"None," replied the commander. "Keep to the course until I direct it to
be changed."

With a stiff salute von Schellen turned and vanished.

"Your Yankee friend shall not catch us this time," jeered the
ober-lieutenant. "Listen! Can you hear his propellers? We are going
directly away from him."

"He will catch you, in the end," Darrin retorted, "or some other comrade
will. I know how many of your craft our Navy has put out of commission,
and I know how many our Allies have destroyed."

"But you do not know how many submarines we have left, nor how fast we
are building them," mocked the German commander.

"Do not be too sure of that," Dave retorted. "It may be that our
information is more exact than you suspect."

"Have you anything definite to say on that subject?" demanded the
ober-lieutenant, regarding his prisoner attentively.

"Naturally not."

"Then, as I shall be busy, will you be good enough to return to the
bounds set for you?"

Dave bowed, turned and re-entered the passage-way. The German naval
officer's manner toward him had not been insulting. There was an evident
effort to treat Darrin with the outward show of respect that should be
accorded to a prisoner of his rank. Yet Dave knew that his enemy hated
him.

Mr. and Mrs. Launce were in the passage-way, and Captain Kennor could be
heard stirring in his cabin.

"Mr. Darrin, we are now at good depth under water?" inquired Mr. Launce.

"Yes, sir; I believe so. We are not to be caught and destroyed just yet."

"That I am sorry to hear," replied the lawyer, gravely.

"And, I, too, am sorry," spoke up Mrs. Launce. "Life has been sweet to
me, but I would much rather be dead than a captive in Germany. I condole
with you, Mr. Darrin, that it was not possible for you to bring about the
destruction of this wretched craft."

"It will, before long, go the way of the other German submarines," Dave
assured her, hoping that there were enemy eavesdroppers who would
overhear and understand.

At best exercise in this narrow short passage was a farce, though it was
often more agreeable to be out here than sitting in the cramped space of
one of the tiny sleeping cabins. The four prisoners rested, or moved
listlessly about, until the evening meal was ready. Then Captain Kennor
was summoned to eat with the petty officers, while Dave and his English
companions received word to join the craft's officers in the tiny
wardroom.

Mr. Launce glanced at Dave with a questioning look.

"Really, Mr. Darrin, I would as soon starve as eat with those German
officer fellows, and my wife feels as I do about it."

"And my idea is the same," Dave answered.

So Mr. Launce turned to the German mess servant, delivering in German a
message to the effect that the three prisoners did not care to join the
officers at mess.

Thereupon von Schellen came out.

"What is the matter?" he asked.

"We don't care to eat with you, sir," Mr. Launce replied, bluntly.

"Oh, very well," replied the junior officer, carelessly. "You three,
then, may eat at second table after we are pleased to be through."

Clicking his heels and wheeling, the junior officer went back to the
wardroom. The three prisoners waited more than an hour before the same
mess attendant came and beckoned them to enter.

They were alone, now, save for the presence of the ober-lieutenant, who
was seated at one end of the table writing. He did not look up as they
entered and seated themselves.

The meal set out was a coarse one, in quality of food, but there was
plenty of it. The three prisoners ate slowly, almost in silence, nor did
they address their host.

Before the meal was over the German commander left the room without word
or sign to his guests.

"Why, the boat has stopped!" exclaimed Mrs. Launce, in a low voice, some
three minutes later. "Are we resting on the bottom?"

"I think I shall soon be able to answer you," Darrin replied.

Soon machinery began to rumble.

"We are on the surface," said Dave, laying down knife and fork. "We are
recharging batteries."

Mrs. Launce leaned forward to whisper:

"Then surely there is some chance that one of our own craft will hear the
racket. We may be fired upon and sunk, do you not think?"

"You are eager for death?" Dave asked, studying her face.

"Yes. I prefer death to being taken to Germany."

"And I, too," Dave nodded.

"Have they anything against you there?" Mrs. Launce whispered, after
glancing about her.

"Only, I believe, that I brought about the capture and execution of one
of their most valuable spies."

"That would be enough," whispered Mr. Launce. "For that the Germans would
not openly try and execute you, but they will find other ways to bring
about your death."

Instantly it occurred to Darrin that, evidently, some one in official
Germany knew of something to bring against Mrs. Launce, for her question
to Darrin had indicated as much.

As they sat there at the table the young American officer noted that the
submarine rolled hardly at all. It was plain that the recent gale had
subsided, for the slight rocking of the boat indicated only a gentle
swell on the surface of the sea.

In the doorway appeared Lieutenant von Schellen. In his right hand,
steadied by his left, was what looked like an album. Glancing up from a
page the junior officer remarked, with quick speech and decided emphasis:

"You are the Countess of Denby."

By a great effort the Englishwoman turned slowly, glancing at the German.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "You have another woman prisoner? You are bringing
her here. I am sorry that she is in your hands."

"_You_ are the Countess of Denby!" von Schellen charged again, once more
levelling his accusing finger at her. "And you, sir," shifting the
direction of his finger to point at the supposed Mr. Launce, "are the
Earl of Denby!"

"I have risen in the world since I went to sea!" jested the Englishman.

"We know who you are, now," von Schellen continued, with brutal
bluntness, "and we know as much more about you as we need. We know of the
Admiralty office that you visited, and we know the information that you
two were expected to gather along the Kiel Canal when you should have
entered Germany! Oh, you will soon understand that we have most excellent
information from England! You journeyed to Denmark on a poor old tramp
steamer, under assumed names and with fraudulent passports furnished by
your government. From Denmark you were to work your way to Holland, and
thence into Germany, which country you would enter with still other
passports furnished you in Holland. We know all about the noble pair of
Denby! Of course you will deny this, but save your denials for use before
a German court!"

Having said which von Schellen turned and left them. The Englishman and
woman gave each other a swift, horrified glance, then lowered their eyes.
As they looked up again Dave sent them a swift glance of sympathy, but
there was a look of defiant pride on the Englishwoman's face.

The same thought was in the minds of all three. Von Schellen or some
other German had been eavesdropping near enough to hear the whispered
conversation that had taken place.

That was a fair ruse for use in war-time. Darrin, as he looked at the
English pair, felt sure that they really were the Earl and Countess of
Denby.

From the cabin under the conning tower came a chorus of hoarse laughter.
The Englishwoman's swift look said plainly:

"They are laughing over the discovery that they have made."

After that, gloom fell upon the trio. Darrin had never heard, before, of
the Earl of Denby. Later he learned that the Earl had led a recluse's
life among books until the war began. About that time he had married a
young noblewoman, and the pair had gone promptly into effective war work,
though not in ways that caused their portraits to be published in the
illustrated weeklies.

Von Schellen re-appeared five minutes later, casting first a look of
triumph at the English couple, next turning to Dave.

"The American officer may take the air briefly on deck if he so desires,"
said the German. "It is by gracious permission of the commanding
officer."

Darrin's first impulse was to decline, unless his companions were
included. He changed his mind, however, for he had an intense desire to
find out, if possible, in what waters the craft now was. So he rose,
bowing to his table companions, and followed von Schellen to the conning
tower ladder. Here he passed Herr Ober-Lieutenant and bowed stiffly.

"I am trusting you on deck," said the latter, with a frown. "It is a
courtesy. Do not abuse it by any untoward conduct."

Then Dave followed his conductor up into the tower, von Schellen all the
while keeping sharp lookout to see that Darrin did not attempt to do any
damage to the levers on the indicator board.

Von Schellen, preceding him to the deck, turned to say, as Darrin reached
the platform:

"Observe. Your desperate trick did not harm us for long. You will note
that the periscope is again lowered. In fact, a new one has been put in
its place. We have tested the new periscope and its bearings, and have
found that they work perfectly. Your treachery, with which you repaid the
commanding officer's courtesy, did not avail you much."

Darrin did not reply. Instead, he turned to survey the night on all
sides. Overhead were heavy clouds, obscuring the light of the moon,
which, in its present phase, would have furnished considerable light over
the waters. There was a fine mist in the air, but the sixth sense of the
sailor warned Dave not to expect rain tonight.

Despite the cloudiness, however, one could see for a considerable
distance over the slightly rolling sea. There was no other craft in
sight.

"You do not see much hope," mocked von Schellen. "We have chosen a quiet
part of the sea, as you will notice."

"You usually try to do that, don't you?" Dave asked, in a tone of
ordinary curiosity.

"You must know," laughed the junior officer. "You have spent months
pursuing our submarines."

"And have had some success in catching them," Dave answered.

Von Schellen's laugh was bitter as he rejoined:

"Ah! You are a good boaster! But do not go too far, Herr Darrin! Do not
make me wish to strike you!"

"I wouldn't care how soon you struck me," Darrin smiled, "provided I
could be assured of a fair field and no favor in defending myself. But I
think we are going too far in our talk, are we not, when one considers
the consideration that a captor must show to a prisoner of war. As a
gentleman you cannot strike me; nor, as a gentleman, can I seek to
provoke you to do so. The situation is one calling for tact, Herr
Lieutenant."

"And I cannot forget that you are taking occasion to remind me of the
fact," retorted von Schellen, a dark look coming into his face.

"Then may I, as the prisoner of war, ask that the subject be changed?"
Dave Darrin suggested.

"By all means," von Schellen returned, quickly, though he was able to
perceive that the American had again succeeded in putting him in the
wrong.

Just a moment later a petty officer appeared on deck. Taking two or three
steps toward the junior officer he halted, saluted, and then remained
standing at attention, as though waiting.

Von Schellen stepped over to the man, and a conversation followed in low
tones, but did not last long.

"If you care to remain on deck and watch," said the junior lieutenant,
"you will see something that may interest you."

CHAPTER XII

GERMAN BRUTALITY AT ITS WORST

JUST behind the conning tower a jointed steel mast was raised and stepped
by three seamen who came at the petty officer's order.

Farther astern a narrow, ledge-like trapdoor of steel was raised, and
from this was taken and stepped another steel jointed mast. The seamen
now worked quickly in rigging aerial wires in place. In a very short time
the work was completed, and the petty officer saluted von Schellen.

"You cannot fail to understand what we are doing," hinted the young
German officer.

"You are about to send or receive radio messages, I take it," Dave
replied.

"You have been told, of course, that we always report our whereabouts
after dark?"

"Yes, it is common knowledge with the Allies," Dave admitted. "And also
that you receive instructions from the home offices of your Admiralty."

There was a crackling sound on the aerials, followed by others, some
short, some long.

"A wonderful invention, is it not?" asked von Schellen, with
satisfaction.

"Yes, and first developed outside of Germany," Dave bantered,
good-humoredly.

"True enough, but we have known how to take the radio and adapt it to all
our needs," retorted von Schellen.

"Your operator is now reporting your whereabouts, of course."

"That would seem likely, wouldn't it?" the other demanded.

"And then you will receive information."

"Yes; and sometimes we have even messages for our men from their homes,"
laughed von Schellen. "More! I have even had tender messages from my
sweetheart! And have answered them in kind!"

For a moment Dave stared in astonishment. He knew von Schellen for a
truly heartless brute. The idea that any woman could love this fellow
came almost as a shock. And that Schellen could have any tender feelings!
Wonders would never cease.

"Of what are you thinking, if I may ask?" the German went on.

"After information coming to you," Darrin hinted, "it almost goes without
saying that you receive your orders."

"Surely we receive them," nodded the German, "if we happen to need any.
But in our line of professional work, after we have received information
we do not often need orders. We know how to use our information."

"Of course," Dave went on, "any other radio operator who is within
hearing distance can pick up your messages, so you do not send them in
open German but use a code, or rather, a series of codes."

"If your radio men have ever picked up any of our messages," retorted the
young German, "you must know that you were not able to decipher their
meaning."

"We could not always decipher them," Darrin admitted.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Why, it is possible, of course, that sometimes we and our Allies have
some keys to the German use of code messages."

"You assert that?" questioned von Schellen, rather eagerly.

"No, and I do not deny it, either," Dave smiled.

"You are interesting, but discreet," complained the German, banteringly.

"And I may say as much of you," Dave continued. "Naturally, you know
some things that you would not tell me, and I know a few things that I
would not dream of telling you."

"And, instead, you hint at things that are not so, and perhaps I do about
the same thing," returned von Schellen.

After that silence fell for some minutes. Dave walked back and forth, the
junior officer watching him keenly.

Overhead the crackling at the aerials continued, with occasional
intervals of silence when the operator below was busy receiving messages.

Again a petty officer approached von Schellen, saluting and reporting in
an undertone.

"It is time for you to go below," announced von Schellen, turning to
Dave.

"I appreciate very much this opportunity to take the fresh air," Dave
said, politely, as he turned toward the conning tower.

"Oh, I guess you're welcome," said the lieutenant, shortly, and with a
meaning smile, "though sometimes there is such a thing as too much
outdoor life."

To Darrin's mild astonishment, as he stepped below, a folding table had
been set up, and around this were seated the ober-lieutenant and two
other officers, one of them an engineer. Von Schellen, at a nod from his
chief, made the fourth at the table.

Into this cabin were brought the English couple and the Danish master.
Several sailors stood about. The occasion began to take on a formal look,
which was heightened when the ober-lieutenant laid on the table a small
sheaf of papers.

"First of all, you, Herr Darrin," began the ober-lieutenant. "There can
be no doubt that you are Darrin?"

Dave thrust a hand in under his sheepskin, bringing to light a card-case.
From it he withdrew a pasteboard which he laid on the table.

"That is my card," he said.

The ober-lieutenant studied it deliberately, then passed it to another
officer as he continued:

"And you do not deny that it was you who captured Ober-Lieutenant von
Bechtold of the Imperial German Navy. You were the principal witness
against him when he was tried in Britain for being a spy?"

