On walking aft I saw my wife leaning up against the wheelhouse, her face absolutely bloodless and a look of horror in her eyes that fairly chilled my blood. God! For months after I could see this expression in her eyes every time I closed my eyes. Even now, when I think of it, it makes me feel cold all over. When she saw me she came over and took my hand in hers, looking all the time into my eyes and not saying a word. We stood there for what seemed a century. Presently I called Juanita to us and the three of us went down below to the cabin. We sat on the settee, never saying a word, and poor little Nita started to sob, feeling something sinister in the air, which she did not understand. In a minute the mate came to the cabin skylight and sang out that the launch would be alongside in a minute. I answered "All right." My wife got up and walked over to the bed and took one of my revolvers (I had two) from under the mattress and handed it to me. Suddenly she threw both her arms around my neck and drew my head into such a position that she could look into my eyes, and said, "Stanley, I want you to promise me that they will never get Juanita." I threw both my arms round her, hugging her tight to myself, and said, "Mamie, I promise; but you must leave it to me." And with a sob I left her and started on deck. When passing through the wheelhouse, I stopped for a moment to pull myself together. On going on deck I saw a small motor launch just arriving alongside, crowded with German bluejackets, armed to the teeth. A moment more, and a young lieutenant sprang onto the deck and came aft to the quarterdeck where I was standing. Coming to a stand in front of me he saluted and asked in excellent English, with an American accent, "Are you the captain of this vessel?" I answered, "Yes." "Where are you from?" was his next question. I told him San Francisco to Sydney, Australia, fifty-two days out. "Captain," he said, "I take charge of your vessel in the name of the German Imperial Navy." He gave an order in German and two German sailors sprang to the flag halyards and hauled down the Stars and Stripes and ran up the German Ensign. They carefully saved the American flag and the Company's burgee and took them aboard the _Wolf_ afterwards as trophies. Our crew meantime had been lined up and searched for weapons. Among the things the boarding crew brought on board was a black case containing twenty pairs of handcuffs and three large bombs to blow the vessel to pieces with. They didn't need the handcuffs, however. After the lieutenant had gone through the ship's papers and found out all particulars regarding the _Beluga's_ cargo, he had his signal men wigwag the information to the Commander of the _Wolf_, which was standing by. The Commander, on finding out that I had a cargo of benzine, decided not to sink the vessel immediately, but to take on board some three hundred cases for use in their hydroplane, as their supply was getting low. [Illustration: