unning her down.

'She's done,' said Roy, as he ran forward. 'She's sinking!'

He was right. The big shell had knocked her all to pieces. Grimball saw
this too, and in response to his rapid order, the 'Maid's' engines
stopped, and four stalwart fellows ran to the dinghy which lay in chocks
on her deck.

In a trice they had flung her over the low rail into the sea; two sprang
in and pulled hard for the rapidly sinking 'Swan.'

All the time the guns ashore were rapping and roaring. The sea was thick
with spouts of foam as shells big and little struck the surface.

'This infernal searchlight!' growled Roy. 'They're rotten shots, but
they're getting the range now.'

They were. Just as the dinghy drew alongside the 'Swan,' another 6-inch
plunged straight into her, amidships. It must have exploded in the
engine-room. The 'Swan' and all in her vanished from the face of the
waters, and when the smoke cloud lifted, the dinghy, upside down, with one
man clinging to it, was all that was left.

'A rope. Give us a rope!' shouted Roy. Some one ran forward, but even as
they did so a smaller shell caught the funnel of the 'Maid' and carried
two thirds of it away. With it went the man with the rope.

At the same moment the survivor who was clinging to the dinghy let go his
hold. Stunned by the concussion of the previous shell, he was sinking into
the depths.

'I can't stand that,' cried Roy, and with one spring was overboard and
striking out hard for the drowning man.

The racket and roar were appalling. Some field batteries behind Kephez had
joined in, and the whole night echoed with the quick crashes of the guns,
while the air was full of the train-like rattle of flying shells.

But in all the confusion Ken kept his head. Catching sight of a coil of
line on the deck close by the forward hatch, he sprang for it, made one
end fast to a bollard, and with a shout flung the other towards Roy.

It fell short, but Roy saw it and with a great effort reached it.

'Hang on!' roared Ken at the top of his voice. 'I'll pull you in.'

[Illustration: When the men return from the trenches, they find
sea-bathing most pleasant.]

[Illustration: French and British sailors are friends in play-time as in
war-time.]

He had hardly began to haul when the end came. A shell bigger than any yet
took the 'Maid of Sker' amidships. There was a fearful explosion, Ken felt
himself hurled forward, and next moment the chill waters of the
Dardanelle