, the transports, accompanied by three of the American
destroyers and two English "limeys "---as the British destroyers are
known in the slang of the sea---slipped off silently into the twilight.
The American infantry and marines were to be landed "somewhere in
France." Jack and Ted viewed the departure with mingled pride and
regret.

"Reckon they will be in the trenches before long," ventured Ted.

"Frisking bean balls at the Fritzes," snapped Bill Witt with a chuckle
as he joined his mates.

And now the submarine fleet continued on its way into the North Sea.
An American destroyer, two English "limeys" and a French vessel of
the same type were to escort the Yankee subs the rest of the way.
By morning the _Dewey_ had slipped through the Strait of Dover and
emerged at last into the North Sea---the field of her future activities!

There, in due time, the subs reported to the American admiral. Without
any delay they were detailed for duty in the vast arena stretching
down the Strait of Dover northward to the Norwegian coast---from
Wilhelmshaven to the east coast of England and Scotland.

Provisioned and refueled after an inspection and test of her engines,
the _Dewey_ lost no time in getting out on the firing line. London
papers, brought on board while the Yankee submersible rested in the
English naval station at Chatham, told of a daring raid by German
light cruisers on the east coast of England only the night before.
Eluding the allied patrol ships, the raiders had slipped through the
entente lines and bombarded a number of coast towns, escaping finally
in a running fight with English cruisers.

"That was before we got over here," said Bill Witt with a show of irony
as he read the meager dispatch in the London Times. "Wait till we
Yanks meet up with the Huns!"

An opportunity came shortly. One night, little more than a week after
the _Dewey_ had put out into the North Sea, she ran plumb into a huge
warship. The little submarine had taken a position about twenty miles
directly west of the great German stronghold at Heligoland in a lane
likely to be traveled by any outcoming warships.

Executive Officer Cleary, alone in the conning tower, had suddenly
been apprised of the approach of the vessel by a message from the
wireless room. The _Dewey_ was floating in twenty feet of water with
only her periscopes, protruding above the surface. Hardly had he gazed
into the glass before he made out dimly the outlines