obligation which held him inactive while the submarine plied its deadly
work. There was, of course, nothing else to do--except to carry on the
humanitarian work of rescuing victims of the U boat or boats, as the
case might have been.

Later, it was given to many of the craft which set forth that October
afternoon to engage in their service to humanity, to cross the seas and
to meet the submarine where it lurked in the Irish Sea, the North Sea,
the English Channel, and the Mediterranean. One of them, the _Cassin_
was later to be struck--but not sunk--by a torpedo off the coast of
England, while the _Fanning_, in company with the _Nicholson_, had full
opportunity of paying off the score which most naval officers felt had
been incurred when the U-53 and her alleged companion invaded American
waters and sullied them with the foul deeds that had so long stained the
clean seas of Europe.

German diplomats were enthusiastic over the exploits of their craft.
"The U-53 and other German submarines, if there are others," said a
member of the German Embassy at Washington, "is engaged in doing to the
commerce of the Allies just what the British tried to do to the
_Deutschland_ when she left America. (The submarine _Deutschland_,
engaged in commercial enterprise, had visited the United States some
time previously.) It is a plain case of what is sometimes known as
commerce-raiding. It is being done by submarines, that is all. Warfare,
such as that which has been conducted in the Mediterranean, has been
brought across the Atlantic. It should be easy to destroy more of the
overseas commerce of the Allies, which is principally with America, near
where it originates."

Here was a veiled threat--not so veiled either--which was no doubt