Page:Air Service Boys Flying for France.djvu/96

Rh merchandise. It would of course have been the part of wisdom for him to order full speed ahead and to leave the victims of the tragedy to their justly merited fate. A companion submarine might be somewhere in the vicinity, for they generally hunt in couples, it is said.

But that would not be according to the traditions of the navy in which he was a reserve officer. So the steamer was brought around in a great circle and headed back for the exact spot where the enemy craft had last been seen.

The gun-crew stood at their posts, waiting and eager. If another periscope had been thrust up anywhere near by it would have instantly received a shot, and perhaps a double killing would have been brought about, something well worth boasting about when they should make port.

But no hostile persicope did they see, although many eyes kept watch over the waters surrounding them, so that nothing escaped their vigil.

"We must be getting pretty close to where she went down," remarked Jack, presently.

"I think you're right," Tom answered. "Look for signs of oil on the surface cf the sea. It seems to me the waves are softened a whole lot right ahead of us. And you know that oil will do that every time. Sometimes a