Provisioned and refueled after an inspection and test of her engines, the Dewey lost no time in getting out on the firing line.  London papers, brought on board while the Yankee submersible rested in the English naval station at Chatham, told of a daring raid by German light cruisers on the east coast of England only the night before.  Eluding the allied patrol ships, the raiders had slipped through the entente lines and bombarded a number of coast towns, escaping finally in a running fight with English cruisers.

“That was before we got over here,” said Bill Witt with a show of irony as he read the meager dispatch in the London Times.  “Wait till we Yanks meet up with the Huns!”

An opportunity came shortly.  One night, little more than a week after the Dewey had put out into the North Sea, she ran plumb into a huge warship.  The little submarine had taken a position about twenty miles directly west of the great German stronghold at Heligoland in a lane likely to be traveled by any outcoming warships.

Executive Officer Cleary, alone in the conning tower, had suddenly been apprised of the approach of the vessel by a message from the wireless room.  The Dewey was floating in twenty feet of water with only her periscopes, protruding above the surface.  Hardly had he gazed into the glass before he made out dimly the outlines of the approaching vessel.

At once the crew was sounded to quarters.

“German raider!” the muffled cry ran through the ship.

CHAPTER V

THE GERMAN RAIDERS

As the Dewey settled into the water.  Lieutenant McClure and his executive officer peered intently though the periscopes, hoping to catch sight of the unknown craft and speculating on her nationality.  The sky was flecked with clouds and there was no convenient moon to aid the submarine sentinel—–­an ideal night for a raid!  “Little Mack,” as the crew had affectionately named their commander, was in a quandary as to whether the approaching vessel was friend or foe.

“We’ll lie right here and watch him awhile,” he told his executive officer.  “Pretty soon he’ll be close enough for us to get a line on his silhouette.”

It had been an interesting revelation to the Brighton boys soon after their entry into the navy to learn that each ship was equipped with a silhouette book.  By means of this it was possible to tell the vessels of one nation from another by the size and formation of their hulls, their smokestacks and general outline.  Each officer had to be thoroughly well informed on the contents of the book.

Quietly, stealthily the hidden submarine awaited the approach of her adversary, for it seemed only too certain that the ship that had suddenly come dashing up out of the east was out of Cuxhaven or Wilhelmshaven, and had but a short time before passed under the mighty German guns on Heligoland.