waters of the North Sea, where she would again take up patrol duty with
the other vessels that comprised the British North Sea fleet, under
command of Vice-Admiral Beatty, whose flagship, the _Lion_, had taken
up the additional burden of patrolling the _Queen Mary's_ territory
while the latter was being overhauled.

Aboard the battleship, the British tars, who had become fretful at the
delay, were happy at the thought of getting back into active service.
While they had been given an opportunity to stretch their legs ashore,
they, nevertheless, had been glad when the time to steam back into the
open sea had come. Now, as the _Queen Mary_ entered the mouth of the
Thames and prepared' to leave the shores of Old England for the broad
expanse of the North Sea, they sang, whistled and laughed gaily.

They were going back where they would get another chance at the enemy,
should he again venture from his lair.

Forward, upon the upper deck, stood two young officers, who peered into
the darkness ahead.

"To my mind," said one, "this beats a submarine. Just look about you.
Consider the size of this battleship! Look at her armament! Think of
the number of men aboard!"

"You may be right," returned the second officer, "but we have had some
grand times beneath the sea. We have been to places and seen things
that otherwise would have been impossible."

"True enough; but at the same time, when it came to a question of
fight, we have had to slink about like a cat in the night, afraid to