The "Emden," (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1917 Excerpt: ...hurried off to the washroom. In conformity to the laws that decide nationality, the war kittens were declared to belong to our mess. In a vacant corner, where a sofa had once stood, we set up a little wooden house, and made a bed in it for the cat and her kittens. Thanks to the devoted care of all the ship's officers and the men who served them, the kittens prospered wonderfully. The instinct by which they were prevented from killing themselves with overeating roused our admiration. In a short time the tiny creatures were able to venture upon short excursions away from their bed. Thereafter, all of us, when moving about the mess, picked our steps most cautiously, because the kittens were always most likely to be just where we were about to place our feet. There was special need of this precaution at night. When this consideration for our little guests had reached a point where it threatened to interfere with certain nightly manoeuvres, the cat house was placed within an enclosure. Later, when the tiny things had developed into cunning creatures, they used to scamper about on our afternoon coffee table, where they engaged in the most amusing wrestling matches. To knock over the pictures on my writing desk, and to investigate the contents of my waste basket formed some of their chief amusement. So that we might be able to distinguish them, one from the other, we tied different colored ribbons around their necks. One day we decided that they must be christened. We named them for the steamers that we had captured. So we had a little Pontoporros, a small LovatIndus, and a little Cabigna and King Lud capering about on our table. Only for the last and tiniest kitten did we find it difficult to select a suitable name. It was the weakling of the family, for in its p...