Visit https://testbankmall.

com to download the full version and

explore more testbank or solution manual

Quantum Mechanics I The Fundamentals 1st

Rajasekar Solution Manual

_____ Click the link below to download _____

https://testbankmall.com/product/quantum-mechanics-i-
the-fundamentals-1st-rajasekar-solution-manual/

Explore and download more testbank at testbankmall.com

Here are some suggested products you might be interested in.
Click the link to download

Quantum Mechanics 1st Edition McIntyre Solutions Manual

https://testbankmall.com/product/quantum-mechanics-1st-edition-
mcintyre-solutions-manual/

Quantum Mechanics 6th Rae Solution Manual

https://testbankmall.com/product/quantum-mechanics-6th-rae-solution-
manual/

Solution Manual for Quantum Mechanics by McIntyre

https://testbankmall.com/product/solution-manual-for-quantum-
mechanics-by-mcintyre/

Test Bank for Physics A Conceptual World View, 7th Edition

https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-physics-a-conceptual-
world-view-7th-edition/
Test Bank for Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases:
Competitiveness and Globalization, 13th Edition, Michael
A. Hitt R. Duane Ireland Robert E. Hoskisson
https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-strategic-management-
concepts-and-cases-competitiveness-and-globalization-13th-edition-
michael-a-hitt-r-duane-ireland-robert-e-hoskisson/

Test Bank for A History of Modern Psychology, 5th Edition

by Goodwin

https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-a-history-of-modern-
psychology-5th-edition-by-goodwin/

Vander’s Human Physiology, 13th Edition Test Bank – Eric

Widmaier

https://testbankmall.com/product/vanders-human-physiology-13th-
edition-test-bank-eric-widmaier/

Test Bank for Choices In Relationships An Introduction To

Marriage And The Family 11th Edition Knox

https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-choices-in-
relationships-an-introduction-to-marriage-and-the-family-11th-edition-
knox/

Solution Manual for Looking Out, Looking In, 15th Edition

https://testbankmall.com/product/solution-manual-for-looking-out-
looking-in-15th-edition/
Test Bank for ¡Arriba!: Comunicación y cultura 6/E 6th
Edition Eduardo Zayas-Bazan, Susan Bacon, Holly Nibert

https://testbankmall.com/product/test-bank-for-arriba-comunicacion-y-
cultura-6-e-6th-edition-eduardo-zayas-bazan-susan-bacon-holly-nibert/
 2m c c c2

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 21 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 8 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals

For A = (Bz, 0, 0) and φ = −Ez we have

∂ψ 1 q q2
i = − 2 ∇ ψ + 2i Bzψ + B z ψ − qEzψ .
∂t 2m 2 2 2
z
c c2

2.4 What is the Schrödinger equation of a system of two particles of

masses m1 and m2 carrying charges q1 and q2 respectively with
1 2 1 2 q1 q2
H = p + p + and r12 = |r1 − r2 |?
2m1 1 2m2 2 r12

∂ψ
The Schrödinger equation i = Hψ becomes
∂t
∂ψ 2 2
q1 q2
i =− ∇12ψ − ∇ 2ψ + ψ,
∂t 2m1 2m2 2 r12
where

∂2 ∂2 ∂2
∇2i = + 2 + 2, i = 1, 2 .
∂x i
2
∂y i ∂z i

2.5 Starting from the Schrödinger equation for ψ, obtain the equation for
ψ∗.

The Schrödinger equation for ψ is

∂ψ 2
i =− ∇2 ψ + V (X, t)ψ .
∂t 2m

Taking complex conjugate of the above equation we get

∂ψ ∗ 2
−i =− ∇2 ψ ∗ + V ∗ (X, t)ψ ∗ .
∂t 2m

This is the Schrödinger equation for ψ ∗ .

2.6 If E1 and E2 are the eigenvalues and φ1 and φ2 are the eigenfunctions
of a Hamiltonian operator then find whether the energy corresponding
to the superposition state φ1 + φ2 is equal to E1 + E2 or not.

We have Hφ1 = E1 φ1 and Hφ2 = E2 φ2 . Then

H (φ1 + φ2 ) = Hφ1 + Hφ2

= E1 φ 1 + E2 φ2
= (E1 + E2 ) (φ1 + φ2 ) .

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 22 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Schrödinger Equation and Wave Function 9

2
2.7 Express the Schrödinger equation − ∇2 + V (x, y, z) ψ(x, y, z) =
2m

Eψ(x, y, z) in the spherical polar coordinates defined by x = r sin θ cos φ,

y = r sin θ sin φ, z = r cos θ and in the parabolic coordinates defined by
ξ = r(1 − cos θ), η = r(1 + cos θ), φ = φ cos θ.

In spherical polar coordinates the Schrödinger equation is

2
1 ∂ 2 ∂ 1 ∂ ∂
− r + sin θ
2m r 2 ∂r ∂r r 2 sin θ ∂θ ∂θ
1 ∂2
+ + V (r, θ, φ) ψ(r, θ, φ) = Eψ(r, θ, φ) .
r 2 sin2 θ ∂φ2

In the parabolic coordinates the Schrödinger equation is

2
4 ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ 1 ∂2
− ξ + η +
2m ξ + η ∂ξ ∂ξ ∂η ∂η ξη ∂φ2

+V (ξ, η, φ) ψ = Eψ .

2.8 Find the condition under which both ψ(X, t) and ψ ∗ (X, −t) will be the
solutions of the same time-dependent Schrödinger equation.

The Schrödinger equations for ψ(X, t) and ψ ∗ (X, −t) are given by
∂ψ 2
i = − ∇ 2 ψ + V (X, t)ψ ,
∂t 2m
∂ψ ∗ 2
2
i =
− ∇ ψ ∗ + V ∗ (X, −t)ψ
∂t 2m

respectively. The above two equations are identical if V (X, t) =

V ∗ (X, −t), that is if V is real and an even function of t.

2.9 What is the major difference between real and complex wave functions?

The probability current density J is given by

J= [ψ ∗ ∇ψ − ψ∇ψ ∗ ] .
2mi

If ψ is real then J = 0. If ψ is complex then J need not be zero.

2.10 What is the difference between the wave function ψ1 = ei(kx−ωt) and
ψ2 = ei(k·X−ωt) ?

ψ1 is a plane (probability)wave travelling along a one-dimensional line.

ψ2 is a three-dimensional (probability)wave.

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 23 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 10 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals

2.11 Write the Hamiltonian of a photon.

For a photon H = E = mc2 = mcc = pc.

2.12 What is the physical meaning of �x� = 0?

ψ is symmetric or antisymmetric with respect to x = 0.

2.13 Write the operator forms of kinetic energy and angular momentum L =
r × p.

The operator form of kinetic energy mv 2 /2 is

1 p2 2
(K.E.)op = mv 2= = − ∇2 .
2 2m 2m

For L = r × p we have with r = ix + jy + kz

i j k
L = r×p = x y z
px py pz
= i (ypz − zpy ) + j (zpx − xpz ) + k (xpy − ypx ) .

The components of L are

∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
Lx = i −y +z =i z −y ,
∂z ∂y ∂y ∂z

∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
Ly = i −z +x =i x −z ,
∂x ∂z ∂z ∂x

∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
Lz = i −x +y =i y −x .
∂y ∂x ∂x ∂y

d
2.14 Consider the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation u(x) = − ln ψ(x).
dx
Obtain the Schrödinger equation under the change of variable
d
u(x) = − ln ψ(x).
dx

The general transformation is u = −ψx /ψ or ψx = −uψ. Then ψxx =

−ux ψ − uψx . Now, the Schrödinger equation is rewritten as (with λ =
2mE/ 2 and g = 2mV / 2 )

−ux ψ − uψx + (λ − g)ψ = 0 or − ux ψ + u2 ψ + (λ − g)ψ = 0 .

