m think that it must be far below these surface disturbances,
but he did not dare to ask.

When his clothes were returned to him he was given a piece of rye bread
and a cup of coffee, which greatly refreshed him, and he lay in one of
the bunks along the long aisle watching two of the Germans who were
playing cribbage. Once the commander came through like a conductor and
as he passed Tom he said, "Vell, you haf' more room soon."

He said it in his usual gruff, decisive tone, but Tom felt that he had
intended to be agreeable and he wondered what he meant.

After a while he fell asleep and slept the sleep of utter exhaustion.
When he awoke there was no one about, but he heard voices outside,
talking in German. Presently a soldier in one of the familiar German
helmets came in and beckoned to him.

Tom followed him up the iron ladder, out through the hatch and down
another little ladder which was leaning against the outside of the
conning tower. The deck was quite free of the water and already it was
cluttered with tanks and cases ready to be stowed aboard. On either
side, ranged sideways in a long row, as if they were ready to start on a
race, were other U-boats, as many as thirty Tom thought, their low decks
the scene of much activity.

On the wharf was a long line of hand trucks, each bearing what he
supposed to be a torpedo, and these looked exactly like miniature
submarines, minus the conning tower.

These things he saw in one hurried, bewildered glance, for he was
allowed no opportunity for observation. Scarcely had he stepped off the
deck when two lame soldiers took him in hand. Another soldier, who was
not lame, stepped in front of him and he was directed by an officer who
managed the affair and spoke very good English, to keep his eyes upon
the little spire of that soldier's helmet. What he saw thereafter, he
saw only through the corners of his eyes, and these things consisted
chiefly of German signs on buildings.

In this formation, with Tom's eyes fixed upon the little shiny spire
before him, a lame soldier limping on either side and an officer in
attendance, they marched to a stone building not far distant. Here he
was ushered into a room where two men in sailor suits and three or four
in oilskins sat about on benches. Two crippled soldiers guarded the door
and another, who stood by an inner door, wore a bandage about his head.

[Illustration: TOM WAS DIRECTED TO KEEP HIS EYES UPON THE SOLDIER'S
HELMET.]