"We've got to pull it off this time or go to the bottom," he said.
"Ten days' leave or good-bye all," commented Trent grimly.
The Knat, which had fallen a little astern of her hoped-for victim, darted forward at full speed and, as she came up on the cruiser's starboard quarter, was met by a terrific fire. The two for'a'd funnels were reduced to the condition of sieves, the wireless room was smashed to splinters, and Lawless himself narrowly escaped death from a shell which burst just above the bridge. The quartermaster was killed on the spot, but as he fell Lawless sprang to the wheel and took charge of it himself.
"Stand by!" he roared to the men at the torpedo tubes, and then as the Knat, reeling under the blast of fire, came abreast of the cruiser, he shouted "Fire!"
The shining messenger of death leapt from the port tube and, as it did so, a shell struck the destroyer amidships. There was a loud explosion; from the engine-room gratings there issued clouds of smoke and scalding steam; the shrieks of wounded and scalded men arose above the din, and the Knat, struck in a vital spot, canted over on her port side and began to settle. She, at any rate, had fought her last fight.
"Pipe all hands stand by to abandon ship!" roared the Lieutenant, and somewhere amid the drifting grey fog there came the sound of another explosion.
The destroyer gave another lurch and the water came swirling over her decks.
"Abandon ship! Every man for himself!"
The men sprang into the sea, and not a moment too soon. As Lawless gave his last order there came the sound of another explosion in the engine-room and, before the steam from the shattered boilers had cleared away, nothing remained of the gallant little vessel but a mass of crumpled metal at the bottom of the North Sea and some wreckage floating upon the surface.
Lawless, who was still at the wheel when the Knat took her final plunge, was drawn down by the suction of the sinking vessel. Instinctively he struck out as soon as the waves closed above his head, but it seemed to him that he must be miles and miles below the surface. A horrible feeling of impending suffocation and an almost intolerable pressure on his lungs oppressed him as he struck upwards. At last, when his chest felt as if it were about to burst, he reached the surface and trod water while he sucked in deep breaths of air. Then, through the thin veil of mist, he caught sight of what looked like the hull of a vessel or, at any rate, something solid and capable of affording support. He started to swim towards it, hoping it might be some ship which had arrived on the scene since the fight, and not caring much whether it proved to be a friend or an enemy.