and sou'westers of the two officers. Below, on the deck, the water was
sometimes several inches deep, gorging the scuppers in its flow
overboard. Officers and men alike wore rubber boots.

"All secure, sir," reported Lieutenant Fernald, returning after his last
rounds. "A nasty time you'll have of it, sir, to-night."

"Like some other times that I've known since I took to the sea," Dave
shouted back through the gale.

Wild, indeed, was the night, yet the stars remained visible. The wind had
increased still more by eight bells (midnight), when the watch again
changed.

"Is the weather bad enough for you to have to remain here, sir?" asked
Ensign Ormsby, respectfully.

"Yes," Darrin nodded. "I am charged with the safety of this craft."

Having gone the limit of her northerly patrol, the "Grigsby" had now
headed about, dipping and lunging ahead of the wind and rolling as though
the narrow craft would like nothing better than to turn turtle.

Owing to the fact that neither craft carried lights in these dangerous
waters Dalzell had pulled far off. At this moment Danny Grin and the
"Reed" were four miles nearer the mainland of Europe than the "Grigsby"
was.

After an especially heady plunge, followed by some wild rolling from side
to side, Dave shouted in his watch officer's ear:

"Ormsby, I'm going to make the round of the deck, to make sure that the
life lines are all up and secure."

The ensign nodded. He would have preferred to go himself, but his place
as watch officer was on the bridge.

As Dave went down the steps from the bridge a seaman on watch sprang to
seize his arm and steady him.

"I've my sea-legs on," Darrin smiled at the sailor.

Then, holding the brim of his sou'-wester down before his face, the
other hand on a life-line, Darrin cautiously made his way aft. The lines
along the starboard side were secure.

At the stern stood two men, gripping the sturdy lines with both hands.
Here the decks were flooded with seas coming over constantly.

Dave stood with the men for a few minutes, observing the combers that
rolled against the stern, the tops breaking over the side.

"I'll have the stern watch changed every hour," he shouted at the seamen
above the gale. "It's too wet to stand a full trick here. Remember, on
coming off, or just before going on, to go to the galley and get your
coffee."

"Thank you, sir," replied one of the men, touching the brim of his
headgear.

Dave released the sternmo