At the same time, he had the extra satisfaction of taking aboard himself as pleasant a cargo of fine Bavarian beer as a man could comfortably handle. God alone knew when another such opportunity might arise, he told himself. And since the good fellows in the Alice insisted on treating, glass for glass, he could scarcely, in politeness, refuse—even though they outnumbered him more than ten to one! As a result he managed, singlehandedly, to lighten the Alice considerably, while von Mueller and von Muecke wrangled over details with the civilian Captain and purser. When at last they returned to the Emden, he even shook the hand of the Alice's Captain, much to the clear amusement of von Mueller and von Muecke and the barely repressed smiles of the boat's crew. But no one else had accomplished half as much!
Although the Emden was disappointed in the matter of supplies, when it came to personnel it was a different story. As senior officer present Karl von Mueller was able and quite ready to draft reserves. Since more than half of the Alice's crew were in that category, he might easily have immobilized her, and there was little doubt that he needed all the experienced merchant seamen he could get to serve as prize crews. But he was a reasonable man, and he recognized that it would serve no real purpose to cripple her. However, the chief mate, Kapitanleutnant Wilhelm Klopper, was a reservist and available for call. So were four of the eight other officers in the deck department, three of the engineers, two of the stewards, twenty-four petty officers, and thirty-two regular seamen, oilers, and firemen. In addition there were more than thirty volunteers. Of the last, von Mueller accepted eighteen—not enough to strip the liner, but still enough to give a civilian captain with insufficient courage to recognize a national emergency some trouble in finding his way to safety.
All of the officers and men who joined the Emden did so with genuine enthusiasm, and even some relief, for almost to a man they recognized that here was no mere temporary situation, and if the Fatherland was in need it went against their consciences to hang back. Among the most valuable acquisitions at that time were a pair of quartermaster's mates whose familiarity with Eastern waters rivaled that of native smugglers and pirates—still no inconsiderable problem in those Eastern seas. But their real prize was Wilhelm Klopper, late chief mate of the Alice, who was not merely a seaman of great ability but also a man of genuine humor and understanding. Indeed, he was what the Spaniards call simpatico. He was congenial as a friend and respected as an authority, both a leader and a companion, a sort of cousin and confessor; a distinct addition to their company.
They clung to the shelter of the island until almost dusk. Then as the sun dropped behind the rim of the island, all three vessels weighed anchor, standing generally west by south, toward the Moluccas. As darkness closed in, the Alice displayed a tendency to stray. Twice von Mueller ordered the Emden off course to go in pursuit and bring her back to her proper position. The third time she began to wander, he cursed violently. Klopper, who was on the bridge at the time, chuckled.
"I'm afraid you're going to have your hands full with him, sir," he remarked. "The 'Old Man' just hasn't much stomach for wartime duty."
"So?" growled von Mueller. "Then perhaps—" Instead of finishing the sentence he stabbed furiously at the buzzer to the wireless room.
"Von Guerard!" came the instant response.
"Break silence, Herr von Guerard!" said the Captain. "Contact the Princess Alice and inform her commander that unless she can maintain her assigned post we will have to abandon her."
There was a moment of silence. Then sharply the wireless-room buzzer sounded. "Herr Kapitan?" came von Guerard's voice almost apologetically. "The officer in command of the Princess Alice reports his fuel in short supply and his engines in disrepair. He begs permission to abandon the cruise in company with the Emden."
Von Mueller swore roundly. "Tell the damned milksop to go to—" he began, then stopped and got control of himself. "Von Guerard?"
"Ja, Herr Kapitan?"
"Inform the Captain of the Alice that he has my permission to break off. Tell him that my orders to him are to mate for the nearest Philippine port to avoid capture if possible. He will make such repairs as he is able there and secure sufficient fuel to carry him to San Francisco, where he will endeavor to obtain further supplies to carry him home. Under no circumstances is he to allow his ship to fall into enemy hands. If he is intercepted and such a capture seems inevitable, he is to open the sea cocks and scuttle the ship. Make it very clear to him that these are positive and final orders, and that copies are being sent both to his owners and to naval headquarters at Wilhelmshaven so that he will be held responsible for compliance. See to that, Leutnant!"
"Jawohl, Herr Kapitan!" von Guerard responded with almost gleeful alacrity, and clicked off.
The Princess Alice did not stand on the order of her going. In fact, her haste to leave the dangerous vicinity of the Emden was almost indecent.
"The bastard!" snorted Klopper to Franz von Hohenzollem. "He is probably afraid Kapitan von Mueller will change his mind. That kind always seem to judge others by their own likeness! As a matter of fact, apart from the ship and the stuff in her, we're well rid of him."
Within an hour the Alice was little more than a smudge on the western horizon, and it was only by relay, through Berlin, that they learned long afterward that she had made her way safely to Manila again, where she had been interned. At the same time, they learned that her Captain in his report had made it quite clear that von Mueller had summarily rejected his own brave offer of assistance and dismissed him with a sneer!
Fortunately, no one was very much concerned. Von Mueller's own report of the affair had long since been received at the Admiralty, so it must be clear to Wilhelmshaven just who was embellishing the truth. As he could not have known what the Alice's commander was going to say, von Mueller could scarcely have colored his report to match. Irritation and contempt in the Emden's wardroom, coupled with a sense of genuine indifference, was about the only result.
As the Alice disappeared over the horizon, the Emden picked her way southward, threading past Halmahera, Batlan, Obi, Ceram, and Buru, into the Banda Sea. They were deep in the Moluccas early on Sunday afternoon, and learned only long afterward that at the very moment a Japanese steamer dipped her flag to them the Tokyo government was in the act of declaring war on Germany. Since at the time, von Mueller could not be sure of the status between them, he ignored the salute and continued southward. Toward dusk the Emden passed a small fleet of fishing canoes heading in to Amboina.
"Lucky devils!" said von Mueller, watching them. "Fun, fool, and frolic! That's their program. What do they know ; of war?" I
"Would you expect them to, Karl?" von Muecke demanded. "Just the same, you give me an idea."
"What's that?" von Mueller demanded.
"Well, look at them," said von Muecke. "What do you see?"
"A lot of fishing boats—what else?"
"Exactly," said von Muecke. "But suppose one of them was not a fishing boat? Suppose none of them were fishermen? Suppose they were all torpedo boats disguised as fishermen? Where would we be right now? "
"What are you driving at?" said von Mueller.
"Well, we could hardly disguise ourselves as fishing boats. But we need not parade openly as the German cruiser I Emden, with a silhouette pasted in the recognition books of ] every navy in the world! We have three stacks amidships and four tall wind funnels, with a midships castle that has a characteristic break in the middle. Very well; suppose we rig a dummy stack just abaft the foremast, so that in silhouette we show four stacks instead of three. Then let us cut down the wind funnels so that they scoop the air from a less conspicuous point. Third, let us bridge over the break in the midships castle. What ship would that suggest to you, Karl?"