CHAPTER II
The Last of the Nichi Maru
In silence the three Subs left the doomed Nichi Maru and entered the waiting boat. At the word of command the men pushed off and rowed towards the modern pirate.
The disguised vessel had now swung round and was lying motionless at a distance of two cables' length from her prize. The hull was painted a light yellow, with a broad black band. Her funnels were buff with black tops. On her stern were the words, Zwaan —Rotterdam.
"She's no more the Zwaan of Rotterdam than I am," cogitated Denbigh.
He was right in his surmise. The vessel was originally the Pelikan —a supplementary Hamburg-Amerika Line boat. On the outbreak of the war she was homeward bound from South America, with, as was the case with all liners flying the German flag, an armament of qu
