ch
camouflaged, and the other standing by. Soon, however, they proceeded on
their course and crossed our bows fairly close. We were then all ordered
to our cabins, and we saw the two ships steam off to the westward,
without having spoken us or given any evidence of having seen us at
all.

It was a most bitter disappointment to us, comparable to that of
shipwrecked sailors on a desert island watching a ship expected to
deliver them pass out of sight. Our hopes, raised to such a high pitch,
were indeed dashed--we felt very low after this. Would help never come?
Better we had not seen the ships than to be deceived and disappointed in
this way. But it was a great relief to the Germans. We never discovered
what ships they were, but the American said he believed them to be
American transports and that each mounted a gun. If only we had seen
them the day before, when we were in company with the _Wolf_, they might
have been suspicious, and probably have been of some help to us. The
Captain was very worried by their appearance, and did not feel that all
danger was passed even when the ships disappeared. He feared they might
communicate with some armed vessel met with, and give them a description
and the position of his ship. Also, had these two ships seen the _Wolf_,
from which we had parted only twenty-four hours before?

In the middle of the excitement the Spanish chief mate had rushed on to
the bridge into the wireless room, and while the wireless operator was
out of the room, or his attention had been diverted, he took from their
place all the six or eight bombs on board and threw them overboard. They
fell into the sea with a great splash just near where I was standing,
but I did not then know it was the bombs which were being got rid of. It
was a plucky act, for had he been discovered by the armed sentry while
doing it he would have undoubtedly been shot on the spot. On the next
day, on the morning of which we saw two sailing ships far distant, an
inquiry was held as to the disappearance of the bombs, which would, of
course, have been used to sink the ship, and the chief mate owned up. He
said that he did it for the sake of the women and children on board; as
the sea was rough, their lives would have been in danger if they had
been put in the lifeboats when the ship was bombed. He was confined to
his cabin for the rest of the voyage, but we managed to see and talk to
him from time to time, and thanked him for his bravery.