied Oscar. "Shut the trap-door at once."
Without delay Andy tried to follow out the order given.
No sooner had he touched the steel plate than he gave a gasp and fell down the companionway and lay like one dead.
The fall reached Oscar's ears and he came out to see what was the matter.
Then the terrible truth burst upon him.
The bolt of lightning had disarranged the electric machinery on board of the Holland XI. and the submarine craft was now at the mercy of the powerful current which seemed to be beyond control.