ground off the coast of Flanders, as submerged
sandbanks are everywhere to be encountered, and this would have been
in our present case a most unfortunate occurrence. This continual
stopping rather disturbed the order of our march, for steamers are
more unwieldy and less accustomed to rapid maneuvering than war
vessels. Luckily all went well with us, for after a fine trip of
several hours we gladly greeted our German guard-ships lying off the
port of Zeebrugge, and the lighthouse on the mole beckoned to us from
afar through the thin afternoon mist.

We quickly surrendered our two captive's to the patrol of the port
authorities, into whose care and surveillance they were now entrusted.
Our job for the day was over, and we could joyfully hurry to our
berth within the harbor. We passed along the tremendous stone quay of
the artificial port of Zeebrugge; it extends several kilometers, and
was built by Leopold II with English money; it had cost many, many
millions, and was intended to serve quite another purpose than its
present one. We could look with defiance at the mouth of our German
cannons that gaped over the highest edge of the jetty towards the sea,
as if awaiting the foe.

Farther on up the mole, instead of English troops that the King would
so gladly have sent over in transports to march through neutral
Belgium and pay us an uninvited visit, stood, side by side, our own
brave fellows of the Army and of the Navy. Men from every branch of
the service, in their different uniforms, were visible, as they
crowded on the pier to witness our arrival with our two prize boats,
for the news of this unusual capture had already spread far and wide,
and they all wanted to satisfy their curiosity. Their enthusiasm would
have been even greater had they guessed that concealed within the hull
of our two vessels an Easter feast of undreamed-of dainties lay in
store for them. But even without this incentive a tremendous cheer
from a thousand throats hailed our appearance as we rounded the mole,
and our thirty voices returned as hearty, if not as loud, a three
times repeated cheer for the garrison of Zeebrugge. Our tow lines were
caught by the eager hands of the sailors, and in a jiffy we were lying
securely alongside the quay, safe in port to rest in peace a day or
two after a many days' cruise enlivened by such exciting events. Our
friends of the Navy, whom we had not seen since the beginning of the
war, came to visit us at once; m