THE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS
the U-boat had gone to the surface and the crew had been serving the deck guns or watching the destroying of the merchantman. He had not tampered with the valves, for he had not known how to, but, finding a moment when he had the motor room to himself, he had managed to disconnect and short-circuit the main feed cable between battery and dynamo. He had expected to be found out and killed, but, with the Gyandotte's shells raining about them, the officers of the U-boat had been too confused to trace the trouble. Finding that the motors would not work and that they could not submerge, they had blown out the tanks again and surrendered. Evidently no suspicion had attached to him, for he had been allowed to follow the others on deck, from where he had leaped overboard and tried to reach the cruiser.
"And now, sir," asked Tip when the tale was ended, "what will you do?"
"Get back home as soon as I can," replied the Captain unhesitatingly, "and find another ship. She'll be steam this time, I guess. And she'll have a gun and a gun-crew aboard her, and all I'm asking is that one of those dirty 'fishes' will poke her pipes up where I can see 'em!"
"I wish I was going to be along," said Nelson, "I'd like to point that gun for you, dad!"
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