Each had his orders for this all-important night.
"Here we go!" murmured McClure to his aides as he signaled his fleet
of submarines forward into the fray.
Picking his way according to the German chart, he set a zigzag course.
At length the officers of the _Monitor_ knew they were closing in,
and so far successfully. The submarines were running submerged
with only the tips of their periscopes showing.
All at once there appeared in the sky directly ahead of the _Monitor_
a line of red lights. A German birdman, circling above on patrol duty,
had observed the wake of the periscopes and had touched off a night
flare.
Like a giant pyrotechnic display the red globules floated in the air.
No sooner had the light appeared than there came the boom of a big gun
on shore and a huge shell screeched seaward over the _Monitor_.
Instantly the coast defense guns of the Germans crashed into action.
And now, from the rear of the _Monitor_ and her consorts, came the
answering crash of the great guns on the mighty ships of the Allies.
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