Foam—the Derelict's Only Tombstone.
Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard.
Mining a Lurking Peril.
A submerged derelict, waterlogged, scarcely visible, for which a diver must be sent down to place the mines.
"He wouldn't have a show. I see," continued Eric, regretfully, "I'll have to give up the hope of being able to join in a real pirate chase."
"Of course," the young engineer said thoughtfully, "a pirate in a submarine might be able to do something."
"Now there's a real idea," exclaimed Eric. "Maybe there's a chance yet!"
"I'm afraid not, even there," answered the other, smiling at his friend's eagerness, "mainly because of that same question of fuel. The captain of the submarine would have to be in cahoots with some supply station, and with the howl that would be made all over the world by modern piracy, it would be hard for the fuel contractor to hide his output. The only way that I can see would be for such a pirate to watch out for ships loaded with what was most needed, run up and threaten to torpedo the craft with everybody on board unless they took to the boats, put a prize crew aboard and run that steamer to a lonely beach on an uninhabited island and start a supply depot of his own there."