"Any more objections?" asked Captain Cain, losing his temper. "Stow it, man. Why didn't you go in for gardening? That's more in your line, I think."
With that Captain Cain went to his cabin, and, after warning one of the men to call him at six bells (3 a.m.), calmly went to sleep.
At the appointed hour the skipper was roused.
Fresh as paint, he began preparations for bringing the Alerte to the surface.
Absolute caution was essential. The destroyer might not have gone: she might be anchored in the bay. The atmosphere might be still clear, the stars might be shining brightly. Until the submarine broke surface, there were no means of ascertaining what the above-water conditions were. And even with the periscope extended to its greatest height, the masts would be well above the surface before the eye-piece gave any indication of what was in the vicinity.
At length the Alerte, shedding tons of water through the scuppers in the superstructure, broke surface. Eagerly the captain threw open the hatch and came on deck. It was raining heavily. There was little or no wind. A heavy ground swell was setting in from the Atlantic. All these conditions supported Cain's declaration that there was a severe storm approaching.
Shouting to the watch on deck to turn out, the captain hurried to the bridge and took rapid bearings by the standard compass. To the south-'ard the harbour lights of Hayle bore S. 22 W.; St. Ives red light, S. 70 W., while Godrevy lighthouse was on a bearing S. 88 E. Transferring these data to the chart, Cain found the Alerte's position to be favourable for his project—to allow her to drift through the narrow passage known as the Sound into deeper water under the lee of an extensive shoal of half-tide rocks known as the Stones.
A sailor dashed up the bridge-ladder.
"We've brought up a mark-buoy with us, sir," he reported. "What are we to do with it?"
There was no hesitation in the skipper's reply. In a trice he had considered and decided upon what was to be done. If the buoy were thrown overboard, it would serve as a guide to the destroyer's operations for examining the supposed wreck. If it were not there, then a vast area of the bay would have to be swept before the naval officers discovered that the "wreck" was no longer in the bay. The longer they took to make this discovery, the better the chances of the Alerte getting safely away.