backwards; or it may have been, for the thing has occurred more than
once, she merely rose as much as she could, when she could, and then
"released it by hand," as the official phrase goes.


FOUR NIGHTMARES

And who, a few months ago, could have invented, or having invented,
would have dared to print such a nightmare as this: There was a boat
in the North Sea who ran into a net and was caught by the nose. She
rose, still entangled, meaning to cut the thing away on the surface.
But a Zeppelin in waiting saw and bombed her, and she had to go down
again at once--but not too wildly or she would get herself more
wrapped up than ever. She went down, and by slow working and weaving
and wriggling, guided only by guesses at the meaning of each scrape
and grind of the net on her blind forehead, at last she drew clear.
Then she sat on the bottom and thought. The question was whether she
should go back at once and warn her confederates against the trap, or
wait till the destroyers which she knew the Zeppelin would have
signalled for, should come out to finish her still entangled, as they
would suppose, in the net? It was a simple calculation of comparative
speeds and positions, and when it was worked out she decided to try
for the double event. Within a few minutes of the time she had allowed
for them, she heard the twitter of four destroyers' screws quartering
above her; rose; got her shot in; saw one destroyer crumple; hung
round till another took the wreck in tow; said good-bye to the spare
brace (she was at the end of her supplies), and reached the
rendezvous in time to turn her friends.

And since we are dealing in nightmares, here are two more--one