Sudden noises at night, particularly when accompanied by a tremor and by vibrations that shake one to his innermost being, are, in themselves, terrifying. When to that is added the additional source of danger of the occurrence taking place at sea on board a crowded transport and the possibilities for tragic happenings from this source, fears may well be multiplied.

And yet, such was the discipline and foresightedness on board the Sherman that the panic and terror were only momentary. No sooner did Ned, Bob, and Jerry, together with many of their comrades, find themselves stumbling about in the dark with the noise of the explosion still ringing in their ears, than they were aware of signals being sounded throughout the ship.

The signals were those for instant falling in on the part of the soldiers, and indicated that they were to take the quarters assigned to them, each[61] man nearest the boat in which he was to have a place should destruction menace the ship.

And then, while excited cries were issuing from many throats and when some, in the confusion, forgot what the bugle calls meant and while still others were instinctively terrified in the darkness, lights began to gleam. Some of the illumination came from oil lanterns provided for an emergency to the dynamo lighting system of the ship. Other glows flitted from portable electric flash-torches that many of the officers and men carried, but the greater light came from the auxiliary storage battery system, which was switched on as soon as the proper officer found that the big, whirring dynamo was out of commission.

“Fall in! Fall in! Take your places at the boats!” cried the officers, rapidly getting the situation well in hand. “Be ready for the order to abandon ship!”

And then perfect order came out of confusion. No longer did the soldiers rush madly about, crying out to know what had happened. No longer was the pall of blackness hiding man from the sight of man. Once more wonderful discipline was uppermost.

“What’s it all about?” asked Bob of Ned, as he and his chum followed Jerry to their appointed station.

“Your guess is as good as the next man’s,” said[62] Jerry. “Let’s get to our boat first, and talk afterward.”

They stumbled upward and onward in the midst of the crowd, groping their way, for the lighting system, though sufficiently good to enable them to see to progress, was not as bright as the regular one. As they stumbled on toward their boat-station a voice of authority cried:

“Wounded men first in the boats!”

“Right!” sang out a number of hearty voices, and it was evident there would be no terrible scenes should it become necessary to abandon ship. And this dire thought was uppermost in the minds of all.

It was also evident that the Sherman had received an injury much more serious than the previous one that had sent her back to the dock for repairs to the machinery which had been so quickly made. She had come to a stop now in the darkness on the broad ocean, and was slowly heaving to the swell. There was also a slight list to one side, its cause unknown to the soldiers who, in response to the commands of their officers, were moving in orderly array to safety stations.

“Well, our adventures are keeping up,” said Jerry in a low voice to his two chums when they had reached their boat station and stood waiting for further orders. “But I didn’t quite bargain for this.”

[63]

“Me, either,” commented Ned.

“Do you think the old boat will go down?” asked Bob.

“No telling,” Jerry answered. “It looks pretty serious, or they wouldn’t get us all up here this way. They’re bringing up the wounded now.”

As he spoke it could be seen that doctors, nurses, and stretcher-bearers were appearing on deck with the casualty cases. And to the credit of the unfortunate ones be it said that they remained quiet, and some even laughed and joked, though they must have known, in case of the necessity for abandoning ship and taking to the small boats, that their chances of being saved were infinitely smaller than those of able-bodied men. But they were Uncle Sam’s boys, and that is enough to say.

Naturally, on all sides, the questions asked were:

“What happened?”

“What caused it?”

“Did a sub attack us?”

And so insistent were these queries, and so vital was it to have some information given out, that when at last all the wounded had been brought up and every man was at his station the officer commanding the troops addressed them.

“As you all know, there has been an unfortunate accident,” he said. “The full extent is not yet known, but I am authorized by Cap............