In view of the return of the Möwe, which had succeeded in getting home shortly before, and the attempted break-through, still more recently, of the auxiliary cruiser Greif, which the English had unfortunately caught, we had now to reckon on the blockade being still further tightened up. The prospects for my blockade-running enterprise were anything but rosy. The more so as the attempt had to be made at a time when the moon was nearing the full. The Irish had insisted that the rising must take place at Easter, which had for the Catholic Irish so very special a significance, and against Easter in the calendar stood the words 'Full Moon'—the very last thing I could have wished for at the time when I should be approaching land.
Casement, who, of course, was in the closest possible touch with his fellow-countrymen across the water, had, in consultation with them already, taken the most necessary steps in Germany.[1]
The plan had therefore been discussed in all its bearings, and was fully communicated to me at various interviews with Sir Roger Casement. I now knew, therefore, that I had been selected for an enterprise which called for a very high degree both of vigour and of circumspection. It can be understood that I was well pleased.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] It may be expressly pointed out here that Germany was fully justified, according to the provisions of the Law of Nations, in giving the desired support to the Irish.—Author's note.
CHAPTER IV 'MYSTERY' CARGO AND CAMOUFLAGE EQUIPMENT
As Casement had expressed a very strong objection against accompanying us in the Libau, it was finally decided to place a submarine at his disposal. He had with him two companions, Lieutenant Monteith and the Irish sergeant, Bailey. The latter turned out in the sequel to be a thorough-paced scoundrel. The submarine was to put Casement, with his companions, on board the Libau at a rendezvous in Tralee Bay, and I was then to proceed in under his instructions.
As a still further precaution against the aims and destination of the Libau becoming known, it had also been decided that I was on the following day to leave Wilhelmshaven and proceed to the Baltic. The goods-trains with our cargo of arms and munitions, which had been waiting for days on the sidings of various stations in Central Germany, without the railway authorities knowing anything about their destination, were, the following night, ordered by telegram to Lübeck, so that they arrived almost at the same time as we did.