Yet Jack and Eph relieved each other regularly at the wheel,
catching long naps between. Hal and Mr. Farnum did the same thing with
the engine room, and the "Hastings" kept well in the van through the
day, and also through the long night that followed.
Two hours after daylight the "Oakland" signaled to the submarines to run
up close to this "parent vessel," the gunboat.
"Further orders, of course," muttered Jack, who was at the wheel at the
time. "Well, we're not such a very long run, now, from the reported
location of that derelict."
The fleet was wholly out of sight of land. The wind was fresh and the
sea lively with short, choppy waves, crested by white-caps. Yet, for
boats as staunch as these submarines, sea was not a difficult one for
boat handling.
One after another, while still going at full speed, the submarines drew
close to the "Oakland." One after another, as signaled, the boats put
in within easy hailing distance of the gunboat.
"The 'Hastings' will keep to the same South West, by South course, but
at a distance of two miles off this vessel's port bow," came the order.
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