The Boy Allies with the Victorious Fleets | Page 9

he said. "You will know what to do with them."
Jack took the papers and stowed them in his pocket.
"Yes, sir," he said.
"That is all, then," said the visitor. "I shall be going."
He stepped to the side of the vessel and disappeared.
"This means," said Jack, after the other had gone, "that we can sail any
time now."
"Then why not at once?" asked Frank.
"You anticipated me," replied Jack. "Will you kindly pipe all hands on
deck, Mr. Chadwick?"
Frank passed the word.
Sleepy men came tumbling from their bunks below. All became bustle
and hurry aboard the Brigadier. Jack himself took the bridge. Frank

stood beside him. Other officers took their places.
"Man the guns!" came Jack's order.
It was the lad's intention to overlook nothing that would protect the ship
should it encounter an enemy submarine en route, and, as the lad knew,
it was just as possible they would encounter one in the English Channel
as elsewhere.
For, despite all precautions taken by British naval authorities, enemy
submarines more than once had crept through the channel, once
penetrating Dover harbor itself, where they had wreaked considerable
damage before being driven away by British destroyers and submarine
chasers.
A few moments later Jack signaled the engine room.
"Half speed ahead."
Slowly the Brigadier slipped from her anchorage and moved through
the still waters of the harbor. Directly she pushed her nose into the
channel, then headed east.
"Full speed ahead!" Jack signaled the engine room.
The Brigadier leaped forward.
"Better turn in, Jack," said Frank. "It's Thompson's watch."
"No, I'll stick until we reach the Atlantic," returned Jack.
"Then I'll stick along," said Frank.
This they did.
It was hours later when the Brigadier ran clear of the channel and
breasted the heavy swell of the Atlantic. Jack spoke to Thompson, the
third officer.

"I'm going to turn in," he said. "If anything happens, call me at once."
"Very well, sir," was the third officer's reply.
He saluted briefly. Jack and Frank went below.
"Come in a moment before you turn in, if you wish," Jack said to
Frank.
"May as well," replied the latter. "I don't feel like turning in for an hour
yet."
"Well, you can't keep me out of bed that long," declared Jack. "I've got
to be stirring before you go on watch again. But I thought we might
talk a few moments."
Nevertheless, it was an hour later that Frank went to his own cabin. He
turned in at once and was soon fast asleep.
On the other hand, sleep did not come to Jack so soon. For an hour or
more he lay in his bunk, reviewing the events of the past and his
responsibilities of the present.
"It's a big job I have now," he told himself. "I hope I can carry it
through successfully."
But he didn't have the slightest doubt that he could. Jack's one best
characteristic was absolute confidence in himself.
CHAPTER V
A RESCUE
H.M.S. Brigadier was steaming steadily along at a speed of twenty
knots. Jack himself held the bridge. Frank and Lieutenant Hetherton,
who stood nearby, were discussing the sinking several days before of a
large allied transport by a German submarine in the Irish sea.
"She was sunk without warning, the same as usual," said Hetherton.

"The Germans never give warning any more," replied Frank, "Of
course, the reason is obvious enough. To give warning it would be
necessary for the submarine to come to the surface, in which case the
merchant ship might be able to place a shell aboard the U-Boat before
she could submerge again. So to take time to give warning would be a
disadvantage to the submarine."
"At the same time," said Hetherton, "it's an act of barbarism to sink a
big ship without giving passengers and crew a word of warning."
"Oh, I'm not defending the German system," declared Frank. "I am just
giving you what I believe is the German viewpoint."
"Nevertheless," said Hetherton, "it's about time such activities were
stopped."
"It certainly is. But it seems that the U-Boats are growing bolder each
day."
"It wouldn't surprise me," declared Lieutenant Hetherton, "to hear
almost any day that U-Boats had crossed the Atlantic to prey on
shipping in American waters."
Frank looked at the second officer sharply. He was sure that Jack had
not divulged the real reason for their present voyage, and he had said
nothing about the matter himself.
"Just a chance remark, I guess," Frank told himself. Aloud he said: "I
hardly think it will come to that."
"I hope not," replied Hetherton, "but you never can tell, you know."
"That's true enough, too," Frank agreed, "but at the same--"
He broke off suddenly as he caught the sharp hail of the forward