"The old ship seems to be hanging on. We may as well have a look below and see if there's anything of value in our cabins."
Bidding the gig lie off at a boat's length from the ship, which was now tilted at such an angle that her propellers were clear of the water, Captain Holloway, followed by Terence, disappeared down the little companion just abaft the after 4.7-in. gun.
Although Aubyn had been on board the torpedo-gunboat only a week he was thoroughly familiar with the appearance of the little box-room dubbed by courtesy a cabin. It would be difficult to describe its shape, for being well aft she was cut into by the "run" of the ship's side as it approached the stern-post. It was lighted by two scuttles, or circular ports. Immediately beneath these lights was his bunk, extending from bulkhead to bulkhead, yet barely long enough for him to lie at full length.
Underneath the bunk were two mahogany drawers. In one of the two corners of the cabin, which were rectangular, stood a wash-basin, hidden from view by a green baize curtain. Against the opposite bulkhead was a very small stove, its brasswork polished to a high degree. Somewhere between the rest of the space was a chair which had to be moved whenever the occupant of the cabin crossed from one side of his personal and private domain to the other. Even the steel ceiling, coated with cork cement, in a feeble attempt to prevent "sweating" of the metal, was utilized for a secondary purpose; from here hung the sub.'s enamelled iron bath.
Being well aft Aubyn's cabin had escaped much of the force of the explosion, but most of the loose gear had been displaced and lodged in the angle formed by the sloping floor and bulkhead. Two photographs in silver frames, their glasses smashed to atoms, lay on the carpet in company with the sub.'s silver cigarette-case, his watch and chain and a toilet-case—the latter a present from his headmaster upon leaving school. That little heap represented practically the whole of his worldly belongings in the way of luxuries: he could have stowed the lot inside his sweater.
Yet he did nothing of the sort. Like a man in a trance he stood in the doorway. Unaccountably the dazed feeling that gripped him immediately after the ship had received her death-blow took possession of him again. There he remained, gazing at the scene of disorder, without stirring a finger to save his treasures, until he was aroused by Captain Holloway exclaiming:—
"Look alive, Mr. Aubyn. She's going."
Up the companion raced the two officers. The ship was trembling violently. Air bubbles, escaping through the submerged scuttles, agitated the water alongside. The whole of the fore-part of the "Terrier," as far as the base of the after funnel, was under the waves. It was even a difficult matter to cross the deck from the companion to the side.
The gig backed. Captain Holloway signed to the sub. to leap; then giving a last look round he followed Aubyn into the boat.
"Lay on your oars, man," he ordered, after the gig had gone a hundred yards from the sinking ship.