<SPAN name="chap02"></SPAN>
<h3> Chapter 2 </h3>
<p>Toward morning, I must have dozed, though it seemed to me at the time
that I had lain awake for days, instead of hours. When I finally
opened my eyes, it was daylight, and the girl's hair was in my face,
and she was breathing normally. I thanked God for that. She had
turned her head during the night so that as I opened my eyes I saw her
face not an inch from mine, my lips almost touching hers.</p>
<p>It was Nobs who finally awoke her. He got up, stretched, turned around
a few times and lay down again, and the girl opened her eyes and looked
into mine. Hers went very wide at first, and then slowly comprehension
came to her, and she smiled.</p>
<p>"You have been very good to me," she said, as I helped her to rise,
though if the truth were known I was more in need of assistance than
she; the circulation all along my left side seeming to be paralyzed
entirely. "You have been very good to me." And that was the only
mention she ever made of it; yet I know that she was thankful and that
only reserve prevented her from referring to what, to say the least,
was an embarrassing situation, however unavoidable.</p>
<p>Shortly after daylight we saw smoke apparently coming straight toward
us, and after a time we made out the squat lines of a tug—one of those
fearless exponents of England's supremacy of the sea that tows sailing
ships into French and English ports. I stood up on a thwart and waved
my soggy coat above my head. Nobs stood upon another and barked. The
girl sat at my feet straining her eyes toward the deck of the oncoming
boat. "They see us," she said at last. "There is a man answering your
signal." She was right. A lump came into my throat—for her sake
rather than for mine. She was saved, and none too soon. She could not
have lived through another night upon the Channel; she might not have
lived through the coming day.</p>
<p>The tug came close beside us, and a man on deck threw us a rope.
Willing hands dragged us to the deck, Nobs scrambling nimbly aboard
without assistance. The rough men were gentle as mothers with the
girl. Plying us both with questions they hustled her to the captain's
cabin and me to the boiler-room. They told the girl to take off her
wet clothes and throw them outside the door that they might be dried,
and then to slip into the captain's bunk and get warm. They didn't
have to tell me to strip after I once got into the warmth of the
boiler-room. In a jiffy, my clothes hung about where they might dry
most quickly, and I myself was absorbing, through every pore, the
welcome heat of the stifling compartment. They brought us hot soup and
coffee, and then those who were not on duty sat around and helped me
damn the Kaiser and his brood.</p>
<p>As soon as our clothes were dry, they bade us don them, as the chances
were always more than fair in those waters that we should run into
trouble with the enemy, as I was only too well aware. What with the
warmth and the feeling of safety for the girl, and the knowledge that a
little rest and food would quickly overcome the effects of her
experiences of the past dismal hours, I was feeling more content than I
had experienced since those three whistle-blasts had shattered the
peace of my world the previous afternoon.</p>
<p>But peace upon the Channel has been but a transitory thing since
August, 1914. It proved itself such that morning, for I had scarce
gotten into my dry clothes and taken the girl's apparel to the
captain's cabin when an order was shouted down into the engine-room for
full speed ahead, and an instant later I heard the dull boom of a gun.
In a moment I was up on deck to see an enemy submarine about two
hundred yards off our port bow. She had signaled us to stop, and our
skipper had ignored the order; but now she had her gun trained on us,
and the second shot grazed the cabin, warning the belligerent
tug-captain that it was time to obey. Once again an order went down to
the engine-room, and the tug reduced speed. The U-boat ceased firing
and ordered the tug to come about and approach. Our momentum had
carried us a little beyond the enemy craft, but we were turning now on
the arc of a circle that would bring us alongside her. As I stood
watching the maneuver and wondering what was to become of us, I felt
something touch my elbow and turned to see the girl standing at my
side. She looked up into my face with a rueful expression. "They seem
bent on our destruction," she said, "and it looks like the same boat
that sunk us yesterday."</p>
<p>"It is," I replied. "I know her well. I helped design her and took
her out on her first run."</p>
<p>The girl drew back from me with a little exclamation of surprise and
disappointment. "I thought you were an American," she said. "I had no
idea you were a—a—"</p>
<p>"Nor am I," I replied. "Americans have been building submarines for
all nations for many years. I wish, though, that we had gone bankrupt,
my father and I, before ever we turned out that Frankenstein of a
thing."</p>
<p>We were approaching the U-boat at half speed now, and I could almost
distinguish the features of the men upon her deck. A sailor stepped to
my side and slipped something hard and cold into my hand. I did not
have to look at it to know that it was a heavy pistol. "Tyke 'er an'
use 'er," was all he said.</p>
<p>Our bow was pointed straight toward the U-boat now as I heard word
passed to the engine for full speed ahead. I instantly grasped the
brazen effrontery of the plucky English skipper—he was going to ram
five hundreds tons of U-boat in the face of her trained gun. I could
scarce repress a cheer. At first the boches didn't seem to grasp his
intention. Evidently they thought they were witnessing an exhibition
of poor seamanship, and they yelled their warnings to the tug to reduce
speed and throw the helm hard to port.</p>
<p>We were within fifty feet of them when they awakened to the intentional
menace of our maneuver. Their gun crew was off its guard; but they
sprang to their piece now and sent a futile shell above our heads.