"I do not deny it, sir."

"That is all. You may step back."

As Darrin drew back he could not escape the feeling that two of the
seamen near him regarded him as being their especial prisoner.

"And now, the Earl and Countess of Denby," called the ober-lieutenant.

The English couple remained as motionless and appeared as unconcerned as
though they had not heard.

"You two, I mean," insisted the ober-lieutenant, turning to them.

"Oh," said the man, and stepped forward, his wife following him.

The ober-lieutenant eyed the pair impressively before he asked them:

"You do not deny that you are the Earl and Countess of Denby?"

"No," replied the man.

"Ah! Then you admit it?"

"No," he said, promptly.

"But either you must be, or you cannot be, the noble couple whom I have
named. Which is it?"

"That is for you to determine," replied the man.

"But what do you say yourselves?"

"Nothing."

"But you must answer my question!" the commanding officer insisted
angrily.

"You fatigue me," declared the man.

"You have not answered my question, and won't?"

"We have nothing to say."

Frowning, the ober-lieutenant whispered to a petty officer, who had
placed on the table the same album that von Schellen had brought to the
wardroom door. The commanding officer opened the album, pointing to two
photographs that adorned a page.

"These are your photographs, are they not?" he demanded, glancing up at
the pair. But no reply came from them.

"At least," said the ober-lieutenant, stiffly, "you have been given
abundant opportunity to deny, and have declined to do so. Our imperial
government has had sufficient information that you two have recently
entered the British secret service. It is even known to the imperial
government that you two recently undertook to penetrate into Germany,
under even another assumed name than Launce, and that you planned to spy
upon what was to be learned along the Kiel Canal. You even had some of
your arrangements made for performing that seemingly very difficult piece
of spy work. You have been charged, and you refuse to deny. It is the
same as a confession on your parts. The Earl and Countess of Denby will
stand aside."

Two sailors, at a sign from the ober-lieutenant, drew the English pair
back.

"Martin Kennor, once master of the Danish freight steamer 'Rigsdak!'"
called the commander.

Promptly the Danish skipper stood forward.

"There can be no doubt at all that you answer the description just
given?" demanded the ober-lieutenant.

"None vatever," agreed Kennor.

"The only fault to be found with you," continued the ober-lieutenant,
"is that you had the misfortune to be found in such company, and that
later on your tongue might prove too long and ready. That is all!"

Von Schellen, again on his feet, signalled to some of the seamen, then
said:

"The prisoners will follow me."

To the amazement of all he led the way to the conning tower. After him
the sailors herded the four prisoners of war. They ascended the ladder,
the Englishwoman being the last of the four. Her husband and Captain
Kennor assisted her as she stepped through the manhole to the deck
outside.

"But this is unkind," she declared, with a shiver. "My husband and I have
not our outer wraps, and the night is chilly."

"I will mention the matter," replied von Schellen, stiffly.

The wireless masts and aerials had disappeared. As the four passengers
stood on the deck and wondered, the seamen entered the submarine through
the manhole in the wake of von Schellen. When the last of them had gone
into the conning tower the junior lieutenant re-appeared at the manhole
to call:

"A pleasant evening for four!"

Then the manhole cover was closed and there came to those on deck a
muffled sound connected with fastening it on the inside.

"What does this new insolence mean?" cried the Englishwoman.

"If you do not guess, you must soon know," replied her husband, throwing
an arm about her. It was then that Mrs. Launce understood. She turned
pale, but did not cry out.

Perhaps a full minute passed before the submarine began to move forward.
Dave Darrin, familiar with the sounds from below, knew that the rumble of
machinery coming to his ears was caused, not by the engines used in
surface running, but by the electric motors employed when running under
water.

"The brutes are going to drown us, as they did the hapless sailors they
took from our boat!" gasped the Englishwoman.

"Yes, my dear," replied her husband, "and you have said that you would
prefer drowning to being a prisoner in Germany."

"I still say it," she answered quietly.

"We are to have our wish," said her husband.

Dave Darrin remained immobile; Captain Kennor shrugged his shoulders
without speaking.

The prow of the craft dipped into the water, which soon came creeping up
around their ankles. The forward deck was now out of sight, the water in
which they stood rising toward their knees.

CHAPTER XIII

FACING THE PLANNED DEATH

TURNING to Darrin the Englishman held out his hand.

"Good-bye" he said, simply. "You have been a good comrade. I trust you
have not been disappointed in us, either."

"Let's not say good-bye yet," urged Dave cheerfully. "Surely we are not
going to give up and drown, merely because a lot of German rascals so
will it."

"But we cannot last long in the water," protested the Englishman, mildly.

"At least, sir," Dave suggested, "we shall not die until we have to. You
swim?"

"Once I did."

"Then you can swim now. The sea is nearly smooth. Let us try to keep
together. And you, Captain Kennor? You swim?"

"Yes."

"Good. We'll keep together as long as we can."

At this moment the Englishwoman, the shortest of the quartette, gave a
little cry as she found her footing giving way beneath her.

"All together!" cried Darrin, with a cheeriness he did not feel, as he
gripped the woman's left arm.

Another drop of the deck sent them all adrift. The Englishman supported
his wife on her right. Captain Kennor, nearly silent, but undaunted, swam
slightly behind the others that he might offer aid wherever needed.

Strangely enough, though the swimmers spoke to each other occasionally,
none now referred to the dastardly conduct of the enemy in setting them
thus adrift to drown.

"You are cold, my dear, I know," said the Englishman to his wife. "Are
you suffering otherwise?"

"No; but though I would not willingly drown myself, I shall not be sorry
when we give up and go down."

"Had I felt that way the last time I found myself in the water," spoke up
Dave, "I would not be here now."

"You had on a life belt. Now none of us has," answered the Englishwoman,
her teeth chattering. "We cannot last long."

"After my last experience, madam," Dave assured her, "I shall never dare
say that as long as life lasts."

"Why not face facts calmly?" she asked. "Probably I shall last a quarter
of an hour before I die of cold. I may survive for twenty minutes or a
little longer. You are strong, and may keep up for an hour or more. What
can possibly come to our aid in that short time?"

"Who can say?" was Dave's counter-question.

For some time, they swam in silence. They did not attempt to make
progress. Motion enough to keep afloat was all that was called for.

All at once Dave wondered whether his eyes were playing him tricks, or
whether he really saw the top of a conning tower approaching him. It was
not likely that the enemy would remain about, and come back to see how it
fared with the victims of their cruelty.

Then the something in the water took on another vague shape. Darrin shook
his head in an effort to get the water out of his eyes. He peered again.
The shape, whatever it was, and if it really existed, was beginning to
get on his nerves. It seemed to come nearer.

"Captain Kennor!" called Darrin, sharply.

"Aye!" responded the Dane.

"Are you still swimming strongly?"

"Aye!"

"Then will you swim ahead and see what it is that my eyes show me on the
water?"

"Oh, aye!"

With lusty strokes the Dane swam around him, and then ahead.

"A little more to the left!" called Dave.

Then Captain Kennor believed that he saw it, too, and headed straight for
the object. Getting nearer he sent back a real cheer.

"What is it?" Darrin called.

"A spar!"

"Any size?"

"Large enough us to hold all up! Swim dis vay! Alone, can I hardly push
it to you."

Neither Dave nor the Englishman needed urging. They swam, still bearing
the woman between them. The sight of the Dane ahead of them holding to
the spar with one arm, and holding up the other hand, heartened them
wonderfully.

Soon all three had gained the spar, and Captain Kennor, drawing a cord
from his pocket, soon succeeded in lashing the Englishwoman so securely
to the spar that she could not slip away and perish.

"Now, you will remember what I said about not giving up," Dave reminded
his companions.

"Why, yes, I am buoyed up, and perhaps you men can manage to hold on,
also," admitted the woman. "Yet we must freeze to death."

"We will still dare to hope," Darrin replied, calmly.

"You are a splendid inspiration, Mr. Darrin!" declared the Englishman,
heartily. "I wish I could believe that you are a true prophet, as well."

"Oh, well," spoke Dave, with a lightness that was deceptive, "I've really
been in several worse scrapes than the present one."

But to himself he added:

"May I be forgiven for uttering what seems to me to be a possibly helpful
lie!"

Though they were now safely afloat for some time to come, their situation
rapidly became worse, owing to the increasing cold. Especially was this
noticeable in the case of the Englishwoman.

From time to time her eyes closed. When spoken to she had to exert
considerable effort to shake off her languor before she could reply. She
became still more drowsy; evidently she was on the verge of freezing to
death. From speaking kindly her husband dropped into sharp tones for the
sole purpose of keeping her awake. Presently he was forced to resort to
light blows in order to bully her into wakefulness. Once she fell soundly
asleep she would not again awake.

As for Captain Kennor, he held on almost dumbly. He seldom spoke, his
eyes mournfully regarding the woman whose battle for life was slowly
being lost.

"This is awful!" cried the Englishman, hoarsely, after another effort to
rouse his wife from slumber.

"For all of us," Darrin admitted, "though there is still hope."

"Where?" inquired Captain Kennor.

"I do not know," Dave confessed. "Yes, I do, too, though! Look yonder!
No, in that direction!"

At first the others could not make it out. Captain Kennor was the first
to see what Dave had found. It was only a low, dark cloud on the horizon,
and it looked as though smaller clouds detached themselves and sailed
away on the low-hanging sky.

"I see it, too!" cried the Englishman, at last. "But what is it?"

"A ship," Dave answered. "To be more exact, it looks like a destroyer,
and it looks too as though it might pass within a quarter of a mile of
us."

"Look, my dear--look!" the Englishman urged his wife, shaking her in his
eagerness to have her realize the thread of hope that dangled before
their eyes. "A ship coming! We are to be saved."

Her eyes opened at last; the woman struggled bravely to show interest in
the sight that half-cheered the others, but she could not. She was too
far gone, and her eyes closed again.

"Keep your wife awake, sir, if you have to begin to pull her hair from
her head!!" It was a command. "See how near that craft is getting. Jove,
sir! I believe it is one of our own Yankee ships!"

"But they will not come close enough to see us," objected Captain Kennor,
with the practiced eyes of the veteran seaman. "They are not using their
searchlight, and we have no way of signalling to them."

Without speaking Darrin tried a desperate hope. In one of his hands
something gleamed out into the night.

"What is it?" demanded the Dane. "Himmel! Der flashlight! Vere or ven did
you by dat come?"

"I found it in the locker of our sleeping cabin, and hid it in my
clothes," Dave answered, as he again tested the light. "I did not want to
speak of it unless there should come some hope to us. This light was
evidently left by some German who had used that cabin. It's waterproof,
too. When I found it I had a hope that it might come in handy before I
got through with this adventure. And now!"

Waiting only a minute or two longer, Dave, clinging to the spar with one
arm, held the other hand as high aloft as he could.

"Help!" he signalled by flashes in the Morse code. "Help!"

"It is such a tiny glow, to carry so far!" sighed the Englishman.

"Maybe id vill seen be," said Captain Kennor.

Dave continued to signal until, to his great joy, there came an
answering signal from a blinker light which asked:

"Who are you?"

"Four castaways, clinging to a spar. Help before we freeze!" Dave flashed
back, desperately.

"If only the commander of that boat does not suspect us of being a German
submarine springing a trap!" cried the Englishwoman.

A searchlight flashed up, then its broad beam stretched across the waters
as the operator tried to pick up the floating ones.

Dave threw the flash into a continuous light while the searchlight beam
continued groping. Then, in a blessed instant, the beam struck almost
blindingly across the spar and the four human beings held up by it.

"Now, they've spotted us," Dave cried, exultingly. "They won't run away
and leave us without a look-in."

Holding the spar with the searchlight beam, the destroyer changed its
course, bearing down rapidly upon them. Then it stopped and a motor
launch was lowered from davits.

With a burst of speed the launch came alongside the spar. Busy hands were
outstretched. The Englishwoman was the first to be taken aboard, after a
few quick slashes had freed her from the binding cord.

[Illustration: "Help!"]

"Why, here's Lieutenant Commander Darrin!" exclaimed a voice. Dave,
almost too weak to speak, was hustled into the boat, then the other two
men were taken over.

Blankets were wrapped about the rescued ones, and the launch dashed back
to her ship.

"A woman, Lieutenant Commander Darrin and two other men!" the officer in
charge of the launch hailed the destroyer.

"Darrin!" cried a voice. There was even greater bustle at the top of the
gangway that had been lowered as the launch ran alongside. As swiftly as
possible the four rescued ones were rushed up the side.

"Old Darry himself, eh?" cried a joyous voice, as Danny Grin hurried up.
"Has the woman any relative in the party?"

"Yes; her husband," Dave answered weakly, then collapsed.

"Take the woman and her husband to my quarters," Dalzell directed. "Have
a cot put in and lashed for the husband, and put the woman in the berth.
Mr. Darrin and the other man will go to the sick bay."

Willing hands bore the rescued ones as ordered. Dan himself followed
Dave's bearers down to the sick bay and there supervised the treatment
given Dave and Captain Kennor, while the medical officer went to Dan's
quarters, the best on the craft.

The Englishman was soon more comfortable. His wife, however, required
serious attention. Dalzell shook his head over Dave, who appeared all in
and not able to talk.

"Was he in the water longer than the rest of you?" asked Dalzell, as soon
as Captain Kennor was able to talk.

"No; but he vas der water in vonce before," was the reply. "Der second
time he could stand not so well."

That gave Dan the clue. As soon as the medical officer could be spared
from the care of the Englishwoman for a few moments he was ordered to the
sick bay.

