and fro in the water, scanning the sea now to the right,
now to the left, the _Dewey_ continued the search for her crew.

Singly, in twos, and in one case three, men were picked up until it
seemed to the commander that every boy who had gone overboard had
been reclaimed from the sea.

"Call the roll below decks," the commander instructed his executive
officer. Jack and his commander remained in the conning tower still
operating the searchlight.

In a few minutes Officer Cleary returned.

"All safe?" asked "Little Mack."

"No; two still missing," was the executive officer's reply.

"Who are they?" McClure queried.

"Ted Wainwright and Bill Witt," came the answer.

CHAPTER XIII

THE SURVIVORS

Jack's knees sagged for a moment and it seemed his heart stood still.
His old Brighton chum and good old Bill Witt still unaccounted for!
Out there in the dark and the water somewhere they were floating alone!

Then he heard "Little Mack" speaking.

"We'll stay right here until we find them," he was saying.

Megaphones were brought on deck and the _Dewey's_ officers began
calling into the darkness of the sea. Another searchlight was run up
through the stern hatch and affixed aft to sweep the sea from that
end of the vessel. For a time there was no response to their calls;
then, when it seemed that all hope had fled, there came a hoarse cry,
now seeming far away, now closer and louder.

"Something there to starboard just off our bow!" shouted Jack, who had
climbed up on the conning tower.

McClure directed that both searchlights be flashed in the direction of
the muffled calls and was rewarded by the faint outlines of a small
boat buffeted about in the water like a cork.

"Well, they are not our boys," said the _Dewey's_ skipper listlessly.
Then, taking Jack's megaphone, he shouted: "Who are you?"

A tail, gaunt figure loomed up in the bow of the lifeboat. He was
waving a life-belt frantically with an appealing gesture for aid.

"Survivors from der German gunboat Strassburg," came the reply in
broken English.

McClure ordered them to come alongside and cautioned his men to be on
guard against any surprise attack.

Out of the gloom came the lifeboat like a weird specter, propelled by
the sweeping oars of half a dozen frantically working seamen. It was
crowded with a motley crew of bedraggled sailors. They presented a
pitiable spectacle as their craft slowly made its way toward the
_Dewey_ and i