THE “‘SWORD’’ IN CONFLICT WITH THE TUG 255

tug would not see us, and when it had reached its
moorings the Sword would start again and get into the
tunnel.

Our screw was reversed, and we turned up towards the
bank on the south side. After a few seconds we came to
a standstill. f

No! the Sword had been seen! Captain Spade had
become aware of the presence of a submarine boat about
to enter the tunnel. He prepared to give chase under
the water; and what could our frail boat do against Ker
Karraje’s powerful apparatus ?

Lieutenant Davon then said to me,—

“Go back to the compartment where M. Roch is.
Shut the door, while I go and shut that of the stern com-
partment. If they run into us it is possible, with our
bulkheads, that we may hold out under water!”

His composure was not ruffled by this new danger.
After pressing his hand, I went forward to join M. Roch.
I shut the door and waited in complete darkness.

I perceived, or rather I became conscious of, the
manceuvres of the Sword in her endeavours to escape the
tug—her heaving, her setting, her gyrations; how she
was performing a sudden evolution to escape a collision,
now -rising to the surface, again sinking to the very
bottom. °

Picture to yourself this contest between two destroyers
under those troubled waters, like two marine monsters of
unequal strength.

Some minutes passed. I was wondering whether the