ion 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 _The
Hawk's_ searchlight with their eyes, the two lads saw a mass of wreckage
floating 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.

CHAPTER VIII.

FRANK IN TROUBLE.

Now perfectly happy, the two boys rowed back to _The Hawk_ as rapidly as
possible. They were happy for two reasons--first because they were once
more in active service, and second, because they had just emerged
successfully from a desperate venture.

A light glowed brightly aboard the little motorboat, now that the enemy
had been disposed of; so the two lads had no trouble making their way
back. Lord Hastings greeted them with outstretched hands as they went
over the side.

"A pretty good job you made of it," he declared.

"Well, we did pick off a couple before you got busy, sir," agreed Frank.
"But if you hadn't fired the moment you did they would have potted us
sure. They had a couple of shots at us, but fortunately, they didn't
have time to get the accurate range."

"I had no idea you were so hard pressed," replied Lord Hastings. "I
fired the moment I caught sight of the foe. Even when the searchlight
was turned from _The Hawk_, it was a moment or so before I could make
out the enemy. The light had all but blinded me."

"There is no harm done, anyhow," Jack put in. "The enemy is at the
bottom of the sea and we are safe again."

"Then we may as well continue a bit," declared Lord Hastings. He turned
to give an order, when Frank interrupted him.

"Are you sure we are safe, sir?" he questioned.

"What do you mean?" demanded his commander.

"Why, I was just wondering if by any chance there might be more of the
enemy in these waters?"

"To tell the truth, I hadn't thought of that," replied Lord Hastings.

Without another word, he turned on his heel and made his way to the
searchlight, which still threw its brilliant rays across the silent
waters. Quickly he snapped it off; then returned to the lads.

"We won't be spotted so easily now," he remarked.

"Unless we have been spotted already," said Jack dryly.

A