"There," murmured the Lieutenant, with a sigh of satisfaction, "when the skipper spots that in his wake he'll have about fifty fits right away. Now we'd better try and get back on our beat."
The Knat was supposed to be searching a certain prescribed area for an enemy mine-sower which had been active for several days past in this particular portion of the North Sea. Lawless, so far, had not had any luck; a fact which made him all the keener to meet with the enemy ship before she succeeded in getting safely back to port.
"I'm going below for a spell," he said to Trent. "Call me if anything happens."
About a couple of hours later, the Lieutenant was awakened by a bridge-messenger, who told him the fog was lifting and that a vessel had just been sighted.
"Looks to be the packet we picked up a little while back, sir," he said.
Lawless proceeded to the bridge and, catching sight of the steamer dimly visible ahead, chuckled softly.
"The fun'll start before long," he remarked to Trent. "Oh, to see the old man's face when the officer of the watch reports a submarine astern!"
"I've calculated that your precious joke's taken us about four miles out of our course," answered the junior officer gloomily.
"You'll meet with an early death, like all good young people, if you're not careful," retorted Lawless. "Virtue has its disadvantages remember."
A mild breeze had sprung up and was dissipating the fog rapidly while churning the water into cat's paws. Presently Trent, who had been watching the steamer through the night glasses, thrust them into the Lieutenant's hands.