life, to prevent the destruction of the ship. It was obviously unfair to risk the lives of his men in a task that, but for his precipitate pledge, need never have been undertaken.

"Keep those fellows on deck under close arrest. The boarding party will remain here," he exclaimed, addressing the coxswain petty officer of the cutter. "I'm going below."

Without hesitation Webb descended the ladder into the gloomy depths of the fore hold. Groping until his feet touched the iron floor, he waited while his eyes grew accustomed to the dim light. The place was crowded with cargo, for the most part tiers of barrels. Fore and aft ran a narrow space, terminating at the transverse steel bulkheads.

A faint hissing sound was borne to his ears. For'ard a splutter of dim reddish sparks told him that already the time-fuse had been lighted; but the Hun responsible for the firing of the bomb had not yet bolted for the deck. Was it possible that he was going to throw away his life in a useless act of revenge upon the Douro? Or was the time-fuse of sufficient length for him to remain in the hold for several minutes before making a dash for safety?

In any case the Sub had no time to debate upon the situation. His chief concern was to save the ship. Unhesitatingly he made his way towards the hissing fuse.

"Tamped" by means of a bale of cotton, the bomb had been placed against the curved tapering side of the ship. Only a few inches of the fuse was visible. It seemed a matter of a few seconds before the powerful explosive would be detonated.

Placing his boot upon the ignited tape, Webb severed the fuse. As he knelt there, in order to make certain that the sparks were thoroughly extinguished, a pair of powerful hands gripped him from behind. The desperate Hun, hitherto hidden in the after part of the hold, had thrown himself upon the young officer.

Taken by surprise, although he had been prepared for a frontal attack, Webb found himself stretched upon his back with a burly Teuton kneeling on his chest. The Hun's left hand was pressed over the Sub's mouth, thus effectually preventing him from making a sound, while with his right the fellow groped for the severed portion of the fuse, which, released from the pressure of Webb's boot, had again burst into a splutter of angry sparks.

For a seemingly interminable time Webb struggled desperately yet unavailingly. Slowly yet surely the relentless pressure on 

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