CHAPTER VII.
AN ENEMY.
_The Hawk_ crept over the still black waters as silently as the nightitself. Not a light showed aboard the little craft--not a human voicewas heard. Now and then the faint exhaust of the engine could have beenheard by a keen ear, but the engine was muffled and whatever sound itmight make carried but a few yards at most.
_The Hawk_, with Lord Hastings, Jack and Frank and the other few membersof the crew, was stalking the foe--no particular foe, perhaps--but anyenemy that might be foolhardy enough to show itself.
Aboard, each member of the crew, besides his revolvers, was equippedwith a small hand flashlight; and the larger searchlight in the bow wasready for instant use--to flash in the eyes of an enemy to blind him andto spoil his aim.
And the two heavy guns--one forward, the other aft--were ready foraction.
The men stood at their posts--had stood there now for two hours--eversince _The Hawk_ had crept silently from the friendly shelter of BantryBay. The crew had been ordered to silence and the crew of _The Hawk_,commanded by Lord Hastings, obeyed orders.
So far _The Hawk_ had come upon nothing that had justified its lonesomeand silent vigil--not an object of any kind had been encountered, andthe hour was now after midnight. Still, keen eyes aboard the littlecraft peered untiringly ahead and swept the waters in all directions,trying to pierce the darkness of the night.
The night, though dark, was perfectly calm and peaceful, albeit black,overhanging clouds heralded the approach of a storm. But Lord Hastings,than whom there were few better weather prophets, announced that thestorm would not break before well along toward morning and held to hisquest without trepidation.
Frank and Jack were now becoming somewhat restless, for they had begunto fear that the night's venture would not bear fruit. However, eachremembered what Lord Hastings had said regarding a "tip," so they knewthat their commander had some object in view. Also, since leaving port,_The Hawk_ had held steadily to her course.
Now and then the commander of _The Hawk_, by the faint glare of hissearchlight, shielded by his hand, consulted a chart and several timesmuttered low directions to the man at the wheel.
Suddenly there came a subdued command from Lord Hastings, and inresponse the engines were stopped. Lord Hastings placed a hand to hisear and listened intently.
"Did any of you hear anything?" he asked in a low voice.
No one had.
"Strange," muttered Lord Hastings; "I could have sworn I heard somethingmoving through the water."
He gave the command to go ahead again; but less than five moments lateronce more brought _The Hawk_ to a pause.
"I am sure I heard something," he said to Frank, who stood near him.
"I thought I did myself, that time," replied the lad. "Sounded like aboat, and not a great distance away."
"We shall have to be careful," said his commander. "I know that there isnot another British vessel in these waters to-night. If there is asecond craft out here, it must be an enemy."
"Shall we flash our light about?" asked Frank.
"And betray our own presence? Not much. No; we shall just remain herefor half an hour and see if we can't pick up the other fellow in thedarkness."
Again the silence of death hung over _The Hawk_.
Then, suddenly, Jack, aft, gave a subdued exclamation.
Lord Hastings hurried to his side.
"What is it?" he demanded.
"Small craft of some kind bearing down on us, sir," he replied quickly."She'll bump us!"
Lord Hastings took in the situation at a glance. Less than 150 yardsaway a small object was coming toward _The Hawk_.
Lord Hastings gave a quick command.
"Full speed ahead!" he cried, and in response to this command, _TheHawk_ leaped forward.
Lord Hastings hurled a second quick command to the man at the wheel, and_The Hawk_ came about in a broad circle; and at the same instant ablinding glare flashed into the faces of all aboard.
A searchlight from the other craft had been turned upon them, lighting_The Hawk_ up like day, while all those aboard could see was theblinding glare, the other boat being shielded by this light.
A shot rang out over the water--the sound of a heavy gun.
Lord Hastings took prompt action, in spite of the fact he could not makeout the enemy.
"Turn the searchlight on him!" he shouted.
A second shot rang out and Frank heard the whistle of a heavy missileoverhead.
He sprang quickly to the searchlight, and with a single movement,whirled it about. In another moment a second white glare lighted up thesea.
Frank pointed his light squarely at the point from which he could seethe other light came. While he was unable to see the other boat, becauseof its light, he knew that once his own searchlight had found itsobject, those aboard the other craft would no longer be able to see _TheHawk_.
