"It is a blockade, nevertheless," he replied, "if it is only maintained by submarines. No ships of war, nor merchant ships flying the flags of any of our enemies are immune. The blockade went into effect yesterday, and already two merchantmen have been sent to the bottom." "And their crews?" asked Lord Hastings. Again the German smiled. "Who knows?" he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Do you mean to say that they were left to their fate?" "What else could be done?" asked the prisoner. "The submarines could not provide for them." "But such action is against all the rules of civilized warfare," exclaimed His Lordship. "Perhaps so," was the reply. "But as England has not hesitated to take whatever steps she considered necessary, neither will Germany, in the future." "But the vessels of neutral nations," said Lord Hastings, "are they not in danger because of this blockade?" "They are--yes," was the reply, "and for this reason: Several British ships already have made their escape by hoisting the Red, White and Blue. However, Germany has defined a well established line of passage for neutral ships, and any found outside of these channels are subject to the same fate as ships of England and France." "But great Scott, man," exclaimed Lord Hastings, "the sinking of an American ship would more than likely bring the United States into the war against Germany. Surely, you do not desire that." The German shrugged his shoulders. "If it cannot be helped," he said quietly, "we are ready to engage the United States also." "But surely," cried Frank, "you do not believe you can whip the whole world." "Perhaps not," was the reply, "but neither do we believe the whole world can whip us." Frank threw up his hands with a gesture of dismay. "You Germans are about the limit," he said. "It seems to me that you already have bitten off a bigger portion than you can chew, and here you are trying to bring the rest of the civilized world against you." "We might just as well be whipped by the whole world as a portion of it," said the prisoner. "And that is my idea of what the Kaiser himself believes," said Jack, who up to this time had taken no part in the conversation. "My opinion is that the German emperor, realizing already that he is fighting a losing fight, is seeking to embroil the whole world." "But we are not fighting a losing fight," protested the prisoner. This time it was Lord Hastings who shrugged his shoulders. "That's a matter of sentiment, of course," he said. "But we didn't call you here to argue with you. What other events of importance are taking place?"