"But I'm afraid his brain is affected."

"It is too early to form a definite opinion," replied the sub, anxious to put a bold face upon the matter, although in his mind he had his doubts. "I remember on the old 'Velox,' we had a signal-man struck by lightning. He was unconscious for nearly three days; yet he recovered, and was pa.s.sed for duty after a week in the sick bay."

"Yes, that's all very well," rejoined the chief officer, "but----"

A violent ringing of the bell of the "steering sentry" interrupted Devoran's remark. Both men crossed the cabin and consulted the tell-tale compa.s.s. The "Aphrodite" was fifteen degrees off her course, and the "steering sentry," an automatic instrument that gives a warning in the captain's cabin when the vessel deviates from the course set, was ringing incessantly, showing that the error in direction was a grave one.

"What are you up to, Lancarrow?" asked Devoran through the telephone communicating with the fore conning-tower. "Anything in the way?"

There was no reply.

The chief officer hailed again. Still an ominous silence.

"What's up now, I wonder," he muttered as he hastened towards the conning-tower. To his surprise he found Lancarrow huddled up on the floor, with his hands tightly clenched. Left to herself the "Aphrodite"

was gradually describing a wide circle to starboard, and only the action of the automatic alarm had called attention to the fact.

Steadying the submarine on her course, Devoran shouted for a couple of hands to carry the unfortunate helmsman below. This done he told Carnon to take charge of the helm, while he made a tour of the vessel to make sure that all was in order. Devoran realized that he was now in command and that the responsibility was great. The mysterious striking down of the former steersman, whether by violence or by natural causes, could not be at present explained; but since a similar thing might happen to others who were on duty he felt it necessary that he should visit all the men at their stations and make sure that everything was in order.

Carclew was still at the detector. He had nothing to report. The instrument was as silent as the Sphinx. Kenwyn in charge of the horizontal rudders and the tr.i.m.m.i.n.g tanks was attending strictly to his duty. He had been unaware of the affair in the other conning-tower, and since it was not his business to consult the compa.s.s and not knowing what course had been given to the helmsman, he had not remarked the erratic steering of the vessel.

"Do you think the lightning struck Lancarrow down?" asked Kenwyn.

"Bless my soul, I hope not!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the first officer. "One affair of this sort is quite enough. Why did you ask?"

"The flashes have been terrific. They seemed to play upon the deck, even though we are nine fathoms down."

"Had Lancarrow been touched by the electric fluid it is reasonable to suppose that the electrical steering gear would be affected. As a matter of fact it isn't."

"Give it up, then," rejoined the second officer. "But how is Captain Restronguet?"

"Coming round, thank Heaven. But it's the after effects I am anxious about. By Jove! That's a flash."

It was indeed a vivid fork of dazzling blue light that seemed to corkscrew along the deck of the vessel and dart up over the for'ard conning-tower, till the submerged craft looked as if she were surrounded by a supernatural light. The phenomenon lasted only an instant, but that instant was enough for the chief officer to realize the "Aphrodite's"

peril.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "BEATING DOWN, AND READY TO RAM THE APHRODITE, WAS ANOTHER SUBMARINE!"]

Beating down, and ready to ram the "Aphrodite" amidships, was another submarine! But its similarity to the former Devoran had no doubt as to what it was. It was the "Vorwartz."

"Hard a-port!" he shouted through the telephone to the helmsman. At the same moment Kenwyn elevated the horizontal rudders in a vain endeavour to make the "Aphrodite" dive under the on-coming attacker. It was too late. With a rending crash the knife-like bows of the "Vorwartz"

crashed into the 'midships compartment of her hitherto unsuspecting rival.

CHAPTER XX.

RAMMED AMIDSHIPS.

In the captain's cabin Hythe heard Devoran shouting for the helm to be put hard a-port. He felt the vessel begin to slew round, then a crash that shook the "Aphrodite" from stem to stern, sent him and the other occupants of the cabin reeling against the starboard side.

Simultaneously the watertight doors in the two princ.i.p.al transverse bulkheads were hermetically sealed, save a small emergency exit from Number Three Platform to the fore compartment. Through these those of the crew who were in the holed division made their hasty escape. They were not a moment too soon, for, although the "Vorwartz" made no attempt to back out, the fracture was ragged enough for the water under great pressure to pour in cascades into the midships compartment of the ill-starred submarine.

As soon as the men were safely in the fore part of the vessel Devoran gave orders for the remaining watertight doors to be closed. He knew that, although the danger was great, there still remained a chance of saving at least two-thirds of the "Aphrodite."

"If only I had been in the fore conning-tower," he thought, "I would have given that 'Vorwartz' something to remember us by. I'll try it, though."

And calling up Carnon, who was the senior hand in the now isolated fore part, he ordered him to stand by with electrical destructors, whereby a potential charge of electric fluid could be directed upon the "Vorwartz"

as soon as she had backed a certain distance from the vessel she had rammed.

In answer Carnon replied: "I've tried the gadget, sir, and there's no current on."

