miles, we had, besides the few vessels already mentioned,
seen hardly any ships! We had been under shell-fire, taken prisoner, had
lived on board a German raider and in her evil company many months, had
been in lifeboats once in the open sea, were about to go in once more,
in a rough sea, to be rescued from captivity, had seen our ship sunk and
another one captured and scuttled, had been through terrific wintry
weather in the North Atlantic, among icebergs, in the submarine zone,
and on the very borders of an enemy minefield!--experiences that perhaps
no other landsmen have passed through! Not many of us wish for sea
travel again.

Lieutenant Rose came along and told us to hurry, or we might not be able
to get off, as the sea was getting rougher every minute. We _did_ hurry
indeed, and it did not take us long to dress and throw our things into
our bags. When we had done so and were ready to go to the lifeboats, we
were told that we might take no baggage whatever, as the lifeboat was
from a shore station and could save lives only, not baggage.

The German Captain took his bad luck in good part, but he was, of
course, as sick as we were rejoiced at the turn events had taken. He
had known the night before he could get no help from the Danish
authorities, as they refused towing assistance till all the passengers
had been taken off the ship. But he had hoped to get off unaided at four
in the morning, and he was not going to admit defeat and loss till they
were absolutely certain. He professed great anger with the Danes, saying
that if they had only helped as he requested, the ship could have been
towed off in the night, and we with all our baggage could have been
landed at a Danish port alongside a pier the next morning, instead of
having to leave all our baggage behind on the ship. I fancy not many of
us believed this; if the ship had been got off we should have brought up
at Kiel, and not at any Danish port. And, as the tug Captain said
afterwards, if he had towed the ship off the Germans would have most
likely cut the hawser directly afterwards, he would have received no pay
for his work, and we certainly should not have landed in Denmark.

It was a terrible blow for Lieutenant Rose; enough to put an end to his
prospects in the Imperial German Navy. Let us pay a tribute to a fallen
enemy, for such he now became. It is pleasing to be able to record, in
a German-made war which has crowded into its four years such
heartbr