mpatient with these monotonous and dangerous peregrinations, extending
over weeks and weeks.

Before setting out, Ferragut, like all the other captains, would
receive sealed and stamped orders. These were from the Commodore of the
convoy,--the commander of a torpedo destroyer, or a simple officer of
the Naval Reserve in charge of a motor trawler armed with a quickfiring
gun.

The steamers would begin belching smoke and hoisting anchors without
knowing whither they were going. The official document was opened only
at the moment of departure. Ulysses would break the seals and examine
the paper, understanding with facility its formal language, written in
a common cipher. The first thing that he would look out for was the
port of destination, then, the order of formation. They were to sail in
single file or in a double row, according to the number of vessels. The
_Mare Nostrum_, represented by a certain number, was to navigate
between two other numbers which were those of the nearest steamers.
They were to keep between them a distance of about five hundred yards;
it was important that they should not come any nearer in a moment of
carelessness, nor prolong the line so that they would be out of sight
of the watchful guardians.

At the end, the general instructions for all the voyages were repeated
with a laconic brevity that would have made other men, not accustomed
to look death in the face, turn pale. In case of a submarine attack,
the transports that carried guns were to come out from the line and aid
the patrol of armed vessels, attacking the enemy. The others were to
continue their course tranquilly, without paying any attention to the
attack. If the boat in front of them or the one following was
torpedoed, they were not to stop to give it aid. The torpedo boats and
"chaluteros" were charged with saving the wrecked ship if it were
possible. The duty of the transport was always to go forward, blind and
deaf, without getting out of line, without stopping, until it had
delivered at the terminal port the fortune stowed in its holds.

This march in convoy imposed by the submarine war represented a leap
backward in the life of the sea. It recalled to Ferragut's mind the
sailing fleets of other centuries, escorted by navies in line,
punctuating their course by incessant battles, and the remote voyages
of the galleons of the Indies, setting forth from Seville in fleets
when bound for the coast of the New World.

The doubl