| Show count luckner ckner the sea devil remains before the tk triad the th Se eadler saw ew under her br proper prom oua am ud and with all the th norwegian camouflage camou flar cleared away sped ped southward lout bward toward madeira Ml delra tb no un craw w worked hard at t drill and nd target terttu brae tice lico end ad count Lu luclair clizer offered offend a prize to 0 o till tile first firl niu mae who should eight ight the th first fint prize frit vessel ON 00 gibraltar the raiders mot mt large lr british steamship and nd raising the til signal chronometer VMS pleast pit P pared to tc board bawd her CHAPTER IV continued 7 I 1 shouted the command and the drum bent beat clear tor for action A section of the rail could be lowered and raised as a gun shield it dropped clattering and revealed the muzzle of the cannon up with tile the germao german flag find and fire one across her brows it was the See adlers first shot against the enemy that by joel joe nothing nothing g happened no movement on deck no slowing down of the ship then a flag went up the mast the british flag it was like the fantastic things that bat ha pen in a dream I 1 thought I 1 sst be asleep another shot across her bows she suddenly changes her course hello she wants to get away A shot over the stern another over the smokestack and now she bore bove to A boat was in the water rowing toward us we all put pot on our hiir best man cers and I 1 welcomed captain chewn aboard the Se eadler what did we want of him he be asked so bewildered that he stuttered well first a friendly chat I 1 replied lie he was an old soft salt with a scraggly gray beardi liked him right off his ship was the gladys royal bound tron from cardill with five thousand tons of coal for buenos alres I 1 told him that much as 1 l I 1 disliked sending any ship to the bottom of the sea nevertheless we must dost sink the gladys royal oh no he argued we are bound for a neutral port and wont barm anything it will be bad for me to lose my ship and I 1 have a wife and children at home do you believe captain chewn that under the same a british naval officer would show tiny any mercy to a german ship he made no reply we now got an explanation of the queer behavior of his bis ship that bad so puzzled us ns after our alist shot cap tain fain chewn an old tinier timer at al son sea simply thought we were trying to compare time to in the old traditional ay by firing a blank mortar lie he had malsed bia flag to serve as the mortar shot on his bis side tie he would afterward lower it toglee to give the exact moment that Is the way to ID vogue vague today but when our second shot was fired the cook on the gladys royal koyal saw the elie shell strike the water and thought we had sighted a submarine and were at it ele de gave the alarm and the captain started to zigzag it was onty only after the third shot that they saw our cron can non pointed at them and the german battle flag at our oar masthead by joe and the captain pounded the rail with open admiration you tooled fooled me bloody well it was the d dest trap I 1 ever saw I 1 sent a prize crew aboard the gladys royal noyal with orders to have her follow the Se eadler I 1 wanted to wait and blow tier her up after nightfall cruisers might be roaming somewhere in these parts nod and it would be unwise to run the risk of attracting their atten elan with the sound of an explosion we photographed our capture carefully at dusk dask we transferred the steamers twenty six men white and black to our ship the captain brought his belongings aboard I 1 also sent bent lieutenant preiss to pack up tip everything ery thing aboard the captured vessel that he thought we might need and terry ferry it over ue lie displayed exel excellent leot judgment too and turned up with a wel welcome coine store of excellent provisions we sailors could be content with a sal sailors lors fare are whenever need be but we wanted our guests to dine well at all times to help make up for or the sorrow of losing their ships preiss and his bis men planted a bomb in her bold lit it the time fuse and took to the boats fifteen minutes f passed then the gladys royal trem bled tore fore and aft she went down stern first and in ten minutes her forward quarter stuck straight out ont ol of the sea her bow remained above water tor for a long time A steamer have bove into sight she carried side lights and from that we judged tier to he a neutral suddenly a second explosion from the accumulation of air pressure burst the bow of the gladys royal with a final quiver she took her last plunge into the depths and slid out ot of sight while we scurried away into the night eight with wilts all sails set captain chewn was agreeably surprised to find himself assigned to a cozy cabin ell bis only complaint was that he be had bad no DO one to enjoy it mm this sociable mariner liked coin company so we promised to supply MB him with companions as soon as possible much as we wanted to please captain chewn and show him that we were accommodating hosts we allowed the next ship to soil rail by in I 1 peace she was a british passenger steamer bound through gibraltar we had bad room enough tor for all her gers but we did not want to be both ered with women and children childr ont at noon with a heavy sea running we lighted bighted a steamer cutting dlugon ally across our course no flag no name we signaled tier her tor for informs ties but bul there was no response surely ahe she must iw be an eng englishman gl ishman with a hard bulled eff lelent skipper you xou vy ty LOWELL THOMAS copyright by doubleday doran doraa ft A co know how bow a british captain often la is with his nose cose right down donn don n oo on ell his a job with no thought except ills his cargo and his lookout for submarines and cruisers well evidently this c chap hat be bothered with a tunny funny old norwegian windjammer sails set and motor running we held across his bis course and got in aront front of him now at sea a stilling vessel always has baa tile the right of way over a steamship because tile he latter can maneuver more rapidly but that meant nothing to this steam ship she not an inch and seemed quite content to run ran us down we e had to jib and let him go to lo the wind or there would have been a cot col alsina tile the englishman passed us at three hundred yards the german flag dug was climbing swiftly to our masthead rire fire I 1 commanded lets 8 see ee it that will malke him change fit his mind the gun boomed and a shell went screaming over the steamer lly liy joe I 1 said lie sticks slicks to fit ants opinions the steamers stacks belched fresh clouds of smoke her course changed not at all another shut this a one 11 e by way of just over the smoke stack the steamer turned