the periscope hidden: it's an old dodge.
You can just see the smoke of Gedge's bus coming over the horizon.
We'll give him a little game of Peep-bo!"

Sir William drew his watch from his pocket and walked over to the
compass. "In four minutes' time," he said, "I shall start making
observations: according to our arrangements Gedge should start the
experiment then."

"That's right," said the Lieutenant-Commander with his eyes pressed
against the eye-piece of the periscope. "Oh, good! It's bales of hay
floating, not baskets. Better still: no chance of damaging the
periscope. There's Gedge----!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Hee! Hee! Hee!
I see you, but you can't see me!"

He slewed the periscope through a few points and back to the original
position. "Hullo!" he said presently, "what's he up to? He's altered
course.... Thinks he sees something, I suppose. You're wrong, my lad.
We're not in that direction."

The minutes passed in silence. Forward in the bow compartment a man
was softly whistling a tune to himself. The feet of the figure at the
periscope moved with a shuffle on the steel plating.

"How's the time?" he asked presently.

"He ought to have started the apparatus," said Sir William, standing,
watch in hand, by the compass. "What's he doing?"

"Legging it to the Northward at the rate of knots--eight points off his
course, if he thinks he's going to get anywhere near us ... Ah! Now
he's coming round.... Humph! You're getting warm, my lad!" Another
prolonged silence followed, and suddenly the Lieutenant-Commander spoke
again.

"Sub," he said in a curiously restrained tone, "just come here a
minute."

The Lieutenant moved obediently to his side and applied his eye to the
periscope.

"Well?" said the Captain after a pause. "Well, Sister Anne?"

The Lieutenant turned his head swiftly for an instant and looked at his
Commanding Officer. "Have we got any boat out on this patrol to-day?"
he asked.

The other shook his head. "Not within thirty miles of this. 'Sides,
he wouldn't come through here submerged, with only his periscope
dipping."

"It's a Fritz, then," said the Lieutenant, an ominous calm in his
voice. He stepped aside and relinquished the eye-piece.

"It is," said the other. "It's a naughty, disobedient Fritz. He's
coming through in broad daylight, which he's been told not to do. He
hasn't seen us yet--he's watching old man Gedge. Gedge thinks it's us
and is pretending