A SUBMARINE FLIES A FLAG OF TRUCE
Furiously Carl waved his white flag, Every eye was fastened on the distant shape. A cry went up from the men in the little boat.
"They see us—they see us!"
They renewed their rowing with all their remaining strength, as though the great ship laying to in the distance might suddenly start away.
But instead they saw a couple of boats put off—motor-boats that cut their way furiously through the water and soon reached them. A word of explanation from the Captain of the Firefly to the young officer in charge of the motor-boat, and they were taken in tow, while the exhausted oarsmen leaned heavily on their oars, and every heart sent up a prayer of thanksgiving.
The transport was the one they had been trying to overtake, and Colonel Bright's own men met him with cheers and sobs as he was assisted on deck. He and the others were hurried below where they were put under the care of the ship's doctor.
A search now began for the remaining boats. It was not until just before dark that the powerful glasses in the hands of one of the lookout men discovered some small specks far to starboard. It was the missing boats. As soon as they, with their loads of suffering men, had been taken on board, the transport and her convoys, wrapped in darkness, plunged forward through the gathering night.
They were approaching the danger zone.
The following day, the Colonel was himself again. He had been too long a soldier to let the loss of the two boys, dear as they were, completely crush him. They were lost; it was the fortune of war. They were lost as thousands of other young, splendid fellows had been lost; and although the Colonel could scarcely bear to think of the grief of the poor mother back home when she should learn of the loss of her two idolized sons, he put the picture behind him. Here was a transport full of men, his own command largely, and a deep anxiety beset him when he looked over the sea, searching its surface for a glimpse of a telltale periscope.
He fell to watching the convoys with their bristling guns and the intricate tackle used in this modern game of war at sea. They looked capable, every inch of them, and deadly in their efficiency. Yet occasionally the deadly U-boat claimed one of these as a victim. Once more his eyes roved over the big transport.