Nobs leaped about and barked furiously. "Let 'em have it!" commanded
the tug-captain, and instantly revolvers and rifles poured bullets upon
the deck of the submersible. Two of the gun-crew went down; the other
trained their piece at the water-line of the oncoming tug. The balance
of those on deck replied to our small-arms fire, directing their
efforts toward the man at our wheel.</p>
<p>I hastily pushed the girl down the companionway leading to the
engine-room, and then I raised my pistol and fired my first shot at a
boche. What happened in the next few seconds happened so quickly that
details are rather blurred in my memory. I saw the helmsman lunge
forward upon the wheel, pulling the helm around so that the tug sheered
off quickly from her course, and I recall realizing that all our
efforts were to be in vain, because of all the men aboard, Fate had
decreed that this one should fall first to an enemy bullet. I saw the
depleted gun-crew on the submarine fire their piece and I felt the
shock of impact and heard the loud explosion as the shell struck and
exploded in our bows.</p>
<p>I saw and realized these things even as I was leaping into the
pilot-house and grasping the wheel, standing astride the dead body of
the helmsman. With all my strength I threw the helm to starboard; but
it was too late to effect the purpose of our skipper. The best I did
was to scrape alongside the sub. I heard someone shriek an order into
the engine-room; the boat shuddered and trembled to the sudden
reversing of the engines, and our speed quickly lessened. Then I saw
what that madman of a skipper planned since his first scheme had gone
wrong.</p>
<p>With a loud-yelled command, he leaped to the slippery deck of the
submersible, and at his heels came his hardy crew. I sprang from the
pilot-house and followed, not to be left out in the cold when it came
to strafing the boches. From the engine room companionway came the
engineer and stockers, and together we leaped after the balance of the
crew and into the hand-to-hand fight that was covering the wet deck
with red blood. Beside me came Nobs, silent now, and grim. Germans
were emerging from the open hatch to take part in the battle on deck.
At first the pistols cracked amidst the cursing of the men and the loud
commands of the commander and his junior; but presently we were too
indiscriminately mixed to make it safe to use our firearms, and the
battle resolved itself into a hand-to-hand struggle for possession of
the deck.</p>
<p>The sole aim of each of us was to hurl one of the opposing force into
the sea. I shall never forget the hideous expression upon the face of
the great Prussian with whom chance confronted me. He lowered his head
and rushed at me, bellowing like a bull. With a quick side-step and
ducking low beneath his outstretched arms, I eluded him; and as he
turned to come back at me, I landed a blow upon his chin which sent him
spinning toward the edge of the deck. I saw his wild endeavors to
regain his equilibrium; I saw him reel drunkenly for an instant upon
the brink of eternity and then, with a loud scream, slip into the sea.
At the same instant a pair of giant arms encircled me from behind and
lifted me entirely off my feet. Kick and squirm as I would, I could
neither turn toward my antagonist nor free myself from his maniacal
grasp. Relentlessly he was rushing me toward the side of the vessel
and death. There was none to stay him, for each of my companions was
more than occupied by from one to three of the enemy. For an instant I
was fearful for myself, and then I saw that which filled me with a far
greater terror for another.</p>
<p>My boche was bearing me toward the side of the submarine against which
the tug was still pounding. That I should be ground to death between
the two was lost upon me as I saw the girl standing alone upon the
tug's deck, as I saw the stern high in air and the bow rapidly settling
for the final dive, as I saw death from which I could not save her
clutching at the skirts of the woman I now knew all too well that I
loved.</p>
<p>I had perhaps the fraction of a second longer to live when I heard an
angry growl behind us mingle with a cry of pain and rage from the giant
who carried me. Instantly he went backward to the deck, and as he did
so he threw his arms outwards to save himself, freeing me. I fell
heavily upon him, but was upon my feet in the instant. As I arose, I
cast a single glance at my opponent. Never again would he menace me or
another, for Nob's great jaws had closed upon his throat. Then I
sprang toward the edge of the deck closest to the girl upon the sinking
tug.</p>
<p>"Jump!" I cried. "Jump!" And I held out my arms to her. Instantly as
though with implicit confidence in my ability to save her, she leaped
over the side of the tug onto the sloping, slippery side of the U-boat.