That is, ux − u2 − λ + g = 0.

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 24 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Schrödinger Equation and Wave Function 11

2.15 Find the conditions to be satisfied by the functions f and g such that
under the transformation ψ = f (x)F (g(x)) the Schrödinger equation
ψxx + (E − V )ψ = 0 can be written as
Fgg + Q(g)Fg + R(g)F (g) = 0 . (2.1)
Then show that
2
1 Q2 g g
E − V = (g )2 R − Q − + . (2.2)
−
g
2 4 2g 2g

In terms of f and F the Schrödinger equation is written as

f F + 2f F + f F + (E − V )f F = 0 , (2.3)
where prime denotes differentiation with respect to x. Since F is F (g(x))
we have
F = Fg g , F = Fgg (g )2 + Fg g . (2.4)
Then Eq. (2.3) becomes
2f g f (E − V )
F =0. (2.5)
Fgg + + 2 Fg + 2f 2
+
gf g g g 2

Comparison of Eqs. (2.1) and (2.5) gives

2f g f E −V
Q= + 2 , R= + . (2.6)
gf g g 2f 2
g2

The conditions on f and g are given by Eqs. (2.6). From Eqs. (2.6) we
obtain
f gQ g
= − (2.7a)
f 2 2g

f
E −V = g 2R − . (2.7b)
f
From (2.7a) we find f /f and substituting it in (2.7b) we obtain
d f f f 2
= − . (2.8)
dx f f f2
That is,

f d f 2
= +f
f dx f f2
d gQ 2
= − g +
gQ
−
g
dx 2 2g 2 2g
2
1 g g 2 Q2 g
= Qg − + + . (2.9)
2 2g 4 2g

Substituting the above in Eq. (2.7b) we obtain the Eq. (2.2).

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 25 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 12 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals

2.16 What are the effects of addition of a constant to a potential on the

time-independent Schrödinger equation and the energy levels?

The time-independent Schrödinger equation with the addition of a con-

stant α to a potential is given by
2
− ∇2 + V + α ψ n = E n ψ n .
2m
This can be rewritten as
2
− ∇2 + V ψn = (En − α) ψn = E �
n ψn ,
2m

where E �n = En − α. Therefore ψn remains the same but the energy

eigenvalues of the new system are En − α.

2.17 Which of the following wave functions are admissible in quantum me-
chanics? State the reasons.
2
(a) e−x . (b) sechx. (c) −x
√ e 2 . (d) tanhx. (e) sin x, 0 < x <2 2π. (f) sin x,
−∞ < x < ∞. (g) e −x . (h) tan x. (i) secx. (j) xe−x . (k) 1 − x2 ,
−1 < x < 1.

The conditions to be satisfied by a wave function are: (i) ψ should be

normalizable. (ii) It should be single-valued. (iii) It must be finite at
every point. (iv) It and its first partial derivatives must be continuous.
The functions (a), (b), (e), (j) and (k) satisfy all the above conditions
and hence they are admissible wave functions (verify).
The functions (c), (d), (f), (h), (i) are nonnormalizable. The function
(g) is multivalued. Therefore, they are not admissible wave functions.
2
/(2σ 2 ) .
2.18 Normalize the wave function ψ = N eikx−x
From the normalization condition we obtain
∞ ∞
2 √
1= ψ ∗ ψ dx = N 2 σ e−y dy = N 2 σ π .
−∞ −∞

√ 1/2
Thus N = 1/ (σ π ) .

2.19 Find the value of N for which the wave function ψ(x) = N for |x| < a
and 0 for |x| > a is normalized.
The normalization condition gives
a a
1 = ψ ∗ ψ dx = N 2 dx = N 2 x|a−a
−a −a
2
= 2aN .
√
Thus, N = 1/ 2a .

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 26 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Schrödinger Equation and Wave Function 13

2.20 Normalize the wave function ψ = e−|x| sin αx. It is given that
∞
e sin αx dx = α /(1 + α ).
−x 2 2
0

The normalization condition gives

∞
1 = N2 e−2|x| sin2 αx dx
−∞
0 ∞
= N2 e2x sin2 αx dx + N 2 e−2x sin2 αx dx
−∞ 0

∞
= 2N 2 e−2x sin2 αx dx
0
∞
N 2 −2x ∞ N2
= − e |0 − e−x cos αx dx
2 2 0
∞
N2 N2
= − −e−x cos αx0 |∞ − α e−x sin αx dx
2 2 0

N2 N2 α3
= − 1−
2 2 1 + α2

N 2 α3
= .
2(1 + α2 )

That is, N = 2(1 + α2 )/α3 .

2.21 A particle of mass m moves in a one-dimensional box of length L with

origin as the centre. If the wave function of this particle is ψ(x) =
N x(1 − x2 ) for |x| < L/2 and 0 otherwise find the factor N .

N can be determined from normalization condition. We obtain

L/2
2
1 = N2 x2 1 − x2 dx
−L/2
L/2
= N2 x2 − 2x4 + x6 dx
−L/2

L3 L5 L7
= N2 − +
12 160 448

Thus,
−1/2
L3 L5 L7
N = − + .
12 160 448

If L is very small then N ≈ 12/L3 .

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 27 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 14 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals

2.22 A quantum mechanical particle moving in one-dimension has the wave

function ψ(x) = cxe−|x|/b , −∞ < x < ∞ where c and b are constants
(b > 0). Find the probability that the position of the particle lies in the
region −∞ < x ≤ b.

First, we normalize the wave function. We obtain

∞
1 = ψ ∗ ψ dx
−∞
∞
= c2 x2 e−2|x|/b dx
−∞
0 ∞

= c2 x2 e2x/b dx + c2 x2 e−2x/b dx
−∞ 0

∞
= 2c2 x2 e−2x/b dx .
0

Substituting 2x/b = y in the integral, we get

∞
b 3 c2
1= y 2 e−y dy .
4 0

Integrating by parts we get

∞ ∞
b 3 c2 3 2 3 2
bc bc
1= ye−y dy = e−y dy = .
2 0 2 0 2

That is c2 = 2/b3 or c = 2/b3 . The probability P (−∞ < x ≤ b) is

b
P = ψ ∗ ψ dx
−∞
0 b
2
= x2 e2|x|/b dx + x2 e−2x/b dx
b3
−∞ 0
3 0 b
2 b
= − y 2 e−y dy + y 2 e−y dy
b3 8 ∞ 0
∞ b
1
= y 2 e−y dy + y 2 e−y dy
4 0 0

Integrating by parts we get

e−b 2
P =1− b + 2b + 2 .
4

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 28 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Schrödinger Equation and Wave Function 15

2.23 What is the probability current density corresponding to ψ(x) = Ae−αx

where A and α are constants?

