The battleship got under way and
steamed slowly toward the Energon. At half a mile distant the
battleship blew up--simply blew up, that was all, her shattered frame
sinking to the bottom of the bay, a riff-raff of wreckage and a few
survivors strewing the surface. Among the survivors was a young
lieutenant who had had charge of the wireless on board the Alaska.
The reporters got hold of him first, and he talked. No sooner had
the Alaska got under way, he said, than a message was received from
the Energon. It was in the international code, and it was a warning
to the Alaska to come no nearer than half a mile. He had sent the
message, through the speaking tube, immediately to the captain. He
did not know anything more, except that the Energon twice repeated
the message and that five minutes afterward the explosion occurred.
The captain of the Alaska had perished with his ship, and nothing
more was to be learned.
The Energon, however, promptly hoisted anchor and cleared out to sea.
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