frozen hopelessness and began to talk in low voices amongst themselves. Twe of them also tried to make friends with the orew; but their advances were received with suspicion and suspicion and coldness. Our men could not rid themselves of the thought that if the positions had been reversed, death would have been their sentence and nothing less. In fact, amongst many other discussions that raged on the mess-deeks after the engagement, was a quite serious one as to whether we should have been justified in abandoning the captives to drown-all save one, that is, as ene survivor was necessary to prove our success to 8 sceptical element at the Base. fore, save wait for a breeze or nightfall; meantime the work of repairing ship had to be done. But before embarking on these these repairs, a necessary function had to be performed. The wardroom had been provided prior to sailing with a modest supply of champagneto be opened when the first U-boat was sunk or on the declaration of peace, whichever came first. To open the bubbly water was evidently indicated; also, the mess-decks had to drink success to Brig X and confusion to the Central Powers, To supply them all with champagne was beyond our powers; but a few bottles of whisky were found, and an extra issue of greg took place on the mess-deck. As many men as could be spared from the deck were invited below, and our victory was celebrated in the approved fashion. The C.O. was not a speech-maker, and though he tried his best be uttered nothing of historical interest. I informed the C.O. of the condition of our worst-wounded man; and this fact, together with the presence aboard of the prisoners-always a menace -decided him to head for port at the first opportunity. This, however, could not be done all at once. To proceed under engine-power was inviting detection, especially during daylight. A square-rigged vessel What he actually said was moving along at four or five something like this: "Well, knots in open water with hardly men, we've done it, and a a breath of wind in the sky dd good job you've made would be a dead give-away. of it, too. We've nothing to Submarines were reputed to be be ashamed of; but we mustn't fitted with hydrophones of an get tee cocky. And next time uncanny perfection; and if we get hit and set afire, don't such hydrophones recorded a let any man put the blaze out propeller's beats when no ship without orders, or I'll keelhaul legitimately equipped with a him. Here's luck, and another propeller was in sight, only one Fritz before night!" These inference could be drawn by sentiments seemed to meet such German commanders as with the lower deck's commight be in the vicinity. There plete approval; the C.P.O., was nothing to be done, there- as spokesman, tried to reply, but beyond wishing us as much luck as he could expect for himself, he said very little. An armed guard was mounted over the prisoners, breakfast was served, and the work of the ship went on as if nothing extraordinary had happened. The loss of our galley was a serious one; but certain members of the orew were adaptable. We boiled water for tea by means of the blow-lamps used for heating up the engines; sardines and biscuits sufficed to fill the gaps eaused by the excitement of action; and the armourer's mate rigged up an improvised cooking-stove out of an oildrum that worked wonders. A detailed description of the ensuing repair-work would only be tedious. Fortunately we officers had all served in windjammers, and we had all been required to deal with mishaps of varying kinds; so, by dint of putting our heads together, we evolved schemes for restoring the shattered spars and rigging, and before the night fell the ship was seaworthy again. The carpenter had plugged the shot-holes quite thoroughly, and it was only necessary to pump out the ship twice a watch instead of once, as had hitherto been the case. The officer of the watch performed this duty, in the intervals of maintaining his watch for further submarines. But about four in the afternoen the breeze came away with increasing foree. It was a dead-muzzler for our Base; and as speed of movement was necessary, it was decided to up-stiek and run for a Sicilian port that lay almost dead to leeward. We tried to report our adventures by wireless ; but our operator reported nothing but failure. We could not gain touch with a single station; and we did not persist too keenly, in case of enemy craft picking up our signals. But I think we were all glad when night came and found us running well with a spanking breeze. Once the immediate strain was relieved, it was possible to realise how great it had been. (To be continued.) IRISH REALITIES. Every kind of concession, bounty, and amelioration has been granted. All these bonefits seem only to increase their hatred of the grantors, and they have now arrived at a stage where they refuse to contemplate anything but the impossible and the unthinkable. The old Irish landeeracy is gone, or is fast disappearing. It was often stupidly spoken of as the English Garrison, To those who really know, it was the most Irish element in Ireland. Though for the most part alien in religion and traditions, it attracted the admiration and affection of the mass of the people for many decades of time. But the fierce waves of political agitation beat upon it and finally submerged it. To this day, one will occasionally find an old Irish peasant who regrets its passing, and sighs over the disappearance of the "Ould stock." England of her generosity sacrificed this class to gratify national aspirations. Their onee hospitable mansions know them no more: they are now Occupied by resident magistrates, petty petty sessions clerks, and profiteers. The demesne is broken up; the trees are cut down; the lawns, on which many generations of happy children played, are now potato-fields. The stables and kennels are in ruins. There is no longer any cheery rural life in the countryside. But there is abundant prosperity: everybody has money. The rack-rented farm which the English sentimentalists wept over will at a sale bring in forty or