I reached far over to seize her hand. At the same instant the tug
pointed its stern straight toward the sky and plunged out of sight. My
hand missed the girl's by a fraction of an inch, and I saw her slip
into the sea; but scarce had she touched the water when I was in after
her.</p>
<p>The sinking tug drew us far below the surface; but I had seized her the
moment I struck the water, and so we went down together, and together
we came up—a few yards from the U-boat. The first thing I heard was
Nobs barking furiously; evidently he had missed me and was searching.
A single glance at the vessel's deck assured me that the battle was
over and that we had been victorious, for I saw our survivors holding a
handful of the enemy at pistol points while one by one the rest of the
crew was coming out of the craft's interior and lining up on deck with
the other prisoners.</p>
<p>As I swam toward the submarine with the girl, Nobs' persistent barking
attracted the attention of some of the tug's crew, so that as soon as
we reached the side there were hands to help us aboard. I asked the
girl if she was hurt, but she assured me that she was none the worse
for this second wetting; nor did she seem to suffer any from shock. I
was to learn for myself that this slender and seemingly delicate
creature possessed the heart and courage of a warrior.</p>
<p>As we joined our own party, I found the tug's mate checking up our
survivors. There were ten of us left, not including the girl. Our
brave skipper was missing, as were eight others. There had been
nineteen of us in the attacking party and we had accounted in one way
and another during the battle for sixteen Germans and had taken nine
prisoners, including the commander. His lieutenant had been killed.</p>
<p>"Not a bad day's work," said Bradley, the mate, when he had completed
his roll. "Only losing the skipper," he added, "was the worst. He was
a fine man, a fine man."</p>
<p>Olson—who in spite of his name was Irish, and in spite of his not
being Scotch had been the tug's engineer—was standing with Bradley and
me. "Yis," he agreed, "it's a day's wor-rk we're after doin', but what
are we goin' to be doin' wid it now we got it?"</p>
<p>"We'll run her into the nearest English port," said Bradley, "and then
we'll all go ashore and get our V. C.'s," he concluded, laughing.</p>
<p>"How you goin' to run her?" queried Olson. "You can't trust these
Dutchmen."</p>
<p>Bradley scratched his head. "I guess you're right," he admitted. "And
I don't know the first thing about a sub."</p>
<p>"I do," I assured him. "I know more about this particular sub than the
officer who commanded her."</p>
<p>Both men looked at me in astonishment, and then I had to explain all
over again as I had explained to the girl. Bradley and Olson were
delighted. Immediately I was put in command, and the first thing I did
was to go below with Olson and inspect the craft thoroughly for hidden
boches and damaged machinery. There were no Germans below, and
everything was intact and in ship-shape working order. I then ordered
all hands below except one man who was to act as lookout. Questioning
the Germans, I found that all except the commander were willing to
resume their posts and aid in bringing the vessel into an English port.
