CHAPTER XII.CAPTURED.

CHAPTER XII.CAPTURED.

Frank, literally the bone of contention between the two forces in the launches, swam as swiftly as possible in the direction of safety; but the furtive glances he cast over his shoulder showed him that the Germans were nearer than his friends, and that in spite of the fact that he was swimming toward the latter, the former would come up with him first.

The men in both boats were now on their feet, and their revolvers spoke across the water. As yet, however, they were too far away to make accurate shooting possible, and no one was even touched.

But soon the German boat drew so close to Frank, that the men in the D-16’s launch were afraid to fire at the Germans for fear a chance shot might hit the lad. The Germans, however, were not thus handicapped, and continued pouring lead in the direction of Lord Hastings and his men.

As the German boat came alongside Frank, a man reached out to grab him. Frank took a long breath and dived, the fingers of his foe just touching his shoulder.

When he came to the surface for a fresh breath, the German boat was several yards away and Frank breathed easier.

“If I can keep that up,” he told himself, “I may get away yet.”

Again the boat drew near and again Frank dived.

The German officer in command had had enough of this game of hide and seek, however, and he immediately ordered two of his men overboard after the lad.

Frank, of course, knew nothing of this move and when he came to the surface once more, he was surprised to find rough hands laid upon him from both sides. In vain did he strike out with both feet and hands. Struggle as he would he could not shake off his foes; and all three sank together.

The German boat came closer, and the sailors leaned over the side, ready to pull in the struggling trio when they came to the surface again.

Sputtering and gasping for breath, the three heads finally showed above the water. There was not much fight left in any of them, and therefore Frank was drawn over the side without much trouble. Then the German officer ordered the launch brought about, and put off for the German cruiser at full speed.

As they fled, a running battle with the men in the D-16’s launch ensued. One German toppled over into the water, but the boat was not stopped to pick him up. One British sailor was struck in the arm by a German bullet; but outside of these two no one was wounded.

The German launch had the heels of the D-16’s small boat, and soon outdistanced her. Convinced at last that pursuit was useless, Lord Hastings ordered that the chase be abandoned. The launch was brought about and headed slowly back toward the submarine.

“Poor Frank,” said Jack. “I always knew his rashness would get him in trouble some day. I am afraid his days of fighting are over.”

“While there is life there is hope,” said Lord Hastings calmly. “Perhaps we may be able to figure out some means of rescue.”

“A great chance,” said Jack sarcastically. “Right in the heart of the enemy’s country? I don’t think so. What do you suppose they will do with him?”

“Hold him as a prisoner of war.”

“Then there is no danger of his being shot?”

“I should say not.”

“Well, that’s not so bad. Still, it is pretty tough for him to be cooped up for the next few years.”

Aboard the D-16 once more, all went below immediately and Lord Hastings gave the command to submerge.

“They know we are here now,” he said, “and they’ll be after us. Therefore we had better get down. We’ll stay around for a while and see if we cannot be of some help to Frank. We may be able to maneuver so as to avoid detection.”

“When it comes to that,” said Jack, “we might as well be here as any place else. I should say that there is considerable work we could do hereabouts, and if we can avoid the enemy we can make it pretty warm for them.”

“You are right,” replied Lord Hastings, “but we shall have to be very careful, for, knowing we are here, they will undoubtedly have every ship in these waters looking for us.”

“Well,” said Jack, “why should we wait for them to act? Why can’t we strike the first blow?”

Lord Hastings looked at him quizzically.

“Just what do you mean by that?” he asked.

“Why,” said Jack, “torpedo one of them right now.”

“I am afraid you are a little hot headed yourself,” said his commander with a faint smile. “I should say that that is just what they expect us to do, and for that reason I am opposed to such action. Never do the expected, is my motto. It is the unexpected that counts.”

“Perhaps you are right,” agreed Jack; “still I would like to get at a few of them.”

“Don’t fret,” said Lord Hastings, “you shall have your chance.”

Meanwhile, what of Frank?

