Von Riesser laughed boisterously.
"Captured?" he repeated. "Ach! I don't think there is much danger now. South of the Line there is not a solitary British cruiser that can touch us in speed. There are plenty of them, I admit, but that is your English all over. Three swift vessels would be worth all your East India fleet put together, yet you pack highly-trained crews into slow and out-of-date tubs."
"Possibly the captain of the Emden thought the same as you do," remarked Stirling.
"Müller had difficulties that I have not," replied von Riesser. "He was known to be in the Indian Ocean and swift cruisers were dispatched from England and Australia to hunt for him. Our presence on the High Seas will not be known to your Admiralty until it is too late. So, gentlemen, I must ask you to seriously consider the possibility of finding yourselves prisoners of war in our well-defended Colony of German East Africa."
CHAPTER IV
Threatened
That night, according to their pre-arranged plans, the captive sub-lieutenants avoided taking any of the wines that were placed before them.
They dined alone in a small cabin placed at least fifty feet from their sleeping quarters.
As it was now after sunset the porthole was closed and locked. The door, too, was shut, but not secured. Outside, a sentry paced to and fro.