CHAPTER XI
ONE SUBMARINE LESS
"We are doomed!"
"What shall we do?"
"We can't do anything!"
"Oh, why did I undertake this trip!"
Such were some of the exclamations that rent the air. It was a moment of intense excitement. Some of the passengers quailed at the spectacle and fell to their knees, although unable to tear their horrified eyes away from the advancing trail of bubbles marking the coming of the deadly torpedo.
But the captain had done the right thing, and the vessel, having sheered aside to some extent, the torpedo missed striking the bow by twenty feet. When this fact was made apparent a husky cheer arose. The danger was averted, although, of course, another missile might already be on its way toward them.
It was generally thought that the captain would endeavor to run away at top speed, pursuing a zigzag course in order to avoid being struck when the crew of the submarine, finding
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