Schneider jumped on the rail and leaned outward in order to get a better view of the forward end of the ship.
“The Exec. has left the bridge!” he cried. “What’s happened now?”
“Calm down! He’s probably run down the steps and crossed that gangway to the foremast. Yes, there he is! See him? He’s climbed up to the lookout. Gosh, that lad’s got a voice. You can hear him bellowing orders all over the ship, I’ll bet.”
“He’s a good officer,” admitted the Lieutenant, getting off the rail. “Too bad the Herr Baron is not able to take command. He would use the Flying Fish to get us out of this mess.” He pointed to the submarine racing along off their starboard quarter. “Donner und Blitzen! I believe she is going to submerge!”
“The very best thing she could do, under the circumstances,” Bill asserted. “What would you have her do—head over yonder and let go a torpedo?”
“Wasn’t she built for that kind of thing?” Lieutenant Schneider’s tone was still nettled.
“Perhaps she was, but not in a position of this kind. That cruiser would blow her out of the water before she got near enough to make a torpedo effective!”
“If that’s the case, why don’t you go aboard her and get busy with her in the air?”
“And stop both the Flying Fish and ourselves while a boat is being lowered and I am ferried over to her? Even if the Amtonia was able to get away, the Flying Fish would be blown to pieces long before she was ready to take off. Weren’t you in the merchant service before you shipped aboard this raider?”
“I was—but why?”