Without doubting his word in the least, it was common knowledge that pro-German sentiment was strong in the Spanish ports and the enemy’s espionage system extremely well organized. Lisbon was near at hand and Portugal was an active ally of the United States. The _Corsair_, therefore, went to sea, after a few hours at Vigo, and steamed into the wide bay of the Tagus next morning and so found a friendly destination and a people who welcomed her with warmest hospitality to one of the most beautiful cities of the world. The war had touched it lightly. The contrast with France, so tragic and worn and imperilled, was singularly impressive. Brilliant with sunshine, Lisbon smiled from her seven hills and her tropical gardens, and the seafarers of the _Corsair_ thought of Brest, gloomy and rain-swept, given over to the business of war, the gateway of the thronging transports which were hurrying the manhood of America by the million, to the blood and misery of the trenches. CHAPTER VIII THE PLEASANT INTERLUDE AT LISBON I like the look of khaki and the cut of army wear, And the men of mettle sporting it, at home and over there; But there’s something at the heart-strings that tautens when meet A blue-clad sailor-man adrift, on shore leave from the fleet. From flapping togs his sea-legs win some rhythm of old romance That’s proper to the keeper of the paths that lead to France; For what were all the soldiers worth that ever tossed a gun, Without the ships and sailor-men to pit them ’gainst the Hun. * * * * * His hands are often cruel cold; his heart is oftener warm, For in its depths he knows ’tis he that shields the world from harm. Because I know it too, my heart beats warmer when I meet A blue-clad sailor-man adrift, on shore leave from the fleet. M. A. DEWOLFE HOWE Portuguese troops were fighting in France and the sentiment of the people was very strongly with the Allied cause. They realized that the hope of ultimate victory lay in the tremendous energy with which the United States had finally hurled itself into the war, but there had been no opportunity to behold and applaud the valiant soldiers from across the seas. Now, at length, there came into the harbor of Lisbon two war vessels of the powerful Uncle Sam, a large and graceful yacht and a bulldog of a destroyer, and the blue-clad sailors who flocked ashore were the first to set foot there since Portugal had entered the war. The _Corsair_ and the _Preston_ were something more than storm-tossed ships in quest of a haven. To Lisbon they were a memorable event and one worthy of a celebration.