the fact we
could hardly go to sleep, tired as we were. And when we did doze off at
last, we had many disturbing dreams. I, myself, lay awake for hours and
heard through the open doors, in the deadly quiet of the U-boat, how the
men tossed about in their bunks during their sleep, talking and
muttering. It was as if we were in a parrot's cage instead of a
submarine. Also I lived over again during the night most of the events
of the past hours. The only difference was, peculiarly enough, that I
was never the fish, but always the fisherman above the surface who
constantly tried to catch my own U-boat with a destroyer.

When I woke I could hardly untangle the real situation, because I saw
the French Captain-Lieutenant's black-bearded face before me, when, with
great joy in his small dark eyes, he said:

"Diable, il faut attraper la canaille!"

VIII

THE BRITISH BULL-DOG

In the morning a clear, blue sky and a calm sea greeted us. The wind had
abated during the night and had changed so that it came from the
direction of land, and, therefore, could not disturb the sea to any
great extent. In the best of spirits, well satisfied and refreshed by
our breakfast, we were sitting on the conning tower, and enjoying the
mild air of spring and puffing one cigarette after another. During the
night we had reached the position where, for the present, we intended to
make our attacks on the merchant transportation which was very
flourishing in that region. We crossed the steamship lanes in all
directions with guns loaded and with a sharp lookout so as not to lose
any opportunity to damage the enemy's commerce.

Shortly before dinner the first merchant ship arose on the south
horizon. It was a sailer, a large, full-rigged schooner, which, hard by
the wind, headed towards the French coast. With majestic calm, lightly
leaning to the wind, the splendid ship approached. The snow-white sails
glittered in the sun in the far distance. The light, slender hull plowed
sharply through the sea.

With a delighted "Hello," we hurled ourselves on our prey. Above our
heads fluttered pennants and signal-flags which signified:

"Leave the ship immediately!"

Sharply and distinctly in the bright sun the command traveled from our
boat to the large, heavily-loaded ship, and the colors of the German
flag-of-war, which floated from the mast behind the tower, left no doubt
of the grim sincerity of the command.

Did they not have a signal-book