"Mr. Darrin may pull through, but I won't guarantee anything," said the
surgeon, after an examination. "The chances are all against him. I am
afraid the woman is going to die also."

CHAPTER XIV

DAVE PLEDGES HIS WORD FOR RESULTS

THAT double report helped Dan Dalzell to make up his mind.

"Run straight for port," he ordered the executive officer, naming the
nearest British haven that offered rail connection.

In an hour and a half the destroyer had dropped anchor at the port.

More medical aid was brought aboard, including a trained nurse for the
Englishwoman.

A few hours after daylight the woman had recovered sufficiently to
warrant her removal to a hospital on shore. No strong hopes were yet
entertained of keeping her alive for more than a day or two. Her husband
had stood the watery ordeal much better.

Captain Kennor, who, with Dave, was taken to the hospital later in the
day, had nearly recovered by the day following.

But for Dave Darrin there followed black hours. According to the doctors
a severe case of pneumonia was about the best that could be predicted for
him.

On the day after he was taken ashore Darrin opened his eyes with a light
of recognition in them. At the foot of the cot, in a chair, sat a
stalwart, youthful figure. Dan Dalzell, whose orders took him to sea
again that night, was waiting to the last for better news.

"Dan," Dave called, softly, and Dalzell was instantly bending over him.

"David, little giant, did you know that the 'Reed' had the good luck to
pick you up?" asked Dan, eagerly.

"I had a notion of it, but I was too dazed to know really," Darrin
answered.

"I've been here about all the time ever since," Dan went on. "I wanted to
know the news of you as soon as it could be had. But you're going to be
all right, now."

"Of course I am," agreed Dave, feebly.

Unseen by the man on the hospital cot, Dan signalled with one hand. Down
the ward came a doctor, followed by a young woman wearing the blue cape
ulster of the Red Cross. There was a quick, glad cry; soft lips touched
Dave's face.

"Belle!" gasped Dave, delightedly.

"I'm going to be allowed to sit by you quite a bit, dear, if you don't
try to talk to me," replied the steady voice of Belle Darrin. Summoned by
cable sent by Dan, Belle had journeyed swiftly from France.

"And now I'm off and back to my ship, Belle," said Dan. "But I know
you'll find a way to get a radio message through to me when Dave is
improved enough to warrant it. Good-bye, Darry, old chap!"

And Dan was off, not because he didn't want to stay, but because he knew
his chum would want to see the most of Belle. As for that young woman,
who held none too positive hopes of Darrin's recovery after what the
doctors had told her, she forced herself to be calm and smiling and sat
close by, her hand on Dave's forehead when he dropped off into a
feverish, troubled sleep.

The next day Belle chatted with her husband a little, in a cool, steady
voice. Two days after that Dave was actually permitted to sit up.

On the sixth day after he had been taken to the hospital Dave was mending
so rapidly that Belle, who was obliged to leave that afternoon for her
Red Cross post in France, felt wholly easy in mind as to his condition.

"It was a lucky chain of events, my two swims in the channel," Darrin
told her before they parted.

"Lucky, when the experience nearly cost you your life?" exclaimed Belle.

"It gave you an excuse for coming to me, and gave me the time and leisure
to be with you."

"Dave Darrin, you don't mean any such thing! You are needed aboard your
ship, and I am needed for my work in France, and nothing can be called
really good luck that takes either of us away from his post of duty in
war-time."

"You little patriot!" Dave laughed, jestingly.

"You believe it just as much as I do," Belle maintained stoutly. "I'm
glad to have been here with you, dear, but I shall be glad to find myself
back at my post. And you know you are glad that you will return to your
ship tomorrow."

"If she comes in," Darrin amended.

"Dave, aren't you nearly wild to get back to duty?" she persisted.

"Yes, I am, for as you say, dear, we are all needed at the posts assigned
to us. There is another reason why I must get back. The work that has
been cut out for us is not proceeding as it should. We have made some
good 'catches' in the way of mines, yet the fact is that mines are being
planted much faster than we have been taking them up. I must get back to
duty and see if I can find out what is wrong."

Buttoning his overcoat tightly Dave Darrin walked with Belle to the
railway station. The train left so soon after their arrival that there
were not many moments left the young couple for leave-taking. After the
train had started Dave watched it out of sight. There had been something
uncomfortable in his throat, but as he turned away the lump vanished and
his jaws set squarely.

"Now, my work is cut out for me," he told himself. "I can do only one
man's part in this war, but I must do that to the limit and try to make
the world a safe place of residence for that little woman and all others
like her!"

No sooner was the "Grigsby" in port, the next forenoon, than Lieutenant
Fernald came ashore and straight to the hospital.

"Going on board today, sir?" was Fernald's greeting.

"You couldn't keep me ashore any longer," Darrin declared.

"Good enough!" said the executive officer, heartily. "We need you, sir!
We've been doing our best, but the enemy has been gaining on us. Last
night two ships struck mines and went down before rescue could reach
them. The Germans are beating us at this mine game, and something must be
done, which, of course, sir, is another way of saying that a way must be
found to do the right and necessary thing."

"I've been thinking that over for twenty-four hours," Darrin went on. "As
soon as we are aboard I want to talk the whole situation over with you.
Will Dalzell be in today?"

"In about an hour, sir, I think. He needs fuel and some food supplies."

"Then we'll hold a council of war in the chart-room," Dave decided, as he
buttoned up his coat. "I'm ready, Fernald."

Dave had already thanked the hospital authorities, and taken leave of
them, so the two young naval officers passed outside, made their way down
to the water front, and soon thereafter stepped aboard the "Grigsby,"
reporting their arrival on board to the watch officer. Dave also saw that
the forward gun damaged in the fight with the German destroyers had been
replaced by a new one. From the gangway they went direct to the
chart-room.

"I'll hear the reports on the work now, Fernald," Dave announced.

Two of the papers that came under Dave's hand especially interested him.
One was a detailed list of the ships that had struck mines during the
last week in the waters in which he and Dalzell had been operating. The
other document contained a report on the discovery and sinking of one
fighting submarine and one submarine mine-layer.

From these reports Dave turned to the charts of the local waters. When
Fernald came back with Dan Dalzell, Dave was still poring over the
charts.

"From the rapid way in which German mines are being planted in these
waters," Dave told his brother officers, "I am satisfied that the enemy
submarines do not usually go all the way back to the base port. I believe
that the mine-layers are often met by other craft that supply them with
mines, and that the submarine mine-layers return quickly to the job of
planting mines. Now, the sea area in which the mines are planted leads me
to feel certain that the mine-layers rest frequently on these three
shoals."

Dave pointed on the chart to the shoals in question.

"How many mine-sweeping craft have we now under our orders?" he inquired.

"Nine," said Dan, promptly.

"How many of them can we spare from mine-sweeping?"

"None," Dalzell replied, positively.

"Either we must spare some, or we must have some sweeper craft added to
our fleet," Dave went on. "There are three of these shoals, and hereafter
I want two mine-sweepers to spend their time dragging their wires over
each shoal. That will take six craft, and these will not have time to do
any sweeping in the open sea. We cannot clean up the mines themselves
with three craft, can we?"

"Plainly not," Dan agreed, "since, with all nine, we have not been able
to find and take up all the mines we should have located."

"Then we shall have to have more craft," Dave nodded. "Yet if we cannot
have more craft assigned to this work, we must go ahead with what we have
and do more work. But I believe that the hunt over the shoals should be
kept up day and night, without rest, for I am satisfied that the enemy
mine-layers rest on these shoals more frequently than we have supposed."

After some further conversation Dave had his launch cleared away and went
over to a British battleship for a conference with the British admiral in
command in those waters. The best the admiral could do was to supply him
with three of the hundred-and-ten-foot patrol boats. These, however, were
provided with sweepers and possessed good speed.

"I hope you're right, Mr. Darrin," said the admiral, at the close of the
interview. "To be frank with you, your predecessor in the work of
cleaning up enemy mines in this area was a British naval officer,
considerably older than yourself. He is a very capable man in many ways,
but we felt that he had been so long on coast work that he was growing
much too stale. So, when I decided to transfer him to other duties I
thought of trying one of your American officers, a young man, full of
spirit, and fresh for this work. So I asked your admiral for some one,
and he sent Dalzell and yourself."

"So far," said Dave, "I have not done any better than my English
predecessor, sir?"

"Frankly you have not, yet we must remember to deduct your very necessary
week in hospital. However, you have done some other excellent things. The
capture of the mine-laying neutral, the 'Olga,' for instance, was a
splendid bit of work. The fight that you and Mr. Dalzell had with the
three enemy destroyers was a fine job. But the mines in these waters
continue to be as much of a menace as before."

"They won't be, by this time next week, sir. I promise that," said Dave,
rising. "How soon can the commanders of the three patrol boats report to
me?"

"At once. All three are here in the harbor, and, I am told, they are
ready to put to sea."

"Then, sir, I propose, within a week, to hand you a wholly satisfactory
report," Darrin went on. "I had to put in some time on the ground, and it
was necessary to study a new problem. Then came a series of adventures
that took me out of the work for a while. But now, sir, I hope to show
you something new--results!"

CHAPTER XV

DARRIN SUSPECTS THE GERMAN PLAN

THE three shoals selected by Darrin extended over a length of about
thirty miles along the coast. It was the center one of these shoals on
which he had had previous experience.

Further, it was arranged that Dalzell should, in general, cruise along
the lower fifteen miles of this stretch, while the "Grigsby" should cover
the upper half. From time to time the two destroyers would meet.

After sending three mine-sweepers and the three patrol boats to the
shoals, two craft to each shoal, Darrin saw to it that the other six were
assigned to duty in the deeper waters off shore.

Then, with a hearty signal to the "Reed," the "Grigsby" started
northward. She steamed by the southernmost shoal, and was passing the
second when Darrin was called to the bridge by Ensign Ormsby.

"That patrol boat in there signals that she has made a find, sir, so I
have changed the course and am heading in."

Dave's eyes gleamed as he made out the next signal from the patrol, which
was:

"Soundings show her to be a big craft. Shall we rig the small bombs on
the sweep wires?"

"Wait until we arrive," was the answering signal from the "Grigsby."

In a few minutes the destroyer was within hailing distance of the patrol
boat, which was lying to in the neighborhood of the find.

"The enemy submarine appears to be at least 275 feet long, sir," reported
the patrol boat commander.

"Then a depth bomb should do the business better," Dave shouted back
through the megaphone. "Sail over the craft with your sweep, and I'll
follow. Signal when you judge us to be squarely over her."

Under bare headway the "Grigsby" fell in behind the now slow-moving
patrol boat. Almost at once the wire sweeps discovered the hull of the
hiding monster.

Ahead steamed the patrol boat, the destroyer following. Aft two men stood
by the depth bomb apparatus. Down came the white flag of the British
signalman on the smaller craft.

Dave's hand rested on the telegraph lever to the engine-room. He
signalled for full speed ahead, then at the proper moment he shouted:

"Let her go!"

An instant later the bomb splashed into the water.

Immediately following the splash there came a sullen, rending roar under
water. A great column of water leaped up from the sea, a heavy volume of
it landing on the after deck of the destroyer, all but washing overboard
one of the lookouts. The pressure of water fairly lifted the stern of the
"Grigsby" until her bow dipped far in.

Ensign Ormsby was thrown flat, almost rolling from the bridge. Dave,
fortunately, had taken a grip that saved him from falling.

It seemed as though the destroyer herself had been blown up, but she
quickly settled and scooted ahead at a furious rate.

"Half speed ahead," Darrin signalled, as soon as he could let go his
grip, and the "Grigsby" slowed down. At the same time she swung around.

Even at that distance the huge spread of oil on the surface could be
seen. A wild Yankee cheer rose, which was promptly echoed by the British
tars of the patrol boat.

"No depth bomb ever made that upheaval," Dave gasped, as soon as he could
speak, and Mr. Ormsby, much shaken, had picked himself up. "The bombs are
ugly affairs, but that felt like the explosion of about ten of them."

"Did you notice, sir, that the explosion lasted more than twice as long
as we've ever known one to last before?" the watch officer asked.

"Yes."

"Then what happened, sir?"

"Either our explosion touched off a torpedo, which does not seem likely,
or else--"

For an instant what he was about to say sounded so absurd that Darrin
hesitated.

"Well, sir--?" queried Ormsby.

"Or else that was a mine-layer, with a full cargo of mines aboard, all
ready for business, and--But you'll think I've gone daffy."

"No, I won't, sir; not after the way this ship rose out of the water,"
the watch officer declared. "You mean, sir, that our bomb went off right
over that craft's cargo of mines, and that the shock must have set off
the mines."

"That's certainly the way it looks to me," Darrin nodded.

"I believe it, sir."

Just a few moments later the patrol boat came within hail. Through his
megaphone Darrin stated what he believed had taken place.

"It's the only thing to account, sir, for such a tremendous explosion,"
replied the commander of the patrol. "I've been on hand to see a lot of
depth bombs go off, and I never saw an upheaval like the one you
produced, sir."

"Have soundings taken, Mr. Ormsby," Darrin directed. The depth of the
water was quickly reported. Dave glanced at the sky.

"The light will be strong enough for another hour," he decided. "Have
our two divers prepare to go down at once."

A launch, cleared away with the divers on board, was anchored in the
middle of the oil spot. Two divers went over the side. Presently they
signalled for extra cables. When these were let down they attached pieces
of metal and gave the signal to haul away.

By the time that the hour was up Darrin had abundant evidence to prove
that he had destroyed a mine-layer, and that his bomb had blown up
several mines stored on the craft. This evidence took the form of
fragments of mines.

