[Sidenote:  A submarine escapes.]

I had a big disappointment on my first run out.  I nearly bagged a submarine for you.  We got her on the surface as nice as anything, but it was very rough, and she was far away, and before I could plunk her, she got under.  If she had only—­but, as the saying goes, if the dog hadn’t stopped to scratch himself, he would have got the rabbit (not, however, that we stopped to scratch ourselves).

AUGUST 27.

[Sidenote:  Responsibility for lives and ship.]

I am still in command of the ship and love it, but there is a difference between being second in command and being It.  It makes you introspective to realize that a hundred lives and a $700,000 ship are absolutely dependent upon you, without anybody but the Almighty to ask for advice if you get into difficulty.

It is not so much the submarines, which are largely a matter of luck, but the navigating.  Say I am heading back for port after several days out, the weather is thick as pea-soup, and I have not seen land or had an observation for days.  I know where I am—­at least I think I do—­but what if I have miscalculated, or am carried off my course by the strong and treacherous tides on this coast, and am heading right into the breakers somewhere, or perchance a mine-field!  Then the fog lifts a little, and I see the cliffs or mountains that I recognize, and bring her in with a slam-bang, much bravado, and a sigh of relief.

Don’t you remember the days when you thought son was dying if he cried—­or if he didn’t?  Well, that’s it!

[Sidenote:  Recreations ashore.]

Don’t get the idea that I have no recreations.  We walk and play golf, go to the movies on occasion, and there is always a jolly gang of mixed services to play with.

SEPTEMBER 9.

Life here doesn’t vary much.  The captain is up and taking a few days’ leave, though I doubt if he will take command for two or three weeks yet.  But I am having a lovely time running her.

[Sidenote:  A veteran New Zealander for dinner.]

The other night we had a very interesting chap for dinner—­a New Zealander he was, who has served in Egypt, Gallipoli, the trenches in France, and is now in the Royal Naval Reserve.  The tales he told were of wonderful interest.  He was modest and seemed to have been a decent sort, but you could sense the brutalizing effect of war on him.  Some of the things he told were such jokes on the Germans that we laughed right heartily.

[Sidenote:  The beast in man is near the surface.]