eemed wise.

Young Cutlip was plainly eager to help in the capture of the German
submarine crew.

"And you feel sure they will come back to-night?" Jack questioned.

"Yes, sir. They must be very hungry. If you could have seen those three
men devour what little food I gave them! They seemed to be half starved."

"Strange, too," Jack muttered, "considering the number of ships they have
sunk in these waters recently. They should have replenished their stores."

"It may be that this was one of the less fortunate submarines," said
Frank. "The sinkings may have been done by other U-Boats."

"That's true, too," said Jack. "I hadn't thought of that. I guess that
must be the answer."

Less than an hour later, the Essex passed behind the shelter of the reef
Jack had mentioned. There Jack ordered her stopped, and anchor dropped.

"We should be out of sight here," he said, "unless, as you suggested,
Frank, the enemy should come to the surface at this point. And we'll have
to trust to luck that they don't."

"And now what, sir?" asked Frank.

"I'll let you select a hundred men of the crew for shore duty," said Jack.

This task did not take long, and Frank had picked and armed his men within
half an hour.

"Now," said Jack, "I'm going to put you in command of the party, Frank.
Lieutenant Hetherton shall go along as your immediate subordinate. Two
officers are enough. The rest of us will wait here. But if you have not
returned soon after daylight, we'll start a search for you."

"I can see no reason why we should be longer," said Frank. "We'll do the
best we can."

"Then I would suggest that you go ashore at once," said Jack. "You must
reach the Cutlip home while it is yet daylight in order to lay your
plans."

"Right, sir," said Frank, saluting. "We shall go ashore at once."

They put off over the side in small boats and rowed toward the shore,
where they landed less than an hour after the Essex dropped anchor. Jack
waved a hand to his chum from the bridge.

"Good luck!" he called.

Frank waved back at him, then addressed his men.

"By fours! Forward march!" he commanded.

The party, with young Cutlip in their midst, moved inland.

CHAPTER XIX

IN THE NIGHT

It was not a long march to the Cutlip home, and the Essex party reached
there some time before nightfall. Young Cutlip now whispered a word of
caution to Frank.

"My father will not like this," he said. "He is naturally a cautious man.
If he