IT THE END?

Of course, what I had foreseen had occurred. The town was actually
occupied by the British. And they thought it was the end! We would see
about that.

On the round-the-corner page, at the back of the glorious resonant
leaders, there was a little column which read like this:--

HOSTILE SUBMARINES

Several of the enemy's submarines are at sea, and have inflicted some
appreciable damage upon our merchant ships. The danger-spots upon
Monday and the greater part of Tuesday appear to have been the mouth
of the Thames and the western entrance to the Solent. On Monday,
between the Nore and Margate, there were sunk five large steamers, the
_Adela_, _Moldavia_, _Cusco_, _Cormorant_, and _Maid of Athens_,
particulars of which will be found below. Near Ventnor, on the same
day, was sunk the _Verulam_, from Bombay. On Tuesday the _Virginia_,
_Caesar_, _King of the East_, and _Pathfinder_ were destroyed between
the Foreland and Boulogne. The latter three were actually lying in
French waters, and the most energetic representations have been made
by the Government of the Republic. On the same day _The Queen of
Sheba_, _Orontes_, _Diana_, and _Atalanta_ were destroyed near the
Needles. Wireless messages have stopped all ingoing cargo-ships from
coming up Channel, but unfortunately there is evidence that at least
two of the enemy's submarines are in the West. Four cattle-ships from
Dublin to Liverpool were sunk yesterday evening, while three Bristol-
bound steamers, _The Hilda_, _Mercury_, and _Maria Toser_, were blown
up in the neighbourhood of Lundy Island. Commerce has, so far as
possible, been diverted into safer channels, but in the meantime,
however vexatious these incidents may be, and however grievous the
loss both to the owners and to Lloyd's, we may console ourselves by
the reflection that since a submarine cannot keep the sea for more
than ten days without refitting, and since the base has been captured,
there must come a speedy term to these depredations."

So much for the _Courier's_ account of our proceedings. Another small
paragraph was, however, more eloquent:--

"The price of wheat, which stood at thirty-five shillings a week
before the declaration of war, was quoted yesterday on the Baltic at
fifty-two. Maize has gone from twenty-one to thirty-seven, barley
from nineteen to thirty-five, sugar (forei