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[Page 48]
the stern, the poop disappears, the masts describe a frantic circle, the stem throws up a last defiance to the foe & it too is gone, a little bubbling, a tiny commotion now here, - now there, & there is a good ship the less. But it is not quite over yet, & it is impossible to keep from smiling. The little 25 foot steamboat has broken loose like a chicken that has broken run away from its Mother. Refuses to go down. Left alone on the wild waste of waters, drifting hither & thither seeking a home & finding none. It is midnight & one turns away a little weary, & not from want of sleep.
Jan 7. prisoners settling down. Hardly know they are on board. Seamen to me "A very quiet & well behaved lot, Sir". "Yes", I reply. "So would you be, if you had sentries standing over you with loaded rifles night & day. Niggers talk English, in fact, no German has ever yet even in his own colonies ever succeeded in making niggers speak his language, even at Rabaul pidgin English. Captain, 1st officer, chief engr, doctor with us in Wardroom. Niggers cluster round A turret, casting admiring glances at gun wh. fired at Eleanore, ten miles away. We want to know what they think of the war. Crew had no pay for long time. Say "don't want war, Kaiser damned fool"