over there, or did they not want to
understand us? Ah! A flag went up on the main-mast. The wind unfolded it
and, proudly and distinctly, France's tricolor could be seen. The flag
stopped at half-mast--a distress-signal! The flag on half-mast was the
pursued sailer's call for help. They understood our command and were now
looking for assistance before obeying us. Wait, my little friend, we'll
soon get that out of you.

"Hoist the signals: 'Stop immediately or I'll shoot!'"

The signal flew up. Now, look here, Frenchy, this is no joke; soon the
little, gray animal, which is circling around you, will bite.

"We will give, them three minutes to consider the matter, then we'll
shoot down the masts," I said to Lieutenant Petersen, who was standing
by the guns, and, in his excitement, was stepping from one foot to
another.

With watch in hand, I counted three full minutes. The sailer did not
take any notice of us, just as if our existence had nothing to do with
him.

"Such impudence," I murmured, as I put down my watch. Soon thereafter
resounded through the entire boat:

"Fire!"

"Rrrrrms!" the guns thundered with a deafening roar, and the shell
whistled through the schooner's high rigging, in which it tore a large
hole, struck the mainyard of the forward mast, exploded, and snapped off
the heavy mast, so that, with its sails, it fell like a broken wing on
the deck of the ship.

The results were immediately apparent. The red and white pennant, which
in the international language means: "I understand!" flew to the
masthead. The sailors, who had gathered in groups, looked at us in
alarm. They were scattered by the commands of the captain and hurried in
all directions to their posts. Giving orders in the singing accents of
the French language, the sails were soon lowered and the ship slowed up.
The boats were swung out and made ready, and men, with life-saving
buoys, were running all over in great excitement.

We closed in on the ship to windward, and I called to the captain to
make haste--that I would give him just ten minutes more to get away
before torpedoing his ship.

In the bow compartment, where the torpedo tubes are built into the
U-boat and the torpedoes themselves are stored, there was feverish
activity from the minute we saw the hostile ship and the alarm was
sounded. It is cramped in the forward part of a U-boat, very cramped,
and it is necessary to have a special crew of very skilled men to be
able to