"Some of these pieces must even have been driven up against our hull,"
Darrin declared. "It is a wonder that we were not sunk."

"The counter pressure of the water would lessen the force of these
fragments, especially after they had been blown out through the shell of
the submarine," Lieutenant Fernald argued. "But I agree with you, sir,
that it's a wonder the 'Grigsby' suffered nothing worse than a shaking."

Other evidence, too, the divers sent up. The destroyed craft had surely
been a mine-laying submarine. The divers measured the length of the
wrecked hull, finding it to be close to three hundred feet. They
reported, too, that scores of German dead lay in the wreckage.

For hours nothing more happened. Just before ten o'clock that night the
mine-sweeper's blinkers signalled a call to the "Grigsby," then about
four miles distant.

"They've found something," Darrin chuckled, when he reached the bridge on
a call from Lieutenant Fernald.

As the "Grigsby" was heading in toward the shoal, and had some minutes
still to go, Darrin asked:

"Mr. Fernald, you had a second and even more thorough inspection of the
hull made, as I directed?"

"Yes, sir; and found the hull so secure that I did not wake you to tell
you, sir. There has been no strain of the plates sufficient to start any
of them."

"I'm thankful to hear that," Darrin acknowledged. "Even with the big,
elastic cushion of water between us and that awful explosion, it seems
almost incredible that we did not wreck ourselves as well as the enemy."

"You've found another submarine?" Dave shouted through the megaphone, as
he rang for slow speed and ran parallel with the waiting snub-nosed
craft.

"We've found two somethings, sir," came back the reply. "They lie about
four hundred feet apart and heading in the same direction. I can find
them again, sir, but I didn't go back over them for fear they'd take the
alarm and run for it."

"Perhaps they have," Darrin suggested.

"I've dropped small buoys, sir, and can lead you over them."

"Then do so, and travel at full speed. Be prepared to get out of our way
if we come fast after dropping."

Even the two cool-headed sailors who stood by the depth bomb apparatus
stiffened themselves as they found the "Grigsby" following in the wake of
the mine-sweeper. The after lookouts lashed themselves fast against
injury by any such surprise as that of the afternoon.

As the signal flashed from the mine-sweeper ahead Dave passed the order
for the bomb instantly after ordering full speed.

There was an explosion, but an ordinary one, such as this crew of the
destroyer was accustomed to.

At full speed, too, Dave tried for the second hidden enemy boat. There
was barely time to have the second bomb in place when signal and order
came.

Another terrific explosion, like that of the afternoon! It seemed as
though the waters must divide! Yet the "Grigsby," moving fast all the
time, felt the shock severely, but not like the one of the afternoon.

About the destroyer came, playing her searchlight on the waters. The
tell-tale oil patches were there, showing only too plainly that two
submarine craft had been destroyed.

"Apparently one craft carried no mines, while the other was loaded with
them," said Dave to his executive officer. "Fernald, I think I'm
beginning to get an idea of the way the enemy are working their
mine-laying game. If I'm right we'll make a record along this patch of
shoals while the hunting lasts."

Patiently Fernald listened and waited, but did not speak. He hoped to
hear what his chief's idea was, but it was not the executive officer's
place to ask for it.

"I may even be able to figure out when the best time would be for hunting
these lazy rascals resting on the bottom," Darrin continued.

Mr. Fernald began to show signs of a more active curiosity.

"But I won't say much about it," Darrin smiled, "until I've more data to
work on and have proved some part of my theory."

Lieutenant Fernald looked so much like a man who wished to speak that
Dave laughed.

"Out with it, Fernald," he urged good-humoredly. "You've an idea, too.
You may tell me if you wish."

"Why, sir," replied the executive officer, "I've about concluded that the
enemy mine-laying submarines do not go back to base port for more mines.
They have some method for delivering them near here, and thus the
mine-layers are able to keep more steadily at work."

"That fits in excellently with my idea," Darrin nodded.

"And that would account for the great numbers of mines that the enemy is
able to lay hereabouts, and yet not have many of the craft caught by us,"
Lieutenant Fernald continued.

"Exactly," Dave agreed. "Moreover, the mine-layers take on their new
supplies at night, and do their resting here at night, and get away from
these shoals just before daylight."

"Of course," Fernald agreed. "If they rested here much in the daytime the
aircraft would discover and destroy them."

"We'll both keep at work on our ideas, Fernald," Dave proposed. "Besides,
we can take time to find facts to support our theories. Then we can get
together and start in the biggest smashing of mine-laying craft on
record."

Both paused in their talk to listen to the sudden boom of guns. Judged by
the sound and the wind, the firing was some six miles away.

"Lookout there!" Darrin sang out. "Do you see anything?"

"Yes, sir," came the reply from aloft. "It must be the 'Reed,' sir. She
must have gotten into something stiff, for she's moving shoreward at
slow speed and firing as fast as she can serve her guns. She's firing in
shoreward, sir."

CHAPTER XVI

HITTING CLOSE TO THE SALT TRAIL

"GIVE us a rocket signal if you need help," Dave signalled the attendant
mine-sweeper.

Then to the officer of the watch:

"Give us full speed, and we'll run down to see if the 'Reed' has work
enough for two of our kind."

A little further south he signalled same orders to the patrol boat that
he had given to the mine-sweeper.

Then the "Grigsby" rushed onward as if she scented something of which she
did not wish her crew to be deprived.

As soon as Darrin discovered that Dalzell was using his searchlight he
ordered the "Grigsby's" also to be used. Over the waters the bar of light
swept until it picked up a sight that made the officers on the bridge
gasp for sheer astonishment.

Two submarines, some five hundred yards apart, lay on the surface of the
sea.

Strangest part of all, neither craft was serving its guns. Why they
neither fought nor dived puzzled the "Grigsby's" officers until the
"Reed's" guns ceased firing and her blinkers signalled to Dave:

"Don't fire on them unless I do. They're helpless."

The "Reed," first to approach the submarines, steamed in between them.
Then as the "Grigsby" raced up, she received this message from Dalzell:

"Wish you would take charge of the nearer submarine. I'll handle the
other."

On both enemy craft, as seen under the searchlight, the German crews had
come out on deck. It was clear that they wished to surrender without
further loss of life.

So Dave ordered a launch cleared away, with a prize crew armed to the
teeth, Ensign Andrews in command.

"You men get as far forward as possible," Andrews shouted to the huddled
enemy. "Be careful not to have any weapons about you. We'll accept you as
prisoners of war, but any attempt at treachery will be sternly punished!"

As he spoke the ensign rested one hand on the barrel of a machine gun in
the launch's bow. Instantly the Germans began to move forward, only their
four officers remaining near the conning tower.

"Stand by to catch a line and make fast," called the ensign, as the
launch, under headway, lay in close.

Though they plainly understood, not one of the German officers made a
move to catch a rope. Instead, one of them called to the huddled seamen,
two of whom came back to take the line.

Making fast, Andrews stepped aboard, followed by some of his armed crew.

"You are the only officers of this craft?" Andrews demanded.

"Yes," sullenly replied the ober-lieutenant.

"Be good enough to hold up your hands while we search you."

Though their eyes flashed their rage, the German officers raised their
hands while a petty officer "frisked" them one after the other.

"None of them armed, sir," was the report.

"Then into the launch with them. Next, order the seamen and
engine-tenders aft and search them. The launch will carry about twenty
prisoners on the first trip."

Soon the score of prisoners had been delivered aboard the "Grigsby." A
second lot was sent over, after which Andrews decided that he could take
charge of the remainder on their own craft. He now had force enough with
him to keep this unarmed remainder in subjection.

Heading an armed party the ensign went below in the submarine to make an
inspection. He had already noted a shell-hole through the hull which had
made it impossible for this submarine to dive without drowning the crew.
But he found other matters to interest him. This was a mine-layer craft,
and at the present moment she had more than twenty mines on board.

One of Dalzell's junior officers, searching the other submarine, found
her to be a mine-layer, too, but with only two mines on board. This
second craft, also, had been pierced through the hull in such fashion
that there had been no chance for her to escape by submerging.

On each craft forward a crane had been set up, and still stood. Dan
Dalzell's report, when made, shed a good deal of light on German methods.

The "Reed" had been barely drifting when two submarines had come up
within two miles of the destroyer. It was the noise of erecting the
cranes that had warned Dalzell's watch officer of their presence there on
the dark sea.

Suddenly, through night glasses, Dan, who had been called to the bridge,
discovered what was taking place. On the quiet waters of this night the
two craft had managed to get near enough to each other to attempt to
transfer mines from one to the other.

Then it was that the "Reed" had opened fire with her guns, had turned on
her searchlight and had rushed in.

As soon as the German commanders found their boats punctured into
helplessness they had signalled their surrender.

"But I was glad indeed when I saw you bearing down on us," Dan announced,
when he visited his chum a little later. "The enemy had surrendered, but
I know enough of German treachery to realize that they might let me drive
in close and then try to torpedo me. I needn't have worried, but of
course I could not afford to take chances."

Sending for Boatswain's Mate Runkle, Dave inquired:

"Do you speak German?"

"I know about six words, sir; not as many as eight."

"Then you are the man for the job, Runkle. Go down among the prisoners
that have been sent on board, the seamen, I mean, not the officers. Act
as though you were there on duty, but not very busy. Use your six words
of German and make English do for the rest. The German sailors won't
understand you, unless some of them speak English. That will be all the
better, for as soon as you discover that some of the men don't know what
you are saying you will be able to judge which of those who speak no
English are the most stupid, or the most likely to talk and tell us the
truth. Spot three or four of these stupid ones, and then bring one of
them here to the chart-room."

"Now, what on earth does the 'Old Man' want?" wondered Runkle, as he
started away on this errand. "But never mind. Even if I can't guess what
he wants it's a cinch that he knows. The stupidest one, eh? I wonder why
any Fritz wouldn't do, then!"

Runkle found his man within five minutes, detached him from the other
prisoners, and led him to the chart-room. Darrin tried his own German on
the fellow, asking:

"Your craft had just arrived from the base port?"

The man stared, then slowly nodded.

"How many mines did you have on board when you left the base port?"

"Thirty, I heard."

"You planted some on the way?"

"A few, so I heard."

"Most of the mines you were to deliver here tonight?"

"Yes."

"How many trips a week has your craft been making between here and the
base port?"

"Usually about four."

"Did you always deliver, here, to the same mine-layer?"

"No; that was as it happened. Sometimes to one boat, sometimes to
another."

"How many mines could your craft carry?"

"Thirty."

As this agreed with the information supplied by Ensign Andrews, Dave
believed that the seaman was telling the truth.

"Did your craft always come to these same waters to deliver mines to
mine-layers?"

"Always, since I have been aboard, to some one of the shoals in this
stretch of them," replied the sailor.

"Do you know how many mine-layers wait over here on the English side to
have mines delivered to them?"

"No, but they are not so many."

"A few, supplied four times a week, can plant a lot of mines," quizzed
Darrin.

"Oh, yes."

"And the craft you were aboard was one of the smaller ones that brought
cargoes of mines. Your people have some that carry much larger numbers of
mines?"

"Yes, and the larger boats that bring mines over to the real mine-layers
travel faster under water than our boat did."

"So that these larger boats can make at least five round trips a week?"
Dave asked.

"Oh, yes."

"You have not told me the name of your base port," Darrin went on.

"And I don't intend to," retorted the seaman. "You are asking me too
many questions. I should not have said as much as I did, and I shall not
answer any more questions."

"You do not need to," Dave assured him. "I already know the answers to a
lot of questions that I might have asked you. But you look like a
reasonable fellow, and also like a fellow fond of some of the good things
of life. Had I found you more ready to talk I might have arranged for you
to have a pleasanter time in the English prison than your mates will
have."

"A pleasanter time until the hangman called for us?" demanded the German,
a cunning look coming into his eyes.

"The hangman?" Darrin repeated.

"Oh, yes! I know! We all know. The English hang the crews of German
submarines. Our officers have told us all about it. You are wrong, too,
to hang us, for it is the knowledge that the English will hang us that
makes us fight more desperately when we are attacked."

"But the English will not hang you. You and your mates will be treated as
prisoners of war," Darrin assured him. "You will be well fed. You will
have some amusements. When spring comes you will have gardens to work in
and the flowers or vegetables that you raise will belong to you. It is a
stupid lie to tell you that the English hang you all. You will soon be on
shore, and in an English prison camp, and then you will know that you
have been lied to. You will enjoy finding yourself on shore, for you were
not often allowed to go ashore when you got back from these trips to take
on your next mine cargo at--"

It was a simple trap, but as Darrin paused, the seaman replied:

"No, we were not often allowed ashore in ----," naming the port.

The port that the seaman mentioned was the one Darrin had been trying to
get him to name. The German had unwittingly allowed himself to name the
base port from which the mines were shipped. As soon as the German
realized his blunder he used some bad language.

"That is all," said Dave Darrin. "You may go back to your mates, and by
daylight you will know that an English military prison is not at all a
bad place."

CHAPTER XVII

TRYING OUT THE BIG, NEW PLAN

"YOU see," Dave nodded to his brother officers, "the theory we had worked
out about the method of supplying mines to the submarine layers was the
right one. I think that we shall be able to show some results to the
admiral."

Dan was then instructed to remain to keep watch over the shoals, while
the "Grigsby" soon afterwards started for port, escorting the two prizes.

Before daylight the captured under-sea boats were duly turned over to the
British authorities. Darrin then sought the admiral, and, despite the
lateness of the hour, he was soon admitted.

"What do you need for your enterprise?" inquired the admiral after
listening attentively to the plan Dave had unfolded to him.

