Williams news., 1918-03-28

The fra1I little craft hummed noiSil,
 as her petrol motors drove the twfr
 screws through the water. The F55
 one of the older type of submarine
 was making ten knots through a diff
 cult sea. Within her 25O feet by F | she held an amazing potentiality fol | destruction.
 l Above the coming tower rose the single periscope for the captain ol lookout man-now almost useless should the F55 submerge herself. on account of the washing seas. Within the tower were the observation port depth meter, and tubes connecting with the engine room and torpedo station. The platform quivered inces | sanity as the periscope motor under. | heath throbbed, and the vibration ot l the engines made the entire vessel shiver.
 In the few days that he had been at sea the sense of responsibility for his ship and the lives of his men had weighed on Donald heavily. Now, en- tertng the coming tower, and taking his stand beside the lookout man, he seemed to assume a dual personality. One part of him bent itself automat- ically to its task. The other was thinking over the events of the past few days, and pondering on their sig nificance.
 On ~the day following his visit to Baltimore, Donald had telegraphed re- peatedly to New York, but no news had been received of the Beotia, and he had been unable to obtain any in- formation concerning her from any of the port officials. He had finally gone aboard at Newport News in a very disappointed frame of mind, hopeless of meeting Ida Kennedy until after the war.
 The chances of his surviving it did not appear to him to be brilliant ones.
 A last message from the mother ship informed him to keep his course toward the Shetlands. He was in structed that a battle cruiser had slipped out of the Kiel canal and was lurking somewhere among the Norwegian fjords, with a view to evading the blockade, making for the Atlantic, and harassing shipping there The inference from this statement was an obvious one, for the American fleets patrol joined the British in this longitude.
 "Smoke to starboard, sir!'
 Sam Clouts, the lookout, was speak. ing, and instantly the two parts of Donald's personality fused. Ida Ken. nedy was forgotten. Upon the hori. zon, through his glasses, Donald could see tiny spiral of curling smoke.
 He flung over the surface steering wheel and headed the F55 straight for the stranger. From that distance he knew that, while he could see the tunnels of the ship, the submarine was invisible, owing to the curvature of the earth.
 Relinquishing the wheel to Clouts he watched the stranger. Gradually the smoke thickened; then there came into view two tunnels, and a hull half invisible among the chopping waves
 It was impossible to mistake the on. coming ship. She was battle cruiser of the Bluecher class, and she could only be escaping westward to harry commerce along the Atlantic trade route. With her fast heels and 12. inch guns, she could match any unit af1oat except those of the home squad. ron.
 Dona1d's luck was with him after all.
 She was proceeding west-nor'-west, evidently purposing to round the Shet- lands and so gain the shelter of the open seas. It was a daring maneuver, and she would certainly be sighted by the British destroyer f1otilla. Still, though she could hardly outsteam these fast little craft, she might beat them off and escape before either the British or the American blockading vessels could come upon the scene.
 Donald spoke a sharp command into the tube of the diving station. The hatch was damned down. The hori- zontal rudders at the bow were de- fected, the water rushed into the div ing tanks, and the F55 began to dip. The surface running light slanted sea- ward as the bow went under, and slowly regained boise as the stern fol- lowed, bringing the F55 back to an even keel. The hum of the petrol mo- tors ceased, the hull was filled with the roar of the inrushing water; then the electric motors took up their steady throbbing.
 'Five meters!'' announced the man at the depth indicator. "SiX meters Seven-half !'
 Paget sinks a German cruiser IT