"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!"