and intelligent-looking lot of men, and presently, when the
wounded had been attended to, our fellows were filling them up with
food and cocoa on the mess-deck. They seemed very pleased to get it,
and judging from what one heard afterwards, they had evidently expected
to be manacled, leg-ironed, and fed on biscuit and water. But our men
did the best they could for them; gave them food, clothes, and
cigarettes. The Germans were profoundly grateful, but couldn't quite
understand it.

Their skipper, a reserve officer who spoke English like a native, had
served as an officer in British ships, and seemed a good fellow. He
was pleased to be congratulated on his plucky fight; but it was rather
pathetic all the same, for he had been cut off practically at his own
front door.

"You came upon us so suddenly and so near home," he said, looking at
Sylt which was only six or seven miles away. "We had not a chance to
do anything."

He told us that he had been in the wheelhouse of his trawler when the
show started. One of our first shell passed through the glass windows
within a foot of his head without bursting, and the very next did the
damage in the engine-room. He ran down there to see what could be
done, and this must have saved his life, for while he was away another
shell burst in the wheelhouse and put about twenty holes in his
greatcoat which was lying on the settee. I saw the coat and the holes
when he came on board, and noticed it had the ribbon of the Iron Cross
and that of some other decoration in the button-hole. He showed me his
Iron Cross and was very proud of it, but what he got it for I did not
gather. He seemed rather secretive about it. The other decoration,
with a red-and-white ribbon, was the "Hamburg Cross," which is given to
all officers and men belonging to the town who get the Iron Cross. I
believe the other Hansa towns follow the same custom with their braves.

One thing about the skipper which struck me favourably was that he
seemed very keen on the welfare of his men. The poor fellow who was
badly wounded had been hit in the back, and three or four pieces of
shell were still inside him. He must have been in terrible agony, but
was very brave and did not utter a sound. An operation was quite out
of the question, and as the poor chap was obviously in great pain our
Surgeon-Probationer put him in a hammock on the mess-deck and gave him
morphia. Soon afterwards the skipper asked to be allow