Lord Hastings beamed on him.

“It shall be done with pleasure,” he declared eagerly.

“And,” continued the president of the court martial, “you shall take the prisoners aboard your own vessel and you shall be held responsible for them.  I could almost hope they would escape, so that you should suffer,” he added to himself.

“Good, sir.  Good!” cried Lord Hastings.  “I shall remove them at once, sir.”

“One thing more,” said the commander sharply.  “They must not be ill-treated.  Understand?”

Lord Hastings’ face fell in well-feigned disappointment.  He appeared to draw himself together, saluted and said with an apparent effort.

“You shall be obeyed, sir.”

“Take them away, then.”

Lord Hastings ordered the three marched to the side of the vessel, where they stepped aboard the little boat.  Then they were rowed rapidly toward the U-6.

As they neared the submarine, where they knew lay safety, the spirits of the lads soared once more, in spite of their wounds.  Frank expressed Jack’s sentiments as well as his own when he leaned close to Lord Hastings and muttered: 

“Close shave, sir!”

CHAPTER XXVI.

MORE TROUBLE.

“You can believe me or not, but it feels pretty good to be back here.”

The speaker was Frank as he stood upon the bridge of the U-6.

“It does, indeed,” returned Jack, who stood by his side.  “To tell the truth, I was afraid we would never get away.  I thought we were goners, sure.  And see who we have with us, our old friend Davis.”

For Davis at that moment came aboard from the small boat beside the submarine.  He grinned at the two boys feebly.

“Well, I’m glad to be back along with you,” he said.

“I don’t imagine you’ll be glad to be back very long,” said Jack dryly.  “It seems to me you might as well have stayed where you were.  The result probably will be the same.  Only this time you’ll have to face a British court martial and they’ll probably hang you.”

“While there’s life there’s hope,” Davis spoke sententiously.  “Which is the reason I didn’t say anything over there.”

He waved his hand in the general direction of the German submarine they had so recently left.

“Well, I’m much obliged, I’m sure,” said Frank.  “If you had spoken when you recognized Lord Hastings, it would have been all off with all of us.  However, I’m afraid I shall be unable to speak a word in your behalf.”

Davis shrugged his shoulders and turned away as Lord Hastings approached.

“Below with you all, quick!” exclaimed the latter.  “Don’t you realize you are prisoners?  What do you suppose some of these German officers would say if they saw you making so free of this vessel, eh?  They’d probably come over to see what is wrong.  Get below!”

Lord Hastings spoke gruffly, for he had risked much to assure their safety and he did not wish his plans to go for naught.  Frank, Jack and Davis obeyed without a word.