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All was in readiness for the youth to crawl through the breech cap and stretch himself out like a human torpedo. Lieutenant Mcclure was sure that the prow of the Dewey lay free of the sand bar on which the vessel was poised, and that there was no obstruction in front of the bowcap. But to make doubly sure he ordered the discharge of a torpedo from the lower starboard chamber.

In less time than it takes to tell, Jack was bundled into the long steel case, his arms stretched over his head well forward toward the bowcap. So tightly was he wedged in the aperture that his shoulders rubbed against both sides of the tube.

Instantly a great volume of compressed air swirled into the upper port chamber; the bowcap was opened and the missile sped on its way. "Gee, I hope that 'moldy' lands her!" shouted Jack at the sound of the discharged torpedo. Although but a short time in the North Sea and just getting well acquainted with their English cousins, the American lads were fast learning the lingo of the deep.

The compressed air came hurtling into the tube with a roar as of a mighty Niagara. It enveloped him and seemed pressing against his body like many tons of steel. Instinctively the lad inhaled deeply and gritted his teeth. In another moment the bowcap was swung open and then came a rush of air that shot him forward at a dizzy velocity.

It left the bowcap free and with full power, giving assurance that no obstacle intervened beyond the mouth of the torpedo tubes. Jack saluted his lieutenant, signifying his readiness to go. "So longs Ted!" was his jaunty sally as he turned for an instant to his old Brighton chum. For a few seconds the two boys gazed full into each other's eyes, their hands clasped in a farewell.

Again, a torpedo leaped from the bowcap of the Monitor and hurled its ton and a quarter of steel gray mass directly upon the port bow of the German craft. As the Monitor dived away again her captain beheld the battleship listing badly, going down by the bow at a rapid rate. "Two strikes!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.