carriers, and
saucy little tugs drawing barge-like flat-boats; innumerable fast
launches and large war vessels, going to and fro between the shores of
England and France.

Within a half-hour they again approached the place where _l'Orient_ was
watching the struggles of the entangled submarine. The boys thought of
the trying hours when they, too, were thus imperilled, and could hardly
refrain from shuddering at the thought of the human beings in the narrow
prison house below the waves.

Evidently, something exciting was taking place, for the cruiser was
constantly manoeuvering, and the men at the howitzers were keenly alive.
Occasionally, there would be a lull in the movement of the buoys and it
was during those moments that the most intense activity was shown on
board the guarding vessel.

"I don't understand how it is that the submarine can get fastened to the
nets," said Ralph to the captain, as they leaned over the rail of their
vessel.

"The meshes of the nets are very large,--that is, of sufficient
diameters to permit the ends of the submarines to pass into them,"
replied the captain.

"But, if that is the case why cannot the submarines back out in the same
way that they went in?"

"They can, if the mesh is too small to take more than the bow of the
vessel; but, in the event the mesh is large enough to permit the bow to
enter, and the net once gets behind the fins of the submarine, that is
the end of them, for the vessel cannot, in that case, free itself,"
responded the captain.

"How was it in our case?" asked Ralph. "Do you think the fins of our
ship got caught?"

"I did not explain it to you at the time, as I did not wish to alarm
you; but this vessel had one of its fins through the net. Evidently we
struck the nets at an angle, and the tide helped us in keeping the hull
against the net at the proper angle. The lieutenant knew this, for he
adopted the only method known to free the ship under those
circumstances," said the captain.

"So you think the lieutenant knew that only one fin had caught, and for
that reason he tried to up-end the ship?" inquired Alfred.

"Yes; but not that alone. I observed one thing that you may have
overlooked," remarked the Captain. "He was particular to store all the
boxes which we helped to carry aft, on the starboard side."

"I noticed that," said Ralph hurriedly, "and that wasn't all. Every time
a box was brought in he would ask: 'Heavy or light,' and I have many
ti