Denbigh shrugged his shoulders. He had made his protest and had scored a point.
"We have done with the past," continued von Riesser. "My object in sending for you is to explain your position. You are, of course, prisoners of war. It is my intention to accord you treatment as your rank demands. In ordinary circumstances you are at liberty to leave your cabins and come on deck whenever you wish during hours of daylight. There may be times when it will be necessary for you to be locked in—perhaps taken below. But, understand: if you attempt to jeopardize the safety of the ship, or to communicate with any passing vessel, or, in short, to behave other than officers on parole——"
"But we are not on parole," interrupted O'Hara.
"It matters not," declared the kapitan. "If I choose to consider that you are equivalent to being on parole that is my affair. If, then, you break any of the conditions I have mentioned you will be tried by a properly constituted court consisting of officers of the ship, and if found guilty you will be shot. Is that perfectly clear?"
The three prisoners signified their assent. After all, the German's stipulations were reasonable.
Von Riesser turned and conversed for a few minutes with his ober-leutnant. O'Hara, being ignorant of German, and Stirling having but a slight knowledge of the language, were unable to understand the drift of the conversation. Denbigh, on the other hand, was a fluent linguist, but he had already decided to keep that knowledge from his captors.
Presently Kapitan von Riesser produced a British Navy List. Somewhat to the British officers' surprise they noticed that it was dated "April 1916", or more than a twelvemonth since the last list had been obtainable by the public.
"You have qualified as an interpreter, I see," remarked von Riesser. "For what languages?"
"Hindustani, Swahili, and Arabic," replied Denbigh promptly. He did not think it necessary to add that German was amongst his qualifications, and he thanked his lucky stars that the recent Navy Lists do not specify the language in which officer-interpreters are expert.
"You are evidently considered a promising young officer," continued the kapitan. He could not refrain from adding, with a thinly-veiled sneer, "I am afraid your services will be lost to the English Admiralty for some time to come."