sky blazed and roared, then the hiss of the
rain ceased and the storm moved slowly northwards, but one of the final
flashes revealed something low down on the surface moving stealthily
forward. So brief was the glimpse obtained, however, that it seemed
merely a phantom--by no means uncommon occurrences when men have been
watching for years. When the next flash came the surface of the sea
around was clear.

As was usual in such cases, half the watch on deck could swear they had
seen it, while those who were not looking ridiculed the idea, so the
C.O. said nothing and took precautions. The watch below was called and
the powerful little gun on the fore-deck manned. Then all waited in
silence, listening intently for the curious, creaking noise of a
submarine under way.

In those early days of hostilities there were no elaborate hydrophones
for detecting the approach of submarines under the water, and the only
hope of a warning came from the possibility of the under-water vessel
breaking surface momentarily. The uselessness of the periscope for
navigation during darkness, which at present forms the principal
limitation of submarines, made it distinctly likely that she would
cruise on the surface at night, and if forced to dive would be more or
less compelled to quickly rise again in order to ascertain the position
of her enemy before it would be possible to fire a torpedo with any
chance of success.

For these reasons all eyes and ears on the drifter were strained to
catch the first glimpse or sound, and dead silence was maintained. It is
in times like this that one discovers how acute the senses become when
danger lurks in the darkness around. Things undetectable under normal
conditions can be seen or heard distinctly when life depends on the
intelligence so gained.

Long minutes of silence slipped by and nothing occurred; then came the
distant and familiar creaking noise, almost inaudible at first. The
gun's crew braced themselves for the stern work ahead. On the rapidity
and accuracy of their fire not only their own lives, but also those of
their comrades, would probably depend. The gun-layer bent his back and
glanced along the grey tube to the tiny blue glow of the electric night
sight. The shell was placed in the open breech. Then came those
interminable seconds before an action begins.

The tension would have been almost unsupportable had nearly all of the
crew not grown accustomed to life hanging in the balance