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In: Children's Book Series·Adventure·Novels
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #23036.
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CHAPTER I--WEIGHING ANCHOR FOR THE GREAT CRUISE 11 Dan is a business man. Sea orders in a jiffy. Anchors a-weigh. The mine-sweepers at work. In the torpedo's path. The Hun that slipped away. An indignant neutral skipper. "You vill do vat ve you tell--yes!"
CHAPTER II--"THE ACCURSED POWER OF GOLD!" 30 Dave dares Fate. A new "boss." Secret of the after-hold. Dave is disgusted. "Vat? Can't proof it you?" Sweeping for more evidence. The prize crew. The vanishing periscope.
CHAPTER III--A FIGHT OF THE GOOD OLD KIND 41 A fair hit. Distant firing. A real sea fight. The "Grigsby" turns tail. "Circle!" At deadly close quarters. Dan Dalzell scores. A stern chase. With the wounded.
CHAPTER IV--WHAT A FLOATING MINE DID 55 The liner in trouble. The flash of a mine. True to his trust. Seaman Streeter is busy. A deaf jacky. Not present or accounted for. Rescue work. Dan protests. Dave sets the pace. Out for sterner work.
CHAPTER V--EYES THAT LOOKED DOWN FROM THE AIR 63 Why the flash was seen. The "blimp" sighted. A question out of the air. New help. The sea hornet. A narrow squeak. "Laid an egg in your path." Blimp and limp. Seaman Hedgeby enjoys himself. "British hot air," and Dave gets a pal's share indeed. The story of a capture. In deadly peril.
CHAPTER VI--IN THE TEETH OF THE CHANNEL GALE 78 Dave turns real helper. "I thought we were goners!" Making the grapple again. The day's work of a mine-sweeper. In a boiling sea. Life lines up. "Commanding officer overboard!"
CHAPTER VII--IN THE HOUR OF DESPAIR 84 The vanishing destroyer. Hope, then despair. The meeting of searchlights. Fighting pluck. The rope from somewhere. Looped! "Ugh!" The big sleep. The "Rigsdak." A cowboy Dane.
CHAPTER VIII--DAVE MEETS THE FATE OF THE SEA 95 From the pages of the Arabian Nights. Mr. and Mrs. Launce. The shattering jar. To the boats! No enemy in sight. The gray tower. The hail and a bad time of it. Dave stands revealed. A German prisoner at last!
CHAPTER IX--THREATS TO A PRISONER 103 What the Danes "got." The chorus of terror. The ober-lieutenant talks. The inquisition. Talk of courtesy. Dave turns stiff. "Where have I heard that name before?" "Things will go badly with you when you arrive in Germany!"
CHAPTER X--LIKE THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH 109 Captain Kennor is polite. A look-in at the periscope. "Yankee meat." Dave is tricky. Shots and a threatened ramming. "You idiot!" Dave plays for his own finish.
CHAPTER XI--A VICTIM OF COURTESY 115 What of the woman? Mrs. Launce speaks for herself. The game of cross-bluff. An invitation bluntly refused. The turn of the prisoners. On the surface. "You are eager for death." The mystery of the Launces. "You are the Countess of Denby!" "Save your denials for use before a German court." Dave invited on deck. "You are a good boaster." Something to interest him.
CHAPTER XII--GERMAN BRUTALITY AT ITS WORST 126 Radio direct to Germany. Could any woman love this fellow? Dave expresses thanks to the enemy. "My card." The same as confession. "A pleasant evening for four!" The wild brutes of the sea.
CHAPTER XIII--FACING THE PLANNED DEATH 135 The dropping platform. Adrift! Captain Kennor, sea scout. A splendid inspiration. A bully for safety. The tantalizing craft. A glow-worm of the waves. And then--! Like a dream. A bad report.
CHAPTER XIV--DAVE PLEDGES HIS WORD FOR RESULTS 146 Just hospital. A treat for Dave's eyes. Days of bliss. "You little patriot!" Back to duty. "The Germans are beating us." The council of war. Dave's campaign map. Planning the Big Hunt. Something new--results.
CHAPTER XV--DARRIN SUSPECTS THE GERMAN PLAN 155 Sweeping as a fine art. Nosing out the unseen. The "Grigsby" nearly blown out of the water. A wild Yankee cheer. Touching off a nest of "sea eggs." The job of the divers. The double find. Guessing the mine-layers' trick. The "Reed" starts something.
CHAPTER XVI--HITTING CLOSE TO THE SALT TRAIL 164 The non-fighting Huns. A tame capture. Not so tame! What the search showed. "Spot the stupid ones." Questioning Herr Dull-wit. The trap that worked. German bad language.
