"Submerged, sir?"
"No; on the surface. Time and speed are to be considered."
As the "Aphrodite" came in sight of the coast--a low-lying expanse of sand dunes fringed with a belt of milk-white surf--the hull of a large vessel could be distinguished. Ere long those on the submarine made out that the ship was aground and was heeling at a dangerous angle. She was funnelless, being driven by internal combustion engines. Her masts were still standing, though threatening to go by the board as each sullen roller thrashed against her lofty sides.
Hoisted half way to her mainmast head was the Red Ensign--upside down--as a signal of distress.
Barely two hundred yards to starboard of the stranded vessel was a break in the line of surf and a corresponding break in the coast-line, where either a river gained the sea or the sea formed a narrow inlet. Drawn up on shore at the point formed by the entrance to the creek were three ship's boats, while a quantity of boxes and casks, apparently thrown overboard from the wrecked vessel, fringed the beach.
On a sandy hillock, standing well apart from the rest of the dunes and within fifty yards of the inlet, were several men in European clothes, who, kneeling behind a shallow embankment of sand, were firing at a foe invisible to the crew of the "Aphrodite."
Three or four had been hit, for they were lying on the sand to the rear of the defences, while, judging by the smoke and the louder reports, the crew of the stranded vessel were being attacked by a far more numerous body of men armed with rifles firing black powder.
"Arabs!" exclaimed Devoran laconically, without removing his binoculars from his eyes.
"Or Somalis," added Captain Restronguet. "Clearly we are in the nick of time, for as soon as it gets dark those fellows will rush the seamen and massacre every man-jack of them."
Hythe could not help wondering how the crew of the submarine could render any effective assistance. The canvas boat had been lost in the encounter with the "Vorwartz," since it was stowed under the midship hatchway.