Artful, clever Hal! He had carried it all off so coolly and naturally that Sam Truax, who had been closely studying Hastings's face from the background, was wholly deceived.
“This fellow, Hastings, isn't as smart as I had thought him,” muttered Truax, to himself.
The interrupted cruise now proceeded, the parent vessel signaling for a temporary speed of sixteen knots in order to make up for lost time.
Twenty minutes later came the signal from the “Hudson:”
“At the command, the submarines will dash [pg 154] ahead at full speed, each making its best time. During this trial, which will end at the firing of a gun from the parent vessel, all cadets will be on deck.”
Word was immediately passed below, and all the cadets of the engineer division came tumbling up.
To these, who had been in the engine room constantly for hours, the cool wind blowing across the deck was highly agreeable.
For the speed dash Captain Jack Benson had again taken command. He passed word below to Eph Somers to take the wheel in the conning tower.
Eph, therefore, came up with the last of the cadets from below. In the excitement of the pending race it had not been noticed by any of the submarine boys that Williamson was already on deck, aft. That left Sam Truax below in sole possession of the boat's engine quarters.
The gunboat now fell a little behind, leaving the two submarines some four hundred yards apart, but as nearly as possible on a line.