al door with something
printed in German above it. The man knocked, opened this door, spoke to
someone, then came back and went away in the direction from which they
had come.

Tom stood in the little compartment, not daring to sit down. He seemed
to be in a strange world, like that of the Arabian Nights. He did not
know whether the boat had descended or was still awash, or had come
boldly up to the surface. He knew that the tower through the hatch of
which he had descended was about in the middle, and that he had been
taken from that point almost to the bow. He thought this cosy little
room must be the commander's own private lair, and that probably the
commander's sleeping quarters lay beyond that door. Forward of that must
be the torpedo compartments. As to what lay astern, he supposed the
engines were there and the stern torpedo tubes, but the Teutons were so
impolite that they never showed him and all Tom ever really saw of the
interior of a German U-boat was the part of it which he had just
traversed, and which in a general sort of way reminded him of a
sleeping-car with the odor of a motorcycle.

Presently, the forward door opened, and a young man with a very sallow
complexion entered. He wore a kind of dark blue jumper, the only
semblance of which to a uniform was that its few buttons were of brass.
He was twirling his mustache and looked at Tom with very keen eyes.

"Vell, we are not so pad, huh? Ve don'd kill you!"

Tom did not know exactly what to say, so he said, "I got to thank you."

The man motioned to the settee and Tom sat down while he seated himself
in one of the swivel chairs.

"Vell, vot's der matter?" he said, seeing Tom shiver.

"I'm wet," said Tom; adding, "but I don't mind it."

The man continued to look at him sharply. His questions were peremptory,
short, crisp.

"You had a vite jacket?"

"Yes, sir. I made a kind of a life preserver out of it."

Tom suspected that they had seen him long before he had seen them and
that they had watched his struggles in the water.

"Steward's poy, huh?"

"I was captain's mess boy. The railing was broke and I never noticed it,
so I fell overboard. I don't think anybody else got hurt," he added.

The man twirled his mustache, still with his keen eyes fixed on Tom.

"You bring ofer a lot of droops?" It was a question, but he did not keep
his voice raised at the end, as one asking a question usually does. In
this sense a German never asks a questi