experience," went on Frank,
"he decided to head north, intending to go to the westward of Ireland,
around between Scotland and the Shetland Island into the North Sea, in
the hopes of dodging the submarine, which seemed to be working the waters
of the English Channel. Yesterday morning we were hailed by a submarine.
I could see that it was the same old 'U-13'!"

"How did it get way up here?" questioned Ned, incredulously.

"Search me!" replied Frank. "They ordered us to heave to, but that
captain is a daredevil. He cracked on all steam full speed ahead,
declaring that if they took him they'd have to catch him.

"The submarine launched a torpedo at us, but it only smashed our rudder.
We had good headway on. That, of course, put us in a mighty bad fix, as
the submarine could then have easily sent a torpedo into us, but for some
unknown reason they turned and left us.

"The captain was nearly crazy when he discovered what damage had been
done. The vessel had been bad enough before, but it became ten times
worse. I got a crack or two with a rope's end that sting yet!"

"How could they navigate?" asked Jimmie.

"They couldn't!" answered Frank. "We just lay in the trough of the seas
and let the old tub roll. They even put preventer stays on the masts and
on the boilers to keep them from rolling out of the crazy old wagon. You
never saw such a place as that ship was!"

"And then when the captain got her under the lee of this land and you saw
this schooner you just concluded that you'd jump the ship?"

"Exactly!" agreed Frank. "I had lost my kit when the sailing vessel went
down, so I left nothing on the steamer."

"I'm awful glad you got here safely," stated Ned, grasping Frank's hand
in a hearty clasp that spoke eloquently of the friendship between the two
boys. "But you're too late to help capture the Panama Canal plan thief.
He's out of his misery quite a while ago!"

"But he's just in time to get mixed up in this 'U-13' business!" urged
Jimmie. "He's right in the midst of the excitement!"

"But since you don't want any more Boy Scouts along we'll pitch Frank
overboard again!" declared Harry, with mock gravity.

"Aw, you go on!" scorned Jimmie. "I didn't know it was Frank!"

Laughing at Jimmie's confusion the boys related to their chum the salient
points of their experience up to the time of their strange meeting. Frank
was greatly puzzled over the circumstances of the strange package, for
the presence of which