The probability current density is given by

J= [ψ ∗ ∇ψ − ψ∇ψ ∗ ] .
2mi

Since the given ψ is real, ψ ∗ = ψ,

J = [ψ∇ψ − ψ∇ψ] = 0 .
2mi

2.24 A free particle in one-dimension is in a state described by ψ =

A ei(px x−Et)/ + B e−i(px x+Et)/ where px and E are constants. Find
the probability current density.
J is given by

J = Im(ψ ∗ ∇ψ)
m
= Im A∗ e−i(px x−Et)/ + B ∗ ei(px x+Et)/
m
ipx
+ Be
−i(px x+Et)/
× Aei(px x−Et)/
px 2 2

= |A| − |B| .
m

2
2.25 If the wave function of a particle at t = 0 is ψ(x, 0) = N e−ikx−(x /2a 2)

calculate the probability density and current density.

First, we normalize the given wave function. We obtain

∞ ∞
√
ψ ∗ ψ dx = 2N 2 a e−y dy = N 2 a π .
2
1=
−∞ 0

That is N = (1/(a2 π))1/4 . The probability density is obtained as

1
P (x) = √ e−x /a .
2 2

a π

Then the current density is determined as

dψ dψ ∗
J (x) = ψ∗ −ψ
2mi dx dx
k 1 2 2

−x /a
= √ e
m a π
k
= P (x) .
m

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 29 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 16 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals
1/2
1
e−x
2
√ /2σ 2
2.26 For the Gaussian wave function ψ(x) = calculate
σ π
the probability current density.

The probability current density is given by

dψ ∗
J = dψ −ψ .
2mi ψ∗ dx
dx
For any real ψ

dψ dψ ∗
ψ∗ −ψ
=0.
dx dx
Then J = 0. Therefore, for the real Gaussian function J = 0.
2 2
2.27 Verify whether the wave function ψ = N eikx−x /(2a ) satisfies the conti-
nuity equation or not.
∂ρ dJ
The continuity equation is given by + = 0. For the given function
∂t dx
∂ρ
ρ = ψ ∗ ψ = N 2 e−x /a and
2 2
= 0. Further
∂t

dψ
J = Im ψ dx
∗
m 2 2

= Im N 2 e−x /a
ik − x/a2
m

N 2 k −x2 /a2
= e .
m
Then
dJ N2 k 2 2
= −2 xe−x /a
.
dx ma2
2 2

Now the continuity equation becomes xe−x /a

= 0 which is true only if

x = 0. Hence, the given ψ does not satisfy the continuity equation.

2.28 The wave function of a linear harmonic oscillator with potential V =

mω 2 x2 /2 is ψ = xe−mωx /(2 ) . Find its energy.
2

The Schrödinger equation for a potential V is

2m
ψxx + 2
(E − V )ψ = 0 .

For the given potential and ψ the above equation becomes

−3mω m2 ω 2 3 2mE m2 ω 2 3
x+ 2
x + 2
x− 2
x =0.

From the above equation we get E = 3 ω/2.

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 30 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Schrödinger Equation and Wave Function 17

2.29 If ψ = 1/L cos(πx/(2L)) for the system confined to the potential

V (x) = 0 for |x| < L and ∞ for |x| > L then calculate E.
The Schrödinger equation for the given system is
2m
ψxx + 2
Eψ = 0 .

Then

2 2
π 2 πx 2 π2

Eψ = − ψxx = √ cos = ψ.
2m 2m L 2L 2L 8mL2

2 π 2 /(8mL2 ).
Thus. E =
2.30 The wave function of a particle confined to a box of length L is
2/L sin(πx/L) in the region 0 < x < L and zero everywhere else. Cal-
culate the probability of finding the particle in the region 0 < x ≤ L/2.

We obtain
L/2
P (0 < x ≤ L/2) = ψ ∗ ψ dx
0

L/2
2 πx
= sin2 dx

L 0 L
L/2
1 2πx 1
= 1 − cos dx = .
L 0 L 2
2.31 Write the law of conservation of energy H = T + V in terms of expec-
tation values.
We write �H� = �T � + �V �.
0
2.32 Are the wave functions
1/2 1/2
1 r/a0 1 r r/(2a0 )
− a −
ψ1 = 0 e and ψ2 = 2− e
πa3 32πa3 0

of the electron in hydrogen atom orthogonal?

The orthogonality integral is calculated as
∞ ∞
r
ψ ψ dτ r2 e−3r/2a0 dr
∗
1 2 ∝ 2−
0 0 a0
∞ ∞
2 −y
∝ 6 y e dy − 2 y 3 e−y dy
0 0
∞ ∞
∝ 6 y 2 e−y dy − 6 y 2 e−y dy
0 0

= 0.
∞
Since ψ ∗1 ψ 2dτ = 0, the given two wave functions are orthogonal.
0

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 31 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 18 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals

2.33 Find the potential corresponding to the following wave functions:

1 −x2 /2
(a) ψ = e , E = ω/2.
π 1/4

(b) ψ = A sin(πx/(2L)) for |x| < L and 0 for |x| > L, E = 2 π 2 /(8mL2 ).

(c) ψ = αxe−βx eiE/ .

(d) ψ = (mV0 / )e−kx for x > 0, (mV0 / )ekx for x < 0 and E =
−mV0 /(2 2 ), k 2 = mV0 / 2 .

(a) The eigenvalue equation Hψ = Eψ is

− 2 d2 ψ 2
+ V ψ = Eψ or Vψ= ψxx + Eψ .
2m dx2 2m
Substituting the given ψ and E in the above equation we get
2 2
d
Vψ= (−x)ψ + Eψ = −ψ + x2 ψ + Eψ .
2m dx 2m
Then
2 2
ω
V = −1 + x 2
+E = x −1 +
2
.
2m 2m 2

(b) For the given wave function we obtain

2
d π πx
Vψ = A cos + Eψ
2m dx 2L 2L
π
2 2
= − ψ + Eψ
8mL2
= −Eψ + Eψ
= 0.

Therefore, V (x) = 0 for |x| < L and ∞ for |x| > L.

(c) Using the given wave function we get

2 d −βx
Vψ = αeiE/ e − βx2 e−βx + Eψ
2m dx
2

= αeiE/ −βe−βx − 2βxe−βx + β 2 x2 e−βx + Eψ

2m
or
2
V αxe−βx eiE/ = αeiE/ −βe−βx − 2βxe−βx + β 2 x2 e−βx + Eψ .
2m

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 32 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Schrödinger Equation and Wave Function 19
That is,
2
β
V = − − 2β + β 2 x + E .
2m x

(d) For the given wave function for x > 0

2 2
d
Vψ= (−kψ) + Eψ = k 2 ψ + Eψ .
2m dx 2m
k2 2
Then V = − 1 . Similarly, for x < 0 we obtain V =
2 m
k2 2
−1 .
2 m
2.34 A particle of mass m is confined in the infinite square-well potential V =
0 for 0 < x ≤ L and V = ∞ otherwise. It has the normalized stationary
state eigenfunctions φn (x) and eigenvalues En = n2 2 π 2 /(2mL2 ).√Its
wave function at time t = 0 is given by ψ(x, 0) = (φ1 (x) + φ2 (x))/ 2 .
What is the smallest positive time τ for which ψ(x, t) will be orthogonal
to ψ(x, 0)?

The wave function ψ(x, t) is

1
ψ(x, t) = √ φ1 e−iE1 t/ + φ2 e−iE2 t/ .
2

At t = τ the condition for ψ(x, 0) and ψ(x, t) to be orthogonal is

L
ψ ∗ (x, τ )ψ(x, 0) dx = 0 .
0

We get
L

φ∗1 e iE1 τ /
+ φ∗2 eiE2 τ / (φ1 + φ2 ) dx = 0 .
0

L
Since φ φ dx = δ we get eiE1 τ / + eiE2 τ / = 0. That is
0 m n mn

E1 τ E1 τ E2 τ E2 τ
cos + i sin + cos + i sin =0.

