“Yes, sir, all the men are at battle stations now. I’ll wait, sir.” He hung up.
“The Skipper says to wait,” he explained “He—”
He broke off short for at that moment the lookout sang out:
“A sub off the port side.”
“Sub—sub off the port side,” came echoing back.
At once there came the sound of running feet, of guns swung to position, and more shouts: “Subs! Subs!”
Sally dashed to the rail. Just what she meant to do, she did not know. At any rate, it was never done for, at that instant, a gun roared and in three split seconds a shell crashed into the radio cabin.
“Torpedo!” a voice shouted.
“Hard to port! Hard to port!” the man on the bridge roared.
With a sense of doom Sally saw the radio cabin smashed, then saw a torpedo leave the sub. Fascinated, terrified, she watched it come. It seemed alive. It played like a porpoise. First it was in the air above the water, then beneath the water.