"I thank you for rescuing my men," said McClure. "Sorry I can't take
you aboard, but I'll tow you to the Dutch coast or transfer you to the
first inbound trader. Satisfactory?"
"Thank you, sir," said the German.
Before making fast the towline from the lifeboat to the stern of the
_Dewey_ for the journey toward the coast McClure had Jean Cartier and
his commissary assistant bring up pots of steaming hot coffee and dole
it out to the forlorn Teutons.
Jack went below with Ted and Bill Witt to hear the story of their
escape. It appeared that they had floated around together in the
dark; had witnessed the sinking of the gunboat Strassburg and, when
it went down, had been caught in the swell of the water and carried
far from the lights of the _Dewey_. They had seen the submarine when
it turned on its powerful searchlights.
"Bill and I thought we were done for," said Ted between gulps of
coffee. "We had just about given up for good. We tried to swim,
but our clothes and the life-belts weighed us down, and our legs
and arms were so cramped we couldn't make any headway.
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