"
Silently the boys stole forward until they could make out the dim
figures more clearly. There was no doubt that they were those of Secor
and Labenstein. And then, as the boys paused, fearing to get so close as
to court discovery, they saw a little light flash.
Three times up and down on the port side of the bows went a little flash
of light, and then it suddenly went out.
"My electric light," whispered Blake in Joe's ear.
"But I thought you said it would burn out!"
"I hope it has. I think----"
From one of the figures in the bow came a guttural exclamation:
"The infernal light has gone out!"
"So?" came from the other.
"Yes. It must be broken. Let me have yours, Herr Lieutenant. I have not
given the signal in completeness, and----"
"I left my light in the stateroom. I'll go and----"
But the lieutenant never finished that sentence. Across the dark and
silent ocean came a dull report--an explosion that seemed to make the
_Jeanne_ tremble. And then the sky and the water was lighted by the
flashing beams of powerful lights.
"What was that?" gasped Joe, while from the crouching figures in the bow
came exclamations of dismay. "Are we torpedoed?"
"I fancy not," answered Blake.
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