This, although serious, was a point in her favour, for Karl von Harburg, observing with savage glee the havoc he had wrought, concluded that his rival's craft was sinking for the last time to the bottom of the Red Sea. Accordingly, satisfied that he was now free to pursue his piratical acts, since the "Aphrodite" was the only submarine he feared, he backed astern, rose to the surface, and proceeded in a southerly direction towards the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. Hardly a word was spoken as the "Aphrodite" sank. Devoran, his eyes fixed upon the depth gauge, was waiting his time. He, too, realized that should the submarine rise to the surface it would merely be giving her antagonist a unique opportunity of holing another of the sections that as yet remained intact. On the other hand, he had to guard against the danger of descending too far.
Thirty fathoms; the "Aphrodite" was now in total darkness as far as the water was concerned. Within the electric lamps still burned brightly, save for a few that had been shattered at the moment of impact.
"Easy ahead!" he ordered, and as the partially flooded vessel forged slowly and laboriously ahead, the chief officer trimmed the horizontal rudders so that the resistance at a certain angle just corrected the tendency of the whole vessel to sink.
Devoran set a course due east, hoping to fetch the shallower water on the African shore. Twenty minutes later he ventured to switch on the parallel bow searchlights. Even these powerful rays failed to reveal anything more than fifty miles away. Huge fish, that are rarely seen in shallow water, flitted past the thick scuttles. They made no attempt to dart out of the way of the submarine; they were blind, since the gift of sight at these depths is useless to them.
"She's standing the strain all right," remarked the chief officer to Hythe in quite a cheerful tone.
The sub nodded appreciatively. Under similar conditions on board a British submarine the state of affairs would be hopeless. With a rent amidships, extending from the upper platform to the bilges she would have sunk instantly, and given her crew no possible chance of escape; but here was the "Aphrodite" still under control and with the odds greatly in her favour. Next to Captain Restronguet, Devoran was the most capable man in whom to trust.
"Bottom shoaling!" exclaimed the sub, as the head searchlights glimmered upon an expanse of ooze, so shapeless and ill-defined that it required a practised hand to distinguish it from the deep sea.
The chief officer instantly adjusted the planes, and the submarine, though lacking her usual sensitiveness to the action of the horizontal rudders, rose steadily.
At twenty fathoms the bottom ceased to shoal, and in place of the slimy mud appeared fantastic formation of coral; a sure sign that shallower water was not far off. Again the "Aphrodite" was brought nearer the surface, till the welcome sunlight could be faintly noticed.
"Ten fathoms," announced Devoran. "This is our limit. We must carry on till we ground. Look! what a rent, by Jove!"