"Hello," he shouted through his megaphone, "collecting volunteers?"
He thought we were picking up war volunteers from the Atlantic islands.
"Volunteers?" I called in return. "Oh, yes."
Our prisoners laughed a bit.
"Any news of the war?" he asked.
Officers and sailors and the woman on his deck craned their necks for a reply.
"Much news of the war," I responded. "I will signal it."
They stared, awaiting the signal.
"C-I-D," our signal flags went up; "heave to or I will fire."
I could see the captain rapidly thumbing the pages of his book. His head jerked up suddenly. His binoculars focussed themselves on our masthead where the German flag now waved. Our gun mask dropped, and the cannon peered forth. By Joe, but it raised a commotion on the deck. When she saw it, the woman darted into her cabin. The sailors ran to the boats. Even the helmsman deserted the wheel. The captain was the only one who kept his head. He seized the helm with a firm hand, and the ship hove to.