CHAPTER XXV.
IN THE DARDANELLES.
From the bridge of the D-16, Lord Hastings and the two lads viewed theterrible havoc wrought upon the Turkish fortifications by the guns ofthe allied fleet. Huge holes had been cut in the walls in some places,while at others the fortifications had been literally razed until thereremained hardly one stone upon another.
Broken cannon were among the debris, shattered and in tiny pieces. Evennow, after all this time, dead bodies, both of men and horses, lay hereand there. All this the three upon the bridge of the submarine could seewith their naked eyes as they made their way along the narrow strait.
"Terrible," said Frank.
"It is," replied Jack, "but it is also a stern necessity."
"Right," said Lord Hastings; "for once the Dardanelles is forced, andConstantinople is at our mercy, we have nothing further to fear from theTurks."
"And the Russians on the other side, in the Black Sea, what are theydoing?" asked Frank.
"The best they can, you may be sure," replied Lord Hastings, "but nothaving the ships of our class they are at a disadvantage. Nevertheless,they will be in at the finish, I am sure."
"Then we shall nail them from two sides at once," said Frank.
"Exactly."
As the D-16 made her way up the narrow strait, the sounds of cannonadingbecame louder, until, after half an hour's journey, it became averitable roar.
"Great Scott!" shouted Frank. "This is awful. A fellow can hardly hearhimself think."
Now the D-16 came within sight of the last of the allied vessels, andshe was pouring her shells along the shore as fast as she could shoot.Other vessels ahead of her, now also in sight of the D-16 were doinglikewise.
"Where is the _Queen Elizabeth_?" asked Jack.
"Oh, she is way up ahead," said Lord Hastings.
"Then that is the place we are bound for, I suppose," asked Frank.
"That is the place," replied Lord Hastings.
By one, two, ten, fifteen, nineteen ships the D-16 went, and then, justahead, the form of the giantess of the sea loomed up. From her issueddense clouds of smoke, and her voice spoke in a terrible tone as shehurled her messages of death and destruction many miles farther than theeye could see.
This monster was the British Super-dreadnought _Queen Elizabeth_.
The two lads looked at her spell bound as she continued to spit fire andsmoke, and in truth she looked like some monster of ancient fiction. Inaction as she was, she was indeed a wonderful sight.
"That," said Frank calmly, "is what I call a ship."
"Some ship, as you Americans would say," laughed Lord Hastings.
Right under the stern of the _Queen Elizabeth_, the D-16 came to a stop.The commander of the British dreadnought had noticed the arrival of thelittle vessel, and took the time to hail her. Upon learning that LordHastings was her commander, he invited him to come aboard at once.
"Would you like to go with me, boys?" asked the commander of the D-16.
"I should say we would, sir," replied Frank eagerly.
Jack also spoke in assent and five minutes later the three were aboardthe _Queen Elizabeth_.
Lord Hastings presented the lads to the commander of the dreadnought,who spoke to them pleasantly. Then he and Lord Hastings retired for afew moments to the cabin, where they talked over the progress of thefighting.
"Well, boys," said Lord Hastings half an hour later, "we shall go backnow, and when we get there I have a piece of news for you that willprove of interest."
Aboard the D-16 again. Lord Hastings did not give this piece of news atonce, and finally Frank, becoming impatient, was moved to ask:
"And what is this piece of news that will interest us, sir?"
Lord Hastings smiled.
"Can't hold your horses a minute, can you?" he laughed. "Well, I'll tellyou. The D-16 is going to take a little trip in advance of the fleet."
Frank's delight was so great that he hurled his cap into the air with ashout, and in coming down the wind carried it overboard.
Jack laughed.
"You see what too much enthusiasm gets you," he remarked.
"Never mind," said Frank after one regretful look at his departingheadpiece, "I have another." He turned to Lord Hastings.
"What are we to do, sir?"
"Well, we are to try and establish the location of mines, draw maps ofthe fortifications, which may have been changed somewhat since the mapsthe admiral has were drawn, and learn anything else of value we can."
"I thought there would be fighting," said Frank, somewhat disappointed.
"Well, there is always liable to be fighting," said Lord Hastings. "Infact, any time you are around I am positive there will be fighting ofsome kind."
