Still Captain Restronguet stood by. He was not so sure that the "Pique" might not share the same fate as the "Topaze" since the "Vorwartz," going south, was almost bound to fall in with the British cruiser from Delagoa Bay.
Just then the "Topaze" gave a sudden lurch to starboard, heeling so much that the line of men still remaining on board was broken. But only for an instant, it was the unexpected lurch and not panic that caused the seamen to move out of position. Sharply they redressed line--and waited.
Boat after boat received its full complement, and pushed off to a safe distance lest the cruiser in her final plunge should swamp them. Not until the last of his officers and men had taken to the boats did the gallant captain descend from the bridge.
It was touch and go with him, for to gain the boat he had to wade up to his waist in water that swirled over the steeply sloping decks.
"She's going!" ejaculated Devoran.
Heeling more and more the "Topaze" turned completely on end, so that the whole length of her keel plates and her four propellers were out of water. Then, slipping bows foremost, she disappeared from view in a smother of foam, leaving only an expanse of oil and petrol, a few floating pieces of timber and her boats to mark the grave of a splendid cruiser. Twenty seconds after she had disappeared the muffled sound of an explosion--the bursting of the air in one of her compartments--threw up a column of water that almost swamped the nearest boat, the gig in which Captain Sedgwyke had taken refuge. That was the last message from the "Topaze" as she sped to her ocean grave one hundred and eighty fathoms beneath the surface.
CHAPTER XXVII.
A PILOT UNDER COMPULSION.
Dawn was just breaking as the "Pique" arrived on the scene of the disaster. Her escape, of which her crew were totally in ignorance, was owing solely to the fact that Karl von Harburg had fired his last torpedo at the ill-fated "Topaze." His means of offence were now reduced, for the power of being able to deliver his antagonist a smashing blow below the surface was no longer possible: he could only ram. Yet the captain of the "Vorwartz" hesitated to attempt to deal thus with the "Pique." The British cruiser had passed within two cables' length of where the modern buccaneer was running beneath the surface; but the risks to himself by ramming a large armoured vessel travelling at thirty knots were far too great.
Seeing that he could render no further assistance Captain Restronguet ordered the "Aphrodite" to be submerged. It was the safest plan, for although he communicated with the "Pique" by wireless, the message was not in code, and the British cruiser, determined to take no risks, might open fire at the submarine.