Hitachi go down at 2.30 in the morning.  So she evidently must have come up again, for she was still in sight just before daybreak!  Soon after daybreak next morning, the men were allowed to go aft under the poop for a wash, with a very limited supply of water, and the ladies had a portion of the ’tween decks to themselves for a short time.  Breakfast, consisting of black bread, canned meat, and tea, was then brought to us on deck by the German sailors, and we were left to ourselves on the well deck for some time.  The Commander sent down a message conveying his compliments to the ladies, saying he hoped they had had a good night and were none the worse for their experiences.  He assured us all that we should be in no danger on his ship and that he would do what he could to make us as comfortable as possible under the circumstances.  But, we were reminded again, this is war.  Indeed it was, and we had good reason to know it now, even if the war had not touched us closely before.

How vividly every detail of this scene stands out in our memories!  The brilliant tropical sunshine, the calm blue sea, the ship crowded in every part, the activity everywhere evident, and—­we were prisoners!  The old familiar petition of the Litany, “to shew Thy pity upon all prisoners and captives,” had suddenly acquired for us a fuller meaning and a new significance.  What would the friends we had left behind, our people at home, be thinking—­if they only knew!  But they were in blissful ignorance of our fate—­communication of any kind with the world outside the little one of the Wolf was quite impossible.

There seemed to be literally hundreds of prisoners on and under the poop, and the whole ship, as far as we could see, presented a scene of the greatest activity.  Smiths were at work on the well deck, with deafening din hammering and cutting steel plates with which to repair the Hitachi; mechanics were working at the seaplane, called the Woelfchen, which was kept on the well deck between her flights; prisoners were exercising on the poop, and the armed guards were patrolling constantly among them and near us on the well deck.  The guards wore revolvers and side-arms, but did not appear at all particular in the matter of uniform.  Names of various ships appeared on their caps, while some had on their caps only the words “Kaiserliche Marine.”  Some were barefoot, some wore singlets and shorts, while some even dispensed with the former.  Most of the crew at work wore only shorts, and, as one of the lady prisoners remarked, the ship presented a rather unusual exhibition of the European male torso!  There seemed to have been a lavish distribution of the Iron Cross among the ship’s company.  Every officer we saw and many of the crew as well wore the ribbon of the coveted decoration.

Some German officers came aft to interrogate us; they were all courteous and sympathetic, and I took the opportunity of mentioning to the young Lieutenant the loss of my wife’s jewels in the lifeboat, and he assured me he would have the boat searched, and if the jewels were found they should be restored.