[Sidenote:  The deep sea breeds a certain fineness of character.]

The officers were taken care of in the ward-room—­rough unlettered old sailormen, who possessed a certain fineness of character which I believe the deep sea tends to breed in those who follow it long enough.  I have known some old Tartars greatly hated by those under them, but to whom a woman or child would take naturally.

What you say about my possibly being taken prisoner both amuses and touches me.  The former because it seems so highly unlikely a contingency.  Submarines do not take prisoners if they can help it, and least of all from a man-of-war.  But I have often thought of just what I should do in such a case, and I have decided that it would be far better to die than to submit to certain things.  In which case, I should use my utmost ingenuity to take along one or two adversaries with me.

AUGUST 11.

[Sidenote:  The case for universal conscription.]

So the boys at home don’t all take kindly to being conscripted, eh?  Well, I wish for a lot of reasons that the conscription might be as complete and far-reaching as it is in, for instance, France.  I think for one thing that universal conscription is the final test of democracy.  Again, I think it would do every individual in the nation good to find out that there was something a little bit bigger than he—­something that neither money, nor politics, nor obscurity, nor the Labor Union, nor any one else could help him to wriggle out of.  It would go far towards disillusioning those many who seem to feel that they do not have to take too seriously a government because they have helped to create it.

[Sidenote:  Not a question of courage but of mental process.]

While I have precious little sympathy for slackers of any variety, one must not judge them too harshly because their minds do not happen to work the same as ours.  In nine cases out of ten it is not a question of courage, but one of mental process.  Some people come of a caste to whom war or the idea of fighting for their country is second nature.  They take it for granted, like death and taxes.  If they ever permitted themselves seriously to question the rightness of it; to submit patriotism and courage to an acid analysis, they might suddenly turn arrant cowards.  How much harder is it, then, for people who have never even faced the idea of it before to be suddenly placed up against the actual fact!

AUGUST 18.

I have been having a little extra fun on my own hook recently.  The poor captain has had to have an operation, and will be on his back for some weeks.

[Sidenote:  Double duty on the bridge.]

Do I like going to war all on my own?  Oh no, just like a cat hates cream.  It is a wee bit strenuous, as I have to do double duty; and one night I was on the bridge steadily from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.  But the funny part is that I didn’t feel especially all in afterward, and one good sleep fixed me up completely.