impossible to learn, for there was a sudden motion to the submarine,
which had been quietly resting on the surface for a moment, and then she
slipped beneath the waves again.

"Driven off!" cried Blake, as he and Joe got the final pictures of this
drama--a drama that had come so near being a tragedy. "They've beaten
her off!"

"But we're not safe yet!" cried Charlie. "She may shoot another torpedo
at us from under water--she can do that, all right! Look out, boys!"

There was need of this, yet it was impossible to do more toward saving
one's life than to take to the boats. And even that, under the inhuman
and ruthless system of the Huns, was no guarantee that one would be
saved. Lifeboats had, more than once, been shelled by Germans.

The appearance of the submarine had added to the panic caused by the
sight of the periscope, and there was a rush for the boats that took all
the power and authority of the officers to manage it.

There was a period of anxious waiting, but either the submarine had no
other torpedoes, or, if she did fire any, they went wide, or, again, the
gunfire from the vessel may have disabled her entirely. She did not
again show herself above the surface. Even the periscope was not
observed.

Having nothing to picture, Blake and Joe turned away from the camera for
a moment. Some of the lifeboats had already been filled with their loads
when Charlie, pointing to something afar off, cried:

"Here comes another boat!"

On the horizon a dense cloud of black smoke showed.

CHAPTER IX

SUSPICIONS

For a moment there was more terror and excitement aboard the _Jeanne_,
if it were possible, after it became certain that another craft, the
nature of which none knew, was headed toward the French steamer. Then an
officer gifted with sound common-sense, cried out in English, so that
the majority could understand:

"It is a destroyer! It is a destroyer belonging to the Stars and Stripes
coming to our rescue. Three cheers!"

Nobody gave the three cheers, but it heartened every one to hear them
called for, and the real meaning of the smoke was borne to all.

"Of course it can't be a submarine!" exclaimed Blake. "They don't send
out any smoke, and there aren't any other German boats at sea. It's a
destroyer!"

"One of ours, do you think?" asked Charlie.

"Perhaps. Uncle Sam has a lot of 'em over here to act as convoys.
Probably this is our escort coming up a little late to the ball," said
Jo