A moment later Sally was in her stateroom listening to the secret radio. The question uppermost in her mind at that moment was: How will the enemy subs take this new turn in the battle? She had the answer very soon; they were not taking it. At first there came a series of hurried and more or less jumbled messages from very close in. After that the enemy radio messages settled down and were spaced farther apart. Each new burst of “put-puts” came in more faintly, which meant that the subs were withdrawing.
When at last she was sure that, for the time, the fight was over, she hurried to the Captain’s cabin.
“The subs have withdrawn,” she announced.
“Good!” the Captain exclaimed. “How far? Are they still withdrawing?”
“That’s hard to tell,” Sally replied cautiously.
“They’ll withdraw for now,” he prophesied, “and come back to the attack at dawn. Their theory will be that the big bombers will have to return to their land bases.”
“Which they must.”
“That’s right. But there is no reason why they should not return at dawn if there is still work for them to do. Our enemy does not yet realize that, thanks to your secret radio, we can keep track of their movements. Perhaps we can catch them off guard at dawn and finish them. That,” the Captain added, “will depend on you and your secret radio.”
“It’s a terrible responsibility,” was the girl’s quiet reply, “but I accept it. I shall be listening, all through the night.”
That night will live long in Sally’s memory. She slept not at all. At all hours the headset was over her ears. At first there were few messages passing from sub to sub.