The friends from Seacove were not alone excited by the renewed chase of the super-submersible. That day, too, there were two messages about the German craft. She had sunk a small freight boat and a fishing sloop. It was evident that she had run somewhere for supplies, and had now come back to the island waters. How many Canary fishermen’s sloops and turtle catchers she sank during the next few days will never be known. Mark of such vessels could not be taken until their crews rowed ashore--if they were fortunate enough to get to shore. The tales the _Colodia_ got by wireless, however, showed that the Germans were robbing all crews, as they had the people from the Argentine ship. From these shore reports, it seemed that the huge submarine was circling about the steamship lane again, boldly attacking everything that came in her way; but it was not until next day that the destroyer got out of the air a _bona fide_ call for help. This was from the radio of the British steamship _Western Star_ bound up the Cape of Good Hope. She had merely time to repeat her S O S signal when her spark was cut off. Doubtless the radio plant of the freighter was destroyed by shellfire. She had, however, given the _Colodia_ clearly her situation, and the United States destroyer started upon another of those remarkable dashes for which she and her sister ships were originally built. There was a chance that they might reach the spot where the _Western Star_ was being held up before the submarine could get away; and the _Colodia’s_ crew was at stations, ready for what was coming. CHAPTER XVII--THE SPITFIRE That was a great race, as the boys declared. The engines of the _Colodia_ seemed to pick her right up and fling her onward over the sea. They passed no other ship, and after the breakdown of the _Western Star’s_ wireless, they got but vague whispers out of the air, and nothing at all about the huge German submarine that was attacking the British freighter. The lookout tops were filled with excited men and boys; every member of the crew was on the alert. Tearing on through the calm sea, the destroyer reeled off the miles as fast as ever she had since her launching. Two hours passed. Keen ears distinguished intermittent explosions from a southerly direction. Then a smudge of smoke appeared on the horizon, as though a giant’s thumb had been smeared just above the sea line. “There she is!” went up the cry from the destroyer’s crew. Their eagerness was increased, were that possible. As the cloud of smoke grew, they were all aware that it was from a ship in flames. For some reason the submarine had not torpedoed the freighter, but had set her aflame with fire bombs. Had the crew of the steamship been given a chance to escape? That question was really the mainspring of the Americans’ desire to reach in such a hurry the scene of the catastrophe.