lled on Vornal. Then we
both recognized the vessel. It was the _Juno_, the only one left intact
of our own cruisers. What could she be doing flying the flag in the
enemy's waters? Then I understood it, and turning to Vornal, we threw
ourselves into each other's arms. It could only mean an armistice--or
peace!

And it was peace. We learned the glad news when we had risen alongside
the _Juno_, and the ringing cheers which greeted us had at last died
away. Our orders were to report ourselves at once at Blankenberg. Then
she passed on down Channel to collect the others. We returned to port
upon the surface, steaming through the whole British fleet as we passed
up the North Sea. The crews clustered thick along the sides of the
vessels to watch us. I can see now their sullen, angry faces. Many
shook their fists and cursed us as we went by. It was not that we had
damaged them--I will do them the justice to say that the English, as the
old Boer War has proved, bear no resentment against a brave enemy--but
that they thought us cowardly to attack merchant ships and avoid the
warships. It is like the Arabs who think that a flank attack is a mean,
unmanly device. War is not a big game, my English friends. It is a
desperate business to gain the upper hand, and one must use one's brain
in order to find the weak spot of one's enemy. It is not fair to blame
me if I have found yours. It was my duty. Perhaps those officers and
sailors who scowled at the little _Iota_ that May morning have by this
time done me justice when the first bitterness of undeserved defeat was
passed.

Let others describe my entrance into Blankenberg; the mad enthusiasm of
the crowds, and the magnificent public reception of each successive boat
as it arrived. Surely the men deserved the grant made them by the State
which has enabled each of them to be independent for life. As a feat of
endurance, that long residence in such a state of mental tension in
cramped quarters, breathing an unnatural atmosphere, will long remain as
a record. The country may well be proud of such sailors.

The terms of peace were not made onerous, for we were in no condition to
make Great Britain our permanent enemy. We knew well that we had won the
war by circumstances which would never be allowed to occur again, and
that in a few years the Island Power would be as strong as ever--stronger,
perhaps--for the lesson that she had learned. It would be madness to
pro