into the wind A wise nise n ise baoy baby that skipper coin dented lie he knows a windjammer cant gall the wind we of 0 course catch him in a chase but our range was still point blank A shot the stull smoke ke stack and a vuu couple ile into the bull we could see the crew running around allday A siren was screaming A A shell exploded on deck tile the atle ampel 1 ler stopped and tile the steamer stowed slowed down and lay rolling in the trough of the sea the englishman must have linoa known n that he a ghost of a chance to escape under antler fire at it such close range first of all he had been discourteous in ignoring our ur friendly signals then be had violated the elie rules ot of ocean traffic in nut not ghang our clipper the right ol 01 way and now in cold blood i lr z 1 A V 4 ta ea lutece captured by the castada castaway ya tie bad endangered the life of his crew according to the unwritten rules of 0 etiquette among aming pirates rind and raiders it was up to us to put out a boat and board a prize but taste instead a of I 1 signaled the steamer captain come aboard 1 let him come over to us it if hes bes such a tough guy well show him biro who rules the waves in n this part ot of ane atlantic tt it was tunny finally I 1 had to laugh the ship was the lundy lunay Is land bound foi 01 france with a cargo of madagascar sugar ao an important cargo sure enough sugar was scarce to in all the countries at war find and we germans whose supply of sugar con COD aisted mostly of 0 a great longing tor for it could sympathize with the cap captains talas eagerness to net get the precious merchandise to port when the first shot struck the lundy island the ere crew w black blown and yellow fell ell into a panic with shells falling failing runa bilt the ship or staying with it meant nothing to them the captain roared and stormed but that was all the good it did so be seized the helm belm himself just then n q shot bit the rudder chain and when he turned the wheel nothing happened the crew started taking to the bouts and the tough old salt was left alone on deck our signal tor for him to come on board left him help less lesa nis HIS boats were out there with the crew floundering at the oars the sea was pitching sod and rolling and they were so frightened they could hardly row Us be paced the bridge with his handbag in his hand a solitary woebegone b egone figure we finally had to a boat for him on our deck be got a stern formal reception any casualties among your men captain no LN L 0 worse luck lock not a man scratched by jue joe and the brighters blighters bligh scurried around like rabbits tit at a dog show look at them in the bats out there they got here yet tile hie beggars beg gurs let me at that gun by joe and ill sink them it was hard nut not to sympathize with him but still his conduct had bud apparently been inexcusable why did you endanger your mens lives like that captain it out not only was the tiei glit of folly but it was to in human I 1 jut just then our ships surgeon doctor come came along hello hello captain alello hello Ll ello doctor they greeted each other like long I 1 ost lost friends save that there was a shadow of uneasiness lo in the captains fraternal demonstrations doctor Il etsell had gone out with our armored cruiser on one ol of tier her rree booting expeditions among the captured captains of that cruise was our present guest who while aboard tile the had struck up tip a pleasant plen sunt comradeship with the elie doctor now he be along with the other cap bains had been released on parole they had bad signed written promises that thai they would engage in no further war believing be had broken broke his parole he thou thought glit the germans would hang him from a yardarm if thay ever caught him when he saw we were an aa auxiliary crul cruiser ser be al a ready felt a rope tightening around his neck that was why lie be had tried so desperately to get away we amused ourselves with a formal discussion after ahia I 1 addressed our guest with wilt suitable gravity we are ot of the opinion captain hat at your rea parole did not cover calling as a merchant captain only direct combatant service aus was included under uder hie file heading of war therefore we se feel ourselves under tie necessity ceresi alty of banging you well the aville on gleit hard er beaten face was like a sunrise wo we now understood the fill all too human too mo lives elves behind ilia his actions and we re spelled his bis plucky attempt to get away in the face ace of point blank gun ore lire ourselves we could only solute salute this skipper who with a worth less spineless crew had to take ohp wheel himself and then hien only to find and his rudder chain smashed tile the sea was waa so rough now that we did not send a bombing hing party to board tile the lundy island but sank bank her by dl di gunfire that night leudemann Le and I 1 sat over bottles of 0 beer and talked about our prospects well old chap said I 1 everything has begun well its a fine cruise but when will they sink us as not at any rate be replied on nn tit til our hotel botel Is tull full you see our buccaneering bucca raid was pretty certain to remain a secret until the time came when lack of space would compel us to release our pals boners anh and send them hero to ro port then tile the news of 0 our launt jaunt would out and cruisers would be hot after us in every part of the world and if we dont capture any more ships I 1 reflected rejected we can go on oil cruising indefinitely then mien lets catch some more quickly laughed leudemann it will be great sport to play hide and seek with crul cruisers sers that mate ot of mine was always itch ing for trouble but bat then that was what we had all come through the bloo blockade kilde in ID hope of finding so if we wanted plenty of excitement then the tic sooner sonner wa sent the crews of eight or ten ships into some port the sooner would the alarm go 90 out german raider in the atlantic I 1 then too lloyds insurance rates would start to soar when the news got out and ship with supplies that the allies needed deeded badly would be held to ID port also a num berof cruisers would no doubt be detached from blockade patrol duty duly across the north sea that was the interesting part of it those cruisers and how bow to elude them leudemann I 1 said the better the lookout the more ships we will catch we already have a good lookout but ive thought of a way to have bare a better one A hundred pair of eyes are better than two pair air what do you mean well from now on im cm going to change vint that offer ot of ten pounds and a bottle of champagne that we promised to the first of our two lookouts to spy a ship jm im going to open it to every oue one on board I 1 TO BE CONTINUED |
