For a moment the _Dewey_ appeared to be going down by the stern, with
her bow inclined upward at an angle of forty-five degrees. Above all
the din and confusion could be heard the roar of a terrific explosion
outside. The little submersible was caught in the convulsion of the
sea until it seemed her seams would be rent and her crew engulfed.
From the engine room Chief Engineer Blaine and his men retreated
amidships declaring that the submarine had been dealt a powerful blow
directly aft the conning tower on her starboard beam.
"Any plates leaking?" asked Lieutenant McClure quietly.
"Not that we can notice, sir," replied Blame. "It appears as though
the nose of that Prussian scraped along our deck line abaft the
conning tower."
At any moment the steel plates were likely to cave in under the strain
and the submarine be inundated.
"Stand by ready for the emergency valve!" shouted Lieutenant McClure.
This was the ship's safety contrivance. The Brighton boys had been
wonderfully impressed with it shortly after their first introduction
to the "innards" of a submarine.
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