A short, thick-set man in a blue jersey stood at the wheel; at his side was a younger man, a tall, upright figure muffled in a thick pilot coat. The crew, with the exception of two who were getting ready to make the vessel fast, stood in a group in the waist. For a North Sea trawler the complement of hands appeared somewhat in excess of the usual requirements.
The man at the helm brought the vessel smoothly alongside without acknowledging the presence of the watcher on the pier. His companion, however, smiled a greeting, raised his hand as if to salute, and checked himself. As the trawler went astern and her way slackened, he jumped out and joined the figure in the ulster.
"Well?" asked the elder man.
"Absolutely successful! Twenty-four, all told. I got right across to within ten miles of their coast."
The other gave an abrupt, disconcerting laugh. "You laid them in fours, as you were ordered?"
The young man nodded. "They cannot miss them. And if a ship fails to touch one direct she must cross one of the wires that connect them. The impetus of her speed will swing them aft against her side—two on each side.... Or three on one and one on the other...! Then——!" The speaker made a graceful upward gesture with his hands and smiled.
"And you were not sighted?"
"Once. The fog lifted a little, and one of their Light Cruisers must have seen us. But I was flying their flag——" He laughed again. "Oh, they are fools! Fools! They had time to blow us out of the water six times over before I could slip back into the fog again." The speaker lit a cigarette and moistened his dry lips. "Then I came back as quickly as possible. And now I want my supper and some beer—it's thirsty work, that—that trawling in the North Sea!" He took a Service revolver out of the side pocket of his coarse reefer jacket and extracted the cartridges from it as they walked along the deserted quay.
His companion took his arm affectionately. "My dear boy," he ejaculated. "Beer! Come along! You shall have a gallon—you have earned it! Herr Gott in Himmel! You shall swim in it if you like."
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