above us, and its entire strength went in the direction where
the natural resistance was smallest--which was upwards. Without causing
us any greater damage than a fright and a few possible scars on the thin
metal parts, which might have scratched the paint, we had escaped.

Undoubtedly the Frenchman was filled with exultation over our
destruction when, waiting at his post by the net, he heard and saw the
explosion, and probably reported by wireless to the entire world:

"Enemy U-boat caught and destroyed in a net by a mine explosion."

And little I begrudge him that joy if he, as a return favor in the
future, will leave us alone, because we had gotten pretty nearly all we
wanted, as it was.

The day's experiences were far from ended. First Engineer Krueger
appeared on the stairway to the conning tower with a troubled look.

"Herr Captain," he reported, "we must have gotten something in the
propeller. Our electric power is being consumed twice as fast as it
should. I suppose that pieces of the metal net have entangled themselves
in the blades. The laboring of the engines is terrific and the charge
in the batteries is being rapidly reduced, and they are becoming
exhausted."

Were we now going to have this difficulty, too! We had already consumed
a large quantity of the current, because we had been compelled to dive
at our highest speed and this uses up the batteries fast.

"How far can we go on it now, Herr Krueger?"

The engineer calculated in his notebook, shrugged his shoulders
thoughtfully, and said:

"If we do not consume it any faster, it should last us for a couple of
hours yet. It would be better, however, to decrease our speed a little."

I pondered this situation for a time. In about an hour the tide would
turn and the current would be against us. We would not be able to make
much speed then, but, on the other hand, it would be dark, and we would
probably dare to rise to the surface. The enemy undoubtedly believed we
had perished and would have decreased his vigilance.

"All right," replied the engineer. "We'll stop one motor. There is no
danger we will run aground. It is too deep here for that."

Consequently, we stopped one motor, and continued ahead at a reduced
speed. At exactly five o'clock we came up again to look around. Hard by
in our wake was the French torpedo boat steaming at a distance of about
two hundred meters.

"Well, what is it now?" I said to the mate, and bit nervously on my
low