A SKIPPER'S TALE 



sailing fleets, when the island was ours. I would 

 have liked a peep at it again, but the Germans took 

 good care that we should see nothing, and we were 

 not allowed on deck. 



" There we were, crowded below in the forehold 

 of that cruiser, for two da} T s and nights, with 

 nothing but artificial light, constantly expecting to 

 strike some horrible mine and be blown to pieces. 

 But we were even more afraid of going athwart one 

 of our own warships, for that would have put us 

 down the locker. We should not have had the 

 slightest chance of escape, so we were glad when we 

 knew that we had reached the Wilhelmshaven that 

 the Germans are so proud of. What it is really 

 like I don't know — all I saw of it was some tall 

 houses and a lot of shouting women and children, 

 who jeered at us and threw dirt and stones at us — 

 two hundred helpless fishermen, who were marched 

 four deep through the street ; for the gallant Ger- 

 man Navy had sunk about a score of fishing vessels 

 — ten Grimsby and ten Boston — that could not de- 

 fend themselves, and had made prisoners of the 

 unarmed crews. Some of these craft had been blown 

 up, as the Lobelia had been ; others had been sunk 

 with shot. On board the cruiser one of the officers 

 — I do not know his rank— had tried to get some- 

 thing out of us about the British Navy ; but he 

 learned no more than the commander of the torpedo- 

 boat had done. 



" We soon learned that the 200 fishermen priso- 

 ners had been captured by the ten torpedo-boats and 



68 



