Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1925-01-23
THE FISH
AND THE
HAWK
By CLARENCE WILBERFoRCE
20. 1924. Western Newspaper Union, }

TOR weeks the beleaguered city
r had held out against the artillery
i of its enemies. Night and day
the cannon Numbered, but,
though the forts were ruins and the
countryside plowed field, the defend
ers had repealed every assault, until
those without were in despair.
If the warships within the port
could be destroyed, the city must fall.
But they were hidden from artillery
range by high, protecting bluff, and
from torpedo boats by stout boom
which closed the harbor. Within that
sanctuary their mighty guns made
successful assault impossible.
Then 1t was that the enemy sent in
their submarines, to creep beneath the
booms and explode torpedoes against
the vessels sides. But the pass was
narrow, and the searchllghts played
all night, so that the moment that the
periscope appeared upon the surface
Of the waves, a hundred guns belched
forth destruction, and the submarines
never came back.
The besIegers were in despair And
1t was then that a new device was
tried.
A submarine without a perlscopel
Why not? 1t was not necessary to
see ones entrance. One could feel 1t.
The warships were damned together
inside the small harbor, and subma-
rlne, creeping like a blind mole I'M
der the boom, could not fail to hit her
objective.
The enemy tried 1t. They sent the
north Pole" beneath the boom at
night, and Ave minutes after she had
left the line Of the blOckadlng ships,
the Queen Dorothy went up into the
air in a mass of twisted iron and
steel.
The North Pole" having accom-
plished her task, put out to sea again
for fresh torpedoes. This had been
only trial attack. There were eight
submarines, and each Of them ought
to account for two battlesblps BY
the next morning the defenders feet
would be scrap-lron, and the town
would be at the mercy of the besleg-
ers' artillery.
It was then that the defending gem
eral hit upon his idea. It was des-
perate to be at the mercy Of the en-
envy; the richest city In the world
would be theirs to plumber.
Each side possessed a number of
alrplanes, but they had hardly come
into use. Each knew accurately the
positions of the opposing forces, and
warfare had proved that little damage
could be done by dropping bombs
from above. Moreover, the newest
field guns could be elevated perpendic-
ularly, and no airplane could hope to
escape from that well-aimed fire.
From the heights" said the defend
ing general. zone can see far under
the sea-"
II was one of those simple truths
which everyone had heard and every
one had forgotten.
So, on the following night, equipped
with searchlights and stablllzers
which enabled them to hover with
their engines shut of, airplanes took
up their position above the water,
waiting.
John Winthrop was in command Of
this aerial squadron. He had a
sweetheart in the beleaguered town,
as what soldier had not? The thought
of her gave him courage for the SUI
preme task that was his From his
position beside the pilot he watched
the selenium searchllght-a far more
powerful light than anything known
before, and solving the secret Of that
"c0ld light" for which inventors had
sought so long. He saw II play upon
the waves. and. where II fell, he saw,
not the ripping surface Of the water,
but the sandy bottom. Through the
glass which focused the rays upon
the retlna he could see the inhabi-
tants Of the deep sea, passing lazlly
about their business. Here was
school Of flshes-there the culver Of
some scavenger monster, come to prey
upon what lay beneath that mass Of
metal which had once been the Queen
Dorothy And then
A 1.-THE black shadow passed be-
meath the surface. She was so far
below the waves that nothing could
be discerned clearly except the fish
like rudder and diving plane.
John Winthrop took the steering
gear from the pilots hands, and the
ulrpIane dropped as a hawk drops
upon the fish far beneath him.
SO swift was the descent that the
sea splashed him before he touched
the diving plane that sent the craft
skimming along the surface Of the sea.
lie was too near now to see anything
at all except the searchllght playing
upon the waves. But he had aimed
truly.
Crash! As he pressed the button a
thunderous broadslde Of metal sent his
alrship careenlng like boat In cur
rent. Far below the waves he saw
the shadow, still against the yellow
sand.
And now, all round him, the air
planes were diving, and, as each
touched the surface, she aimed her
guns, which from q height would have
been useless, on account OF the de-
Election Of the water. IL needed
sure aim and eye, to know when to
swoop, to calculate how far ahead the
submarine would be before the metal
reached her after the dive.
The airships rose into the sky, and
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