‘Down 400. Shoot!’ ‘One hit, others short!’ shouted the spotter. ‘Up 200. Shoot!’ There was no need to listen to the spotter this time. The middle of the destroyer rose in the air and then burst asunder. With a roar, she broke in halves, and bow and stem were elevated skyward until she assumed the shape of the letter V. Almost instantaneously she disappeared. As she did so, she went straight downwards as if plucked under by a gigantic hand. The fourth destroyer put her helm hard over and turned sixteen points. She had been hit once by the ship astern and had evidently had enough. The lieutenant chuckled. ‘Gave Fritz what-for that time! Guess our destroyers could have done better than that! ‘Cease firing!’ For the time being, the destroyer attack had been foiled, but others were sure to come, and, smothered in spray, the men on the top kept anxiously on the alert. As they looked ahead, they saw first one, then another, then several separate clouds of smoke on the horizon. The German battle-cruisers were heading straight for them, and the meaning of that was all too plain. Evidently these distant vessels were the German High Seas Fleet. The range of the German battle-cruisers was rapidly getting less, and it was possible to start shooting at them with the secondary armament with a fair chance of hitting. The lieutenant began to give his orders again, after asking permission from the captain. And, busy and capable as he was professionally, another part of his brain was speaking to his inner consciousness. ‘This is _Der Tag_ at last. Thank heaven we’re in it. Verdun must have been a failure. Where is Jellicoe? We can’t take on all these beggars by ourselves! Wonder how long Beatty is going to carry on! Their guns are badly rattled: they haven’t hit us a fair smack for over an hour.’ The rapidly advancing High Seas Fleet was approaching the parallel lines of fighting battle-cruisers. Still Beatty held on! But the lieutenant had no doubts in his own mind. ‘Jellicoe can’t be far away, and we are going to hold them until he comes up. May it be soon!’ Still the battle-cruisers held on, while the German battleships commenced firing at long ranges. At last the signal to go about was given, and the helm was jammed hard a-port so that the big ship heeled heavily over as she spun round. As she did so, it was obvious enough that the German battle-cruisers were doing the same and racing back in the direction they had come. They had apparently got the idea that Beatty was trying to avoid them and was suffering too much punishment to be able to reply effectually. But that officer had his own game to play and knew as soon as the German battle-cruisers turned immediately after him that they had fallen into the very error he had desired them to make. The Fifth Battle Squadron had now joined up and was engaging both the enemy’s cruisers and battleships, and, as far as the battle was concerned, the day was now more in favour of the British.