“But Miss Stone must have been a good yeoman. She gave up a very fine position to join the WAVES,” Sally suggested.
“Yes, that’s true, she did. But in this man’s war, in fact any war, it’s not the wonderful things you have done in the past; it’s what you can do now that counts.
“‘Not to the strong is the battle,’” he quoted. “‘Not to the swift is the race, but to the true and the faithful.’
“The faithful, always the faithful, Sally,” he repeated. “Most of the girls we took on trial have been very fine. You, Sally, and your pal, Nancy, may stay on my ship as long as she flies the Stars and Stripes and sails the seas. I’ll even offer you the honor of going over her side with me when the subs get her and she prepares to sink beneath the waves.”
“They’ll never get her,” Sally declared stoutly, “but, Captain, I wish to thank you from deep in my heart. Those are the finest words I’ve ever heard spoken.”
“They were spoken from the heart, Sally.”
For a time after that they were silent, then Sally spoke in a deep voice:
“Captain, do you really think we’ll find Danny?”
“Only time will tell. We have taken account of wind and tide, done everything we could. When we think we have located the approximate spot, we’ll heave to and send out a full complement of planes to search for him.”
“But the storm?” she whispered hoarsely. “It seems impossible.”