White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1929-09-27
{ count LUCKNER|;
+ THE SEA DEVIL !
;. Doubleday rsss BY LOWELL THOMAS z

By LOWELL THOMAS

coming for us. Having received the
message sent by the suspicious half
breed and the white man that there
were six Germans on the island, the
authorities had sent a force of mill.
tary police to arrest us. There had
been some delay In this, as the only
available boat on which to send the
police was cattle steamer the Amra,
and she could not raise anchor for
some hours. She had arrived now
right in the nick of time, had commu
nlcated with the shore, and been in.
formed that we were aboard the
schooner.
The storm had cleared during the
early morning. The palm trees ashore
were ablaze with the tropical sun
shine. The water under us was OF
the deep blue that you see only In the
South Seas. A brisk, refreshing wind
blew from the west. The boat with
the officer and four soldiers came row
ing with long, powerful strokes. The
Indians wore puttees and those funny
little pants that leave the knees bare
They carried no arms other than bay
onets. The officer had sword and
a revolver. We could easily have shot
them down with our pistols, or thrown
a hand grenade In their boat, or held
them up at pistol point when they
came aboard Then we could have
captured the ship and sailed away
The steamer would have been power
less In the face of our machine guns
There were mutterings among my men
They were full of fight. We should
they urged, make the capture and
get away.
passed an uncomfortable moment
Of indecision. Our uniforms were
packed In our bundles, slowed below
We would have to fight off arrest and
take the ship In the guise, not of naval
soldiers but Of civilians, and as civil
tans we would have to raise our
weapons against soldiers. That not
only went against the grain, but II
went against the unwrltten laws of
the game. There are many sporting
traditions that are carefully incul
Gated In every German naval officer
If we could have fought In our uni
forms, It would have been as honor
able naval men. In the end, the odds
would be all against US and the chances
were at least hundred to one that
we would be captured before getting
back home If we fought as naval
men and were later captured, we
would be entitled to the treatment due
honorable prisoners of war. II we
fought In citizens clothes, we were
nothing more than international ban
dts and as such almost sure to hang
finally from yardarm. They say that
all is fair in love and war, but this
does not alter the fact that there are
things you can do that are not play
Ing the game. OF course, each side
has its spies, and a spy, If caught, ex,
poets no quarter and gets none
But during the War Of 1870, and dur
ing the late war, too, we Germans
were most severe with franctireurs,
civilians WIN Sulpcu az ooiuASAo. ~
has been one of our cardinal prin
ciples that war must be waged by uni
formed soldiers. In the World war.
both sides were charged with intro
ducing new methods Of warfare that
were not in accordance with the
ethics Of the game. But you will re
call that even Allied cargo and pas
senger ships armed with guns to fire
on submarines made It general rule
to carry gun crews Of uniformed ma
rines to handle the guns. -.
"No," said to my men, men, 'in the uni
forms Of our country we can fight. AS
civilians we cannot. At any rate, we
are not going to drop bomb down
there and kill that poor defenseless po-
lice officer and his men In those short
pants! There would be neither fun
nor glory In that"
ITO BE CONT1NUED.)
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