CHAPTER XVII--TRYING OUT THE BIG, NEW PLAN 173 The admiral approves. Off for the real thing. Stirring up a tidal wave. Knowing how to get the thrills out of life. Trying to run up the score. The traveller in the haze. A ship of mystery and shots.
CHAPTER XVIII--STRIKING A REAL SURPRISE 183 "Leave the steamship to me." The shot across the bow. A shooting game for two. "You're dealing with the United States Navy!" Darrin proves himself. Irons for three. The summons that worked. A tough lot to handle. Juno of the Cabin. A deadly one, too.
CHAPTER XIX--THE GOOD WORK GOES ON 192 Dave takes a chance. So does Juno. The all-right cargo. Who can the woman be? Dalzell has a fine report. Story of the sub-hold. Mother and daughter no longer mysteries. "The best in a six-month!"
CHAPTER XX--DARRIN TURNS THE TABLES 204 Weather the ship master dreads. "Look at that!" Getting the drop on Fritz. Old acquaintances. Dave is angry. The German whine. Not man enough to play the game. "Why do you hate us Germans so?" Ever at Fate's orders.
CHAPTER XXI--ON A MISSION OF GREAT TRUST 215 The sport of kings. "Don't shoot!" begs Danny Grin. The dull wait and the sharp dash. Out to meet the hospital ship. "One of the passengers is Mrs. Darrin." "A special interest."
CHAPTER XXII--THE RED CROSS TRAGEDY 222 The Navy and family matters. Under treble lookout. Sighted. Big pay for a periscope. A wail of anguish. The race of rescue. S. O. S. The sight of Belle. Crowded decks. Two compartments smashed in. "No use, sir."
CHAPTER XXIII--A NOBLE FIGHT WITHOUT WEAPONS 230 Marine patchwork. Not enough rescue to go around. "Those Red Cross women ought to be saved." But they decline. Dave approves. An answer to S. O. S. The fight to survive. The nurses admit defeat. The lurking peril.
"IT sounds like the greatest cruise ever!" declared Danny Grin, enthusiastically, as he rose and began to pace the narrow limits of the chart-room of the destroyer commanded by his chum, Lieutenant-Commander Dave Darrin.
"It is undoubtedly the most dangerous work we've ever undertaken," Darrin observed thoughtfully.
"All the better!" answered Dan lightly.
"In our drive against the submarines off the Irish coast," Dave continued, "we met perils enough to satisfy the average salt water man. But this----"
"Is going to prove the very essence and joy of real fighting work at sea!" Dan interposed.
"Oh, you old fire-eater!" laughed Darrin.
"Not a bit of a fire-eater," declared Dalzell with dignity. "I'm a business man, Davy. Our business, just now, is to win the war by killing Germans, and I've embarked upon that career with all the enthusiasm that goes with it. That's all."
"And quite enough," Darrin added, soberly. "I agree with you that it's our business to kill Germans, yet I could wish that the Germans themselves were in better business, for then we wouldn't have to do any killing."
"You talk almost like a pacifist," snorted Dan Dalzell.
"After this war has been won by our side, but not before, I hope to find it possible to be a pacifist for at least a few years," smiled Darrin, rising from his seat at the chart table.
Dan stood looking out through the starboard porthole. His glance roved over other craft of war tugging at their anchors in the goodly harbor of a port on the coast of England. As the destroyer swung lazily at her moorings the little port town came into view. On all sides were signs of war. Forts upreared their grim walls. Earthen redoubts screened guns that alert artillerymen could bring into play at a moment's notice. Overhead, dirigibles floated and airplanes buzzed dinfully to and fro.
Readers of the preceding volume in this series know how Dave Darrin came to be ordered to the command of the brand-new, big and up-to-the-minute destroyer, "Asa Grigsby," while Dan Dalzell, reaching the grade of lieutenant-commander, had been ordered to the command of the twin destroyer, "Joseph Reed."
At the door there sounded a knock so insistent that Darrin knew instantly that it was a summons. Springing from his chair, reaching for his uniform cap and setting it squarely on his head, he drew the curtains aside.
"Special signal for the 'Grigsby,' sir, from the flagship," reported an orderly.
Returning the young seaman's salute, Dave, with Dalzell close at his heels, darted up the steps to the bridge.
"Signal 'Ready to receive,'" was Darrin's command to his signalman, who stood waiting, signal flags in hand.
Rapidly the two flags moved, then paused. Dave's eyes, like Dan's, were turned toward the United States battleship that had lately acted as flagship for the destroyers and other small Yankee craft assembled in this port.
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