e will be assigned; Mr. Wardlaw, wife and daughter; that
will complete the first boat. No. 2," continued the officer, as he made
the assignments. This was continued until the entire list was completed.

Four seamen were then designated for each of the boats, and the steward
was directed to prepare emergency food for the different boats, and by
direct orders the food was actually placed in the boats.

It was really with a sigh of relief from the suspense that the boys
awaited the signal for their term of duty on the bridge. They were in
their places instantly, and seized the glasses. It was now four o'clock
in the afternoon. They were moving toward the setting sun. The sky was
free of clouds and the ocean fairly smooth. It was an ideal sea for
observation. The boys were on the port or left side of the ship.

"Ralph," said Alfred under his breath, as he moved toward Ralph, and
laid his hand on his arm, without lowering his glasses, "look over
there! there!--two or three points,----"

"I see it,--yes,--Captain, what is that, a half-mile off to the left?"
interrupted Ralph.

The captain shot a glance in the direction indicated. "Three points to
port!" he said, as he sprang to the wheel and gave a signal to the
engineer. As he came back to the point of observation, he said:

"Young eyes are very sharp. You have beaten the watch on the top mast."

The officer in charge of the telephone beckoned to the captain. The
latter rushed over, and the boys saw him nod.

"How far are they from us?" asked Alfred.

"Two miles," was the answer.

"Two miles!" said Ralph in astonishment. "Why, I thought I was
stretching it when I said a half mile."

"To be more exact, the range finder in the crow's nest makes the
distance 10,980 feet," said the captain.

"Well, they can't hit us at that distance," said Ralph, "can they?"

"No; we can easily avoid that fellow, but he may have appeared as a
ruse," said the captain, glancing to starboard, with an anxious air.

The first officer standing near, although intently watching the
submarine in the distance, remarked: "It is now the custom for two or
more of the undersea boats to operate in unison; the one we are now
looking at may be a decoy."

"What do you mean by 'decoy'" asked Ralph, in astonishment. "Is it
likely that they would expect us to steer right into them?"

[Illustration: _The Submarine Decoy_]

"No; their idea is to have one of the submarines show up in front,
knowing