"Haste make!" snarled the unter-leutnant.
"Good luck, men!" exclaimed the sub. "I hope to see you again soon."
He stepped into the boat and was taken alongside the submarine. Under the direction of the unter-leutnant, the prisoner was removed below, hatches were battened down, and the disappearing guns lowered into the water-tight house. Judging by the kapitan-leutnant's excited orders the U-boat was in a hurry. She dived steeply and was lost to sight.
For some moments the handful of bluejackets on the raft gazed at the swirl that marked the spot where the U-boat had disappeared; then Sampson gave vent to a loud shout.
"Hurrah, my hearties!" he announced. "Here comes a destroyer."
The men cheered, but not with their customary vigour, for they remembered that they had lost their young commanding officer.
"An' another five minutes would have made all the difference," said one sententiously.
"No wonder Fritz was in a bloomin' hurry."