“Looks as though we are always running into hard luck,” said McClure disgustedly.

Jack tried hard to see the bright side of the situation, but had to confess to himself that things did look rather black for the Monitor and her men.  Nevertheless the boy figured to himself that surely there was some way in which Yankee wit and ingenuity could baffle the craftiness of the Germans.

“What are we going to do?” asked Ted as Jack joined him in the torpedo chamber.

“Haven’t quite figured out yet, chum,” answered his old Brighton roommate.  “I’ll confess that things don’t look very rosy for us, but I’m not going to give up, nor will ‘Little Mack’ give up, until we have thought this thing over for awhile.”

They strolled from the torpedo chamber into the compartment fitted out as the men’s quarters and there came upon the party of German prisoners lounging in their bunks, chatting in their own language.  Jack could understand one of them as speculating on the next move of the Americans.  In their midst sat their captain, Hans Schmidt, from Bremen, he had told them.  Jack paused and looked them over for a moment ruefully.

“I suppose they are chuckling to themselves over our luck and thinking how nicely they will escape when we go up above and hand ourselves over as prisoners of war,” suggested Ted.

“No doubt, chum, and they probably have the laugh on us right this time,” answered Jack solemnly.

But as he surveyed the prisoners again there came to him a sudden inspiration born out of the needs of the moment, a brilliant idea that sent him running into the control chamber and up into the conning tower where his captain sat alone trying to solve his problem.

“I have it; I have it,” he shouted as he grasped the hand of his chief.  And then for five minutes the boy unfolded his daring plan.

“Little Mack” was so thoroughly convinced of the practicability of Jack’s scheme that he set about immediately to put it into action.

“The sooner we try this the better chance we have of getting away,” volunteered Jack.

“Bonte says there is only one ship above us and it will be better to try to get away from one than from many.  And besides, by going up immediately we stand a better chance of getting away with our plan of palming ourselves off as a German crew in one of their own U-boats.”

And now Jack’s plan was set in motion.

“Mr. Wainwright, will you bring Captain Hans Schmidt into the control room,” “Little Mack” directed.

In a few minutes Ted returned bringing with him the captive naval officer.  Then the American captain addressed himself to the German leader.

“Captain Schmidt, you are probably aware of the fact that we have driven into one of your submarine nets and are firmly entangled,” began McClure slowly.  His prisoner nodded assent.

“We do not intend to surrender, although the odds are against us,” continued the Yankee skipper jauntily.  “If we decide to remain down here and take our medicine you and your men whom we rescued so kindly from the mother sub are going to get the same medicine that we do.”