"Jove, lad, you have sharp eyes!" exclaimed Lieutenant Murray. "Even the lookout has not yet spied it. Let's see what it may be. Possibly it's our 'meat'—food for our torpedoes."
"In that case the boys are in for a bit of excitement," said Ensign Hargreaves.
"You think it is a derelict!" exclaimed Rob. "Oh, boys!" he called down to the shady deck below, where the other lads lay reading or writing letters or studying the Scout Manual, "we've sighted a derelict."
"An ocean hobo, eh?" hailed back Merritt.
"Hold on! Hold on! Not so fast!" laughed Lieutenant Murray.
He took his powerful naval binoculars from their case and carefully focussed them on the dot which Rob's sharp eyes had espied at so great a distance.
"You are right, Master Rob," he exclaimed the next instant; "it is a derelict, and a big one, too."
"And you are going to blow it up?" asked Rob, his voice quivering with excitement.
"That's our business, lad."
"Hooray! Boys, stand by for the fireworks!" shouted the delighted Rob.