ficer, and when at length the seaman
rejoined the lads he was in no humour to resume conversation.

Slowly the minutes sped. The submarine was still rolling sluggishly,
in spite of the fact that more water had been admitted into the ballast
tanks.

The men were talking seriously amongst themselves. From scraps of
conversation that drifted to the lads' ears, it was evident that they
had grave doubts concerning the ability of the diver to perform his
task, and even of his chances of regaining the submarine, owing to the
violent disturbances of the water.

Presently the motion of the anchored submarine became more acute. A
weird grating sound--the noise made by the hull rasping over the bed of
the sea--was distinctly audible.

One of the seamen produced a pocket compass. His startled exclamation
brought other members of the crew around him. The magnetic needle was
apparently describing a semicircle. U75 was swinging round her anchor.

Just then a bell tinkled, and a disc oscillated on the indicator board
on the bulkhead. Instantly the two men who had been told off as
attendants upon the diver hurried aft, while their companions crowded
expectantly around the door.

The two men came back, staggering under the weight of the diver. They
had already removed his head-dress and leaden weights. Water dropped
from his rubber suit. His face was livid, his eyes wide open and
rolling. One of his bare hands was streaked with blood that flowed
sullenly from a cut in his numbed flesh.

Kapitan Schwalbe and Leutnant Rix followed him into the crew-space. It
was not through feelings of compassion that they had come for'ard. It
was acute anxiety to hear the diver's report.

The luckless man was laid upon the mess-table. His attendants divested
him of his diving-suit, and rubbed his body with rough towels. A petty
officer poured half a glass of brandy down his throat.

"What is amiss?" Kapitan Schwalbe kept on repeating.

With a great effort the diver sat up.

"An anchor, sir," he gasped feebly. "An anchor--an English naval
pattern one--has been dropped right over ours. A very big one."

Then his eyes closed, and he fell back unconscious.

"Gott in Himmel!" ejaculated Rix. "We are trapped!"

CHAPTER VIII

Balked by a Sea-plane

"How so?" demanded Kapitan Schwalbe. "If we keep quiet, the
cruiser--for cruiser she must be, judging by the fellow's
description--will weigh and proceed."

"When she doe