ABSTRACT
The life, in which he found an echo of the past, was stimulating; the contact with officers and men of the merchant marine awoke memories of his youth and revived his pride in having been one of them. In the meantime his elder son had enlisted and was about to be commissioned second lieutenant in a heavy-artillery unit of the British Army. The whole paltry transaction of conciliating mere crime for fear of obscure political consequences makes one sick. In a class contest there is no room for conciliation. The attacked class cannot save itself by throwing honesty, dignity and convictions overboard. The issue is simply life and death, and if anything can save the situation it is only ruthless courage. A keen interest in Franco-British naval rivalry came quite naturally to this former seaman of both countries.