Then came the sound of a third shot, but this time the missile was noteven heard, and Frank knew that he had been successful. The enemy hadlost the range.
"Good!" shouted Lord Hastings. "And just in time, I should say. The nextshot would have hit us."
"Yes, sir," said Frank quietly. "He's blinded us, sir, but we have donethe same for him. Now what, sir?"
"By Jove! I don't know," replied Lord Hastings. "Here, Jack, stand bythis forward gun, and be ready to let her go the first moment you cansee the enemy. If we can manage to work out from under his light we maybe able to get him. Frank, don't you let that light off him a minute."
"I'll keep it on him, sir," replied the lad.
So there the two boats were, less than a hundred yards apart, but stillunable to do one another harm, unless by a chance shot. For, althoughthe occupants aboard each craft could see the light of the other, theycouldn't gauge its origin with accuracy.
Several times the enemy fired, but without result.
"Well, we've got to do something," declared Lord Hastings. "Can any ofyou suggest anything?"
"I believe I have a plan, sir," declared Frank.
"Let's have it quick," said Lord Hastings.
"Well, sir, I should say that if you would stand by the gun, Jack and Ican slip over the side in one of the small boats. We'll make a slightdetour, to get out of the blinding glare, then row toward the enemy.Without the light in our eyes, we should be able to pick off a couple ofthe enemy with rifles. Then he'll have to shift his light to hunt newfoes. You can be ready and sink him the moment he does so."
"That's not a half bad idea," declared Lord Hastings. "It shall be done.Over with you, lads."
Quickly Frank and Jack got a little boat over the side, procured a rifleapiece, and rowed away.
In spite of the fact that the glare of the enemy's searchlight wassquarely upon them, they could not be seen because of the light aboard_The Hawk_ playing upon the eyes of the foe. So, though they rowedrapidly, they knew they were safe enough.
Out of the glare of the searchlight, they shaped their course toward theenemy, whose bulk they could now see looming up in the darkness.
"By Jove! It's another motorboat," Frank whispered.
Jack nodded his head in the darkness, but did not reply.
Less than a hundred feet from the enemy, Frank made out several formsforward.
"This is close enough," he whispered to Jack.
Jack shipped his oars and picked up his rifle. Frank did likewise.
"You get the one on the left; I'll take the one on the extreme right,"said Frank. "Then get the one next your first man if you have timebefore he ducks, and I'll do the same."
"All right," said Jack. "Give the word when you're ready."
"Ready! Aim! Fire!" said Frank quietly.
Two sharp cracks broke the stillness of the night, followed almostinstantly by two more.
When the lads lowered their rifles and gazed toward the foe, there wasnot a man in sight.
"Don't know whether we got them or they just ducked," said Frank. "We'llfire a couple of more shots
, enough to make them take their light off_The Hawk_."
They did so, and a moment later their efforts were rewarded. Thesearchlight aboard the enemy, moved by an unseen hand, turned and sweptthe sea carefully.
"Row back!" shouted Frank, and seized his oar.
Jack followed suit. Quickly the little boat was brought about and headedback in the general direction of _The Hawk_.
And the enemy's boat was now lighted up by the glare of _The Hawk_alone.
Suddenly the flashlight of the enemy fell squarely upon the two boys.
"We're gone now, unless Lord Hastings sinks them first," said Frankquietly.
"Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!"
Bullets began to spatter around the two lads. One grazed Frank's ear.
"Guess we had better go overboard," he said, "They'll----"
"Boom!"
The voice of a single big gun spoke once.
"_The Hawk!_" cried Frank.
"Boom!"
The voice came again.
And then the boys were left again in darkness as the enemy sought out_The Hawk_ with his searchlight.
"Boom!"
It was the third word of the forward gun of _The Hawk_.
Cries of terror and confusion came from the direction of the foe,followed by hoarse German cries of command.
"Bully for Lord Hastings!" exclaimed Jack. "He has scored a hit."
"Hurrah!" cried Frank, and raised his voice in a series of cheers.
The big gun aboard _The Hawk_ did not speak again, and following _TheHawk's_ searchlight with their eyes, the two lads saw a mass of wreckagefloating a short distance away.
"That," said Frank quietly, "is the end of her."
"Right you are," agreed Jack. "Now we'll go back to _The Hawk_."
Both lads bent to their oars with a will.
Boy Allies Under the Sea; Or, The Vanishing Submarines Page 7