"Nothing but a dirigible, commanded by the right man," Dave explained.

"That ought not to be difficult," declared the British officer. "You
shall have what you want. Now, suppose we go over the chart, to make sure
that I understand just what you propose to do."

On the map Darrin traced the course that he felt sure the German
underseas craft pursued when bringing cargoes of mines to the other
submarines that were laying mines in British waters.

"That would be the natural course for such craft to take," agreed Admiral
Wheatleigh. "I trust that you are right in your surmises. If you are, we
should have some excellent results within the next few days."

"I shall know, sir, within forty-eight hours, and I think it likely that
the enemy will also hear something about it within the next few days. At
least, sir, the German admiralty should be able to guess."

Dave took his leave, hastening back to the "Grigsby," which, an hour
later, weighed anchor and stood out to sea. By that time Dave was sound
asleep, for he had been through a great deal and was sorely in need of
rest before he reached the scene of his intended activities.

Some hours later he was called, and was soon on the bridge.

"You are at the point at which you wished to be called," said Fernald
when Dave reached the bridge.

"And you will do well to seek your own rest now, Mr. Fernald," Darrin
answered. "You can be called, if needed."

Half an hour later Darrin made out, in the sky astern, a tiny speck that
rapidly came closer, and proved to be the dirigible sent at his request.

As the dirigible came nearer signals were rapidly exchanged. The course
for the aircraft was made plain. As for the "Grigsby," her speed was
slowed down to mere headway and she loafed over the waters.

Two hours passed during which the "blimp" aloft sailed rapidly to and fro
in the sky, zig-zagging over the course in a way that covered several
square miles in an hour.

"She's found something, sir!" cried Ensign Andrews.

"She has sighted a craft, bound over the course we had suspected," said
Darrin, as signals broke out rapidly from the car under the big gas bag.
"We'll let the submarine get by us before we start in chase."

Another half hour passed, for, though the dirigible moved swiftly, the
underseas craft she was watching was moving only at submerged speed.

Then the chase led on past the "Grigsby." Purposely Darrin allowed it to
go by him by about a mile ere he joined in the pursuit. Starting at half
speed ahead he soon changed it to full speed.

And now the dirigible had slowed down, until she was travelling, as her
signals stated, at just the speed of the submerged craft directly under
her.

"We'll go in by the stern and try to make a quick job of it," Darrin
proposed, as he gave Andrews final instructions, and turned to see that
the signalman with his flag stood well aft on the superstructure.

As the destroyer raced in almost under the dirigible Darrin raised his
right hand. The signalman with the flag did the same.

Just as the "Grigsby's" bridge passed in under the tail of the aircraft
Dave Darrin read the signal for which he had waited. The airmen were
telling him that the bridge of his craft was almost over the bow of the
hidden enemy beneath.

Down came Dave's raised hand. Seeing it fall, the signalman let his flag
drop.

In that same instant the depth bomb was released for its course over the
"Grigsby's" stern.

Almost in the same second there sounded a terrific if muffled report
under the surface. The water rose in three distinct columns, lifting the
stern of the "Grigsby" and almost burying her bow under.

It was as though a great geyser and an earthquake had met. Columns like
waterspouts hurled themselves across and over the reeling destroyer. Even
when the "Grigsby's" nose came out and up once more the destroyer rocked
in the near tidal wave that the swift series of explosions had produced.

"Pardon me, sir," begged Ensign Andrews, when he had regained control of
himself. "I feel constrained to remark, sir, that you appear to know how
to get all the thrills out of life."

"We must have landed right over a mine cargo once more," Dave answered
smiling. "There were several explosions, but they came nearly together.
One of these days we'll start something like that that will send us up
half a mile into the air. But it's great sport, Andrews, especially when
you pause to think what it all means."

"Great sport for us, but too sudden for the Huns," rejoined the watch
officer. "They cannot have had the satisfaction, even, of realizing that
anything had hit them."

Satisfied that there would be no more underseas explosions, Darrin gave
the order to come about.

That the underseas craft had been struck was indicated clearly enough by
the patches of oil on the water. The force of the explosion told the
Yankee tars that the craft must have been blown into bits.

"Best thing I ever saw done!" signalled the British officer in command of
the "blimp."

"Find us another, and we'll try to show you something just as good,"
Darrin caused to be signalled back.

Fernald, who had been called, having reported, was sent with the chief
engineer to make a hull inspection below decks. Though some of the hull
plates had been dented inward enough to attract attention, no leak could
be found. The "Grigsby" was as seaworthy as ever, though after that
rocking shock this seemed a marvel.

Off in the distance the "blimp" soon became a mere speck to the watchful
eyes of those on the destroyer.

Dave directed that the aircraft be followed at cruising speed so long as
she remained in sight. When the dirigible was at last lost to view the
destroyer lay to, her lookouts using their glasses.

"Think the aircraft is coming back, sir," reported a lookout from the
military mast.

From where he stood on the bridge Darrin could make out nothing for
several minutes, though in the interval the lookout aloft reported that
he could make out the "blimp" with surety, and that she appeared to be
flying a signal, though he could not see what it was.

Then from the bridge the "blimp" became visible. A little later, too, the
flag signal could be seen and read.

"Following another submarine," was what the signal said.

Going to starboard of the course Darrin advanced at ordinary speed to
meet the "blimp," which, as in the former case, was flying just barely
astern of the hidden monster, so that the forward British airman lookout
could discern the shape of the craft that was being pursued.

Dave waited until the dirigible had passed. He then gave the order, "Full
speed ahead," and came about behind the "blimp."

Leaping forward the "Grigsby" gave chase, the "blimp" at the same time
moving up directly over the intended prey.

At the drop of the flag above, Darrin let go his right hand, the
signalman transmitted the order, and the bomb rolled overboard.

As Dave's hand fell the watch officer advanced the lever of the
engine-room telegraph. An extra jump was put into the speed.

Again a column of water rose astern, but this time there was only the
normal explosion of the depth bomb.

"Good hit," said the dirigible, by radio, and the message was called up
to the bridge. "Saw her stagger. She's done for."

The "blimp" veered off once more, going back over her late course. As the
"Grigsby" went about Darrin made out the tell-tale spread of oil on the
waves.

"This is the real form of hunting," he exclaimed.

"Too bad, sir, that none of us thought of it before," remarked Ensign
Andrews.

"We had to wait and learn," Dave explained. "That's the way that all
progress in this war has been registered. We are fighting an ingenious
enemy. Destroying the submarine mine-carriers, as we are doing today,
won't end the planting of German mines. As soon as the enemy finds out
how we are checkmating him he'll invent another scheme, which we'll have
to discover before we can beat it."

Half an hour later the British aircraft located a third submarine.

"A big one, too," she signalled. "Following the same course."

"Mr. 'Blimp' might try a bomb himself," suggested Ensign Andrews. "I
believe he carries a few."

"Not as powerful ones as we carry," Darrin answered. "Besides, he has to
be at a greater altitude, when hunting submarines, than it's handy to
drop a bomb from. There is too much margin of chance that the enemy craft
will graze by when the bomb is dropped from the air. In our case, if we
drop when directly over the Hun, there can hardly be a miss, and it's the
dirigible's business to tell us when we are directly over the enemy."

In the meantime, on board the destroyer, all was made ready, and Dave
followed the same tactics as before. This time, too, there was a normal
explosion, though a solid hit was made and the submarine destroyed. Apart
from the "blimp's" report there could be no doubt as to the destruction.
The spread of oil on the surface of the sea told the story.

"If you and we hurry, we may bag another before dark," Dave sent by
wireless, as the aircraft started back again.

"We'll do our best, believe us!" came back the word.

In the late afternoon a slight haze came up, which gradually deepened.

Darrin followed for a few miles, keeping the "blimp" in sight. She was
some six miles away when a radio message came from her in code in these
words:

"Can you see steamship about four knots north-west of us?"

Dave challenged the lookout on the military mast, but that seaman
reported the weather a bit too thick to enable him to make out the
steamship. Darrin accordingly wirelessed back this information.

"Looks like a tramp steamer," came the next message, "but she acted
suspiciously when she sighted us. Her skipper appears perturbed, which he
would hardly be if his business is honest. Weather is thickening so we
may lose him in the haze. Better close in."

"Will do so," Dave replied.

Then followed explicit directions as to the course the destroyer must
follow.

The next code message from the airship was:

"Skipper of steamship so bothered that he appears to be rigging
anti-aircraft gun. Am about to signal him to stop for search."

Despite the haze over the sea the "blimp's" movements could still be made
out from the deck of the destroyer. Mast lookouts and those on bridge and
deck followed the "blimp's" movements with keen interest.

"He maneuvers as if he were closing in on the steamship," declared Ensign
Andrews.

"If the steamer's skipper uses anti-aircraft guns the dirigible's
commander will be justified in dropping bombs," Dave returned. "It's a
stupid piece of business for any lightly armed steamer to attempt to
resist a 'blimp.' But of course the steamer's skipper does not know that
there is a warship so close."

"The rascal's firing on us," reported the "blimp."

"If you'll keep back we'll close in and talk to the stranger," Darrin
suggested, by wireless.

"We're hit," almost instantly came the report from the airship.

"Badly?" Dave asked by radio.

"Investigating. Report soon."

"That ship must be up to something extremely desperate to dare to fire on
a British 'blimp'!" exclaimed Dave Darrin. "But we're getting close, and
soon ought to know what we have to tackle!"

CHAPTER XVIII

STRIKING A REAL SURPRISE

"ARE we heading straight course?" was Dave's next question through the
air.

"You're going straight," came the cheering information.

"Found out your hurt?"

"Yes; gas-bag intact, and we've withdrawn out of easy range. One motor
damaged more than we can repair in air. Can limp home, however."

"Leave the steamship to me," Darrin wirelessed back.

Inside of another minute and a half, Darrin made out the mast-tops of the
stranger sticking up from the fringe of haze as the cloudy, reddish
curtain shifted.

If Dave had sighted his intended prey, so had the stranger caught sight
of the destroyer. The steamship cut a wide circle and turned tail.

"He's going at nineteen knots, we judge," came the radio report from the
"blimp."

"That won't do him any good!" was the laconic answer that Darrin
returned, this time in plain English instead of code.

The lower masts, the stack and then the hull of the stranger became
visible as Darrin gained on him.

Bang! A shell struck the water ahead of the stranger, the war-ship's
world-wide signal to halt.

Instead, the stranger appeared to be trying to crowd on more speed.

"Give him one in the stern-post," Darrin ordered.

The shell fell just a few feet short. The third one landed on the
after-part of the stranger's deck-house.

And now there went fluttering up the top of the destroyer's mast the
international code signal:

"Stop or we'll sink you!"

It took another shell, this one crashing through the stern of the
stranger, to convince her skipper that the destroyer was in deadly
earnest.

By this time the "Grigsby" was a bare half-mile away, and going fast.

"We're bringing to bear on you to blow you out of the water," Darrin
signalled this time. "Will you stop?"

If he had made any plan to die fighting the fleeing skipper must have
lost his nerve at that point, for he suddenly swung his bow around,
reduced speed and moved ahead at mere steerage-way.

"Call Ensign Peters to clear away a launch with an armed crew," Darrin
directed. "I will accompany him, for I must see what reason that craft
had for firing on a British dirigible."

On either bow of the strange steamship was painted the national flag of
the same neutral nation to which the "Olga" had appeared to belong. She
flew no bunting.

"Stand by to receive boarding party," a signalman on the "Grigsby's"
bridge wigwagged as the launch started toward the water.

The two craft lay now not more than five hundred yards apart. Across the
water sped the fast power launch and came up alongside of the unknown
steamship, which displayed no name.

Not a human being was now visible on her deck. An undersized watch
officer had appeared on the bridge, but he now vanished.

"Who commands that destroyer?" demanded a voice in English, though it had
the broken accent of a German-born speaker.

"I do," Darrin replied.

"Then stay where you are, for you're covered!" ordered the same voice in
a frenzied tone. "We're not going to have you aboard. Signal the
destroyer to make off at top speed and we'll leave you when she is out of
sight. Refuse, and we kill you at once. Refuse, and you lose your life."

"Lower your gangway, and stop your nonsense," Dave ordered, angrily.
"You're dealing with the United States Navy, and your orders cannot
control our conduct."

"Then you are a dead man, at once!" declared the voice of the unseen
speaker.

Unnoticed by others, Darrin had given a hand signal to a petty officer in
the bow of the launch.

"If you do not lower your side gangway at once, we shall find our own
means for boarding," Dave shouted, wrathfully. "Instantly, sir!"

Thereupon half a dozen heads appeared over a bulwark above. As many rifle
muzzles were thrust over the edge of the bulwark and a prompt fire began.

Disdaining to draw his automatic Darrin stood up in the launch, the
center of such a hail of bullets that his continued existence seemed
incredible. Above the reports of the rifles could be heard the voice of
Ensign Peters as he directed the swinging around of the launch.

R-r-r-r-rip! The launch's machine gun came swiftly into play. Bullets
rattled against the iron sides of the ship.

Four of the six seamen on her deck were seen to fall back; the remaining
two fled as fast as they could go.

Then the muzzle of the machine gun was swung, and a hundred little
missiles were driven through the wheel-house.

At an unspoken signal the launch moved in until a sailor in the bow
could hurl upward an iron grappling hook. At the first cast it caught on
at the top of the rail, while the machine gunners trained their weapon to
"get" any one who endeavored to cast off the grapple.

"Up with you!" shouted Darrin. One after another half a dozen sailors
raced up the rope, swinging over to the deck.

