"A 'U' boat in these waters!" he remarked. "Well, I'm not altogether surprised. Luckily, I'm in an independent command, so we'll see if 'dog won't eat dog'. I'll go for her, by Jove! I suppose you could recognize the creek?" "It's less than twenty miles sou'-east by south, I should think," replied Dick. "Of course I haven't seen the place from seaward, but I think I could spot it." "Strange!" exclaimed the Lieutenant-Commander when he had introduced himself as Aubrey Huxtable. "I cannot see any opening shown on this chart." "It would be about there," said Dick, pointing to a position where the coast-line presented an unbroken front. "The mountains on either side are shown, so I feel fairly certain about it." "Very good; we'll proceed at once," declared Huxtable. "I'd send a wireless to the _Hammerer_ announcing your safety, only it would be too risky." "Exactly what the commander of the 'U' boat said," added the Sub. "Well, after six weeks of it, a few hours more won't hurt." "Say thirty-six," corrected Huxtable; "that is, unless you have strong reasons for not accompanying us. We were just about to start for a jaunt up the Dardanelles; that is the reason for this gadget," and he indicated the curved latticed girder above his head. "An idea of mine," continued the Lieutenant-Commander. "It may work all right. The armourer's crew of the _Tremendous_ rigged it up. You can see the overhead girder. There are others--one on each side, and at present seven feet below the water-line, and at a minimum distance of eighteen feet from the hull. All three meet at a point bow and stern." "A kind of rigid crinoline," suggested Dick. "Precisely. The idea is that if we encounter mines these steel rods will push the cables attached to the sinkers clear of us. Also, if the Turks had laid mines in pairs connected by a horizontal bridle, as I fancy they have, these guides will lift the obstruction clear of the housed periscope or any projection on deck." "And if the mine explodes?" The Lieutenant-Commander shrugged his brawny shoulders. "That remains to be seen. For my part, I fancy that a cushion of water eighteen feet between the point of explosion and the side of our craft will considerably neutralize its effect. My governor was on the staff on the _Vernon_ when they experimented with the old _Resistance_ in Portchester Creek. He told me most emphatically that a torpedo exploded electrically alongside her extended torpedo-nets did no material damage to the hull. In fact, all the damage caused by the explosion was the unshipping of one bracket of the booms and a rent in the mesh of the nets. So I've pinned my faith on my device, and we are going to test it. Of course, if you wish to be put aboard----" "Not at all," protested Dick. "I'm perfectly game." "And young Farnworth?" "Better ask him, sir," replied Crosthwaite. Calling the midshipman to him, the skipper briefly outlined his plans and made him a similar offer.