fifty years' purchase of the original rent. What, then, is the matter? Why is everybody not contented? The farmer is a capitalist; the labourer has a comfortable sanitary house, and wages beyond his highest expectations in the past. What has happened to the people who were once the most light-hearted of all races? Not even a stranger could fail to see that the country is living in an atmosphere of terror and nervous apprehension. The kindly sergeant of the Royal Irish Constabulary, who was the friend and adviser of everybody in the district, is now shunned as a leper; people fear to be seen speaking te him. His children are boycotted at school and at chapel. But something worse sometimes happens. There comes a day when the sergeant's wife is going about distracted, her face livid with terror-the police patrol has not come back. Mysterious motor-cars, full of strange men, hardly disguised, have passed down the road. At length a wounded constable arrives, with the news that the sergeant and one of his men have been shot down from behind a hedge. The people are afraid to show any sympathy with the suffering family; the funeral is attended mainly by the police and military. On the following Sunday the parish priest will denounce the murder, and will describe the deceased as popular and respected, adding that nobody in the district could have had any hand in the crime. There is nobody now to give adequate expression to the horror that is felt by all decent folk. The landlord is down and out, and there is no wholesome middle-class opinion in Ireland. This Anglo-Irish race, until the evil days came upon it, was famous all over the world. It gave the Empire many of its greatest generals, some admirals, and some statesmen and diplomatists. It never failed to produce dare-devil sons and beautiful daughters. Among the English county families, who are notably wellfavoured in looks, one is pretty sure to find an Irish girl in the line of descent. In the Great War the sons established a noble record. Every one of them who was of military age, and many who were under or over (not without the use of guile and sundry devices), managed to get to the Front at a very early stage: a large number of them never returned. The great feature of the race was its vivacity,—it laughed through its misfortunes, and the world was happier for its joviality. But what has supplanted it? Something deadly, sinister, amorphous, that does the work of darkness, fearless of God or man. Take the ordinary specimen. He is a thin sallow youth; his hair is black and long; he wears a soft dark hat; his clothes are quite becoming and fairly out; his eyes are feverishly bright. He has the air and bearing of one who is suffering some intolerable wrong. He is generally silent, but can be induced to talk on occasions. You point out to him that all the old grievances of Ireland have been removed. There is complete religious equalitythe people have local government and municipal government in the fullest sense. National University has been provided out of public funds; the land is vested in the ocoupier at a cost of 200 millions to the taxpayer; the once congested districts are prosperous under paternal management; labourers' cottages are all over the country. Ireland is absurdly over - represented in Parliament. Scotland and Wales are not treated in this generous way, and they are content. What grievance has been left unredressed? He replies: "What we want and A will have is that the English and all who belong to them should clear out of Ireland. We will not allow their language to be spoken here in any place. We will take nothing less than a Republic, and a Republic that will pay England back for the past." The gospel of hate is written on his features; he is incapable of a laugh, a smile, or a sigh. Those who have made him what he is have done their work well. His Church has excited his hatred against England from the cradle as the great heretic power. The gist of every agitator's speech has been the tyranny and oppression of England. The underpaid National School teacher, in the bitterness of bis soul, has brought him up to believe that the English are pirates and vampires and have always been sucking the lifeblood out of Ireland. England (and in the term he includes Great Britain) has inflicted on him a new insult which will never be forgiven. She has thoroughly beaten Germany. It was always his delight to ridicule the British Army and rejoice over its defeats by the Boers, the Arabs, or any other enemy. Now this despised army has been the chief element in laying low the greatest of military powers. He tried to disguise the painful fact as long as possible, making out that it was America that had done it. But America makes no such claim, and in Germany no doubt has ever been expressed as to which was the VOL. CCVII.-NO. MCCLIII. protagonist and the real conquering power. The White Ensign still rules the seas, and the armies of the Empire have not been destroyed, as he had fondly hoped. Their military reputation stands higher than at any period of their history. But we must give him his due. He is not without virtues of a kind. He is attentive to his religious duties. He is temperate in the use of alcohol. When he raids a dwellinghouse for arms, he usually abstains from wanton injury to the premises, or undue cruelty to the occupiers, if they make no resistance. He shows none of the mean greed that characterised the methods of the Land League in the day of its power. He sometimes exhibits desperado courage, and always discipline. He is not guilty of the unspeakable brutality of the German, or Russian Bolshevik. He has beyond doubt a conscience, but he has come to terms with it. Unlimited mendacity has always been a favoured political weapon in Ireland from O'Connell's time, and he makes full use of it in the United States and at home. Though always collecting arms and high explosives, and always secretly drilling, he has no intention of taking the field; he has discovered much safer method of carrying on hostilities in organised murder. He satisfies his con 2 A |