Page:Air Service Boys Flying for France.djvu/87

82 our destination by another morning. They say that by nightfall we'll surely run across several destroyers, as they are always sent out to act as a convoy to big steamers in these tough times."

"But the rest of the day is still ahead of us," Jack ventured, "and nobody can say what may happen before the convoy reaches us. Notice that everybody has his or her glass in constant use. They scour the surface of the water ahead, and on both sides as far as they can, and are always looking for a stick that pokes up out of the sea like a warning finger; which would be a sub periscope, to a surety."

"And up on the bridge the captain keeps a constant vigil in addition," added Tom excitedly, for it would be impossible for any one not to be deeply impressed with all these thrilling events happening around him every minute of the time.

"Yes. And there are others of the crew watching also. They know what it must mean to be torpedoed. I shouldn't be surprised if some of them have passed through the experience at least once; for the survivors, I'm told, hunt another berth right away on landing."

Noon came and went. In spite of many false alarms nothing untoward had happened. Some of the passengers even began to pluck