I believe that they were relieved at the prospect of being detained at
a comfortable English prison-camp for the duration of the war after the
perils and privations through which they had passed. The officer,
however, assured me that he would never be a party to the capture of
his vessel.</p>
<p>There was, therefore, nothing to do but put the man in irons. As we
were preparing to put this decision into force, the girl descended from
the deck. It was the first time that she or the German officer had
seen each other's faces since we had boarded the U-boat. I was
assisting the girl down the ladder and still retained a hold upon her
arm—possibly after such support was no longer necessary—when she
turned and looked squarely into the face of the German. Each voiced a
sudden exclamation of surprise and dismay.</p>
<p>"Lys!" he cried, and took a step toward her.</p>
<p>The girl's eyes went wide, and slowly filled with a great horror, as
she shrank back. Then her slender figure stiffened to the erectness of
a soldier, and with chin in air and without a word she turned her back
upon the officer.</p>
<p>"Take him away," I directed the two men who guarded him, "and put him
in irons."</p>
<p>When he had gone, the girl raised her eyes to mine. "He is the German
of whom I spoke," she said. "He is Baron von Schoenvorts."</p>
<p>I merely inclined my head. She had loved him! I wondered if in her
heart of hearts she did not love him yet. Immediately I became
insanely jealous. I hated Baron Friedrich von Schoenvorts with such
utter intensity that the emotion thrilled me with a species of
exaltation.</p>
<p>But I didn't have much chance to enjoy my hatred then, for almost
immediately the lookout poked his face over the hatchway and bawled
down that there was smoke on the horizon, dead ahead. Immediately I
went on deck to investigate, and Bradley came with me.</p>
<p>"If she's friendly," he said, "we'll speak her. If she's not, we'll
sink her—eh, captain?"</p>
<p>"Yes, lieutenant," I replied, and it was his turn to smile.</p>
<p>We hoisted the Union Jack and remained on deck, asking Bradley to go
below and assign to each member of the crew his duty, placing one
Englishman with a pistol beside each German.</p>
<p>"Half speed ahead," I commanded.</p>
<p>More rapidly now we closed the distance between ourselves and the
stranger, until I could plainly see the red ensign of the British
merchant marine. My heart swelled with pride at the thought that
presently admiring British tars would be congratulating us upon our
notable capture; and just about then the merchant steamer must have
sighted us, for she veered suddenly toward the north, and a moment
later dense volumes of smoke issued from her funnels. Then, steering a
zigzag course, she fled from us as though we had been the bubonic
plague. I altered the course of the submarine and set off in chase;
but the steamer was faster than we, and soon left us hopelessly astern.</p>
<p>With a rueful smile, I directed that our original course be resumed,
and once again we set off toward merry England. That was three months
ago, and we haven't arrived yet; nor is there any likelihood that we
ever shall.</p>
<p>The steamer we had just sighted must have wirelessed a warning, for it
wasn't half an hour before we saw more smoke on the horizon, and this
time the vessel flew the white ensign of the Royal Navy and carried
guns. She didn't veer to the north or anywhere else, but bore down on
us rapidly. I was just preparing to signal her, when a flame flashed
from her bows, and an instant later the water in front of us was thrown
high by the explosion of a shell.</p>
<p>Bradley had come on deck and was standing beside me. "About one more
of those, and she'll have our range," he said. "She doesn't seem to
take much stock in our Union Jack."</p>
<p>A second shell passed over us, and then I gave the command to change
our direction, at the same time directing Bradley to go below and give
the order to submerge. I passed Nobs down to him, and following, saw
to the closing and fastening of the hatch.</p>
<p>It seemed to me that the diving-tanks never had filled so slowly. We
heard a loud explosion apparently directly above us; the craft trembled
to the shock which threw us all to the deck. I expected momentarily to
feel the deluge of inrushing water, but none came. Instead we continued
to submerge until the manometer registered forty feet and then I knew
that we were safe. Safe! I almost smiled. I had relieved Olson, who
had remained in the tower at my direction, having been a member of one
of the early British submarine crews, and therefore having some
knowledge of the business. Bradley was at my side. He looked at me
quizzically.</p>
<p>"What the devil are we to do?" he asked. "The merchantman will flee
us; the war-vessel will destroy us; neither will believe our colors or
give us a chance to explain. We will meet even a worse reception if we
go nosing around a British port—mines, nets and all of it. We can't
do it."</p>
<p>"Let's try it again when this fellow has lost the scent," I urged.
"There must come a ship that will believe us."</p>
<p>And try it again we did, only to be almost rammed by a huge freighter.
Later we were fired upon by a destroyer, and two merchantmen turned and
fled at our approach. For two days we cruised up and down the Channel
trying to tell some one, who would listen, that we were friends; but no
one would listen. After our encounter with the first warship I had
given instructions that a wireless message be sent out explaining our
predicament; but to my chagrin I discovered that both sending and
receiving instruments had disappeared.</p>
<p>"There is only one place you can go," von Schoenvorts sent word to me,
"and that is Kiel. You can't land anywhere else in these waters. If
you wish, I will take you there, and I can promise that you will be
treated well."</p>
<p>"There is another place we can go," I sent back my reply, "and we will
before we'll go to Germany. That place is hell."</p>
<br/><br/><br/>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />