The attacking submarine had evidently meant to see the job done properly. Mindful of the risk of being sent to the bottom by the attendant German destroyers, the British craft had stealthily exposed her periscope for a brief instant, yet sufficient for her to send a deadly torpedo on its errand of destruction.
By this time the crew of the Kondor had come to the conclusion that their prisoners had seen much more than was desirable. Peremptorily Jack and Leslie were ordered below. The latter, unable to restrain his delight, pointed mockingly at the boastful writing on the notice-board, receiving a brutal kick on his shins for his temerity.
"I don't mind, Jack," remarked Leslie, when, left alone by their captors, the sub examined the angry abrasion on his brother's leg. "I'd let them give me another hack without a murmur if I could see another German battleship go the same way home."
After a long interval, a meal consisting of very dry tinned meat and hunks of black bread was provided for the famished prisoners, the unpalatable food being washed down with a pannikin of warm and insipid water.
The unappetizing repast over, the two prisoners were again allowed on deck. By this time there were no signs either of the stricken battleship or her attendant destroyers. The Kondor, alone on the wide North Sea, was steaming at about 12 knots on an easterly course. The rest of the crew had by now discarded their German uniforms. There was nothing to denote that the vessel had ever sailed under the Black Cross Ensign of the Imperial German Navy.
Suddenly, and right in the frothing wake of the Kondor, appeared two pole-like objects--the periscopes of a submarine. Then, without the hesitancy generally displayed by unterseebooten when about to attack a merchantman, a British submarine of the "E" class shook her conning-tower and deck clear of the water. Her hatches were flung open, and a number of duffel-clad seamen appeared. Quickly a light signalling-mast was set up, from which two flags fluttered in the breeze.
There was no mistaking the meaning of that yellow square flag with the black ball, hoisted above a triangular blue pennant with a white spot. As plainly as if a shot had been fired across the Kondor's bows, the signal "ID" told her to "stop instantly or I will fire into you". Besides, it saved ammunition, and the lieutenant-commander of the submarine did not consider the prize worth powder and shot.
But the German skipper was not a man to own that the game was up without making an effort to save himself and his ship. A stumbling-block in his way was Jack Sefton and his brother.
At a sign four burly Huns threw themselves upon the prisoners. For a full minute the sub resisted stoutly, while Leslie put up a tough struggle against odds. Others of the crew came to their compatriots' aid, and, still struggling, the two captives were taken below and locked in the cell in the for'ard hold.