Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-09-12
THE ANkER@] c sForesta
oopJrtrht: 1871 By News Syndicate Co. I,e
IN TWO PARTS-PART TWO

IN 4"o EhhAS-fAn1 lHO
May as well try to look as If we're
trying to escape" he said in an aside
70 his first mate, and then to the sec
ond mate. Try and get the wireless
working again, Clarke, just for the look
Of 1t anyway" He rounded on the first
mate again.
Not too much time to spare" he
said Better get started on that su-
gar"
Certainly there was not much time
TO spare. Twenty-Five minutes after
the tanker had made her turn. a faint
dot appeared on the horizon right
Astern, a dot which rose and grew
as 1t climbed over the curve OF the
world with extraordinary rapidity;
raider with the imminent prospect OF
refueling her bunkers could afford to
expend fuel recklessly in a burst of
full speed which would save possibly
invaluable minutes. At her maximum
Is knots. the raider overhauled them
rapidly; her formidable silhouette came
nearer and nearer. Soon a hoist OF
signal flags scared up her halliards.
That's to tell us to stop, suspect"
said the captain, with his binoculars
TO his eyes. But at her speed they're
blowing straight aft and I can't read
en-"
There was another way by which
the raider could make her desires
known. An enormous column Of water,
graceful and stately like one of the
fountains at Versailles, rose out of the
blue sea 200 yards away. 1t stood
poised for a moment, and then as
gracefully Disappeared: like the arm
which drew Excalibur below the sur
face OF the lake. Only a broadening
ring of stained foam marked where
the pillar Of water had risen. and the
pillar had vanished before the sound
Of the cannon shot came echoing over
the blue sea. The captain put his hand
TO the engine-room telegraph and rang
down to stop and the tanker lost
her way, and wavered in her course
IS the raider failed to bite, until at
hast she came to rest helpless and
broadside onto the raider.
The German ship did not close; she
stayed safe where she was five miles
away. No German captain would risk
his invaluable ship too close to an
uninspected British ship-there was al
ways a faint chance that the Red
and a concealed battery of guns might
open fire or torpedo be launched.
Without a base, homeless in the wide
Pacific, the German captain could not
risk the smallest damage to his ship.
He hoisted out his steam pinnace
instead, and the little boat, her metal
work glinting bravely in the sun, came
tearing across to the tanker. A white
uniformed officer, gold glittering on his
shoulderstraps, and pistol in the hol-
ster Of his belt, came running up onto
the tanker's deck, with dozen sailors
m tropical white at his heels. They had
rifles in their hands and their leather
equipment belts carried their ammuni-
ton pouches and the bayonets which
hung at their hips.
At a gesture from the officer, one
party went Gathering below in pre-
eipito,Is haste; if the sea-cockS had
been opened to allow the ship to sink
they would see to it quickly enough
that they were closed again.
The German officer turned upon the
captain.
why did you not stop when we sig
nalled?" He spoke excellent English.
Couldn't read the flags. They we're
blowing right away from US"
You could have guessed all the
same" growled the officer--even a
single round of ammunition is of value
10 homeless raider. Where are the
ships papers?"
The captain produced a sheaf of
them. and the officer ran through
them.
These are not all. Where are the
others?"
Oversize" said the captain lacon-
ically
The eyes of the two men met. That
portion of the ships papers which had
disappeared would have revealed to
the Germans the point to which the
cargo was consigned-a matter of
which it was the captains clearest
duty to keep concealed, as the German
officer grudgingly realized.
you might get yourself into serious
trouble" he grumbled, but he showed
no sign Of putting his threat into ex-
ecution.
One of his petty officers emerged
Az T-lL