then one
sickening belch of steamy smoke to tell that all was over. After this
Hood's two remaining battle cruisers took station astern of Beatty's
four.

[Illustration: LIGHT CRUISER.]

Meanwhile another light cruiser of Hood's, the _Canterbury_, was trying
to protect three destroyers, led by the _Shark_, that were fighting
German light cruisers and destroyers. Hipper and Scheer were doing
their very utmost to keep Beatty and Jellicoe at arm's length till they
could complete the German turn round the bull's-eye and make an effort
to get off the deadly target altogether. For if Jellicoe could range
round the inner, at higher speed and with an overlap, they would
certainly be rounded up and crushed to death. The German light
cruisers and destroyers therefore attacked the British light craft with
the greatest fury, hoping to destroy the screen behind which Jellicoe
would form his line of battle in safety from torpedoes. As the _Shark_
charged down at the head of her line she suddenly found two lines of
German destroyers charging towards her. Nothing daunted, she went
straight on, her pulsing engines making her quiver with the thrilling
race for life or death between them. Once abreast of them she fired
her guns and torpedoes right and left, sinking two German destroyers,
one on each side, and giving the rest as good as she got, till, hit by
torpedoes on both sides together, she sank like a stone. Her
commander, Loftus Jones, was awarded the second posthumous V.C. for the
wonderfully gallant way he fought her till she went down with colours
flying. Her last torpedo, when just on the point of being fired, was
hit by a German shell and exploded, killing and wounding everybody
near. Then another shell took Jones's leg off. But he still fought
the one gun left in action, firing its last round as the waters closed
above him.

About the same time the destroyer _Onslow_ made for a German light
cruiser that was trying to torpedo Beatty's flagship, _Lion_. Hitting
the light cruiser with every gun at short range she then passed on to
try her own torpedoes on the German battle cruisers, when a big shell
scooped out most of her midships above the water-line. Retiring slowly
she again met the light cruiser and this time finished her with a
torpedo. Finding he had two torpedoes left Commander Tovey then made
for the German battle line with the last ounce of steam the _Onslow's_
engines could work off. He fired them b