What he had seen in the mirror of the periscope was far more awful than the sight of Hermann Körner's dead body. That the great liner was doomed he could have no possible doubt. He had heard the explosion as the torpedo struck its intended mark. He had seen the immense vessel heeling over, the passengers thronging her decks and scrambling for the boats.
There were no other ships in sight to rush to the rescue. He, Max Hilliger, himself, could do nothing to help. Even if the U50 had been capable of picking up survivors, he was well aware that, in spite of their peril, there was not a soul in that sinking leviathan who would accept help from a German submarine.
Steadying himself, he took Lieutenant Körner's place and gave the command for the U50 to dive. Below in the engine-room they seemed not to have heard the sharp report of his automatic pistol, or, if they had heard it, they probably attributed the sound to some ordinary and innocent cause. But at length the quarter-master, who had been occupied in the torpedo chamber, climbed up the communication hatch to inquire into the result of the attempt upon the great liner.
"What luck, Herr Körner?" he cried excitedly. "We have struck her—yes?" He crawled into the conning-tower and at the top of the ladder stumbled over the body of the dead commander. "Ach!" he ejaculated in consternation. "What is this? What is this?"
The submarine was going down at a sharp angle, propelled by her electric motors. Max Hilliger remained at his post to give the signal when she should be deep enough, and to control the steering gear.
By the light from an electric bulb the quartermaster saw the commander's body lying grimly motionless at his feet. At first he believed it was Max Hilliger, but he was quickly undeceived. Hilliger was still at work among the instruments and switches where a few minutes earlier Hermann Körner had been. And now Hermann Körner lay dead!
"There has been an accident?" the quartermaster questioned in agitation. "How did it happen, Herr Hilliger?"
Max Hilliger rang the telegraph indicator to the engine-room, he adjusted the rudders, and turned round to answer nervously and in a trembling voice:
"No. It was not an accident. I have killed him. I need not tell you why. You know. You heard me warn him that if he touched that lever I would shoot him. You had better send up one of the other officers to take command and make me your prisoner. I will suffer the punishment for what I have done."
The quarter-master glanced swiftly at the dead officer and then back again at Hilliger. "You killed him!" he cried in amazement. "You!"