Equating the real and imaginary parts to zero separately we get

E1 τ E2 τ E1 τ E2 τ
cos = − cos , sin = − sin .

We rewrite the above conditions as

E1 τ π + E2 τ E1 τ π + E2 τ
cos = cos , sin = sin .

Thus, τ = π/(E1 − E2 ). Since E2 > E1 we write τ = π/(E2 − E1 ).

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 33 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 20 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals
2.35 Show that �xpx + px x� is real.

Consider �px x�. We obtain

∞
�px x� = ψ ∗ px xψ dx
−∞

∞
= (p†x ψ)∗ xψ dx
−∞
∞ ∗

= px ψx∗ ψ ∗ dx
−∞
∞ ∗
= ψ ∗ xpx ψ dx
−∞

= �xpx �∗ .
Now, �xpx + px x� = �xpx � + �px x� = �xpx � + �xpx �∗ = 2Re�xpx �. Thus
�xpx + px x� is real.

2.36 Show that �An � = �A �n in its eigenstates.

Let Aψ = αψ. Then we obtain

∞
�An � = ψ ∗ An ψ dτ

−∞
∞
= ψ A Aψ dτ
∗ n−1
−∞
∞
= α ψ ∗ An−1 ψ dτ
−∞
∞
= αn ψ ∗ ψ dτ
−∞
= αn .
∞ ∞
We find �A� = ψ ∗ Aψ dτ = α ψ ∗ ψ dτ = α. Hence, �An � = αn =
−∞ −∞
n

�A� .
√
2.37 Calculate �p2 � for ψ = e−k|x| .
x k
We obtain
∞ ∞ 2
d −k|x|
�p
x � =
2
ψ ∗ p2x ψ dx = − 2
e−k|x| e dx .
dx2
−∞ −∞

The above equation can be rewritten as

0 2 ∞ 2
d kx −kx d −kx
x�p � −
2 2 kx
= k e e dx + e e dx .
dx2 dx2
−∞ 0

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 34 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Schrödinger Equation and Wave Function 21
Then we obtain
0 ∞
x�p � = − k
2 2 3
e2kx dx + e−2kx dx = − 2 k 2 .
−∞ 0

2.38 A particle of mass m in the one-dimensional energy well V (x) = 0 for

0 ≤ x ≤ L and ∞ otherwise is in a state whose wave function is given
by ψ(x) = N x(L − x) where N is the normalization constant. Determine
�E� in this state.

The normalization condition gives

L
N 2L 5
1 = N2 x2 (L − x)2 dx = .

0 30
That is, N = 30/L5 . Next,
L
�E� = ψ ∗ Hψ dx
0

L 2
d2
= ψ −
0 2m dx2 ψ dx
2 L

= N2 xL − x2 dx
m 0

5 2
= .
mL2
d 2 2 i
2.39 Show that �x � = �xpx � − .
dt m m

∞
�x2 � is given by �x2 � = ψ ∗ x2 ψ dx. Then
−∞
∞
d 2 d
�x � = ψ ∗ x 2 ψ dx
dt dt −∞

∞ ∞
∂ψ ∗ ∂ψ
= x2 ψ dx + ψ ∗2x dx .
−∞ ∂t −∞ ∂t
∂ψ ∂ψ ∗
Using the Schrödinger equation for and we get
∂t ∂t

∞
d 2 1 p2xψ ∗ ∗ 2
�x � = − +Vψ x ψdx
dt i −∞ 2m
∞
1 p2
∗ 2
+ ψ x x
ψ+Vψ dx
i −∞ 2m

i =
2m
K24365_SM_Cover.indd 35 13/11/14 6:56 PM
∞
i∞
ψ ∗ p2 x2 ψ x dx
−∞ −
2m ψ ∗ x2 p2 ψ
dx . x
−∞

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 35 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 22 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals

Expanding the first integral we obtain

∞
d 2 i 2 2 2
�x � = ψ ∗ 2pψpx x + ψp x dx
dt 2m −∞
∞
i
= ψ ∗ −4i xpx ψ + 2ψ(−i )2 dx
2m −∞
2 i

2
= �xpx � − .
m m
d 2 2
2.40 Show that �x2 � = �p2 � + �xF �.
x
dt2 m2 m

d 2 i
We have � x2 � = �xpx � − . Then
dt m m

d2 2 2 d
�x � = �xpx �
dt2 m dt

∞
2 d
= ψ ∗ (xpx )ψ dx
m dt −∞
2 ∞ ∂ψ ∗ 2 ∞
∂ψ
= xpx ψ dx + ψ ∗ xpx dx .
m −∞ ∂t m −∞ ∂t

Using the Schrödinger equation

∞ ∞
d2 2 i 2 2i
�x � = px ψ ∗ xpx ψ dx + V ψ ∗ xpx ψ dx
dt2 m2 −∞ m −∞

∞ ∞
i 3 2i
− ψ ∗ xpx ψ dx − ψ ∗ xpx (V ψ) dx
m2 −∞ m −∞

∞
i
= ψ 2 px (px xpx ψ + xp2 ψ) − xp3 ψ dx
x x
m2 −∞
∞
2i dV
− ψ ∗ xψ −i dx .
m −∞ dx

Substituting F = −dV /dx we get

∞
d2 2 i 2 2
�x � = ψ ∗ 2px xpx ψ dx + �xF �
dt 2 m2 −∞ m
∞
2i 2

= ψ ∗ (−i )p2x ψ dx + �xF �

m2 −∞ m
2 2

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 36 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 = �p2x � + �xF � .
m2 m

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 36 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Schrödinger Equation and Wave Function 23
d
2.41 Show that �p 2
� = �2F px + px F �.
dt x
∞
By definition �p
x �=
2 ψ ∗ p2x ψdτ . Then
−∞
∞ ∞
d 2 ∂ψ ∗ 2 2 ∂ψ

�px � = px ψ dτ + ψ ∗ px dτ .
dt −∞ ∂t −∞ ∂t

Using the Schrödinger equation we obtain

∞
d 2 1 p2xψ ∗ ∗ 2

�px � = − +Vψ px ψ dτ
dt i −∞ 2m
∞
1 p2 ψ
+ ψ ∗ p2x x
+Vψ dτ .
i −∞ 2m
That is,

∞ ∞
d 2 i 2 i 2
∗
�px � = V ψ px ψ dτ − ψ ∗ px (V ψ) dτ
dt −∞ −∞

∞ ∞
i
= − 2 ψ ∗ px V px ψ dτ + ψ ∗ p2 V ψdτ
−∞ −∞ x

∞ ∞
i i
= −2 (−i ) ψ ∗ ∇V px ψ dτ − (−i ) ψ ∗ (px ∇V )ψ dτ
−∞ −∞

∞ ∞
= 2 ψ ∗ F p x ψ dτ + ψ ∗ p x F ψdτ
−∞ −∞
�2F px + px F
=
�.
d 1
2.42 Show that �px x� �p 2
� + �xF �.
dt m x
=

