able to stand such weather, unprovided as they were with winter clothing
(although the Commander of the _Wolf_ had certainly sent over some rolls
of flannelette--stolen from the _Hitachi_--for the ladies to make
themselves warm garments!). Also that in case of distress we could call
for no help, as our wireless would only receive and not send messages.
The Captain brushed these complaints aside, saying the ship was in good
trim and could stand any weather, that it would only be intensely cold
on a very few days, that arrangements would be made that we should
suffer as little from the cold as possible, and that there was very
little likelihood of our being in distress.

I then pointed out to him that our own Government prohibited our women
from travelling through the submarine zone at all, but that he proposed
to send them through it twice and to give us a double dose of the North
Atlantic at the very worst time of the year. He replied that going north
we should go nowhere near the submarine zone, that he was just as
anxious to avoid submarines as we were, and that when we parted far up
in the North Atlantic, the _Igotz Mendi_ would be given a "submarine
pass," guaranteeing her safety from attack by the U boats, and special
lights to burn at nights. I replied that I failed to see the use of a
"submarine pass," as U boats torpedoed at sight, and would not trouble
to ask for a pass. He replied by asking me if I had ever heard of a
neutral boat being torpedoed without warning. I answered that I had
heard of such being done many times, and reminded him that the _Igotz
Mendi_ was painted the Allied grey colour and therefore would not be
recognized as a neutral, but regarded by the U boats as an enemy ship.
The Captain became very angry--the only time he ever lost his temper
with me--and ended the interview by saying that he was carrying out the
orders of the _Wolf's_ Commander, and had no choice but to obey. This
was undoubtedly true, and though Lieutenant Rose told us many lies