!! boom!!!_ as hard as it
could for ten minutes on end. The flash of the guns lit up the whole
sky for miles and miles, and the noise was far more penetrating than by
day. Then you would see a great burst of flame from some poor devil,
as the searchlights switched on and off, and then perfect silence once
more."

_Next Day_. Dawn comes early on the 1st of June at 55 degrees North.
But the mist veiled everything more than three or four miles off. At
3.30 A.M. a huge Zeppelin flew across the British battle line,
wirelessing down to any Germans still to the westward the best way to
get home. By nine the light craft had all come in after scouring the
sea for Germans. At a quarter past one it was plain that not a German
ship remained to challenge the Grand Fleet. So Jellicoe made for his
base; took in fuel, stores, and ammunition; and at half-past nine next
evening was ready for another battle.

_The News_. Very different was the plight of the flying Germans, who
lost more ships than the British (eighteen, and perhaps six more, to
fourteen British) and who left the field for good and all. But Germany
sorely needed a victory just then. So the Kaiser proclaimed one, and
all the German papers echoed his words. The German lie got two days
start of the British truth, and was eagerly repeated by every one who
hated the British or Allies. On the other hand, the British Government
simply said that there had been a battle and that fourteen British
ships were down. They shrank from proclaiming the victory, because
they thought that most people, knowing nothing of modern naval war and
making no allowance for the weather and other German advantages, would
not believe in a victory which let any of the German ships escape. And
so the lie went round the world much faster than the truth. Yet it was
only believed by those who wanted to believe it. Even some Italian
mountaineers who had never seen a ship said, "That's a lie," when
Italian traitors told them the Grand Fleet had been sunk.

After waiting a month to examine the whole case thoroughly the Board of
Admiralty, which has always been most sparing in its praise, wrote
Jellicoe an official letter, saying that "the Grand Fleet has known
both how to study the new problems and how to turn the knowledge to
account. The expectations of the country were high. They have been
well fulfilled. My Lords (the Members of the Board) desire to convey
to you their full approval of