Page:Cornelia Meigs--The island of Appledore.djvu/104

86, and presently found himself, much chastened and subdued, back in charge of his  friend, the bluejacket. Even then he refused to be taken below, for the destroyer was now  coming into the zone where she must make the  perilous passage through the whole fleet, and  he was bound that he would not lose one  breathless instant.

The wind had dropped a little and the sea was growing quieter. The torpedo-boat checked her speed and moved forward more  slowly and almost without a sound. There was nothing, Billy thought, but a waste of  empty water and starless sky, but wait, what  was that darker shape showing vaguely  through the gloom? Presently he was aware that it was a ship, and another one beyond, and  another and another, vessels on every hand  lying in wait, hostile and threatening. The destroyer crept onward, feeling her way, altering her course every now and again to avoid  some man-of-war swinging at anchor ahead  of her. Far off on the horizon there shone out a twinkle of lights and the beam of a searchlight was lifted to the sky.

“The rest of the torpedo-boat flotilla is coming in, too,” said the sailor at his side, chuck-