"There, you see, gentlemen, the bird has talked Plattdeutsch." There is loud laughter, and we all go out and tell the other suckers that the bird talked Deutsch. Why should we be the only fools? Perhaps Jack Tar gets engaged to be married to the daughter of a "crimp." That costs him all his money. Or he gets drunk and everything is taken away from him. Hein and Tedje meet back on their ship. "Well, Tedje, how did Munich strike you?" Tedje, who did not get away from the Hamburg water front, merely asks in turn: "Did you get your gramophone?" Although the North Sea may not be exactly the sailor's friend, the disillusioned tars are glad when sail is raised and they see water all around them once more. At sea the sailor is on terms of intimacy with nature. He is friendly with the stars. He understands the clouds, and upon them he relies to tell him about the weather. He knows most of the fishes he encounters, although there are very few kinds that can be caught with hook and line from deck. When a school of porpoises appears, the command comes: "Get the harpoons ready!" --------------------------------------------------------------------- [Illustration: The prosaic American clipper, _Pass of Balmaha_, bound for Russia with a cargo of cotton, by the alchemy of war became the mysterious _Seeadler_ preying on Allied shipping until a coral reef of the South Pacific ended its seven months' cruise of destruction.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- [Illustration: The _Seeadler_, that carried the modern buccaneer whose dare-devil adventures were to out-rival the high-handed days of the Spanish Main. From a sketch made from the photograph taken by the captain of the _Antonin_. See page 167. Engineer Krauss and the mechanical crew picked for the pirate cruise.] --------------------------------------------------------------------- It takes a skilful harpooner to overhaul a porpoise on its darting, leaping course. When one is taken, there is great rejoicing. Fresh meat will be served on board.