Evening star., 1941-03-21

had plans of his own. With the
tender crew safely aboard, the
U-boat suddenly got under way, not
submerging Immediately, but moving
ahead on a course that brought i
around the bows of the Vandam.
This maneuver placed the Dutch
ship, with its cargo of helpless pas
sengers, between the destroyer and
it's quarry. AS result, the British
boat had to silence its guns momen-
tarily, while it also changed its
course in a wide. sweeping circle
around the motionless liner.
The U-boat took advantage of this
interval to begin its dive.
Destroyer Tries Ramming.
Nerve-shattering moments passed
as the destroyer completed its ma
neuver. Then its guns lashed out in
white flame again, and the water
about the vanishing U-boat leaped
into convulsions.
Now. the destroyer Strengthened
out and, splitting the sea in a
mighty double wave. bore down at
high speed on the submarine, intent
on ramming.
At the same moment the stern of
the U-boat submerged. Brinda
could imagine it plunging on down
through the ocean depths, its crew
waiting for the next explosion that
would tell them they were doomed.
She shuddered as she realized that,
had she been allowed aboard, she
would have been doomed with them.
The destroyer had ceased firing
now. AS it passed over the point
where the U-boat had vanished, 1t
seemed to hesitate briefly. Then, it
sped on, while, in its wake, the sea
suddenly leaped into huge geysers-
solid blocks of water as tall as high
buildings. The reverberations of the
exploding depth bombs shook the
Vandam from bow to stern.
Wheeling, like a steel terrier, the
destroyer returned to the charge,
crossing its own path. Again. the
conclusion of depth bombs: again
the exploding pillars OF water, send
ing spray over the decks of the
Vandam and its white-faced passen-
gers watching the deadly drama OF
battle.
"Ah!" said a man next to Brinda
"rraat did it!" He spoke as though
to himself.
Did what2" she asked. What do
you mean?"
Look" said the man. his voice
trembling a little. Don't you see?
OIL from the U-boat. They got it!''
A Telltale Oil Slick.
In the glare of the destroyer s
searchlight, Brinda could see II
now. A blackness that bubbled and
spread. In its midst. the sea was
calmer. Wider and wider it spread
pouring out of the shattered fuel
tanks Of the submarine like dark
blood from a mortally wounded
monster.
Somewhere beneath it, Brinda
knew the U-boat was sinking to-
ward the ocean floor, with all its
| complement of officers and men, in
cluding the Gestapo agent whose
| pACocilSc hdo hCPI iicl 1lOill Uclile
aboard 1t herself. With the young
commander, who, little while age
had looked so bored and arrogant as
he contemptuously Gained the fears
of the Vandam captain. With Kon-
rad, the baron who had counted sc
confidently on visiting England one
day as a conqueror. And, Brinda
realized with a gasp of unutterable
relief, with the stolen list of agents
the prize for which the lost ship
had ventured into this dangerous
sea!
Sir John was saved. The lives of
the British agents on that list were
now secure. Dizzy from emotion,
Brinda clutched at the rail. She
thought of the men in the shattered
submarine, drowned like rats in a
trap and for moment almost wept
with pity. Then she thought Of
Konrad-of the cold sensuality Of