r. It was a near thing, for she was a flier, and could do
two miles to our one; but we just reached her as she went swashing by.
She saw us at the last moment, for I attacked her awash, since otherwise
we could not have had the pace to reach her. She swung away and the
first torpedo missed, but the second took her full under the counter.
Heavens, what a smash! The whole stern seemed to go aloft. I drew off
and watched her sink. She went down in seven minutes, leaving her masts
and funnels over the water and a cluster of her people holding on to
them. She was the _Virginia_, of the Bibby Line--twelve thousand
tons--and laden, like the others, with foodstuffs from the East. The
whole surface of the sea was covered with the floating grain. "John Bull
will have to take up a hole or two of his belt if this goes on," said
Vornal, as we watched the scene.

And it was at that moment that the very worst danger occurred that could
befall us. I tremble now when I think how our glorious voyage might have
been nipped in the bud. I had freed the hatch of my tower, and was
looking at the boats of the _Virginia_ with Vornal near me, when there
was a swish and a terrific splash in the water beside us, which covered
us both with spray. We looked up, and you can imagine our feelings when
we saw an aeroplane hovering a few hundred feet above us like a hawk.
With its silencer, it was perfectly noiseless, and had its bomb not
fallen into the sea we should never have known what had destroyed us. She
was circling round in the hope of dropping a second one, but we shoved on
all speed ahead, crammed down the rudders, and vanished into the side of
a roller. I kept the deflection indicator falling until I had put fifty
good feet of water between the aeroplane and ourselves, for I knew well
how deeply they can see under the surface. However, we soon threw her
off our track, and when we came to the surface near Margate there was no
sign of her, unless she was one of several which we saw hovering over
Herne Bay.

There was not a ship in the offing save a few small coasters and little
thousand-ton steamers, which were beneath my notice. For several hours I
lay submerged with a blank periscope. Then I had an inspiration. Orders
had been marconied to every foodship to lie in French waters and dash
across after dark. I was as sure of it as if they had been recorded in
our own receiver. Well, if they were there, that was where I should