Dave followed next, then more seamen. All were armed and ready for
instant work of the sternest kind.

Two sailors lay dead, rifles beside them. Pools of blood showed that at
least two more wounded men had been there, but had fled. No one else
belonging to the ship was in sight on deck.

"Boatswain's mate, take the bridge," ordered Dave, as more men came up on
board. "Put two men in the wheel-house. Take command of the deck with
such men as I do not take with me."

Calling half a dozen seamen, and ordering them to draw their automatic
revolvers, Darrin proceeded to the chart-room. He tried the door, but
found it locked.

"Break it down," he ordered, and in a jiffy the thing had been done. But
the chart-room proved to be empty.

Further aft Darrin went along the deck-house. The cabins of the captain
and two mates were found to be empty.

"We'll soon know where the crew have gone to," he remarked.

In the dining-room were found three men in dingy blue uniforms, who
appeared to be ship's officers. The oldest, who scowled hardest at the
same time, Dave took to be the skipper.

"You command this ship?" Darrin inquired.

"If you say so," replied the man addressed.

"You must, for you are the fellow who ordered me to send my ship away,"
Darrin smiled grimly. "Are you a German?"

"None of your business. Why have you killed two of our crew and hurt
others?"

"Drop that nonsense," Darrin retorted, sternly. "You know why we fired on
you. And your men slightly wounded two of mine."

"We had a right to," scowled the other.

"You'll know better, by the time you've reached a British prison," Dave
rejoined. "Men, place these three fellows under arrest. Search them."

Only the man who appeared to be the craft's master resisted being
searched. He swung at one of the sailors, but Darrin jumped in, knocking
him down and holding him to the floor.

"Put irons on this scoundrel," he ordered, sharply, a command so quickly
obeyed that almost instantly the defiant one found himself manacled. Then
Dave yanked the fellow to his feet.

"You are a bully," growled the prisoner.

"I am," mocked Dave, "when I have fellows of your stripe to handle. Men,
you'd better iron that pair, too. They belong to the same outfit."

None of the three proved to have any arms on his person.

"Now, where are the members of your crew?" Dave demanded of the manacled
skipper.

"Find them!" came the surly retort.

"In what business is this ship engaged?"

"Find out!"

"Bring these prisoners out on deck," Darrin commanded. Then, as the order
was obeyed, Darrin made his way to the bridge.

"Boatswain's mate, pipe all hands on deck," he directed.

Shrilly the whistle sounded at the lips of the petty officer. But no men
came to answer.

"We'll try other tactics, then," Darrin smiled.

Stepping to the wheel-house door he pulled it open. Inside was evidence
of the havoc that the machine gun fire had worked there. Everything had
been riddled, including the helmsman, who lay dead on the floor.

At this moment, however, Dave had no time to do more than glance at the
dead man. Reaching for the whistle he blew a long blast, and caused the
fire bell to be rung, the signal to stand by to abandon ship.

That brought seamen and stokers trooping to the deck, until more than
thirty had so appeared.

"Does any man among you understand English?" Darrin called down as he
leaned over the rail in front of the wheel-house.

"I do," came from one of the crew.

"Then inform your mates that this craft has been seized as lawful prize
of the United States Navy. Where is your boatswain?"

"That's me," said the same speaker, gruffly.

"Very good. Deliver my message to the crew. Then make sure that all hands
are on deck. If you deceive me you will be held sternly to account for
trickery."

"All here," reported the boatswain, after a quick count, "except the cook
and his helpers."

"Send for them, and tell them to report here at once."

When the ship's force had been summoned, save for the two sailors known
to be dead on the starboard side of the ship, Darrin continued:

"There were some wounded men."

"Two," said the boatswain.

"Where are they?"

"Below. One is badly hurt. The other is binding his wounds."

Dave had by this time walked down on to the deck. There was a forecastle
large enough to hold the crew, and he ordered all of the men into it,
except the boatswain, whom he sent with three of his own men to find the
wounded. These latter two were brought to the captain's cabin. The two
dead seamen, after Darrin had gained their names from the boatswain, were
picked up and thrown overboard into the sea. The boatswain was then sent
to join the prisoners.

"Four of you men come with me, and we'll search the rest of the cabin
part of the ship," Darrin directed.

Off the dining room were four doors that Dave believed opened into
sleeping cabins. The first door that Darrin tried proved to be locked.
One of his men carried a sledge-hammer that had been found in the
wheel-house.

"Batter down the door!" Dave ordered.

Ere this order could be carried out the door flew open. A tall young
woman, barely more than twenty years of age, stood in the doorway, her
head thrown back, cheeks flushed, her look proud and disdainful. In her
right hand she held a revolver.

"Go away from here!" she ordered. "Else I shall kill you!"

CHAPTER XIX

THE GOOD WORK GOES ON

"YOU will have to lower that pistol, young lady," warned Dave, calmly, as
he walked toward her. The sailors had drawn back to either side of the
doorway, but the young woman stood where she could aim at anyone in the
American party.

The seaman nearest the revolver glanced quickly at Darrin, as if to
inquire whether he should make an attempt to seize her pistol wrist and
wrench the weapon away.

But Dave ignored the man's glance as he stepped up, eyeing the young
woman coolly.

"Lower the pistol," he warned, again. "If you tried to use it, it would
tell against you hard, before an English court, and these are wartimes,
you know."

He was now within two feet of the weapon, which was pointed at his head.

"I shall kill you if you try to come near me," the young woman insisted
desperately.

But Dave took another step. She pulled the trigger. There was a bright
flash, a loud report.

[Illustration: "Lower that pistol!"]

Dave, however, had been watching that trigger finger. As he saw it
stiffen he dropped suddenly almost to his knees, the bullet passing over
his head and embedding itself in woodwork across the cabin.

Darrin sprang up unharmed. His cap had caught a powder burn; that was
all. He gripped the woman's wrist in a hand of steel. With his other hand
he coolly took the pistol away from her, then dropped her wrist.

Bursting into a fit of hysterical weeping the woman drew back,
endeavoring to close the cabin door. But Darrin's foot across the sill
defeated her purpose.

"You are a brute!" she panted, frantically trying to close the door.

"At least," he assured her, "I have saved you from a crime that would
have cost you your own life. Look out, please, for I am going to throw
your door wide open."

"You--you coward!" she panted, and struggled to close the door.

"Stand back! I am sorry to have to use force, but you compel it."

As she refused to give ground Darrin gave the door a push that forced her
back, crowding her against a berth. Then he stepped into the little
cabin.

In a lower berth lay a middle-aged woman whose piercing black eyes
snapped as she surveyed the young naval officer.

"You are a wretch, to intrude here!" cried the older woman.

"One must often do disagreeable things in the line of war duty," Darrin
answered, gravely. "For one thing, I must place you both in arrest. Then
I shall be obliged to have your cabin searched."

"Oh, if I but had a weapon!" cried the older woman.

"If you had, and were quick enough," Dave assured her, "you might succeed
in killing me, but that would not affect our duty here, for there are
other officers at hand. Madam, I perceive that you are fully dressed, so
I must ask you to rise and leave this cabin, for a few minutes, at
least."

"I shall not do it," she snapped.

"Then you will oblige me to call my men in, and they will remove you,
using no unnecessary violence, you may be sure, yet employing force just
the same."

"You coward!"

The younger woman, too, started in to berate him, but Dave remained calm.

"Will you, at least, not leave the room until I have risen?" demanded the
older woman.

Darrin, who had a notion that the women wanted to conceal or destroy
something, nodded his assent, but signed to two of the seamen to enter.
Under his instructions they took the door off its hinges, carried it
outside and laid it on the floor of the dining cabin.

"Now, ladies," Dave called, as he stepped outside, "you will be good
enough to come out at once."

"We will come at our good convenience!" snapped the older woman.

"Wrong again. As I am discharging my duty here, you will necessarily come
out at once. I shall not be patient if my instructions are defied."

Plainly furious that the door could not be closed, the younger woman
assisted the older one to rise from the berth. Then, both expressing
their resentment in their glances, the two women came out of the cabin.

"Mother and daughter," guessed Dave.

"Where will you have us sit, Brute?" demanded the younger woman.

"Take any seat in this dining cabin that you please," he replied. "You
must sit together, and one of my men will stand before you."

Seats having been taken by the women, Darrin, calling one of the sailors
to him, entered the little cabin. The only baggage there, beyond a hand
satchel, appeared to be a locked steamer trunk under the lower berth.

"Take that outside," Dave directed. "It need not be investigated until we
reach port."

Two dressing sacks and a few toilet articles were all the personal
belongings that could be found there, though Darrin did not stop until he
and the seaman had inspected pillows, mattresses and all other places
that might have concealed papers or other little belongings.

Coming outside after some minutes Darrin asked:

"Ladies, do you wish to remain in the dining room, or will you go back to
your sleeping cabin?"

"We will remain here for the present," replied the older woman. "If we
wish to return to our own cabin later on we will do so."

"Wrong again," Dave informed her. "You must remain in one place. There
can be no roaming about. This seaman who is your guard will see that you
remain where you are for the present. I cannot permit you to leave this
part of the dining room. Ladies, I regret being obliged to be so
disagreeable, but I beg to assure you that your rights will be respected,
and that you shall come to no harm if you obey instructions."

Then he looked into the other three cabins, but found them empty. With
that Darrin left the dining room, after detailing another seaman to
remain on duty there with the guard over the two women.

Darrin's next care was to inspect the holds. Here he found a cargo that
appeared to consist of hundreds of cases of dried fish. At random he
selected one of the cases, had it carried to the deck, and ordered that
it be opened. Its contents proved to be dried fish.

"There is something worse than that on board, or the skipper would not
have acted so much like a lunatic," Dave told himself.

Next inspecting the engine room and stoke hole he found these departments
in order, though the fires under the boilers would soon need attention.

Going above, Dave called the stokers and engineers out from among the
prisoners, told them that he intended to send them to their posts, and
asked them if they would pledge themselves to obey all orders and bridge
signals, and not attempt any treachery.

This promise was quickly given.

"I hope you will all keep your word," Dave added, firmly, "for, if any of
you attempts treachery, he will be shot down where he stands. I shall
post guards."

He posted two of his men in the engine-room, and four in the stoke-hole.

"Be vigilant, and don't stand any nonsense," he ordered.

Returning to deck he gave his final orders to Ensign Peters, who had come
on board and relieved the boatswain's mate.

"We are going to take this ship through to our base port," he informed
the ensign. "You will command, and will use the petty officers as you
need them. I shall require but three of the launch crew to take me back
to the 'Grigsby.' You have sufficient force here, Mr. Peters, but we
shall stand by and so be ready to give any assistance you may need. Keep
yourself informed as to the comfort and conduct of the women prisoners in
the dining cabin, and do not permit them to be annoyed by your men. They
must have no chance, though, to destroy or conceal any papers they may
have on their persons."

With that Darrin went over the side. The launch took him back to his own
craft.

Overhead the "blimp" moved slowly about. While her commander was sure he
could reach England safely he preferred to remain in company that could
rescue his crew and himself if it became necessary.

"Who can the women be?" Lieutenant Fernald wondered, when he had heard
Dave's account of the visit to the steamship.

"I don't know. But their conduct, like the skipper's, is the main cause
of their predicament. Had they behaved naturally I would have guessed
them to be passengers from a neutral port to England. All I can say is
that, though they speak English well, I am sure that they are not
Englishwomen."

"The younger woman is a beauty, you say?"

"Yes, and her mother, if the older woman be such, is not at all
unprepossessing."

The two ships and their aerial companion were now headed toward Darrin's
base port, traveling at a good rate of speed.

It was well along in the evening when they passed the "Reed." In code
Dalzell exultantly reported that an unusually large number of mines had
been swept and removed from the water, and that two submarines had been
located on the middle shoal and destroyed.

"Good work!" Dave wirelessed back.

Late that night, the "blimp" still leading the way, the destroyer and her
prize entered the base port.

As soon as they had come to anchor Darrin communicated with the British
flag-ship. Officials promptly went aboard the steamer to attend to the
removal to a prison on shore of the officers and crew of the steamship,
and of the women passengers as well.

Immediately after that the ship was subjected to a systematic search by
seamen and longshoremen acting under the direction of British naval
officers.

A name-plate, ready to fit to the front of the wheel-house, was found.
The craft proved to be the "Louisa," well known in a certain British
port at which she had been accustomed to call with cargoes of dried
fish. The fish now on board was taken off rapidly into lighters. And then
it was that, in a sub-hold under the cargo deck, a more significant cargo
was found.

From that sub-hold were removed nearly six hundred floating mines of the
commonest German pattern. All had been packed with extreme care, and all
were ready for transferring to German submarine mine-layers at sea.

It was after two in the morning when Captain Allaire, an officer of the
British military intelligence department, came on board the "Grigsby,"
requesting that her commander be called. Dave received Captain Allaire in
the chart-room. Allaire had come to seek information as to the speech and
conduct of the two women at the time of their arrest.

Dave answered these questions carefully, then added:

"I shall be glad, indeed, if I brought in women prisoners of real
importance along with the other prisoners."

"There are very few pairs whom we would rather have in our prisons,"
answered Captain Allaire. "The older woman is the notorious Sophia
Weiner; the younger is her daughter, Anna Weiner. They use various other
names, though. Every intelligence and secret service officer in Great
Britain knows of their exploits, and is ever on the lookout for them."

"Then I am astonished that they should have embarked on a steamship bound
for England," Dave returned. "They must have faced certain arrest on
landing."

