, she is allowed to
proceed, whereas an enemy's ship is either captured or sunk. If a
neutral ship carries contraband of war, this is either confiscated or
destroyed, but if it exceeds half the total cargo, then this ship is
also condemned.

It is nearly impossible for a submarine to send a prize crew on board
a big ship, therefore neutral States have given their captains the
order to go in a ship's boat and deliver their papers themselves on
board the submarine; but they often annoyed us by a long parley and
delay, and it was always with a feeling of disappointment that we were
obliged to leave inactive our cannons and torpedoes, the crew sadly
exclaiming, "After all, they were only neutrals!"

One sunny afternoon, we were in the act of examining the papers of a
Dutch steamer that we had stopped in the neighborhood of the Meuse
Lightship, when we perceived on the horizon another steamer coming
rapidly towards us, and we judged by its outline that it was of
English construction. The steamer we were examining proved to be
unobjectionable in every respect, and sailing only between neutral
ports, so we dismissed it, and just as it was departing, the English
steamer, evidently apprehending our presence, turned about in great
haste in hope to escape from us, and steered with full steam ahead
towards the English shores, to seek the protection of the ships on the
watch patroling the English coast.

The English captain well knew what fate awaited him if he fell into
the hands of a wicked German U-boat. Mighty clouds of smoke rose from
her funnels, giving evidence of the active endeavors of the stokers in
the boiler-room to bring the engines up to their highest speed, and
before we had time to give the signal to stop, the steamer was in
flight.

Meanwhile we had also put on all steam in pursuit, and drove our
engines to their utmost capacity. The English ship was going at a
great pace, and we had many knots to cover before we could catch up
with her to impose our commands, for she paid no heed to the
international flag-signal we had hoisted--"Stop at once or we
fire!"--and she was striving her uttermost to reach a zone of safety.
Our prow plunged into the surging seas, and showered boat and crew
alike with silvery, sparkling foam. The engines were being urged to
their greatest power, and the whir of the propeller proved that below,
at the motor valves, each man was doing his very best. Anxiously, we
measured the distance t