After about twenty minutes, March turned to Larry. “I think we ought to be able to have a look now,” he said.
“Up periscope,” Larry said, reaching forward to grab the adjusting handles as they rose into position. He adjusted the eyepiece and looked, focussing with the handles. March saw his mouth open slightly in a whispered exclamation.
“Have a look, March,” he said. “I think we’ve raised something.”
March looked and saw the low-lying atolls where the Marines had for so long battled the Japs against great odds. It would do his heart good to kill a few Japs at Wake, entirely apart from the excellence of the idea in general. He located the harbor and then saw two dark blobs in it.
“There’s something there, all right,” he said. “Can’t be sure what they are yet, though.”
“Down ’scope,” Larry said. “We’ll get a little closer and have another look.”
There was almost nothing said as the boat moved silently forward under the water, until Larry ordered the periscope up again. Then he exclaimed aloud at what he saw.
“Three of ’em!” he cried. “Looks as if they just got here themselves, probably came in under cover of darkness. Lighters are just tying up to them to unload.”
“What are they?” March asked. “Can you make out?”
“One’s a troopship,” Larry replied, “loaded to the gunwales! The men’ll go ashore in the lighters. They haven’t even started yet. Must be relief for the garrison—old ones will be going back.”