“God will look after Danny. You believe in God’s care for his children, don’t you?”
“I—I don’t know. I’ve never been able to think that through.”
“Then you’ll have to trust Danny’s mother.” Mrs. Duke smiled a rare smile. “The time may come when Danny will mean more to you than he does to me. When that time comes, I shan’t mind. You are a splendid young lady. But until that time I shall have the right to say: ‘Sally, don’t send that message.’”
“All right.” Sally went limp all over. “You win.”
A moment later, after giving herself a shake, she stood up. “I’ll put the radio away. There’ll be no more subs for a time. Nancy and I have been invited by the Captain to have our evening meal with him at the officers’ table.”
“That’s splendid!” Mrs. Duke stood up. “You’ll enjoy it. You’re a real hero.”
“Will I? Am I?” Sally asked these questions of herself after Danny’s mother had gone. She did not know the answers.
Danny’s mother was right. For the moment at least, Danny was safe and quite comfortable. After battling his half-wrecked plane to a point where further struggle and loss of altitude might prove fatal, he gave up the fight and, circling down, went in for a crash landing.
His was as successful as any crash landing can be. Between the time he hit the water and his plane sank he was able to inflate his rubber raft, look into its equipment, and even salvage a heavy leather coat he carried for an emergency.