There are hundreds of the little black devils in the navy, and they have every sort of trick for concealment and escape. By running very swiftly they can keep the smoke from rising vertically from their funnels and thus betraying their presence. They often go forth in flotillas and if an enemy start to chase them they scatter, having previously arranged where they are to meet again. They come bow on to the ship they mean to injure, for the distance between them will then increase more rapidly. If brought to bay a torpedo-boat turns its own search-light on the commander of the other vessel and tries to blind him with its glare. It is a risky business, that of torpedo-boat commander, and requires men of the very highest training and courage. The reason there are such numbers of the little craft is that many are sure to go to the bottom in the course of a campaign. Germany expects that her flotilla will be of great help in a war with England, for when a torpedo hits the damage is apt to be severe. Dynamite is mild compared to the new melanite and lyddite that are used in charging. [Illustration: Submarine Fleet in Harbor at Kiel] [Illustration: Armored Cruiser _Moltke_] If the torpedo-boat is a fiend that works mainly at night, its sister, the submarine, works only by day. If the submarine has not, as was at one time expected, completely revolutionized naval warfare, it has at least so far asserted itself that it can never be left wholly out of the reckoning. Its improvement has kept pace with that of the torpedo-boat in stability, in size and in manageableness. The newest boats have a displacement of a thousand tons, and long sea voyages are now possible. Germany has far fewer torpedo-boats than has England, but claims that hers are much stronger and much better adapted for service in rough weather and on the high seas. When there is no enemy in the immediate vicinity the submarine rides the waves like any other boat; when there is danger she dives like a duck. Just before firing her torpedo she comes to the surface for an instant to get one last good look. She is helpless at that moment, of course, but trusts to not being seen in time. When under water her speed is only about ten miles an hour, as the pressure is very great; on the surface she can travel about sixteen. Her slowness is a disadvantage, for she can only lurk for and intercept a fleet, not pursue and overtake it. She labors under another disadvantage, too, for she has to carry two motors and can not use the same one above and under water. Why? Because the one is an oil motor and generates gases which would be fatal when all outlets are closed. The other is run by an electric storage battery, the filling of which requires time and patience.