The midland journal., 1917-10-12
CHAPTER Iv-continued.

s.
At first the hum of the electric mo-
tors dominated all other sounds, but
gradually it became blended with a
medley of noises. Placing his ear a
moment against the plating of the
hull, Donald conld hear steady
though faint pounding, which came, not
from within, but from the bearings of
the distant warship, transmitted un-
der water. Somewhere, too, Donald
fancied that a destroyer was speed
ing toward them, for there was a
faint and almost imperceptible whir-
ring, as of high-speed machinery.
Mixed with the throb Of the screws
there came the sound Of their suction.
At times the seas, breaking over the
periscope, obscured his vision. Some
times, too, the cruiser shifted outside
her arc; then the periscope motor
started anew, and slowly she would
swing back, growing more discernible.
Below, the men, who understood
that an enemy ship was near, waited
in suppressed excitement.
'We'll have to try her at mile,
Clouts," said Donald to the lookout.
He carried only three torpedoes. He
would have liked to close in and make
sure of his prey, but shot at almost
the extreme range seemed preferable
to hazarding the vessel and the lives
of his crew.
"Aye, sir!" answered Sam Clouts.
Clouts was a man of about forty
years, hook-nosed, with bland, humor-
Gus blue eyes, and square jaw under
a square, bristiing beard. When off
duty he was perpetually playing a
mouth-organ, and Donald could not
help smiling to see his hand stealing
cevetously toward his pocket even
now.
The German could hardly have been
more than mile away when she sud-
denly changed her course to westward.
Donald had been approaching her head
on, with the object of maneuvering,
when within striking distance, to send
a torpedo amidships. The new course
of the vessel was a bitter disappoint-
ment to him.
Donald realized that she was near
ing the Shetlands and endeavoring to
make the passage between mainland
and Fair island. That was the most
hazardous part of her joruney. Once
beyond the straits, she would be free
in the open Atlantic.
He gave the order to rise. The
tanks were blown, the rudders and
diving planes adjusted; the F55 be-
gan to mount upward. A green trans
lucency appeared. The electric lights
went out. The matches were opened.
A gust of fresh air drove the stale
atmosphere away. The petrol motors
took up the task Of the electric ones.
Donald ordered full speed. The YES
sci drove high through the waves,
achieving II knots.
A shadow edged the misty horizon.
1t was Sumburgh head, the extreme
southerly point of the Shetlands. Here
the cruiser was due to turn.
"Smoke to port, sir!" said Clouts.
The German had evidently seen it
at the same time, for her speed began
to diminish. This meant that she was
steering cautiously to gain the shelter
of Sumburgh, behind which she might
lie unobserved for observation.
If 1t was an English battle cruiser
that was approaching, the ship would
be hard put to it to escape. 1t
was not likely that the oncoming ship
had sighted her smoke through the in
creasing haze.
Donald drove hard for the main
channel. He knew that he could catch
the German now, and he was ready to
take chances of discovery. Meanwhile,
inch by inch, the stranger came up out
of the sea.
At first Donald believed she was a
British battle cruiser. This hope was
soon dispelled, however, when her fun
nels showed three black stacks, ringed
with white, the color of the Claude
line, and the heavy hull, built for
freight, not speed.
HIS heart began to thump heavily.
For the Beotia was one of the Claude
lines ships, and the approaching ves-
sci looked very much like the overdue
Beotia.
And Ida was aboard her, and al
ready well within range of the enc
my's gunsi The two ships had sighted
each other. Donald saw the Beotia
diminish to thread line as she turned
and ran, PROV on, toward the Orkneys.
A squirt of Fame broke from the Ger