For a moment the _Dewey_ appeared to be going down by the stern, with her bow inclined upward at an angle of forty-five degrees. Above all the din and confusion could be heard the roar of a terrific explosion outside. The little submersible was caught in the convulsion of the sea until it seemed her seams would be rent and her crew engulfed. From the engine room Chief Engineer Blaine and his men retreated amidships declaring that the submarine had been dealt a powerful blow directly aft the conning tower on her starboard beam. "Any plates leaking?" asked Lieutenant McClure quietly. "Not that we can notice, sir," replied Blame. "It appears as though the nose of that Prussian scraped along our deck line abaft the conning tower." At any moment the steel plates were likely to cave in under the strain and the submarine be inundated. "Stand by ready for the emergency valve!" shouted Lieutenant McClure. This was the ship's safety contrivance. The Brighton boys had been wonderfully impressed with it shortly after their first introduction to the "innards" of a submarine. The safety valve could be set for any desired depth; when the vessel dropped to that depth the ballast tanks were automatically opened and every ounce of water expelled. As a result the submarine would shoot to the surface. The older "submarine salts" called the safety the "tripper." "If they've punctured us we might as well cut loose and take our chances on the surface," declared Lieutenant McClure to the little group of officers standing with him amidships in the control chamber. Not a man dissented. They were content to abide by the word of their chieftain. It was some relief to know that the nose of the destroyer had not crashed through the skin of the submarine; but, from the concussion astern and Chief Engineer Blaine's report, it was very evident that the _Dewey_ had been struck a glancing blow. Deep-sea pressure against a weakened plate could have but one inevitable sequel---the rending of the ship's hull. "They have gone completely over us," came the announcement from the wireless room. Hardly had the electrician concluded the report before the _Dewey_ was rocked by another submarine detonation---the explosion of a second depth bomb. This time it was farther from the hiding vessel; however, the ship was shaken until every electric light blinked in its socket. "I hope they soon get done with their Fourth of July celebration," remarked Bill Witt by way of a bit of subsea repartee. "That's the way they blow holes in their schweitzer cheese," ventured Mike Mowrey with a chuckle. It was decided to submerge a little deeper and then leisurely inspect the interior hull aft. An observation with the microphones disclosed the fact that the destroyer was moving out into the North Sea. "Guess they think they got us that time," suggested Lieutenant McClure to his executive officer. "Was rather a close call, come to think of it," smiled Cleary.