"And when do we start, sir?" asked Jack.
"As soon after nightfall as we are ready."
"But why wait for night?" asked Frank. "We are going under the water,aren't we?"
"Yes," replied his commander, "but we are likely to have to come to thesurface at any time, and there is no need of taking unnecessary risks."
"That's true, too," said Frank. "But Great Scott! Night is a long waysoff."
"In the meantime," said Lord Hastings, "I don't know of anything betterthan to watch the progress of the battle."
"We shall have to get closer than this if we expect to see anything,"declared Lord Hastings.
He gave the command for fifteen knots, and gradually the D-16 forgedahead of the _Queen Elizabeth_ and stood out before the whole fleet.
She made such a small speck as she floated gently upon the surface ofthe water, that Lord Hastings had no fear for her safety, and there sheremained all during the day, while shells flew screaming past or cut upthe water before and on all sides of her.
Twice the firing became so heavy that Lord Hastings deemed it advisableto submerge, and this was done. She reappeared in a new place each time,and her officers again ascended the bridge to watch the progress of thebattle.
Along in the afternoon, the _Queen Elizabeth_, having almost dismantledtwo of the Turkish forts, steamed on past, unheeding the fire of theirremaining guns and leaving them for her smaller sisters to dispose of.
Immediately their leader had made way for them, the other ships closedin and the fighting began anew, the new arrivals keeping the forts sobusy that they had no time to pay further heed to the _Queen Elizabeth_,now farther up the strait, pouring her terrible shells intofortifications still farther along.
"At this rate," said Frank, "we shall be in Constantinople almost beforewe know it."
"Don't fool yourself," declared Jack. "Remember that in spite of thefact that the _Queen Elizabeth_ is having apparently an easy time withthese fellows, it will not all be smooth sailing. As Lord Hastings says,the further we progress the stronger the forts."
"I know; but she can stand off and batter them also."
"The trouble is that she cannot approach so close, and will have todepend more than ever upon the aviators to get her range; and it is moredangerous for the aviators over the inner forts."
"I suppose you are right," said Frank. "I hadn't thought of it in thatway."
"How long do you suppose it would take us to get through theDardanelles, sir?" asked Frank of Lord Hastings.
"Not long; why?"
"And coming out the other end we are in the Sea of Marmora, are we not?"
"Yes."
"And Constantinople is just across that?"
"Yes; but why these questions?"
"I was just thinking. It wouldn't be such a terrible job, in a submarinelike ours, to run to Constantinople and sink a couple of ships. Thatwould frighten the authorities so much that it might prove a benefit tothe fleet here."
"True enough," said Lord Hastings. "But I don't believe we can afford totake such chances. If we should be sent to the bottom, we could neverbring back the information we were after."
"Oh, I'm wrong again, as usual," said
Frank.
"Don't think I am criticising," protested Lord Hastings. "The idea isfirst rate, and I feel certain we could get through in spite of themines; but our first duty is to get the information we are sent out toobtain."
"That is true, of course, sir," agreed Frank.
Lord Hastings was lost in thought for some moments. Finally he said:
"I'll tell you what I will do. If we are successful tonight in gettingwhat we go after, we will take a little jaunt on our own hook tomorrownight."
"Do you mean it, sir?" asked Frank eagerly.
"I do," said Lord Hastings.
"And we shall go to Constantinople?"
"If it is humanly possible to get there, yes."
Frank waved his hands in delight.
"Hurrah!" he cried. "We'll show these Turks a few things."
Even Jack was pleased, though he did not express his satisfaction insuch a boisterous manner as did Frank.
"Yes, we shall show them a few things," he agreed.
"I wish this were tomorrow night," said Frank.
"There you go again," said Lord Hastings with a smile. "Just asimpatient as ever. You will never gain anything that way, and, besides,it does no good."
"But I can't help it," protested Frank.
"You will have to get over it some day," said Lord Hastings severely."You might as well start now."
"I'll try," Frank promised soberly.
Jack and Lord Hastings looked at each other and smiled.
"I'm going to hold you to that promise," Lord Hastings declared grimly.
The Boy Allies with the Terror of the Seas; Or, The Last Shot of Submarine D-16 Page 25
