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EXTRACT: "Look astern, sir!" exclaimed the coxswain of the cutter.
The Sub glanced across his shoulder. The sea in the vicinity had now almost regained its mirror-like aspect, but in the direction indicated by the petty officer its surface was rippled by a tell-tale swell, as if some large object were moving slowly at a considerable depth.
"Stand by, lads!" ordered Webb. "Oars!"
The blades had barely touched the water when, at a distance of less than five yards from the cutter, appeared the twin periscopes of a submarine—this time the genuine article.
The U-boat, for such she was, had been lurking in the vicinity of the decoy. Her kapitan had seen the approach of the Portchester Castle and the tramp, and feeling confident that the booby periscope would be noticed, had remained to watch the effect of the Englanders' curiosity.