out in the cold when it came
to strafing the boches. From the engine room companionway came the
engineer and stockers, and together we leaped after the balance of the
crew and into the hand-to-hand fight that was covering the wet deck
with red blood. Beside me came Nobs, silent now, and grim. Germans
were emerging from the open hatch to take part in the battle on deck.
At first the pistols cracked amidst the cursing of the men and the loud
commands of the commander and his junior; but presently we were too
indiscriminately mixed to make it safe to use our firearms, and the
battle resolved itself into a hand-to-hand struggle for possession of
the deck.

The sole aim of each of us was to hurl one of the opposing force into
the sea. I shall never forget the hideous expression upon the face of
the great Prussian with whom chance confronted me. He lowered his head
and rushed at me, bellowing like a bull. With a quick side-step and
ducking low beneath his outstretched arms, I eluded him; and as he
turned to come back at me, I landed a blow upon his chin which sent him
spinning toward the edge of the deck. I saw his wild endeavors to
regain his equilibrium; I saw him reel drunkenly for an instant upon
the brink of eternity and then, with a loud scream, slip into the sea.
At the same instant a pair of giant arms encircled me from behind and
lifted me entirely off my feet. Kick and squirm as I would, I could
neither turn toward my antagonist nor free myself from his maniacal
grasp. Relentlessly he was rushing me toward the side of the vessel
and death. There was none to stay him, for each of my companions was
more than occupied by from one to three of the enemy. For an instant I
was fearful for myself, and then I saw that which filled me with a far
greater terror for another.

My boche was bearing me toward the side of the submarine against which
the tug was still pounding. That I should be ground to death between
the two was lost upon me as I saw the girl standing alone upon the
tug's deck, as I saw the stern high in air and the bow rapidly settling
for the final dive, as I saw death from which I could not save her
clutching at the skirts of the woman I now knew all too well that I
loved.

I had perhaps the fraction of a second longer to live when I heard an
angry growl behind us mingle with a cry of pain and rage from the giant
who carried me. Instantly he went backward to the deck, and as he did
so he threw his