New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-29
Submarine
H. in Ambush

Shortly after the torpedo struck the ship
the perscope of a submarine broke the
surface couple of hundred yards distant,
evidently watching proceedings with a de-
liberate, cautious scrutiny. Moving slowly
through the water, like the fin of waiting
shark, the sinister object came gradually
down the ships side, within five yards of
the breathless boats and not ten yards
from where the commander lay his pipe be-
tween his teeth, beside the voice pipes that
connected him with the assistant paymaster,
R. N RI, Who concealed in the gun control
position, was awaiting the order to open
fire. From the altitude of the bridge the
submerged whaleback pull was plainly visi-
BILE to the figure crouched behind the bridge
screens, and the temptation to yield to the
impulse of the moment, to open fire and
end the suspense, shook even his iron
nerves. lucky shot might pierce the lead
gray shadow that moved fifteen feet be-
meath the surface; but water plays strange
tricks with projectiles, DETECTING them at
unexpected ricochets, at angles no man can
foretell; moreover, the submarine was IN
diving trim. The odds against a broadside
overwhelming her before she could plunge
into the depths and escape were too great.
SO the commander waited, with self-controi
that almost superhuman, and, prone be-
side their guns, unseeng and unseen, his
waited. too, with teeth clenched and
sprawling limbs rigid in the mastery of dis
ciplne
The ship had then sunk by the stern until
it was awash, and the crew of the gun
masked by the wheelhouse were crouched
up to their knees in water. A black cat
the ships mascot, that had been blown
overheard by the explosion of the torpedo.
aft and in over the stern, whose
counter rose normally twenty feet above
the surface. Still the periscope continued
its unhurried observations; it travelled past
the ship, across the bow, and then slowly
moved away, if content that the task was
done. For the space of nearly a minute
bitter disappointment and modification
rose and swelled to bursting point in the
commanders heart. His ship had been tor
pedoed and was sinking. Their quarry had
all but been within their grasp, and was.
now going to escape unscathed Then, when
hope was Pickering to extinction, the sub-
marine rose to the surface 300 yards on
the port bow, and came slowly back to-
ward the ship.
Up to this juncture, although the ship
was settling deeper every moment, the COM
mander had purposely refrained from sum-
monng assistance by wireless, lest inter
ruption should come before his grim work
was done. Now, however, he saw at one
quick glance that the Lord had indeed
placed the enemy upon his lee bow" and the
rest was only matter of few bloody mo-
ments. Accordingly he gave orders for an
urgent wireless signal, to be sent out forth
with summoning assistances and waited
until the submarine was on a line when
all his guns would bear. She reached the
desired spot at the moment when the Ger
man commander was complacently emery
ing from the coming tower; up went the
White Ensign, and the first shot beheaded
him. he dropped back into the interior Of
the submarine, and his wholly unexpected
temperance impaired shock of surprise
to the remainder of the inmates from which
they never recovered The submarine Law
motionless AS a dead whale while the
avenging broadside shattered the hull. and
the grizzled pensioner inside hen coop
scientifically raked her deck with Maxim
to prevent her gun from being manned.
She finally sank with her coming tower
open and the crew pouring shrieking out OF
the hatchway.