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My men were all armed now with both rifles and pistols, each having plenty of
ammunition. I ordered one of the Germans ashore with a line, and sent two of
my own men to guard him, for from what little we had seen of Caprona, or
Caspak as we learned later to call the interior, we realized that any instant some
new and terrible danger might confront us. The line was made fast to a small
tree, and at the same time I had the stern anchor dropped.
As soon as the boche and his guard were aboard again, I called all hands on
deck, including von Schoenvorts, and there I explained to them that the time had
come for us to enter into some sort of an agreement among ourselves that would
relieve us of the annoyance and embarrassment of being divided into two
antagonistic parts--prisoners and captors. I told them that it was obvious our
very existence depended upon our unity of action, that we were to all intent and
purpose entering a new world as far from the seat and causes of our own world-
war as if millions of miles of space and eons of time separated us from our past
lives and habitations.
"
There is no reason why we should carry our racial and political hatreds into
Caprona," I insisted. "The Germans among us might kill all the English, or the
English might kill the last German, without affecting in the slightest degree either
the outcome of even the smallest skirmish upon the western front or the opinion
of a single individual in any belligerent or neutral country. I therefore put the
issue squarely to you all; shall we bury our animosities and work together with
and for one another while we remain upon Caprona, or must we continue thus
divided and but half armed, possibly until death has claimed the last of us? And
let me tell you, if you have not already realized it, the chances are a thousand to
one that not one of us ever will see the outside world again. We are safe now in
the matter of food and water; we could provision the U-33 for a long cruise; but
we are practically out of fuel, and without fuel we cannot hope to reach the
ocean, as only a submarine can pass through the barrier cliffs. What is your
answer?" I turned toward von Schoenvorts.
He eyed me in that disagreeable way of his and demanded to know, in case they
accepted my suggestion, what their status would be in event of our finding a way
to escape with the U-33. I replied that I felt that if we had all worked loyally
together we should leave Caprona upon a common footing, and to that end I
suggested that should the remote possibility of our escape in the submarine
develop into reality, we should then immediately make for the nearest neutral
port and give ourselves into the hands of the authorities, when we should all
probably be interned for the duration of the war. To my surprise he agreed that
this was fair and told me that they would accept my conditions and that I could
depend upon their loyalty to the common cause.
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