“You needn’t be told, of course,” went on Frank, “that we lost little time making preparations. One of the sailors disputed my right to take my kit into the small boat. I objected and he cracked me on the jaw. When I recovered I was alone on the vessel. The boats were at some little distance away, with the crew pulling like racers.
“For a moment I was quite desperate, not knowing how to escape. I thought of trying to signal the submarine, but could see the vessel just launching a torpedo. Seemingly the whole after end of the ship was shattered by the explosion. As soon as I could I tried to signal the enemy, but they were just turning about to leave the spot.
“Maybe I didn’t hustle about some. The ship was already filling rapidly. The stern was settling fast. All the boats were gone. I could see nothing to serve as a float. Desperately I seized a capstan bar and knocked the wedges and battens off a hatch cover. Then I got a small piece of line. I passed it through a ring bolt and made fast. I figured that when the ship went down the cover would float free for a raft on which I could keep up. Before I was fully ready the compressed air blew the cover off with a ‘boom’. It landed close to the rail.
“Just as the hull took a last slant I jumped overboard. After swimming quite a distance away I saw the ship go down. I turned back. There was my hatch cover floating just as I expected.”
Here Frank paused to extend his hand for another cup of coffee.
“You’re the wise little Scout!” declared Jimmie, admiringly.
“Sure!” agreed Frank. “Then,” he continued, “I floated around for the rest of the day on that hatch cover. Toward evening I saw a smoke off to the southwest. It was just out of the glare of the sun. When it got nearer I knew it was a steamer bound for England or some nearby place. It was the Anne of Melbourne. So here I am!”
“But what about this ‘U-13’?” inquired Harry, eagerly.
“Oh, yes, I nearly forgot,” said Frank. “The submarine that torpedoed the ship was marked ‘U-13’ on the side!”
“They’ve been doing a lot of that, according to the newspapers!” stated Ned. “But why do you warn us to look out for her?” he asked.