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The sinking tug drew us far below the surface; but I had seized her the moment I

struck the water, and so we went down together, and together we came up--a few

yards from the U-boat. The first thing I heard was Nobs barking furiously;

evidently he had missed me and was searching. A single glance at the vessel's

deck assured me that the battle was over and that we had been victorious, for I

saw our survivors holding a handful of the enemy at pistol points while one by

one the rest of the crew was coming out of the craft's interior and lining up on

deck with the other prisoners.

As I swam toward the submarine with the girl, Nobs' persistent barking attracted

the attention of some of the tug's crew, so that as soon as we reached the side

there were hands to help us aboard. I asked the girl if she was hurt, but she

assured me that she was none the worse for this second wetting; nor did she

seem to suffer any from shock. I was to learn for myself that this slender and

seemingly delicate creature possessed the heart and courage of a warrior.

As we joined our own party, I found the tug's mate checking up our survivors.

There were ten of us left, not including the girl. Our brave skipper was missing,

as were eight others. There had been nineteen of us in the attacking party and

we had accounted in one way and another during the battle for sixteen Germans

and had taken nine prisoners, including the commander. His lieutenant had

been killed.

Not a bad day's work," said Bradley, the mate, when he had completed his roll.

Only losing the skipper," he added, "was the worst. He was a fine man, a fine

man."

Olson--who in spite of his name was Irish, and in spite of his not being Scotch

had been the tug's engineer--was standing with Bradley and me. "Yis," he agreed,

"it's a day's wor-rk we're after doin', but what are we goin' to be doin' wid it now

we got it?"

We'll run her into the nearest English port," said Bradley, "and then we'll all go

ashore and get our V. C.'s," he concluded, laughing.

How you goin' to run her?" queried Olson. "You can't trust these Dutchmen."

Bradley scratched his head. "I guess you're right," he admitted. "And I don't

know the first thing about a sub."

"I do," I assured him. "I know more about this particular sub than the officer who

commanded her."

The Land That Time Forgot