Shipping ballast in all her tanks, the _Monitor_ began dropping into
the depths.
"Look, look!" yelled Jack as he pointed to the steel dome roof of the
conning tower.
In consternation McClure and Ted followed the extended finger to a spot
in the steel casement where a jagged hole had been torn by a fragment
of the German shell fire and where now a thin stream of water was
percolating through the crevice.
"We've got to submerge, boys; that destroyer is almost on top of us
now!" cried McClure in frenzied tones. "Get down into the control
chamber---hurry!" he commanded.
Ted dived down the hatch as fast as he could scramble, followed
closely by Jack, who observed by now a steady stream of water pouring
into the turret of the _Monitor_ and splashing on clear through to
the flooring of the chamber deep down into the hold.
As Jack lowered himself away into the inner chamber amidships the
_Monitor_ was clutched suddenly by a terrific explosion that rocked
the already crippled submarine with the force of a hurricane and
swamped it as though by a tidal wave.
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