"As to sport----" began Trent, but the Lieutenant cut him short.
"You'll carry out my instructions," he said, curtly. "Now bear down on that buoy again."
The destroyer approached the bell-buoy once more, and Lawless, having provided himself with a loaded revolver, prepared to resume his former uncomfortable post on the tiny, wave-washed platform.
"Remember," he said, when about to spring on to the buoy, "you've got to start operations before the sound of my shot dies away, otherwise we draw a blank."
He swung himself over the deck-rail, reached the buoy safely, and next moment the searchlight was switched off and the _Knat_ disappeared in the darkness. The first thing Lawless did was to remove his muffler from the bell-clapper so that the sound should serve as a guide to any enemy submarines that might be searching for the secret supply tank. This done, he settled down to wait, with what patience he could muster, for the arrival of his hoped-for victims.
For over an hour he remained there, half-drowned, cold and nearly deafened by the bell. Presently he began to wonder whether, after all, he might not have made a mistake in his deductions concerning the tank. It also occurred to him that if this proved to be the case and he captured nothing but a severe attack of rheumatism, he would become the laughing-stock of the Fleet. He could imagine how the story would be passed from ship to ship with suitable elaborations. "Heard about that silly ass, Lawless? Spent the whole night lashed to a bell-buoy, fishing for German submarines with a bent pin and a petrol tank for bait!"
He was still considering what steps he could take to prevent the tale of his adventures being spread abroad, when something very black and solid arose out of the water only a few yards away. Although, considering the darkness, it was quite unnecessary, he crawled round to the other side of the buoy in order to take advantage of the "cover" afforded by the pillar supporting the bell, for he knew that black object must be the conning tower of a submarine rising to the surface. Then he heard voices, and at the same moment the chain attached to the tank began to slide over his boots, showing that the Germans were hauling it alongside their vessel. The moment for action had come.