The Germans told us that on the barque they had seen some English
newspapers, and in them was some news of the two men who had escaped
from the _Wolf_ near Sunday Island. One of them had died while swimming
ashore; the other, after some weeks alone on the island, had been picked
up by a Japanese cruiser. The news this man was able to give was the
first that the outside world had known about the _Wolf_ for many months,
and the Germans realized that their enemies would be looking out for
them and trying to prevent their return to Germany. This man would also
be able to give an exact description of the _Wolf_, the names of the
ships she had captured before his escape, and the probable fate of other
vessels since missing. This, we felt, would bring at least a little
comfort to our relatives, who might conclude we were on the raider and
not hopelessly lost, as they must have feared.

We had hoped our captors might have put us all on the sailing ship and
sent us off on her to South America, as the _Wolf_ would have been well
away and out of danger before we could have got ashore. But they did not
entertain any such idea. Some of us requested that the lifeboats of the
sailing ship might be sent over to our ship, as we had only two
lifeboats, a couple of small dinghies, and an improvised raft made of
barrels and planks lashed together and surrounded by iron uprights and
ropes--not sufficient for sixty-five people; but the Germans would not
send us these lifeboats, as they said they were leaky!

The question of baggage had to be again reconsidered. It was evident we
should be able to save very little, perhaps not even a handbag, if the
ship were sunk by the Germans and the prisoners put into the lifeboats.
However, we ourselves packed in a handbag our most precious treasures we
had brought from Siam. But in case it was impossible to save even so