"I don't believe they intended coming to England," Allaire answered.
"Probably they were on their way to Spain. It may have been that no
German submarine was leaving for the Spanish coast just at the time, and
it was imperative that they reach Spain early. So, I take it, they
journeyed to the neutral country and embarked on the 'Louisa,' knowing
that the skipper could transfer them to a submarine bound for Spain. We
are amazed at this fellow, Hadkor, skipper of the 'Louisa.' We had
believed him to be all right, and he had ready access to our ports with
his cargoes. But his ship has been found to be fitted with all facilities
for transferring mines at sea, and also with an anti-aircraft gun and a
stock of rifles and ammunition. The work must have been excellently paid
for by the Germans, for the crew were assuredly in the secret, and ready
even to fight, and they surely had to be paid for their risks."

"Then it was a very important catch that the 'blimp' ran us into."

"One of the best in a six-month," replied Captain Allaire. "And yet that
skipper fellow and his crew must be lunatics, for their conduct lays them
liable to being hanged as pirates."

When the "Grigsby" put out to sea before daylight Dave Darrin lay asleep.
He slept extremely well, too, in the consciousness of a day's duties well
done.

CHAPTER XX

DARRIN TURNS THE TABLES

BOTH commanding officers were asleep when the "Grigsby" and the "Reed"
passed each other that morning, the "Grigsby" proceeding on to her
station.

Dave would have gone back on the same water route he had hunted over the
day before, but the dirigible, which had reached England safely, had not
yet been put in shape for further service, and there was at present no
other dirigible that could be spared for his service.

Therefore it was a matter of back to the shoals for temporary duty, yet
of a kind that was very important.

At ten o'clock he was called, as that was the hour he had named for
relieving Lieutenant Fernald.

The executive officer had come into the chart-room to call him, and
remained while Darrin performed his hasty toilet.

"What's the weather?" Darrin asked.

"Misty, sir," replied the executive officer. "There's a fine drizzle,
mixed with some fog. For the last half hour it has been impossible to
see more than six hundred yards. That is why we are running at half
speed. We're close to the middle shoal and I was afraid we'd run down one
of our own mine-sweepers."

"The kind of weather every ship's master dreads," Dave remarked.

"Yes, sir, and the weather bites you through to the marrow. The
temperature isn't very low, but I think you'll find yourself more
comfortable if you dress warmly. I found it so cold as to be necessary to
wear the sheepskin under my heaviest rain-coat."

In finishing his dressing Darrin bore this suggestion in mind. In a few
minutes he stepped out on deck. The weather proved to be as unpleasant as
Fernald had asserted, and Dave was glad that he was warmly clad, for the
wind, though not strong, was piercing.

"Sighted any mine-sweeper on the shoal?" Dave asked of Ensign Ormsby, the
watch officer, as soon as he reached the deck.

"Only on the first shoal, which is in the 'Reed's' station, sir," Mr.
Ormsby replied. "Those belonging to our station must be farther north.
And we've sighted none out in deeper water. We couldn't in this thick
weather, anyway."

"The view is so limited that this doesn't look like a promising day for
us," Dave mused aloud, as he gazed around at as much of the water as he
could see.

"It really doesn't, sir."

"Better reduce to one-quarter speed. The less speed the less chance there
will be of the enemy hearing us."

Accordingly the "Grigsby" rolled along slowly, the splash and ripple of
the water along her sides being a soothing accompaniment.

For an hour they proceeded thus, without sighting a ship. They had passed
the middle shoal, and were somewhat north of it when the two officers on
the bridge observed that the sun was struggling feebly through the clouds
and mist. A minute later, as if by magic, it burst out brightly, and the
mist began to fade away.

"By Jove, sir, look at that!" almost whispered Ensign Ormsby.

Some seven hundred yards away from them, motionless on the water, her
deck fully exposed, lay a submarine.

Neither deck gun was above decks. At least a dozen of the crew stood near
the conning tower, and, of all things in the world, fishing.

"Quick work, there!" Dave called through the bridge telephone to the
gunners forward. "Let number one gun send a shell over the craft. Don't
hit her at the first shot. We'll capture that fellow, if possible!"

So quickly did the shot come that it was the first intimation the German
seamen had of enemy presence.

From aloft the signal broke out:

"Don't try to fire a shot, or to turn, or we'll sink you!"

An officer's head popped up through the manhole of the conning tower,
then almost as quickly was withdrawn.

As the "Grigsby," obeying her engines, leaped forward, the men behind
both forward guns stood ready to fire at the word.

For the submarine crew to bring either gun into place would be the signal
for the destroyer to open fire at a range constantly decreasing. Nor
could the enemy craft employ her torpedo tubes without turning, which
would have been instant signal for Darrin to order his gunners to fire on
the submarine.

Through the manhole of the enemy craft leaped a signalman, flags in hand.
Using the international code he wigwagged rapidly this message:

"We will make a grace of necessity and surrender."

"That doesn't necessarily mean that they do surrender," Dave 'phoned to
the officer in charge of the forward gun division. "If the enemy makes a
move to bring a gun into view, or to swing so that a torpedo tube could
be used, fire without order and fire to sink!"

The German commander evidently understood that this would be the course
of the Yankees, for as the "Grigsby" bore down upon the submarine not a
threatening move was visible.

Instead, the Hun crew, unarmed so far as the watchers on the destroyer
could see, emerged from the conning tower and moved well up forward.

"Prepare to lower two boats," Dave called, and added instructions for a
large crew for each launch. As the "Grigsby" came about and lay to, the
launches were lowered. In the bow of each small craft was mounted a
machine gun ready for instant action. The double prize crew was permitted
to board the submarine without sign of opposition. At the command, German
seamen began to file past two petty officers, submitting to search for
hidden weapons, then passing on into the launches alongside.

Last of all four officers came through the manhole, preparatory to
enduring the same search. When all the prisoners had been taken aboard,
the launches started back to the "Grigsby."

Dave Darrin caught sight of the officers, as the launches approached the
destroyer, and felt like rubbing his eyes.

"The ober-lieutenant and von Schelling!" he exclaimed with a start. "They
haven't recognized me yet. When they do that ober-lieutenant is going to
wish that he had voted for going to the bottom of the sea!"

Not, indeed, until the officers came up over the side of the "Grigsby,"
and found Dave Darrin waiting on the deck, did the quartette of officers
discover who their captor was.

"_You?_" gasped the ober-lieutenant! "Impossible!"

"Yes; you didn't expect to see me again, did you?"

"I--I--I thought you were----"

The German checked himself.

"You thought you had sent me to the bottom of the sea," Dave went on. "It
wasn't your fault that you didn't, but you missed your guess."

Dave then gave the order for housing the prisoners below.

"Are you sending the officers to the same place of detention that you are
sending my men?" demanded the ober-lieutenant, a spark of assertiveness
in his manner.

"Unfortunately, I am obliged to do so," Dave answered. "I am aware that
German officers consider themselves to be of a brand of clay much
superior to that used in making their men."

"But we officers are gentlemen!" retorted the ober-lieutenant, drawing
himself up stiffly.

"It's a point that might be argued," returned Darrin, lightly. "Yet
there is no other course, for we have no detention space apart from the
main one on board, so it is the only place that we can use for confining
German officers--and gentlemen."

"May I request the privilege of a few words with you before you send me
below?" requested the ober-lieutenant, unbending a trifle.

"Certainly," Dave assured him, and the guard that was marshaling the
prisoners below permitted the recent German commander to step out of the
line.

"I will see you in my chart-room," said Dave. Lieutenant Fernald, who had
been standing by, caught Dave's signal and entered with his chief.

Once inside Ober-Lieutenant Dreiner turned and gazed at Fernald.

"I had expected a private interview, Herr Darrin," he said, rather
stiffly.

"Lieutenant Fernald is my executive officer, and nothing goes on board
with which he is not familiar," Darrin replied. "Have a seat, Herr
Ober-Lieutenant."

"And must I speak before--before your subordinate?" asked the German, as
he dropped into the chair that had been indicated.

"If you speak at all," Darrin answered.

"But will Herr Fernald keep inviolate what I have to say?"

"In that," Darrin promised, "he will be governed by circumstances."

Dreiner hesitated for a few seconds before he began:

"I--I--er--I have to refer to an incident that followed our last words
together on a former occasion."

"You mean, of course, the time, when you assembled on the deck of your
craft four prisoners, of whom I was one, then closed your manhole and
submerged, leaving us floundering in the water, and, as you expected, to
die by drowning?"

"I have not admitted that any such thing took place," Herr Dreiner cried,
hastily, with a side glance at Lieutenant Fernald.

"It will make no difference, Herr Dreiner, whether you admit or deny that
inhuman attempt to murder four helpless prisoners," Dave rejoined. "It so
happened that all four of us kept alive until rescued, and we are all
four ready, at any time, to appear against you. So there is no use in
evasion."

"Then you intend to bring the charge against me?" asked Dreiner, in a
voice husky with either emotion or dread.

"I can make neither promises nor threats as to that," Darrin countered.

"The stern British military courts would sentence me to death on that
charge."

"Probably," Dave agreed.

"And I have a very particular reason for wanting to live," Dreiner went
on.

"Yes?"

"I have eight young children at home, and their sole dependence is on
what I earn," the German continued. "I do not mind dying, for myself, but
in that event what will become of my poor little children?"

"You Germans fill me with disgust!" Dave Darrin exclaimed, rising, as
though to terminate the interview. "It seems to be a rule with you
fellows, when you find yourselves facing death, to whine about the
children you must leave behind to starve. Before you set out to murder me
in an especially brutal manner, did you take the trouble to ask me
whether _I_ had any children who would starve? Did you ask Mr. and Mrs.
Launce whether they had children that were not provided for? And what
about that honest old sea-dog, Captain Kennor? Did you pause to inquire
whether he was leaving hungry children behind? For that matter, have any
of you wild beasts on German submarines ever worried yourselves about the
families you orphaned by your inhuman crimes at sea? Even in the case of
the 'Lusitania,' did _that_ submarine commander ask himself, or any one
else, what would happen to the women and children who were pitched into
the sea? You are wild to murder innocent, harmless people belonging to
an enemy nation, yet when you yourselves are brought face to face with
death you are all alike. You whine! You beg! Dreiner, you are not man
enough to play the game! Your appeal in the name of your eight children,
who, for that matter, may not even exist, falls on deaf ears when you
address me. I hope that you will be summoned before a British court and
that you may be sentenced to pay the full penalty for your crimes!"

Dreiner's face went ashen-gray as he staggered to his feet. Probably he
really was concerned for the fate of his children, but his was not the
sort of record that invited pity.

"I will not detain you here," Dave finished coldly. "If I did, I might be
tempted to abuse a prisoner, and that is something no American fighting
man can really do. Orderly!"

As the orderly stepped in, saluting, Dreiner tried a last appeal:

"Why do you hate us Germans so?" he whined. "I know that you do not hate
me especially, but that you hate all of our race!"

"Why do we hate you?" Darrin echoed. "The reason is that, from all we
hear, fellows like yourself appear to be fair samples of the German
officer, on land and afloat. If that does not answer your question fully,
I can think of other reasons to give you. I would rather not, for it
brings me perilously close to the offense of abusing a prisoner, and that
I do not wish to do. Orderly, call two men and instruct them to take
Ober-Lieutenant Dreiner below to join the other prisoners."

As the German stepped past the Yankee commander he glared into Dave's
face, hissing:

"To-day it is your chance to humiliate and condemn a German. It may not
be long ere your turn comes, and a German officer tells you what your end
is to be!"

"I am ever at Fate's orders," Darrin answered, with a bow.

CHAPTER XXI

ON A MISSION OF GREAT TRUST

WHEN the "Grigsby," in broad daylight, steamed into the base port with a
captured submarine and her crew, and a German commanding officer who was
liable for a dastardly crime at sea, there was great rejoicing both on
the other naval vessels and on shore.

If the German prisoners expected a stormy reception when they were landed
and placed under a guard of soldiers, they were disappointed, for nothing
of the sort awaited them.

The British populace, though it turned out to see the captives marched
through the streets, proved to be too good sportsmen to make a violent
demonstration against their now helpless enemies.

Darrin had no sooner turned over the prize and made his report to the
British admiral than he was ready for sea once more.

"Mr. Darrin," said the admiral, heartily, "when you went out the other
day you promised to show me results. I take this opportunity to assure
you that you have. You yourself have made some notable captures, and have
destroyed some enemies whom you could not capture. Mr. Dalzell's record
has also been a splendid one. The plan by which you are catching
mine-layers on or near the shoals before they start out on new
mine-laying work is one that has enabled our mine-sweeping craft to
accomplish more than they have hitherto been able to do. The record of
mines discovered and swept out of the paths of navigation is a fine one,
but you have done even better work in blocking the enemy so thoroughly in
their operation of laying the mines in the first instance. Your successes
are assuming extremely notable proportions. To-morrow the dirigible will
be ready to start out again to aid in finding mine-cargo-carrying
submarines bound for these waters."

"Sir," Dave replied, "I greatly appreciate your words of praise, and I
can speak in the same vein for Mr. Dalzell. Now, as he has had no share
in destroying the submarines that bring over cargoes of mines I intend to
detail him for that work to-morrow."

"That fits in with my plans," nodded the admiral. "If you will put to sea
and find the 'Reed,' and then return to this port, dropping anchor, but
keeping up steam, I shall have for you, to-night or to-morrow, a special
task of the greatest importance."

"Very good, sir. Is that all for the present?"

"Yes. Your further instructions will be given to you when the time
comes."

"Very good, sir. Thank you."