"For goodness' sake try the supplementary current!" exclaimed the chief officer anxiously, but the result was the same. The apparatus by which the powerful means of offence was controlled was out of order. Either the lightning or the shock of the impact of the "Vorwartz's" stem had thrown the delicate mechanism out of gear. Nor could the torpedoes be used, for the tubes, having an arc of only four degrees on either side of the bows, could not be brought to bear upon the rival submarine.

This time Karl von Harburg had scored heavily, and stood every chance of getting clear without the "Aphrodite" being able to revenge herself upon the submarine that had caught her napping.

Meanwhile the crew of the "Aphrodite," after the first shock, had taken up their stations with consummate coolness. Every man knew that the damage was great, and that the "Vorwartz" was the cause of it. One chance yet remained for them to revenge themselves upon Karl von Harburg. Directly the "Vorwartz" backed out of the rent in her rival's side, the "Aphrodite" might be able to turn sufficiently to discharge a torpedo. At the same time steps must be taken to prevent the stricken craft from sinking into depth where the pressure of the water would literally crush their as yet undamaged sections of the submarine like an egg-sh.e.l.l under a hundred-ton hammer.

As soon as the water in the midship section rose to the level of the centre platform Devoran gave orders for the detachable keel of that compartment to be dropped. Kenwyn touched the emergency switch, and the ma.s.sive dead weight fell. Relieved of this ma.s.s of iron the "Aphrodite"

lurched in an effort to rise to the surface.

The sudden strain wrenched her free of the bows of the "Vorwartz."

Instantly the water, pouring through the greatly enlarged aperture, filled the whole of the centre compartment, and before the submarine had a chance to turn and let fly a torpedo at her antagonist, the "Aphrodite" sank slowly and surely.

This, although serious, was a point in her favour, for Karl von Harburg, observing with savage glee the havoc he had wrought, concluded that his rival's craft was sinking for the last time to the bottom of the Red Sea. Accordingly, satisfied that he was now free to pursue his piratical acts, since the "Aphrodite" was the only submarine he feared, he backed astern, rose to the surface, and proceeded in a southerly direction towards the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. Hardly a word was spoken as the "Aphrodite" sank. Devoran, his eyes fixed upon the depth gauge, was waiting his time. He, too, realized that should the submarine rise to the surface it would merely be giving her antagonist a unique opportunity of holing another of the sections that as yet remained intact. On the other hand, he had to guard against the danger of descending too far.

Thirty fathoms; the "Aphrodite" was now in total darkness as far as the water was concerned. Within the electric lamps still burned brightly, save for a few that had been shattered at the moment of impact.

"Easy ahead!" he ordered, and as the partially flooded vessel forged slowly and laboriously ahead, the chief officer trimmed the horizontal rudders so that the resistance at a certain angle just corrected the tendency of the whole vessel to sink.

Devoran set a course due east, hoping to fetch the shallower water on the African sh.o.r.e. Twenty minutes later he ventured to switch on the parallel bow searchlights. Even these powerful rays failed to reveal anything more than fifty miles away. Huge fish, that are rarely seen in shallow water, flitted past the thick scuttles. They made no attempt to dart out of the way of the submarine; they were blind, since the gift of sight at these depths is useless to them.

"She's standing the strain all right," remarked the chief officer to Hythe in quite a cheerful tone.

The sub nodded appreciatively. Under similar conditions on board a British submarine the state of affairs would be hopeless. With a rent amidships, extending from the upper platform to the bilges she would have sunk instantly, and given her crew no possible chance of escape; but here was the "Aphrodite" still under control and with the odds greatly in her favour. Next to Captain Restronguet, Devoran was the most capable man in whom to trust.

"Bottom shoaling!" exclaimed the sub, as the head searchlights glimmered upon an expanse of ooze, so shapeless and ill-defined that it required a practised hand to distinguish it from the deep sea.

The chief officer instantly adjusted the planes, and the submarine, though lacking her usual sensitiveness to the action of the horizontal rudders, rose steadily.

At twenty fathoms the bottom ceased to shoal, and in place of the slimy mud appeared fantastic formation of coral; a sure sign that shallower water was not far off. Again the "Aphrodite" was brought nearer the surface, till the welcome sunlight could be faintly noticed.

"Ten fathoms," announced Devoran. "This is our limit. We must carry on till we ground. Look! what a rent, by Jove!"

He pointed out of the scuttle, and Hythe following his gaze saw the fracture that the "Vorwartz" bow had caused. Her comparatively straight stem had cut nearly five feet into the upper platform of the "Aphrodite"

in addition to making a vertical gash nearly fifteen feet in length in the stricken vessel's side. As a result the whole of the centre compartment had become a dead weight, and the buoyancy of the submarine being imparted only by the fore and aft compartments the tendency of the whole vessel was to sag amidships. Already the upper platform was curving ominously. It would not take much more strain to buckle the "Aphrodite." Although her steel plating was badly cracked and jagged, the restronium sheathing was severed as evenly as if made of wax. This, no doubt, accounted for the fact that the inrush of water at the moment of impact was comparatively slight, and in consequence the men stationed in the midship compartment were able to make good their retreat long before the water completely filled the s.p.a.ce between the two princ.i.p.al transverse bulkheads.

"Let her down gently, Carnon!" ordered Devoran, as the "Aphrodite"