ADVENTURE WITH GERMAN PIRATES 



the fishing vessel, rightly distrusting such an 

 enemy, put out his 'lights with the object of pro- 

 tecting himself as best he could. But the submarine 

 got alongside and her commander demanded to know 

 why the lights had been extinguished. All that 

 could be indicated by way of answer was that the 

 crew of the boat had no wish to draw the close at- 

 tention of the enemy. 



The German law of " f rightfulness " came into 

 instant operation, and the little craft, which was to 

 have been spared for the purpose of receiving men 

 who could not be accommodated on board the sub- 

 marine, was destroyed by bombs, her own crew 

 being added to the crowd of fishermen already cap- 

 tives, raising the number to about thirty. 



These helpless fishers were now in a position of 

 the gravest peril, and there was not a man amongst 

 them who did not realise this fact, for the Germans 

 were intensely apprehensive of the appearance of a 

 British war vessel and the prisoners knew perfectly 

 well what their fate would be in such an event — the 

 submarine would seek her own safety and leave them 

 to drown, or at least to take their precarious chance 

 of salvation from one of the few boats which were 

 left afloat. 



As it mercifully happened, the submarine in this 

 respect was not troubled and she carried on and com- 

 pleted her work of destruction. Finally the fisher- 

 men were put on board a small vessel which had 

 been spared and were left to themselves. Before 

 the men were allowed to leave the submarine they 



143 