The expectation value of px x is

∞
�px x� = ψ ∗ px xψ dx
−∞
∞ ∞

= −i ψ ∗ ψ dx + ψ ∗ xpx ψ dx
−∞ −∞
∞

= −i + ψ ∗ xpx ψ dx .
−∞

Now
�px x� =
d dt

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 37 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 ∞
d
dt ψ ∗ xpx
−∞
ψ dx
∞ ∞
∂ψ ∗ ∂ψ
= xpx ψ dx + ψ ∗ xp x dx .
−∞ ∂t −∞ ∂t

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 37 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 24 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals

We have
∂ψ p2x ∂ψ ∗ p2x
i = ψ+Vψ , −i = ψ∗ + V ψ∗ .
∂t 2m ∂t 2m

Using these two equations for ∂ψ/∂t and ∂ψ ∗ /∂t we get

∞ ∞
d i 2 ∗ i
�px x� = px ψ xpx ψ dx + V ψ ∗ xpx ψ dx
dt 2m −∞ −∞

∞ ∞
i 3 i
− ψ ∗ xpx ψ dx − ψ ∗ xpx (V ψ) dx
2m −∞ −∞

∞ ∞
i i
= ψ ∗ p2x (xpx ψ) dx − ψ ∗ xp3x ψ dx
2m −∞ 2m −∞

∞
+ ψ ∗ xψF dx .
−∞

Then

∞ ∞
d i 2 i 3
∗ ∗
�px x� = ψ px (xpx ψ) dx − ψ xpx ψ dx + �xF �
dt 2m −∞ 2m −∞
∞
i
= ψ ∗ px xp2x ψ dx + �xF �
2m −∞

∞
1
= ψ ∗ p2x ψ dx + �xF �
m −∞
1 2
= �p � + �xF � .
m x
d 2 d 2
2.43 For a free particle show that �p � = 0 and �xpx + px x� = �p2x �.
dt x dt m

We have the result

d 1 d 2
�px x� = �px2 � + �xF � , �p � = �2F px + px F � .
dt m dt x
For a free particle F = 0 and hence

d 1 d 2
�px x� = �px2 � , �p � = 0 .
dt m dt x

Consider [x, px ] = xpx − px x = i . From this we write

xpx − px x + px x − px x = i
xpx + px x − 2px x = i
xpx + px x = i + 2px x .

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 38 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Then
d d 2 2
=2
�xpx + px x� �px x� = �px � .
dt dt m

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 38 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Schrödinger Equation and Wave Function 25

2.44 φ1 and φ2 are the only eigenfunctions of a system belonging to the energy
eigenvalues E0 and −E0 respectively. In a measurement of the energy
of the system, �E� is found to be E0 /2. Find the wave function of
the system.

The wave function of the system is ψ = C1 φ1 + C2 φ2 , C 21 + C 22 = 1.

Further

�E� = 1 C 2 E1 +2 C 2 E2
= C12 E0 − C22 E0
= E0 C 21 − C 22 .

Since �E� = E0 /2 we get√1 C −2 C = 1/2. Solving 1C +2C = 1 and

2 2 2 2
2 2
C C = 1/2 we get C = 3/2 and C = 1/2 . Then
1 − 2 1 2
√
3 1
ψ= φ1 + φ2 .
2 2

2.45 The H of a charged particle in uniform electric and magnetic fields

1
is given by H = (p − eA)2 − eE0 k.k where A = B0 (−y, x, 0)/2.
2m
Both electric field E and magnetic field B are applied along the z-
d 1
direction. Applying Ehrenfest’s theorem, show that �r� �p − eA�
dt m
=

d e
and �p − eA� = eE0 k �p − eA� × ∇ × A.
dt m
+
1 2
∇ × A is obtained as ∇ × A = B0 k. H is (p − eA) − eE0 . Now,
2m
d
consider �x�. We obtain
dt

∞
d ∂ψ ∗ ∞
∂ψ
�x� = xψ dx + ψ∗x dx
dt −∞ ∂t ∂t
−∞

= ∞ ∞
1 1
− Hψ ∗ xψ dx + ψ ∗ xHψ dx
i −∞ i −∞

1
= �[x, H]� .
i

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 39 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 26 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals

Next, we find
1
[x, H] = x, (p − eA) · (p − eA) + eE0
2m
1 1
= x, px2 + x, e2 A2
2m 2m
1 1
− [x, p · eA] − [x, eA · p] + [x, eE0 ]
2m 2m
1 1 1
= x, px2 − (i eAx ) − (i eAx )
2m 2m 2m
i i
= px − eAx .
m m
Therefore,

d 1 i eAx 1
�x� = px − i = m (px − eAx ) .
dt i m m

Hence,
d 1
�r� = �p − eA� .
dt m
Next,

d2 d d d
�r� = �F� = m �r� =
dt2 dt dt
�p − eA�
dt
1
= �[p − eA, H]�
i

We obtain with v = dr/dt, B = ∇ × A

e
�F� = eE + �v × B − B ×
2m
v�
e
= eE + [(p − eA) × B − B × (p − eA)]
2m
e
= eE + m [(p − eA) × ∇ × A] .

Hence,

d e
�p − eA� = �F� = eE0 k + (p − eA) × ∇ × A .
dt m

2.46 A particle of mass m enclosed in a one-dimensional box of length L

such that 0 < x < L, has energy eigenfunctions φn (x) = A sin(nπx/L),
n = 1, 2, · · · and En = n2 π 2 2 /(2mL2 ). At t = 0, the particle has the
wave function ψ(x) = B sin(2πx/L) cos(πx/L) where B is a constant.
(i) If the energy of the particle is measured at t = 0, what are the

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 40 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 Schrödinger Equation and Wave Function 27

possible results of the measurement? (ii) What is the expectation value

of energy?

(i) The wave function can be written as a combination of eigenfunctions

as
2πx πx
ψ = B sin cos
L L
B πx 3πx
= sin + sin
2 L L
B
= (φ1 + φ3 ) .
2
That is, the system can have only two eigenstates φ1 and φ3√each with
probability B 2 /4. Further, (B 2 /4) + (B 2 /4) = 1 gives B = 2. There-

fore,
1
ψ = √ (φ1 + φ3 ) .
2
If the energy is measured then one may get the energy as E1 with the
probability 1/2 and E3 with probability 1/2.
(ii) We obtain

1 5π 2 2
�E� = C 2 E1 + C 2 E3 = (E1 + E3 ) = .
1 3
2 2mL2

2.47 Given the normalized ground state wave function of hydrogen atom
ψ100 = 1/(πa30)1/2 e−r/a0 find the expectation value of its z-coordinate.
We obtain
∞ π 2π
1 − 2r/a0 2
�z� = e zr dr sin θdθ dφ .
πa2
0 0 0 0

Substituting z = r cos θ we get

∞ π 2π
1
�z� = r3 e−2r/a0 sin θ cos θ dr dθ dφ
πa3
0 0 0 0
∞
1 π 3 −2r/a

= − 3 cos 2θ|0
r e 0
dr
2a0 0

= 0.

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 41 13/11/14 6:56 PM

 28 Solutions to the Exercises in Quantum Mechanics I: The Fundamentals

2.48 If H φn (x) = En φn (x) find the expectation value of the Hamilto-

nian operator H in the normalized superposition state ψ(x, t) =
∞
n=0 Cn φn (x) e−iEn t/ .
We obtain

E = ψ|H|ψ
∞
= C n∗ Cn ei(En −En )t/
φ∗n Hφn dx

n n −∞
∞
= Cn Cn∗ ei(En −En )t/ φ∗n En φn dx

n n −∞

∗ i(En −En )t/

= Cn Cn En δnn
e
n n

= |Cn |2 En .
n

√
2.49 Consider a system in a state ψ = (φ1 + φ2 )/ 2 where φ1 and φ2 are

orthonormal eigenfunctions with the eigenvalues E1 and E2 respectively.