Saluting, Darrin left the flagship, returning at once to the "Grigsby,"
which soon put to sea. The weather being now comparatively clear, Darrin
raced away at nearly full speed. Not long afterward he overhauled and
boarded the "Reed," informing Dalzell of his chance to go on the hunt for
the submarine mine-carrying craft on the morrow.

"I had been wondering if I was to have a little share in that sport of
kings," said Dan, with one of his grins.

"You prevaricator!" Darrin uttered, sternly. "When did I ever hog all of
the best sport and leave you the rind?"

"Kamerad! Don't shoot!" begged Dan, with another grin.

"Kamerad" (comrade) is the word the German soldiers employ when offering
to surrender to Allied troops. But "Kamerad" does not always mean as much
as it conveys, for instances have been numerous when Germans have
pretended so to surrender, then have whipped out hitherto hidden weapons
and slain their captors.

Returning to port before dark, Darrin put in that night in catching up
with his sleep. He slumbered almost without stirring, for it had been
long since he had enjoyed more than a part of his needed rest at sea.

Officers and men, too, made the most of their opportunity to sleep that
night. Only one officer at a time kept deck watch, and only one engineer
officer down below. The "Grigsby" was ready to put to sea almost on an
instant's notice from the flagship, but no word came.

Fully refreshed, and in the best of condition, Dave Darrin enjoyed a
famously good breakfast the next morning, as did every officer and man on
the destroyer. Still the orders for special duty had not arrived, and
Dave was beginning to chafe under the delay.

"If it were the first of April I might suspect the bluff old admiral were
playing a joke on us," Dave confided to Lieutenant Fernald. "I might
think this was his way of affording us all a chance to get even with our
rest. I am wondering much what the special duty is to be."

"You will know, sir, in the same breath that you are ordered away to that
duty," smiled the executive officer.

"Yes, this is war-time and advance information is very rare," Darrin
admitted.

It was, in fact, nearly eleven o'clock when a man of the deck watch
reported that a boat had put off from the flagship and was apparently
heading for the "Grigsby."

"I'll go out to receive the visitor," said Fernald, rising and leaving
the chart-room.

The boat was, indeed, heading for the destroyer. It soon came alongside,
bringing a staff officer from the admiral. Lieutenant Fernald received
the visitor, conducted him to the chart-room, presented the officer
caller to Dave, then discreetly withdrew.

"The admiral's compliments, Mr. Darrin. He spoke to you yesterday of
special duty of a most important nature. I have the honor to bear his
final instructions."

"Then you are doubly welcome," smiled Dave, "for we have been chafing a
bit, fearing that the admiral's plans might have been changed."

"There has been considerable activity on the part of German submarines in
these waters of late," continued the British naval staff officer. "As a
rule the Huns keep out of the channel, but they have been so active
lately that we fear for the safety of the hospital ship 'Gloucester,'
which is bringing home about two thousand wounded men. It was the
admiral's plan to have you leave port, under full speed, an hour before
the sailing time of the 'Gloucester' from France."

"Is there still time for us to get that hour's start?" asked Darrin,
rising.

"Unfortunately, the orders were misunderstood, Mr. Darrin. The
'Gloucester' actually sailed about an hour ago. You will find her exact
course written on this paper, and you are directed by the admiral to
reach her with all speed and convoy her----"

"One moment, please!"

Darrin broke off the conversation long enough to telephone the executive
officer, instructing him to transmit the needful orders to the engineer
officer on duty, and to pipe all hands on deck.

"I am listening, sir," Darrin resumed, wheeling about.

"Outside you will find two of our fastest mine-sweepers," continued the
staff officer. "They are to follow you as closely as possible, and, on
nearing the 'Gloucester,' they are to turn and sweep the course ahead of
the hospital ship, while you are to be extremely alert for submarines."

"I understand, sir," Darrin nodded. "Are there any further orders?"

"No, Mr. Darrin. Whatever else comes up must be left to your own
discretion to handle. The admiral bade me state that he has the fullest
confidence in your proven ability to handle circumstances as they arise."

"My thanks to the admiral for his good opinion, and to yourself for
informing me of it," smiled Dave, still on his feet and moving slowly
toward the door.

"I--er--have some further information, Mr. Darrin, that will prove of
considerable interest to you," resumed the naval staff officer, also
moving toward the door.

"Yes?"

"It possesses a personal interest for you. There are, of course, nurses
on board, and other Red Cross workers. One of them is Mrs. Darrin."

Dave's quick smile of happiness was reflected in the staff officer's
ruddy face.

"So, you see, Mr. Darrin, you have more than a professional interest in
meeting the hospital ship and bringing her through safely, for in doing
so you will also be guarding your wife. It is rather an unusual stimulus
to duty, isn't it?"

CHAPTER XXII

THE RED CROSS TRAGEDY

"NO, sir!" said Dave, promptly. "I love my wife, and it will not surprise
you to hear me say it, but in the discharge of my duty Mrs. Darrin has
exactly the same status as a stranger. I shall be glad, for my own sake,
to bring through in safety any ship on which she sails, but I shall be
just as glad to be able to insure the safety of any wounded Tommy Atkins
on the 'Gloucester' who is longing for a sight of his loved ones at
home."

"By Jove, that's a bully attitude, and I know you mean it!" cried the
staff officer, holding out his hand. "I must not delay you. Good-bye,
Darrin, and the best of good luck to you!"

A moment later the British officer was over the side and being borne back
to the flagship, while quick orders rang out on the "Grigsby." In as
short a time as the thing could be done the anchor was stowed, and the
destroyer was on her way out of port at half speed.

Just beyond the harbor Darrin gave the order for full speed ahead. From
the bridge, three miles farther out on the course, he made out the two
mine-sweepers.

"All starts well," commented Dave to Lieutenant Fernald. "May all end as
well! By the way, Mrs. Darrin is said to be on board the 'Gloucester'."

"Congratulations," said Fernald, heartily. "And you may look, sir, for
every officer and man aboard this craft to redouble his efforts to make
the day's task a complete success."

"I don't want it for that reason, although I expect from all on board the
fullest efficiency. Fernald, I'm not running an American naval vessel
primarily for the safety of my family."

For this trip the lookouts were trebled. They stood at every point of
vantage from which anything on the sea might be sighted.

Mile after mile the "Grigsby" logged, plunging and dipping in the sea,
her decks running water and spray dashing continuously over the bridge.
It was wet work, and over all was the roaring racket of the ship's
powerful machinery. To Darrin it was music; the dash and the sense of
responsibility thrilled him.

At last came the anxiously awaited hail from the lookout aloft:

"Topmasts of a ship almost dead ahead, sir."

"Keep her constantly in sight, and as soon as you can make out the hull
report whether she displays the hospital Red Cross," the watch officer
called back.

"Aye, aye, sir."

To those on the bridge the mastheads were soon visible. After that came
the lookout's hail:

"She's a hospital ship, sir. I can make out the Red Cross plainly through
the glass."

"It must be the 'Gloucester,' then," remarked Lieutenant Fernald.

"Pass the word that the first man really to sight a periscope or a
conning tower shall have a fortnight's shore leave extra," Dave ordered.

He smiled as he heard the scattering cheer that greeted that
announcement.

"The real way to the sailorman's heart lies through extra shore leave,"
he told Fernald.

"I wouldn't mind winning that prize myself," muttered the executive
officer. "That is, if I were sure that I could honestly accept the leave
without prejudice to duty."

"Find the periscope, then," smiled Darrin. "I am sure I can win the
promised reward, even for the executive officer."

Not long afterward they were in plain sight of the "Gloucester." On she
came, the smoke pouring from her pair of funnels. A fast craft, the
hospital ship was making about her best time in her hurry to get safely
across with her precious human cargo.

Then the "Grigsby" swung far out to port, cut a part of a circle, and
came back on the hospital ship's port bow, darting ahead again, cutting
across the hospital ship's bow far ahead and to port, then turning and
crossing once more.

After the two craft had proceeded some distance farther the two
mine-sweepers were sighted well ahead. These craft would soon turn and
sweep the waters for mines ahead of the hospital ship.

Not mere fancy capers was the "Grigsby" cutting. As she crossed the
"Gloucester's" bows time and again her lookouts were able to keep sharp
watch to port and starboard of the ship that bore a human cargo of pain
and suffering. It was the only way for a solitary destroyer to keep
effective watch on both sides of the ship she was convoying.

Twice Dave used his glass to glance along the nearer rail of the
steamship in search of Belle Darrin. He did not find her thus, and did
not try again, for he must not fail in his unceasing watch for the ship's
safety.

The mine-sweepers signalled their message of greeting, then turned and
swung into place. From this point the "Gloucester" and her escort slowed
down speed to accommodate that of the smaller craft.

The vessel wearing the emblem of the Red Cross had not yet reached the
spot at which the sweepers had turned.

Over the sea came a sullen, significant roar. The "Gloucester" shivered
from stem to stern. A wail of anguish went up in concert from the
soldiers on board the hospital ship who were worst wounded.

It had come so suddenly that, for an instant, Dave Darrin was dazed.

"That wasn't a torpedo!" he cried, hoarsely, a second or two later.

"She hit a mine, sir," reported Lieutenant Fernald. "It wasn't the fault
of the sweepers, either, for they hadn't time to get that far. But it's
awful--awful! There'll be hundreds of the poor fellows drowned!"

Dave quickly recovered his presence of mind. As the "Gloucester" shut off
speed Darrin turned and dashed at full speed to the aid of the stricken
craft.

Even as the race of rescue began Darrin sent to the radio operator this
message to send broadcast through the air:

"S. O. S.! Hospital ship 'Gloucester' has struck mine and must founder
soon. Rush at best speed to give aid. S. O. S.!"

In the message Darrin included also the exact position of the stricken
vessel.

Two launches were swung outward on the davits. Darrin sprang down to the
deck to personally select the men to man the launches. Into the launches
were thrown several rolls of heavy canvas and rolls of cordage, as well
as such tools as might be needed.

By the time that the "Grigsby" had shut off speed and lain to, the decks
of the "Gloucester" were observed to be crowded with people.

The two launches, with Dave Darrin in one of them, shoved off and were
quickly alongside the hospital ship. Two ship's ladders were let down
over the side. Up these went the two boarding parties as rapidly as they
could move. Lines came swirling down, and canvas rolls and other supplies
were hoisted to the deck. This work was all quickly done.

Not a second must be lost. Dave ordered Ensign Peters and several men
forward to the bow of the hospital ship. With the remainder, Dave,
carrying a roll of canvas over one shoulder, and all hands carrying some
burden, started to go below.

With a group of Red Cross nurses who stood silently and calmly by the
patients who were being borne to the deck, Darrin was sure that he caught
sight of Belle.

But he did not look a second time. There was too much to be done now when
seconds were precious. Nor did Belle look up from the work that she was
doing among the wounded on stretchers.

A member of the crew led the American party below. Here Dave found two
mates and a score of sailors already at work. They were trying to
accomplish the very thing Darrin had come prepared to do--to rig canvas
over the hole in the hull to shut out as much of the water as was
possible.

If this could be accomplished, and if the "Gloucester's" pumps could
drive out most of the water that got in past the canvas patch, then it
might be possible for the hospital ship to keep afloat until other rescue
craft could reach the scene.

"We'll take your orders, sir," spoke up one of the mates, saluting, as
Dave and his party reached a forward hold where, despite the flimsy
canvas patch already rigged, the water was almost waist-deep.

"We'll work together," returned Dave, briefly. "It may turn out that the
ship can be kept afloat for an hour or two."

"The bulkheads were shut, sir," the mate explained, hurriedly, "but
fragments of the mine entered this first water-tight compartment, and
also the second. You'd better go down into the second compartment, too,
sir."

Darrin hurried up to the deck, followed by the mates and their men. The
hole in the first compartment extended some six inches below water line
and some two feet above. It was a long, jagged hole. Trying to descend
into the second compartment with the chief mate, Darrin found that the
hole here extended at least a foot below water line.

"It's going to be no use, sir," said the mate, sorrowfully. "I don't
believe the ship can be kept afloat more than ten minutes before she goes
down by the head. These are our two biggest compartments."

CHAPTER XXIII

A NOBLE FIGHT WITHOUT WEAPONS

NOR was the mate's warning a panicky one. There seemed not one chance in
a hundred of closing the gaps sufficiently to keep the hospital ship
afloat long enough to save many of its wounded passengers.

Dave had made his plans while coming alongside. By this time the repair
material he had brought along lay on the deck. He called his own men to
help him, and the chief officer sent two score more of British seamen to
his aid.

The engine-room fires being as yet untouched by water, the pumps were
working with tremendous force.

"Unroll that canvas, there. Run it out lively," Darrin ordered.

In a twinkling the first patch was ready. Dave himself helped with
weighting what was intended for the lower edge of the patch, and with
reeving in ropes at the sides and top.

"Over with it!"

Lowered down into place, the patch was fitted to the hole. It still had
to be made fast.

Both port and starboard gangways had been lowered, and launches from the
destroyer were alongside, receiving badly wounded men who had been taken
over the side on stretchers. The "Grigsby's" cutters were also alongside,
picking up such of the wounded men as could jump in life belts. The
"Gloucester's" own boats swung out after being loaded. The mine-sweepers
had come up and had lowered their boats and sent them to the rescue.
Several hundred men and women were reasonably sure of being saved, but
unless Darrin succeeded in what he was undertaking, from twelve to
fifteen hundred other human beings were surely doomed.

Badly as boats were needed, Dave had to commandeer two of the smallest.
Himself going in one of these, he superintended the making fast of the
canvas patches below from the water. Seamen over the hull's side in
slings, acting under the second mate, did valiant service at the same
time.

With a single outside canvas patch over the forward hole, Darrin moved