Roy Norton

“ Time had passed so rapidly that under any other circumstances no one would have attempted to salvage the Esperanza at that season of the year; for no one but an experienced wrecker fully realizes the difficulties and dangers attending such operations in any other than calm seas, and now the time was approaching when the fierce tropical hurricanes might swoop down across the Caribbean with terrible effect. ”

“ A man of so many affairs as Count Waldo von Vennemann must undoubtedly forget incidents of much more importance to others. Myself, for instance. But I am surprised to see such a distinguished officer of the former German Navy a mere master of a salvage ship. It scarcely seems fitting to such a career. ”

“ I walked rapidly from his cabin down the bridge to the side ladder and my boat. He had dropped the rôle of host, and did not grant me the courtesy of following. I stepped into my boat and was rowed back to the submarine, and in exactly twenty-five minutes after our declaration of war had turned northward, still running light and at full speed, and was rapidly dropping Count Vennemann's boat behind. She made no attempt to follow us, nor was there even a curl of smoke above her when we dropped her below the horizon. ”

“ And like men who had served in Prussian service, they slunk away, for all the world like dogs with tails between their legs. He turned toward me, and again was the well-mannered man speaking to an equal. ”

“ The delay gave me time to drill and train in their new duties such members of the old Esperanza'a crew as we had been able to find, and with whom Jimmy, throughout the war, had tried to keep in touch. There were but two or three of the men who had ever worked aboard a submarine, and of these, oddly enough, the most competent proved to be none other than Mike Cochrane, the oiler who had been our enemy, but had now become one of our most loyal men. ”

“ Indeed, we ran light during the entire trip, and at such a rate of speed that we overtook the tug with her cumbersome tow, and were able to go aboard and exchange notes. A submarine traveling light is practically as comfortable as any ocean-going ship. The uninitiated are apt to confuse the two terms of submarine navigation, "light" and "awash." A modern submarine traveling "light" has her deck exposed, and her ventilators and conning-tower constantly open. She therefore has both sunlight and air, and travels with her Diesels, or heavy oil-burning engines, only. ”

“ It is a fact that of all the men who live by the sea, the most reckless and daring are wreckers and divers. The annals of the heroic rescues which these men have performed voluntarily along our stormy North Atlantic coast alone would fill volumes. ”