there was
danger of discovering the mines too late, as they would be concealed
from our sight with every roll of the sea.

Suddenly we all three looked at one another and then quickly at the sea
again. There they were! Heavens, what a bunch! In all directions as far
as the eye could see were the devilish dark globes, washed with the
breakers' snow-white foam. We were so overwhelmed by the sight of all
these mines that we started to swear and kept it up for some time
without any interruption.

"It's outrageous! It's unheard of! It's terrible! Such a mass! And such
a people call themselves Christian seafarers--a bunch of murderers,
that's what they are, who can put out such dirty traps!"

With reduced speed we went toward the "caviar sandwich," as Petersen
called the dark spotted surface before us. Now it was "up to" us
skilfully to steer the boat between the irregularly spread mines and see
carefully to it that we did not get into a blind alley. If only our boat
did not hit one of those devilish things! It would be the end of us! But
surely if we kept calm, we should get through all right. Certainly we
would. We had a warhelmsman who was a wonder in his line, boatswain's
mate Lohmann. He could thank his skill as a helmsman for his long career
in the navy. If he was up to some deviltry--which, it is said, rather
often happened in former days--it was always mentioned as an extenuating
circumstance--"but he's such an able helmsman."

Lohmann, when he put his mind to it, could certainly steer. He could hit
a floating cork with the prow. He was standing with feet apart in the
tower and grinning so that his mouth reached from ear to ear. He always
grinned when he stood at the wheel. But now that he had become the most
important person on board, he was radiating joy and pride to such an
extent that his little square figure took on a superior pose of careless
daring. With his right hand he spun the wheel playfully, just as if he
were experimenting. He had shoved the other deep down into the large
pocket of his seaman's trousers clear up to his elbow.

Then we were pounding into the mine field. Lohmann squinted together his
small gray eyes to a couple of narrow slits, spat first in his right
hand, and then in a long semi-circle towards the first mine which we
were just passing on the port side. He, thereupon, hitched his slipping
trousers, lit his nose-warmer--a pipe broken off close to the bowl--spat
once more into his righ