Immediately the launch had returned to the German cruiser, the lad was hurried over the side and taken to the commander’s cabin. The latter received him courteously and motioned him to a seat.

“And how, if I may ask,” he inquired, “do you happen to be in the middle of the Kiel canal?”

Frank smiled slightly.

“I came in a submarine,” he replied.

“So I have perceived,” said the commander.

“But I was unaware England had established a submarine base anywhere near German territory.”

“Neither has she, to my knowledge,” said Frank.

“Then how did you get here? Surely you must have a base.”

“Our base,” said Frank, “was London.”

“What?” exclaimed the German, jumping to his feet. “You sit here and tell me a thing like that? Surely you can’t think I don’t know that a submarine cannot operate that distance from her base.”

“Nevertheless, it is true,” replied Frank quietly.

“But your air supply, your torpedoes, your provisions,” exclaimed the German commander.

“Those we carry with us,” said Frank.

“Then,” said the German sarcastically, “yours must be a very remarkable submarine.”

“So it is,” replied Frank.

“Well, it will be impossible for her to get away,” said the German. “We have her bottled up, and all we need do is wait until she comes to the surface to replenish her air tanks; then we can sink her.”

“You’ll have a long wait,” said Frank. “She doesn’t have to come up for that purpose.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just what I say. The submarine to which I am attached carries no air tanks except those to be used in case of an emergency.”

“No air tanks! Then how do you get air?”

“Well,” said Frank, “I can’t see that it will do any harm to tell you. We extract air from the water.”

The German commander leaned back in his chair and looked at the lad in amazement.

“Extract air from the water, eh?” he said slowly. “Do you mean to tell me that England has solved that problem?”

“She has, sir,” replied Frank quietly.

The German was silent for a long time before he said: “Then I must say that Germany has a hard job on her hands.”

Frank was silent and the captain continued:

“And how many such vessels have you in operation?”

Frank hesitated.

“Well, only a few right now,” he said at last. “But many more are in the process of construction.”

“And are you familiar with the operations of such a vessel, and of the method used?”

“To a certain extent, yes.”

“But I do not suppose you could be prevailed upon to divulge the secret?”

“I could not,” replied Frank quietly.

“Good! I thought not. Well, it’s too bad that we were not the first to discover the secret; but you will find that we do not whine, nor will we seek to obtain the secret by unfair means.”

“I am sure of it, sir,” replied Frank.

“Now,” said the German commander, “I must decide what I am going to do with you. I suppose that you know you will be held until the end of the war?”

Frank nodded as he replied: “I should suppose so.”

“I shall have you sent ashore in the morning and turned over to the military authorities. The chances are that you will be taken to Berlin. Of that I am not sure, however.”

“One place will do as well as another, I suppose.”

“I’m glad you are cheerful about it,” laughed the captain, “and as mess hour is approaching I shall be glad to have you dine with me.”

“I shall be pleased to do so, sir.”

“By the way,” said the German, “what is the speed of this remarkable submarine of yours?”

“I wouldn’t like to say,” replied Frank, “but I can say that it is fully as great as that of your fastest battleship.”

The German puckered his lips in a long expressive whistle.

“Well,” he said, “it’s too bad for us. Now, if you care to wash up I shall have you shown to your temporary quarters.”

It was a pleasant meal to which the lad sat down that evening, and he enjoyed himself immensely. He found the German officers a likeable lot and was treated more as a guest than as a prisoner.

It was while at table that he learned that German submarines had been sent down in search of the British vessel, and that each battleship was being guarded by an under-the-sea fighter so that no surprise attack by the D-16 might be made.

At a late hour the lad retired and slept the sleep of the exhausted.

He was up bright and early the following morning, and after breakfast took his place in the ship’s launch, which immediately headed toward the shore. The captain bade him a pleasant good-bye, and added:

“If I get to Berlin I shall look you up.”

“I’m not there yet,” said Frank, but in his heart he was pretty sure that it was only a question of hours until he would be.

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