CHAPTER XVII.
THE END OF THE "BLUECHER."
The "Livingstone," second destroyer in the port-column of the flotilla, was speeding through the long undulations of the North Sea at a modest twenty knots. It was barely a quarter past seven on Sunday morning. Dawn had not begun to show in the eastern sky, and although a dozen or so of the destroyers were in company, only the partly-screened stern lights of the one ahead and the phosphorescent swirl of the one next astern betrayed the presence of others of the flotilla.
Something was in the air. Officers and crew knew that, but vaguely. Orders, significant in their brevity, had been issued overnight for the ship's company to bathe and change into clean clothes. That in itself meant the possibility of an action, while the sudden call to the flotilla to proceed to sea instead of completing the fortnight's "stand-by" in the Forth indicated that no minor operations were contemplated.
The "Livingstone" was cleared for action. Ammunition had been served up, fire hoses rigged, deck fittings removed, and every other possible precaution taken to safeguard the frail craft in the impending action.
The crew were on the tip-toe of expectation: eager to get in touch with the enemy and fearful lest they should find themselves out on a wild-goose chase.
The action, should it materialize, would not be of a minor character, for broad on the starboard beam of the flotilla, though invisible in the darkness, were the giant battle-cruisers "Lion," "Tiger," "Princess Royal," "New Zealand," and "Indomitable."
Flung out, fanwise, were the handy and hard-hitting light-cruisers, supported by other destroyer flotillas, and serving as a screen to the battle-cruisers should any hostile torpedo-craft attempt their vaunted "lancer-thrust" against them.
"Something doin' this time, Aubyn," remarked Gilroy, who was responsible for keeping the "Livingstone" in station. "Wireless from the 'Arethusa' just through, reporting strong enemy squadron. There—look."
The sub. turned his head just in time to catch the flash of a distant gun, quickly followed by another and another. Half a minute later came the dull rumble of the first report. The light-cruisers were in touch with the enemy away to sou'-sou'-east.