"I suppose so," admitted his superior. "And we've done all we can to impress upon the men the urgency of official reticence and reserve."
So it happened that just before four in the afternoon the three trawlers entered Brixham Harbour, and, amidst the wild and erroneous conjectures of the inhabitants of that little Devonshire town, the naval men landed and went aboard the "Livingstone," whose engine-room staff had kept steam raised during the absence of their comrades.
Half an hour later the destroyer put to sea to resume her interrupted patrol duties.
But, somewhat unfortunately, the carefully laid plans of the skipper of the "Livingstone" went awry. The third hand of the "Myrtle" had a wife. The wife was an excellent cook and studied her man's weakness for the fleshpots of Glorious Devon. Moreover, she had a small cask of prime cider in her cottage, and Dick Ottery, the third hand, was very partial to the juice of the apple. Mrs. Ottery had a knack of extracting information from her spouse, and curiosity prompted her to question him as he fed and drank. Before the delayed meal was over, Mrs. Ottery knew as much as her husband.
At Brixham, like many other British towns, men had gone either to the Front or else to adventure themselves on the High Seas; and a committee of well-meaning ladies had volunteered to do this, that, and the other for the wives of the absent warriors.
That same evening one of the committee paid a visit to Ottery's cottage, where his sister-in-law lived since the day when her husband shouldered his kit-bag and went to report himself at Devonport as a Naval Reservist.
Mrs. Ottery, unable to keep the startling news of the sinking of the German submarine, told full details and embellished them with highly imaginative extras to the lady visitor. "Of course," she added, "it be quite a secret, my man du say."
Half an hour later the committee heard the news, also in strict confidence, with the result that when the "Livingstone" put into Portland to replenish her stock of oil-fuel the news of the exploit preceded her.
Magnified out of all proportion by the little additions it had gained in being passed from mouth to mouth, the latest version was to the effect that "the crew of H.M.T.B.D. 'Livingstone,' having been compelled to take to their boats owing to their vessel being torpedoed, were rescued by a Brixham trawler. They thereupon rammed three German submarines, sinking them with all hands."
"Absolutely without foundation," was the Press Bureau's comment, but people in the know winked solemnly. It was significant that the captain of the "Livingstone" was appointed to the command of a light-cruiser; that Lieutenant Gilroy was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-commander, and that Sub-Lieutenant Terence Aubyn, N.R., blossomed out into a lieutenant.