While we were unloading our stuff for the Army of the East, there were not a few cargo boats in the harbour, and one day Fourgues invited the skippers of all of them to a luncheon. As he is very popular, there were fifteen or twenty of us at table, all men of brawn and nerve who have knocked about from north to south ever since the beginning of the war, with millions of tons of merchandise in the hold, and any number of soldiers. It was a treat to hear such conversation from these men who really work and who aren’t afraid of anything. And then, between sailors, there’s no side. And Fourgues, who presided, isn’t easily gulled. So each spun his little yarn when his turn came, without trying to stuff anybody. All had been more or less attacked, torpedoed, or shelled, but they had obviously escaped since they were there! They said, though, that the Germans were settling seriously to the game, and that sooner or later no one would get through without damage. There were some who had wireless and guns; only, their guns were outranged by those of the submarines which had attacked them, and when they called for hours by wireless to warn others of danger, no one answered. There were some with wireless and no guns, and as they had only one operator and one man is only one man and can’t stay with the receiver at his ear twenty-four hours out of the twenty-four without going crazy, their ships were not kept constantly informed of danger and had some narrow squeaks. There were others who had guns and no wireless, but their guns were duds which jammed at the third shot, so they might as well have had none. And then there were those who had neither guns nor wireless, like the _Pamir_. These were in the majority and the only reply they can make to a submarine is to make their wills. To talk about such a state of things is not exactly merry, and without Fourgues, who was in fine form that day, it might have turned into a regular funeral service, especially as they also spoke of their lifeboats, which are insufficient everywhere; of their engines, which are at their last gasp as the result of overwork; of their ships, which hold together only because they’re good-natured, but which are sprung all over the shop; in short, old man, all the little worries which you have known in the past, but which were a joke compared with the present mess.