“Quite likely this ship met the fishing boat and took him off so as to save the other the trouble of going clear back to England!”
“No doubt that’s it,” agreed Jack. “But look!” he continued, “he’s discovered us! See him pointing toward us!”
“Better get ready to dive, then,” cautioned Harry. “If he’s able, he’ll get them to shoot at us. If they hit the ‘U-13’ it’ll be a long way to Tipperary for us! We don’t know how thick this armor is!”
“Down we go!” shouted Jimmie, seizing the wheel. “Lively, now!”
Even as the boy spoke, a muffled roar was distinctly heard by the lads in the submarine. A crash that reverberated through every portion of the vessel told that they had been hit by a projectile.
With a quick, startled glance at his companions, Ned hastened aft to examine the possible damage. He could discover no leak.
“I guess we’re lucky, after all!” he stated presently. “We’re not taking in water, so I’m sure they didn’t do very much damage.”
“It might have been more serious, though!” commented Jack.
“Maybe the shot just carried away some of the light work like railings and so on around the deck. I don’t think the shot struck the hull, or we’d have heard more racket,” went on Ned.
“Let’s keep below the surface for a while. Maybe we can get away from those fellows far enough to be out of their sight while we change air. They’re not the least bit sociable!”