belt,
and turned back because of the difficulty in keeping upright. I
struggled to D deck and forward to the first-class cabin, where
I saw a Catholic priest.

"I could find no belts, and returned again toward E deck and saw
a stewardess struggling to dislodge a belt. I helped her with hers
and secured one for myself. I then rushed to D deck and noticed
one woman perched on the gunwale, watching a lowering lifeboat
ten feet away. I pushed her down and into the boat, then I jumped
in. The stern of the lifeboat continued to lower, but the bow stuck
fast. A stoker cut the bow ropes with a hatchet, and we dropped
in a vertical position.

"A girl whom we had heard sing at a concert was struggling, and
I caught her by the ankle and pulled her in. A man I grasped by
the shoulders and I landed him safe. He was the barber of the
first-class cabin, and a more manly man I never met.

"We pushed away hard to avoid the suck, but our boat was fast filling,
and we bailed fast with one bucket and the women's hats. The man
with the bucket became exhausted, and I relieved him. In a few
minutes she was filled level full. Then a keg floated up, and I
pitched it about ten feet away and followed it. After reaching
the keg I turned to see what had been the fate of our boat. She
had capsized. Now a young steward, Freeman, approached me, clinging
to a deck chair. I urged him to grab the other side of the keg
several times. He grew faint, but harsh speaking roused him. Once
he said: 'I am going to go.' But I ridiculed this, and it gave
him strength.

"The good boat _Brock_ and her splendid officers and men took us
aboard.

"At the scene of the catastrophe the surface of the water seemed
dotted with bodies. Only a few of the lifeboats seemed to be doing
any good. The cries of 'My God!' 'Save us!' and 'Help!' gradually
grew weaker from all sides, and finally a low weeping, wailing,
inarticulate sound, mingled with coughing and gargling, made me
heartsick. I saw many men die. Some appeared to be sleepy and worn
out just before they went down."

Officials of the Cunard Line claimed afterward that three submarines
had been engaged in the attack on the liner, but, after all evidence
had been sifted, the claim made by the Germans that only one had
been present was found to be true. The commander of the submarine
had evidently been well informed as to just what route the liner
would take. Trouble with her engines, which developed after she
ha