west of white house at Milford-on-Sea."

"Humph!" ejaculated Captain Syllenger. "It looks as if there's trouble
in store for some gentlemen of marked Teutonic sympathies. I only hope
we'll have a chance of being off Station 125."

CHAPTER XIX

That Friday Night

Three hours later H.M.S. _Capella_ received the following order by
wireless:--

"Await relief by _Taurus_, then proceed to Rendezvous Y, Portsmouth
Command. _Capella_ to be temporarily attached to Western Inner Patrol."

The meaning of the message was plain to all on board. The _Capella_
was to proceed to Rendezvous Y, which according to Admiralty
instructions was off Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, where a flotilla of small
craft was patrolling day and night, as a precautionary measure in the
unlikely event of any hostile craft forcing the formidable defences of
the western entrance to the Solent.

At eight on the following morning the _Taurus_ arrived on the station,
and with the least possible delay the _Capella_ made for the west'ard.

Only one incident marked the run. A few miles from the Royal Sovereign
Lightship, the _Capella_ sighted a number of submarines running on the
surface. They were on Particular Service, and although opportunities
for torpedoing a hostile surface craft were very remote, the submarines
were constantly rendering yeoman service by keeping the approaches to
the German North Sea ports under close observation. On rare occasions,
when a German light-cruiser or destroyer did venture beyond the
protection of the mine-fields and guns of the land-batteries, British
submarines were not backward in seizing their chance of letting loose
"tinfish" against their quarry.

Having arrived off Yarmouth, Captain Syllenger reported himself to the
senior officer. He came back beaming. The _Capella_ was to take part
in combined sea and land operations for the capture of the German
agents, who were supplying petrol to one of the submarines, and also
for the capture of the U-boat.

The eventful Friday evening came at last. The _Capella_, in company
with four first-class torpedo-boats, was to be ready at a signal from
Hurst to make a dash through the North Channel. A fleet of armed
trawlers from the Poole base was to operate farther out to sea, in
order to cut off the U-boat's retreat should she be lucky enough to
escape the attentions of the _Capella_ and her consorts.

At ten o'clock the east-going tidal stream began to set throug