The Captain of the liner was an old man. He had sailed the seas for
two-score years, at least half of them as master. At the outbreak
of the Great War he was given command of the Doraine, relieving
a younger man for more drastic duty in the North Sea. He was an
Englishman, and his name, Weatherby Trigger, may be quite readily
located on the list of retired naval officers in the British
Admiralty offices if one cares to go to the trouble to look it up.

After two years the Doraine, with certain other vessels involved
in a well-known and somewhat thoroughly debated transaction, became
to all intents and purposes the property of the United States of
America; she flew the American flag, carried an American guncrew
and American papers, and, with some difficulty, an English master.
The Captain was making his last voyage as master of the ship. An
American captain was to succeed him as soon as the Doraine reached
its destination in the United States. Captain Trigger, a little
past seventy, had sailed for nearly two years under the Amercan
flag at a time when all Englishmen were looking askance at it and
wondering if it was ever to take its proper place among the righteous
banners of the world. It had taken its place among them, and the
"old man" was happy.

His crew of one hundred and fifty was what might be aptly described
as international. The few Englishmen he had on board were noticeably
unfit for active duty in the war zone. There was a small contingent