“Shell has burst abaft the afterhouse companion. Two of after gun crew killed. Volunteers take their places. We have put a shell through enemy’s upperworks.”
“Great! Keep it up!” chattered the Colodia’s radio.
“Another shell has reached us aft. Women and children sent forward to forecastle.”
The final sentence, read aloud by an officer from the bridge, excited the crew of the Colodia to the utmost.
The American seamen were spurred to fighting pitch now. Their only desire was to get at the raider and her crew.
“It’s a running fight between her and the Susanne,” Morgan said to Al Torrance. “Otherwise the German shells might have reached the sugar ship’s engines before this.”
“Think of them shelling that merchant ship that has women passengers aboard!” groaned Al. “What can those Germans be thinking of? What will happen to them after this war is over?”
“They all believe they are going to win,” Belding said gloomily. “That is what is the matter. And if they should, the whole world will be treated just as ruthlessly as the Germans please.”
“Don’t talk that way! Don’t talk that way!” shouted Al. “I won’t listen to such a possibility! They can’t win this war, and that’s all there is to it!”
“Quiet, there,” admonished the voice of an officer, and the boys subsided to whispered comments, one to the other.