"To find and take up every mine should be our standard," Dave insisted, "and we must live as close to that standard as we possibly can."
"Then we did wrong to go after the destroyers this night?" Dan demanded, curtly.
"Of course not, for that bombardment of that defenseless little town, carried on longer, might have cost as many lives as are likely to be lost in the case of a steamship hitting a floating mine."
"We can't do everything at the same time," Dan contended.
"Then we must strive to do ninety-nine per cent. of everything," Darrin urged, his jaws set. "Danny-boy, I feel as badly as you do when a single innocent life is lost in the area that we are held responsible for."
"How soon do you put for sea?" Dalzell asked.
"As soon as our boats return and are hoisted on board."
Darrin was as good as his word. Twenty-one minutes later, while dawn was still invisible, the two Yankee destroyers turned seaward again. There was more work, and sterner, for them to do, and it lurked just beyond!