What is the probability of finding the system in the energy E1 ? What
is E ?
√
The probability of finding the system with energy E1 is (1/ 2)2 = 1/2.
Next
2
1 1 1
E = |Cn |2 En = E1 + E2 = (E1 + E2 ) .
n=1
2 2 2

2.50 Consider a spherically symmetric potential energy function given by

V (r) = 0, for 0 < r < a and ∞ for r > a. Given the solu-
sin kr cos kr
tion ψ(r) = A +B where k = (2mE/ 2 )1/2 satisfying the
r r
Schrödinger equation, obtain the corresponding eigenvalues by applying
proper boundary conditions.

As r → 0, ψ must be finite. The condition limr→0 ψ(r) = finite sets

sin kr
B = 0. So ψ(r) = A . At r = a we require ψ = 0. This gives
r
sin ka = 0. That is, ka = nπ, n = 1, 2, · · · . Hence, the energy eigenvalues
are given by
2 2
kn n2 2 π 2
En = = .
2m 2ma2

K24365_SM_Cover.indd 42 13/11/14 6:56 PM

Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
other two captains. And now, because I did not take their advice, I have lost
the Dupleix, my ship. Mon Dieu, what an ass I was! Now they will report it
to my owners, and I will never get a ship again."

"What were the names of your friends' ships?"

"The Antonin——"

"The Antonin under Captain Lecoq?"

"Yes. And the La Rochefoucauld?"

"Orderly," I called in German, which the captain did not understand,

"bring up captains numbers five and nine."

While we waited, I invited my mournful guest to have some more

champagne, but he refused and continued holding his head and moaning.

A knock at the door.

"Come in."

And in walked the captains of the Antonin and the La Rochefoucauld.

They had been on board ten and three days respectively.

The captain of the Dupleix gaped.

"Eh, tout la France!" he cried.

Full of ironical enthusiasm, he raised his glass of champagne and

saluted them. Then with joy that he made no effort to conceal, he clasped
the hands of the two captains whose advice he had scorned and who had
encountered the same fate as he. They returned his welcome with a grim
humour.

The presence of these three captains aboard the Seeadler represented a

loss of ten thousand tons of saltpetre destined for French powder mills, and
a saving of hundreds, perhaps thousands of German lives.
 * * *

One Sunday morning, we sighted a large British barque and started after
her. She thought we were playfully challenging her to a race, and tried to
run away. I don't know whether we could have caught her in a straight
sailing ship against sailing ship contest; at any rate, our motor gave us the
edge.

A strange feeling came over me as we gained on her and as her lines

became more distinct. It was a sense of sadness and of vague, dimly
dawning recollection. Had I seen that ship before? Was it possible...

"Signal and ask her for her name," I called.

Our signal flag went aloft. The reply came back:

"Pinmore"

Ah, my old Pinmore, on which I had made the longest and most
harrowing voyage of my life. Memories swept over me of those endless
storms and of the disease on board, beri-beri, scurvy. My whole being
seemed to leap back to the days of my youth. Homesickness seized me. I
could not say a word to Leudemann, who stood beside me.

"No use, the ship must be sunk," a harsh inner voice told me.

It was hard for me to sink any sailing vessel, but doubly cruel to have to
sink my old ship. I felt as though she were a kind of mother. No sailor with
any kind of sailor's soul in him will raise a hand against his own ship.

We took her as we had taken the others. When her crew came aboard, I
looked for familiar faces. There were none. The skipper, Captain Mullen,
came up to me with a humorous, seamanly air.

"Well, Captain, our hard luck is your good luck."

"Lucky?" I felt like saying. "Do you call this lucky?"

 He was a typical old seaman, afraid neither of enemy in war nor storms
at sea. The seven seas had been his home. Like the sailing ship, the old-time
windjammer captain is vanishing. Captain Mullen was indeed like the king
of a vanishing race. He swaggered down below, and saluted our other
skippers with a jovial air. He soon became the leading figure of the
"Captains' Club."

When everyone had left the Pinmore, I had a boat take me over to her. I
clambered aboard and sent the boat and its crew back, telling them I would
give them a hail when I wanted them again.

"Why does the Count want to remain alone aboard her?" I heard one of
them say.

I went to the fo'c'sle. There was my bunk, the same old bunk where I
had slept night after night for months and had tumbled out countless times
at the command "all hands on deck" while those endless storms bore down
upon us. I paced the planks on deck where I had stood watch so often. It
seemed as though I had never seen that deck save in a storm. Those gales
had left so deep an imprint on my memory that it gave me a sense of
strangeness to see the sun shining on the Pinmore's planks and a slowly
heaving sea around.

I remembered a cunning little cat I had once owned on board her. The
captain's wife wanted it. The steward got it for her. I told the steward that if
he did not bring it back to me I would go to the captain. The steward
laughed at me. I determined to complain to the captain about the steward
and his wife and demand my cat back. I could see myself as I had
wrathfully strode along the deck to the cabin. The sight of the door made
me stop. I mustered up my courage and advanced again. I ventured just far
enough to peep in at the door, which was ajar. The skipper was sitting there
reading a paper. One glimpse of the master, and all of Phelax Luedige's
bravery oozed away. He turned and tiptoed away. I never did get my cat
back, and forever after held a grudge against the steward.

I could still feel the old enmity. If I could have found that steward, I
would have let him know how the end of a rope felt. I went to the cabin and
half opened the door. It was much as when I had seen it last. The bright
rainbow glow of the coloured skylight gave me an old familiar feeling.
Something restrained me from entering. I did not dare go in then. I would
not now.

At the stern I looked for my name which I had once carved on the rail. I
found it, half effaced by time and weather. I read it slowly, spelling it out as
a child spells its first lessons: P-H-E-L-A-X L-U-E-D-I-G-E. I looked at the
compass, beside which I had watched for hours. The compass is a sacred
place to a sailor.

"This ship," I thought, "carried me safely. The storms were wild all the
way from 'Frisco around the Horn to Liverpool. They wanted to take us,
every man aboard, but the good old Pinmore fought against wind and wave
over leagues and leagues of dreary waste and brought us safely to port. Yes,
she was our mother, our kindly protecting mother."

The deserted ship with an unguided helm rolled back and forth. The
rigging creaked and groaned. It seemed to be a voice, a voice that hurt me.
Every spar seemed to say:

"So here you are, Phelax, back again. Where have you been all these
years? Where is all the crew? What do you want here, alone? What are you
going to do with me?"

Little had I dreamed when I was a sailor on this fine barque that one day
I would walk her decks again, not as a seaman, but as the commander of a
raider.

Returning to the Seeadler, I shut myself up in my cabin. In the distance

I heard the roar of a bomb, and I knew that my old Pinmore had started on
her last cruise.
 XVIII

THE LIFE OF A MODERN BUCCANEER

Ever taken a trip at sea where the company aboard was dull and dead,
the passengers uncongenial to one another, and everybody sitting around
day after day and bored to death? You have? Well, then, you know what it's
like, eh?

Give me a lively, companionable crowd of shipmates, and I don't care

how long or how stormy the cruise. On land, if you don't like the company,
you can seek better mates elsewhere. On shipboard, do your darnedest and
you can't get away from 'em. You have to take your company just exactly as
you find it. You are married to it. A genial lot of shipmates and a long
cruise, say from New York to Melbourne, and what more can any man ask
for at sea?

