“Wait a minute,” he shouted as the plane rose up on a wave. “The tug is coming toward us full speed ahead. I hope that it has dropped its cable and is not pulling the target.”
“It ought to get here before the old crate sinks,” said Bill. “I am going to take off my shoes and leggins so that I can swim better if I have to.”
Bill had just unwrapped about two coils of his leggins when he was interrupted by an extra heavy wave which almost submerged him. The plane was gradually sinking and he wanted to be ready for anything that might occur. He might have to support Breene if the plane went down before help arrived. In struggling to regain his grip on the plane, he lost the loose end of his leggins.
Just then the tug came into sight and dropped a small boat. Bill insisted that Breene be taken off first. Breene had no more been rescued than the plane gave a lurch and sank beneath the water. Bill turned loose the rudder surface but felt himself being dragged down. The loose end of his leggin was caught in the wires of the empennage.
CHAPTER VIII—NARROW ESCAPES
When Bill Bruce felt the pull of the sinking airplane on his leggin, he knew that he had to do some fast moving and some faster thinking to escape being dragged to the bottom of the ocean. He was submerged before he knew it. His only salvation lay in his ability to release himself from the leggin or in the cloth band breaking. In the meantime he was going farther and farther beneath the water’s surface.
It suddenly occurred to him that he might be able to unwrap the leggin by rotating his foot about the taut part extending upward from the plane. This procedure proved to be a success and in a few seconds he emerged. When his head came above the water he coughed and spit until he got rid of most of the salt water which he had swallowed. He had not been under the water long, but it seemed much, yes, very much longer than it actually was. He had been through a terrible ordeal and his escape had been a narrow one.
When Bill had brushed the salt water from his eyes, he looked around and saw the tug with its small boat standing near by. He swam to the small boat and was taken aboard. In a few minutes they were back on the tug and headed for the target.
“I want to pick up that target again,” said Lieutenant Small, the Artillery officer in charge of the tug. “If you are all in, however, I will head into the harbor and dock. If you can wait for a while, I will pick up the target and cable and then we will steam back to the dock.”
“I can wait for a while,” said Bill. “I am all right. I swallowed a lot of salt water, but that won’t hurt me any. How did you get to the plane so soon?”