Villiers followed him. The officer was accompanied by two sailors armed with revolvers and the submarine stood close by with her gun trained on them. He went to the chart-house and looked at the chart of the Mediterranean, upon which the skipper of the _Mer-Morte_ had traced the secret route from Toulon to Salonica. He compared this with a chart which he had brought with him from the submarine. When he saw that they matched, he said to Villiers: “That’s all right. We know where all the boats go; our spies have not misinformed us. With secret routes like this we are sure of not losing time because you all go the same way. The patrol-boats are not very numerous, as you may have noticed; when there are any we stay out of range and come up again when they are gone. That simplifies our job.” Villiers was astounded, but the other was very polite and smiled. “Oh, it wasn’t by chance! Our boat was waiting for the _Mer-Morte_, which left Toulon the day before yesterday, at night-fall, with five thousand tons of munitions for the Army of the East. The same day the _Saint-Artémise_ left with coal for Bizerta, the _Jeanne-Marguerite_ with coal for Navarin, and the battleship _Lyon_ for Malta. They all passed this way during the day. We saw them and let them go. We don’t work except when there’s no risk and when it’s worth while. Five thousand tons of munitions! We are very well informed, and then these secret routes make things so much more convenient!” When he had finished carefully consulting the charts of the _Mer-Morte_, the Boche handed Villiers an account-book with counterfoils and asked him to sign it: “It’s for our accounts and our part of the prize-money,” he said. “Of course, we should be believed if we said we had sunk a vessel, but it is better to have the signature of one of the officers. It’s more certain. In Germany, it’s not the same as it is with you. The more we destroy at sea, the more they pay us. We don’t make war for fun. So this little affair of the _Mer-Morte_, with her five thousand tons of munitions, is worth ten thousand marks to my commander, five thousand to me, and a thousand to each of the men of the crew of my boat. Nice, eh? Ah! I advise you to get into your lifeboats at once and row hard. I’m going to put bombs in the forward hold, and by gum, within a quarter of an hour there will be some first-class fireworks!” Villiers said he supposed he would at least allow the crew to take some provisions and wine and clothing, as the lifeboats might be long at sea. “What’s the use of that? We are not savages,” answered the Boche; “all the boats pass this way. There are some carrying nothing of importance passing within twenty-four hours--the _Creuse_, the _City of Birmingham_, the _Pamir_, the _Santa Trinita_. We shan’t do anything to them--there are others more interesting. We are well informed! Among those four there will surely be one to pick you up!”