Captain Griswold shook hands heartily with Jack, and then insisted on shaking hands as well with Frank, and every officer and member of the British crew aboard the submarine. Then he put off for his ship.
Jack and the others returned to the Essex. When the lad reached the bridge, the Ventura was already moving, the submarine trailing behind.
"A fine man, Captain Griswold," said Frank.
"Right," Jack agreed. "And the U-87 is his so far as I'm concerned. He might hang it on his parlor wall for a souvenir."
"Or wear it as a watch charm," added Frank with a grin.
CHAPTER XVIII
ASHORE
For two days the Essex had been cruising up and down the coast on patrol duty, looking for submarines. Several times the destroyer had been ordered farther out to sea to form an escort for an incoming steamer, but after her encounter with the U-87 she had sighted no more of the enemy.
Following the report of two vessels sunk off the coast on May 10, the day on which the presence of German raiders off the coast was first reported, the number of sinkings increased the following day, and the next. After that they fell off, however, and upon the fifth day only one ship—a small schooner—was sent to the bottom off the coast of Delaware.