The Captain nodded to the commander
of the gun crew on the nearest turret. The gun leaped into
position. At that instant the figure on the reeling submarine
whipped a small flag from his pocket and flourished it beside the
other. The officers and men on board the transport gasped.
It was an American flag!
Yes, there on a German submarine a solitary figure was waving
aloft the Stars and Stripes.
The Captain uttered an exclamation of amazement, and shook his
head at the gun crew. Almost at once a couple of motor-boats,
filled with armed men, shot from the transport and raced over the
rough sea to the rolling sub.
"We will soon know what all this is about," said Captain Greene.
"Come down while I prepare a wireless."
The two Captains and the Colonel went below, while the men
crowded the rail and watched the boats, now at the side of the
distant submarine. It was a long time before they started back.
The men could see that they were loading the boats with something
that looked like rolls of cloth. Finally they returned.
The officers, coming back to the decks, were greeted by volleys
of deafening cheers, boots, calls, laughter. Every man who could
got near the railing was there. They were packed solidly,
looking down at the boats below.
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