Although our old jolly-boat was a raiding auxiliary cruiser, she also
degenerated into a breed of passenger ship, too. Our passengers were our
prisoners. That made the situation somewhat unusual and added a bit of
spice. I've served as an officer aboard a dozen or more liners, and have seen
all kinds and strata of society aboard, including dull, delightful, ill-natured,
jovial—both the quick and the dead. Yes, I have had some splendid
passenger lists on voyages where every hour was gay and bubbling with
fun. But no group of passengers on a liner ever enjoyed such happy
comradeship as did we aboard our buccaneering craft. The fact that we were
captors and captives only seemed to make it all the jollier. We took the
greatest pleasure in making the time agreeable for our prisoners, with
games, concerts, cards, and story-telling. We tried to feed them well, and I
think we did, which helps a lot, as you'll agree. We didn't throw it at them
either. In fact, we served special meals for all the nations whose ships we
captured. One day our own German chef cooked, and that boy was some
cook, as you say. The next day an English cookie, then the French chef,
then the Italian to make us some polenta. The English food was the worst. It
usually is. On the other hand, the Americans fed their sailors best of all. It's
long been a tradition on Yankee clippers. In the old days, the American
sailing ships were famous for frightful work and much brutality, but the
food was good. To-day the work is not bad and there is no brutality, but the
food is still good.

The prisoners seemed to appreciate our intentions thoroughly. They

wanted to do everything they could for us in return. Feelings of patriotism
should have made them hope for our early destruction. But more elemental
sentiments of gratitude and friendship obliterated the more artificial
passions of war hatred. I am sure that very few of our passengers wished us
any ill or gloated in the hope of our being sunk by the cruisers of their
nations. I think it really hurt many of them to realize that the day probably
would come when we would be caught and go down under a rain of Allied
shellfire. That magnificent Frenchman, the captain of the Charles Gounod,
kept aloof from the general fraternizing, and scrupulously kept up his
manner of cold politeness and stately hostility toward us, but even he
thawed out a few degrees, although he tried hard to keep from showing it.

There was only one of our prisoners who behaved himself in any way
that could be considered improper. That was Captain Lecoq of the La
Rochefoucauld, that same Captain Lecoq who had cherished hopes that we
would run afoul of the British cruiser. You see, the skippers aboard were
quite free to go where they liked on the ship, except that I asked each one,
as he came aboard, not to go into the fore part of the ship, and I explained
why.

"My magazines," I said, "are in the forward half of the boat. I do not
want you to know exactly where they are placed. After you are released,
you might reveal the secret. Then, one of these merry days, if some cruiser
takes a shot at me, and if the location of my magazines is known, they'll aim
right at that spot. A shell there and up in the air we go. I must ask you to
give me your word of honour that you will not go into the foreship, else I
will have to keep you confined."

Each skipper gave me his word, including Lecoq.

Captain Lecoq broke his promise. He not only went secretly into the
foreship, but he made sketches of the layout there. Captain Mullen of the
Pinmore saw the sketches, knocked Lecoq down, and reported him to me. I
berated Lecoq soundly.

"And as a result of your dishonourable action," I said, "when I release

my prisoners and send them off to some port, there will be one Frenchman
who will remain behind, and that Frenchman will be you. You will continue
your cruise with us. You know where my magazines are, and I cannot trust
any promise that you now give me."

He turned a bit green around the gills at that, but there was nothing he
could say in reply.

Our only woman aboard, the skipper's little bride, grew melancholy. We
did everything we could to make the time pleasant for her, but she pined for
the society of other women. It was rather a trial for her to be so long the
only woman among several hundred men.

"Count, I do so wish there were a woman aboard that I could talk to,"
she said to me a bit coaxingly one day. "Why don't you catch me one?"

I always like to oblige a lady, particularly one so charming and

agreeable as she, but catching another woman was a game of chance with
us. You don't often find fair company aboard freighters, especially in
tropical waters. However, I said:

"Madam, we will do our best."

At times I used to amuse myself by joining the crowd on the lookout in

the rigging. It was a misty day, and nobody had much of a chance of seeing
anything. Then it cleared a little in the west, and Boarding Officer Preiss,
who was beside me, thought he saw a ship. I instructed the helmsman to
steer in than direction, and after fifteen minutes a large British barque
appeared through the mist. As we drew near her, I saw a white figure on the
deck. Sure enough, a woman.

"Madam," I shouted, to the Canadian skipper's bride, "get ready to

welcome your companion. She'll be paying you a call in a few minutes."
 Everybody, prisoners and all, swarmed on deck to witness the
exceptional capture. The Seeadler bore down on the unlucky barque.

The captain looked curiously at the crowded figures standing at our rail,
of every colour and race. They waved gaily. Our gramophone blared out,
"It's a Long Way to Tipperary."

"Hello," he shouted through his megaphone, "collecting volunteers?"

He thought we were picking up war volunteers from the Atlantic

islands.

"Volunteers?" I called in return. "Oh, yes."

Our prisoners laughed a bit.

"Any news of the war?" he asked.

Officers and sailors and the woman on his deck craned their necks for a
reply.

"Much news of the war," I responded. "I will signal it."

They stared, awaiting the signal.

"C-I-D," our signal flags went up; "heave to or I will fire."

I could see the captain rapidly thumbing the pages of his book. His head
jerked up suddenly. His binoculars focussed themselves on our masthead
where the German flag now waved. Our gun mask dropped, and the cannon
peered forth. By Joe, but it raised a commotion on the deck. When she saw
it, the woman darted into her cabin. The sailors ran to the boats. Even the
helmsman deserted the wheel. The captain was the only one who kept his
head. He seized the helm with a firm hand, and the ship hove to.

Our guests were always interested in the prospect of having new

additions to their company. They had an ever-ready, cordial welcome for
fresh arrivals. This time, the coming of a second feminine passenger made
the occasion a gala one. Everybody put on his best manners. The members
of our "Captains' Club" marshalled their forces on deck, ready to greet the
officers and the lady from the captured craft with suitable dignity and
formality.

Our little woman put on her best clothes and asked me for a nosegay
from a supply of artificial flowers we had captured. The newly arriving
woman, who scarcely knew what to expect aboard our dreadful pirate craft,
was surprised when she was greeted not only by our Captains' Club with all
of its stately courtesies, but also by a brightly smiling young woman who
presented her with a bouquet of flowers that made up in brightness of
colour what it lacked in sweetness of perfume, since they were imitation
ones.

The two women immediately became the best of friends, and the
convivial spirit aboard made our happiness complete.

The captured barque, the British Yeoman, carried a rare store of

provisions, including some live pigs and chickens. She also had two pets, a
curious pair—a rabbit and a pigeon. We promptly adopted them and called
the pigeon "the dove of peace" in honour of the spirit aboard our raiding
ark. That rabbit and pigeon were inseparable. If the rabbit strayed, the
pigeon would coo and coo for it to come back, and the rabbit would
obediently respond.

Then we also had two dachshunds aboard, Piperle and Schnaeuzchen.

Piperle was a friendly little rascal and most intelligent. He seemed to
understand what our work was, and grew most enthusiastic. He went out
with the boarding parties, barked furiously if anything seemed to go wrong,
and wagged his tail with a tremendous enthusiasm when things turned out
all right. He seemed to take it as his especial task to give a friendly
welcome to prisoners brought aboard. He would bark and leap upon them,
as though saying:

"Hello, you'll have a good time here."

