It left the bowcap free and with full power, giving assurance that
no obstacle intervened beyond the mouth of the torpedo tubes.
Jack saluted his lieutenant, signifying his readiness to go.
"So longs Ted!" was his jaunty sally as he turned for an instant to
his old Brighton chum. For a few seconds the two boys gazed full
into each other's eyes, their hands clasped in a farewell.
"Good luck to you, old man!" said Ted, with a gulp in his throat.
"All ready now!" smiled Jack, as he turned first to his commander and
then inserted his head in the mouth of the torpedo tube, motioning
with his hands for his comrades to thrust him into the chamber.
CHAPTER XVI
IN THE WIRELESS STATION
In less time than it takes to tell, Jack was bundled into the long
steel case, his arms stretched over his head well forward toward the
bowcap. So tightly was he wedged in the aperture that his shoulders
rubbed against both sides of the tube. Before climbing into the
chamber he had hastily crammed a handful of waste inside his hat to
act as a cushion for the water pressure against his skull that would
be inevitable once his body was thrust out into the sea.
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