. Andrews, turning
and finding his chief at his post.

At that instant the "Grigsby" gave a sharp turn to port and sprang ahead
under quickened speed.

Bump! Swift as the discovery had been made, quickly as the saving orders
had been given, the oncoming torpedo bumped the hull of the "Grigsby"
with a crash audible to those within a hundred feet of the point of
impact. But it did not strike full on, the contact being only glancing,
like that of a boat going alongside a landing stage. The watchers from
the bridge saw the torpedo's wake as the deflected projectile continued
on its harmless way.

"We couldn't have had a much narrower squeak than that!" Dave ejaculated.
"Andrews, I congratulate you."

"I'm naturally interested in saving the ship, sir, and my own skin as
well," replied Ensign Andrews with a grin.

Dave, not having taken his eyes from the faint streak on the water,
called for highest speed and a complete turn. Then, ordering the rays of
the searchlight to play over the water, Darrin sent the "Grigsby" racing,
bow-on, toward the spot from which he judged the torpedo to have been
launched. In the meantime Dalzell's "Reed" had turned her prow in the
same general direction, steaming slowly after the "Grigsby."

"The Hun can't be located," Dave confessed, a few minutes later. "That
chap is like most of the other Hun submarine commanders. He'll launch a
torpedo by stealth, but as soon as he knows the destroyer is after him he
hunts depth and runs away."

Dave's next order was to send a wireless message, warning all
mine-sweepers and other craft that an enemy submarine had been discovered
in that location.

Though no word had been passed for Lieutenant Fernald, that executive
officer, awakened by the bump and the abrupt change in the destroyer's
course, hurried to the bridge.

"Did you get a good rest, Fernald?" Dave queried, half an hour later.

"Fine, sir."

"Then I am going to the chart-room to rest for a while. I got chilled
dozing in that chair. Set the bell going in the chart-room if I'm
wanted."

Then Dave slept on, without call, for a few hours, well knowing that
Lieutenant Fernald could well fill his place. The first signs of dawn
awakened Darrin. He sprang up, reaching for the bridge telephone.

"All secure, sir," reported Fernald, from the bridge.

Dave therefore delayed long enough to make his toilet--a none too
frequent luxury aboard a destroyer in the danger zone. Then, fully
refreshe