e to see better.

I grabbed him by the neck and pulled him away, as my blood rushed to my
head.

"What? What is it you are saying? Is he turning--good God in heaven--yes,
it's true--he really _is_ turning, all the time turning--now his broadside
swings round towards us, now his stern--he has turned--he is departing. He
has not seen us, he has not seen us!"

I remember that once, when I was a little boy, I got a roe-deer as a
present.

I loved it a great deal and we were inseparable. It had to sleep on a
rug by my bed. One beautiful summer's day we were playing in the sun on
a large lawn before the house when suddenly a large, unknown hound came
rushing towards my little pet and blood-thirstily chased it around the
lawn. The nasty dog was about to run it down when my pet, with a shrill
shriek, appealed for help. I was standing paralyzed in terror and could
not get a word through my lips, when unexpectedly the owner called the
dog back with a whistle. Then I threw myself, with great exultation,
down alongside my pet, pressed it to my heart, kissed its black snoot,
and cried and laughed with joy.

Those were my feelings now, when, with my own eyes, I saw the
impossible--that the destroyer, without suspecting our presence, had
steered away from us. Was it possible that he did not see us, when,
according to my estimation, he was only about eight hundred meters away?
Could the mate be right, and the foolish destroyer have only searched
the passage in accordance with his schedule? "But," I thought, with a
shiver, "how easily would not perchance a glance in our direction have
betrayed us?"

Radiant with joy, I told the crew in the "Centrale" what a happy turn
the affairs had taken at the last moment. A burden must have fallen from
the hearts of my splendid, brave boys.

I then revealed my plans to the engineer:

"We are going to lie here until the destroyer reaches the other end of
his patrol, which is about three to four sea miles from here. Then, at
once, quickly empty all the tanks so that the boat cuts loose from the
reef. At top speed, we will make for deep water and then dive again to a
safe position below the surface."

Again a light rain-cloud floated slowly towards us and favored our
plans. Soon the destroyer could be seen only as a fading figure in the
mist. Now we could risk to arise and get away from our other danger--the
fiercely rolling breakers.

The valves were quickly opened. At once the boat came