Page:The web (1919).djvu/233

 All this section, along the Jersey Palisades, near Hoboken, is strong in sympathy for Germany. Nearly all of the population is from Germany or of German parentage and here was this steamer, the biggest of all the boats, and long the pride of the Germans. It was not to be expected that the New Jersey Germans would feel pleasant about its present status. These local Germans boasted that they had been through these boats after our Government took them over. They told stories of what the Government was doing with them and what they were going to do themselves so that the boats would never sail or never get across. The history of other ships which took fire in mid-*ocean, or were blown up by concealed explosives is referred to elsewhere. It always was sufficient to make the sailing of any transport a matter of great uneasiness.

An A. P. L. operative wanted to know what these Germans were doing regarding the Leviathan. Of course, the boat was supposed to be absolutely guarded against entry by any stranger. This man, however, went to the gate and asked for the Commandant by nickname. The guard supposed he must be a friend of the Commandant, because of his familiarity, and naïvely let him through. The operative walked up and down the pier wondering how he could get on board, for he saw guards at the gangway. There was a pile of mailbags on the dock, so the operative stole over that way, picked up a mail sack and threw it over his shoulder. Near the gangway there was a group of soldiers and sailors engaged in an argument. As the operative approached, they separated, and he went through. He was dressed in civilian clothes, and had on a derby hat, but these did not seem to be suspicious facts. The operative walked on up the gangplank unmolested, and roamed all over the boat from top to bottom, still carrying the mailbag. Having done what any German could have done in the same circumstances, he started out, but near the gangway was stopped by a man who wore a watchman's badge, and who spoke with a noticeable German accent. This man stopped the operative, who, upon being asked where he was going, replied that he was going off the boat. The watchman told him to get off in a hurry. He was still carrying his U. S. mail sack, which he replaced on the