nition boxes appeared as though by magic and were broken open. Plugs
were swung back and the gun bores were examined. The starboard gun was
quickly charged. Whistler and Torry both worked on her. They stood back,
the gunner standing with his finger on the button of the trigger.

"That submarine's going down!" gasped one watcher. "We'll lose her."

The next moment the executive officer's report for deflection and range
came through the tube. Then: "Are you on?"

"On, sir!"

"Fire!"

It seemed that almost instantaneously with the roar and recoil of the
huge gun the shell burst beside the sinking submarine. The explosion was
terrific; the whole hull of the undersea boat heaved up, exposing its
length for a few seconds. Then the sea-shark sank, going down like a
shot.

"A hit! A hit!" yelled the men in turret two.

A cheer burst from the throats of the whole ship's company. Those who
had not seen it, realized that the first gun fired in earnest by the
_Kennebunk_ had reached its target.

"The old ship's bound to have good luck!" shouted a boatswain. "This is
only the beginning! We'll sweep the seas of every Hun!"

The officers did not try to quell the cheering. The satisfaction and
pride of all was something too fine to be quenched.

The battleship swerved again and ran across the track of the sunken
U-boat. Bubbling up from the depths were blobs of black oil which lazily
spread and broke upon the sea's surface.

The German submarine was done for. Her crew were buried with her at the
bottom of the sea. The cheering ceased when this fact was realized.

"The poor square-heads!" muttered one fellow near Frenchy and Ikey
Rosenmeyer. "They couldn't help it, I s'pose. They say they are driven
into the subs. Aren't no volunteers called for."

"Where's that other sub?" demanded another. "Has she sunk, too?"

Frenchy and Ikey began to grin again. One of the boatswains said: "I bet
that warn't no submarine ship at all. She's a joke. There! We're going
to circle around and hunt her up."

"Do you think the Fritzies set something afloat to fool us?" demanded
another man in surprise. "They're cute rascals, aren't they?"

"Not very cute just now," returned somebody, dryly. "They're food for
the fishes."

"Just the same, if we'd got our attention completely fixed upon this
here floating joker, the real sub might have sneaked up within range and
sent us a lover's note in the shape of a torpedo."

Frenchy and Ikey began