't all be better off in the boats. The U-boat had
ordered them into the boats, and, only the destroyer had come along when
it did, they would 'a' taken to the boats, and then they'd 'a' been
picked up and no more watches or ships or holes in the for'ard
compartment to worry about.

There was nothing left but for Doc to call for volunteers from among the
gun crew. They were bluejackets, and their only complaint on the trip
had been that the U-boat's guns had outranged their guns. They
volunteered in a body--even the three wounded members. Doc took all the
sound ones and went down into the forward compartment with a mattress
and some scantling he found in the hold. The water was by then about up
to the men's waists. It was hard, cold work, but they got it done--the
mattress stuffed into the hole and the scantling shoring it up. It still
leaked, but not much--a little auxiliary steam in there at intervals did
not quite keep her dried out, but it kept her head above water, so that
was all right. All that day she was a lone steamer plugging her halting
way over a wide sea. Seven knots was her speed, and all hands tickled to
be making that because of weak places showing from time to time in her
steam department--damages by shell fire which they did not appreciate
properly at first.

They were nearing the coast of France. They would have to make a
landfall soon, and running without lights, as they were, made things
hard, so the old skipper began to talk to Doc. If the doctor didn't
mind, he would take full charge of the ship himself. She was a big ship
with a three-million-dollar cargo, and if anything happened her, the
owners would naturally look to him, the master, for it.

Doc thought it was a pretty cool way to wash out all record of what his
little force had done, but he also recognized the old fellow's position.
"It sounds reasonable," said Doc, "but I think you ought to give me an
idea of what you're going to do."

"There's been no sun for a sight these two days, but we were here"--he
made a new dot over an old one on the chart--"and logging so many knots
to-day noon we ought to be"--he made another dot--"about here now."

"How about the tides?"

"The tides? Oh, yes! Well, I don't know about the tides. You see, I
never made a port in France before."

"You didn't?"

There was a coast chart-book in the rack. Doc took it down and began to
read it. He made regular trips down to see how his wounded patient was
gett