Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/211

 "It might be 'Kelly,'" suggested Martin.

"Who's 'Kelly'?"

"Haven't you heard about him? He's a German submarine commander who does all sorts of stunts, if you believe what you hear, like landing on the coast hereabouts once and going into Cork and living there a couple of days. And he leaves messages tacked on the Channel buoys, they say. Of course it's probably all yarns. That boat's pretty close to the surf, Nep."

They listened in silence a moment. Then Nelson said: "I think they're probably Irish rebels; Sinn Feiners, don't they call them?"

"Oh, that's all over with, I guess. Besides, what would they be doing in a boat off-shore?"

"Landing rifles or ammunition, or both," responded the other. "I don't believe that trouble is all over, either, Mart. They threw stones at our sailors in Cork only a few weeks ago."

"At our men? What for?" asked Martin in an indignant whisper.

"Because we're fighting the Germans, and the Sinn Feiners are pro-German, or pro-anything that'll make trouble for England. There they come!"

From below came the sound of a boat's keel grating on the sand, and the unmistakable tramp 186