d
nothing but what we stood up in, so we lay down in chairs as we were,
and that night slept--or rather did not sleep--under one of the _Wolf's_
guns. Throughout the night we were steaming gently, and from time to
time we saw the _Hitachi_ still afloat, and steaming along at a
considerable distance from us. During the night, one of the passengers
gifted with a highly cultivated imagination--who had previously related
harrowing details of his escape from a shell which he said had smashed
his and my cabin immediately after we left them, but which were
afterwards found to be quite intact--told me he had seen the _Hitachi_
go down at 2.30 in the morning. So she evidently must have come up
again, for she was still in sight just before daybreak! Soon after
daybreak next morning, the men were allowed to go aft under the poop for
a wash, with a very limited supply of water, and the ladies had a
portion of the 'tween decks to themselves for a short time. Breakfast,
consisting of black bread, canned meat, and tea, was then brought to us
on deck by the German sailors, and we were left to ourselves on the well
deck for some time. The Commander sent down a message conveying his
compliments to the ladies, saying he hoped they had had a good night and
were none the worse for their experiences. He assured us all that we
should be in no danger on his ship and that he would do what he could to
make us as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. But, we were
reminded again, this is war. Indeed it was, and we had good reason to
know it now, even if the war had not touched us closely before.

How vividly every detail of this scene stands out in our memories! The
brilliant tropical sunshine, the calm blue sea, the ship crowded in
every part, the activity everywhere evident, and--we were prisoners! The
old familiar petition of the Litany, "to shew Thy pity upon all
prisoners and captives," had suddenly acquired for us a fuller meaning
and a new significance. What would the friends we had left behind, our
people at home, be thinking--if they only knew! But they were in
blissful ignorance of our fate--communication of any kind with the world
outside the little one of the _Wolf_ was quite impossible.

There seemed to be literally hundreds of prisoners on and under the
poop, and the whole ship, as far as we could see, presented a scene of
the greatest activity. Smiths were at work on the well deck, with
deafening din hammering and cuttin