Schnaeuzchen was an ill-natured specimen of dachs bitch. She looked

on satirically at Piperle's demonstrations, and people had to make many
amicable overtures before she became friendly. She and Piperle were of
discordant temperaments. They got along together in a resigned sort of way,
with many a quarrel in dog language, something like husband and wife. I
think she nagged him a lot.

We gave the rabbit and pigeon quarters in Piperle's kennel, which

delighted the good-natured dog. He welcomed his guests with cordial
demonstrations. He licked the rabbit's fur continually, which at first made
the pigeon jealous. The bird sulked and made angry sounds. The
unfortunate rabbit seemed in a quandary, torn between his liking for the
new friend and the old. He must have been a diplomat, though, for presently
he found a way to reconcile the pigeon to his fondness for Piperle, and the
three became excellent friends. When the three were asleep in the kennel,
they made an edifying picture of harmony, Piperle on his side, the rabbit
huddled against his belly, the pigeon perched on his side.

Schnaeuzchen, malign and crafty, watched this beautiful friendship with

a jaundiced eye. She was the villain of the piece. She often made attempts
to devour the rabbit or the pigeon or both, or at least to take a bite out of
them. She was quick and cunning with her snapping jaws and sharp teeth. I
spent a great deal of time trying to convince her that she had better leave the
three pals alone, and Piperle had to be on the alert all the time to protect his
two friends. One night Schnaeuzchen, with bold and bloody resolve, raided
Piperle's kennel. I suppose she reasoned that she had better end the
obnoxious situation with one fell blow. She got in before Piperle knew what
had happened, and the rabbit barely escaped her jaws. Piperle turned on her
and chastised her properly. After that she resigned herself to the inevitable.
She kept the peace with the other pets, and while she never became really
friendly with them, the pigeon and rabbit were at least safe.

Talking about animals brings to mind one remarkable piece of good

fortune that blessed our entire adventure. Before it was over, we were
destined to suffer pretty nearly all the hardships that the sea can bestow
upon the sailor—arctic ice and tropical sun, storm and calm, frightful labour
and deadening idleness, shipwreck, life as castaways on a desert island, the
terrors of weeks in an open boat, hunger, thirst, and scurvy. But we never
had any bedbugs. I had had enough experience with those vermin in my
early days before the mast. I was determined to have none of them now.
Bedbugs are a constant pest aboard sailing ships, and doubtless some of the
vessels we captured had plenty of them. But aboard the Seeadler we had a
magnificent fumigating plant, and every article that was brought aboard was
given a thorough treatment. That fumigator was one of our most treasured
possessions. Without it, we would surely have been in a fix. We could not
have put comfortably into a port and called for the vermin exterminator, and
if we had taken aboard any bedbug guests, our long voyage would have
given them plenty of time to multiply and overrun our ark. We would have
been eaten alive.

I remember a time during my jack-tar days when we had a magnificent

collection of bedbugs in the forecastle. A comrade and I went to the captain,
a mean old German skipper, and told him we were being eaten alive and
begged him to go to the slight expense of getting a vermin exterminator.

"Bedbugs," he grunted, "Gott im Himmel, catch them."

We did catch them. We caught a match box full of them, and put them in
his bunk.

The next day the vermin exterminator came aboard.

XIX

HOW WE MADE OUR PRISONERS WALK THE

PLANK

Our floating hotel was about full. If we wanted to take any more guests
aboard, we would have to get rid of our present company. The old pirates
would have had a plank-walking ceremony. That was a sure way to prevent
inconvenient information from getting around. Undoubtedly, it would have
enabled us to keep our existence still secret. We were buccaneers in a sense,
but not quite that bad. We would have to take other measures. When our
prisoners got to port and our freebooting career became known, cruisers, of
course, would set out after us. They would make the narrow Atlantic much
too hot for us. We would have to seek other waters. The broad Pacific
remained. We did not want to hold our prisoners for the always rough
passage of Cape Horn, where, in addition, there were likely to be cruisers
on watch, keeping a guard for suspicious ships that might be trying to take
the shortest route from European waters to the Pacific. We might be shelled
and sunk, but it would have been scarcely humane to take a chance of going
down with all our prisoners on board. So we arranged it in a way that would
enable us to get a good start on our trip around Cape Horn before the
cruisers could get word of us.

The French barque, the Cambronne, came along. You should have seen
her heave to and her yards come banging down when our German flag went
up and we signalled the inevitable: "Stop or I shall fire."

Her captain exhibited all of the usual Gallic despair at the prospect of
losing his ship. We looked the craft over. She was large and roomy and had
aboard a large stock of provisions.

"No," I said to her skipper, "we are not going to sink your ship. She will
go right on to port."

"Eh?" He was immensely surprised.

"She will take our prisoners."

"I will be delighted, monsieur, to have them as my guests."

"They won't be your guests, Captain. You will be the guest of the new
captain of the Cambronne."

"I will not command my ship?"

"Not at all. I have a Captains' Club aboard. You, as a prisoner, are now a
charter member. Your ship is my prize. I will select a member of the
Captains' Club as her skipper."
 He was very angry. It hurt him nearly as much to be removed from the
command of his ship as to have her sunk.

It was a touchy matter to select a skipper from among a dozen captains,

each of whom was full of sensitive dignity and thought he was the best
navigator of the lot. The French captains thought a Frenchman should be
selected, since the most numerous nationality among the prisoners was the
French. The traditional principle of seniority, however, pointed to the
selection of the oldest skipper. My belief in that principle was confirmed by
the fact that the oldest skipper was Captain Mullen of the Pinmore. He had
shown himself to be the finest of gentlemen, and then there was the
memory of my old ship, which I had been compelled to sink. I appointed
Captain Mullen master of the Cambronne. Since he was a Britisher, it was
reasonable that his ship should sail under British colours. That necessitated
the ceremony of hauling down the French flag and hoisting the Union Jack.
The French captains did not like it at all.

I was rather glad that it was not I who would command the Cambronne.
With all those captains aboard, especially the disgruntled French captains,
the skipper of the Cambronne was certain to have an uncomfortable time.
One skipper always knows more than any other skipper. Nor is any skipper
ever reticent about the mistakes of another. The skipper of the Cambronne
had better navigate with a perfect correctness, or there would be plenty of
talk aboard.

We lopped off the Cambronne's upper masts, so that she could set only
her lower sails. She could not make any speed now, and it would take her
from ten to fourteen days to get to Rio de Janeiro, which was the nearest
port. Then I exacted a pledge from Captain Mullen:

"Captain," said I, "we are releasing our prisoners, and they are under
your command. I understand perfectly well that when you get to port our
existence will be known. We will be a sailing ship in a world of armoured
cruisers. We will be chased like a wild deer. We need a start. We have taken
care that you do not get to port too soon. One thing remains, though. You
may meet a ship within a week or within a day—it may be a steamer with a
wireless plant. I ask for your word that you will not communicate with any
ship until you reach port. We have, I hope, treated our prisoners fairly, and I
ask this of you in return. I must have your solemn word on it."

"Count," he replied, "I give you my word that the Cambronne will not
communicate with any ship until she is in port at Rio."

We shook hands on it, and my mind was at rest. It was no risk to take
the word of the Pinmore's old skipper.

He played his part nobly. He passed several steamers on his way to Rio,
but steered clear of them. One comical thing happened. A big steamer came
toward the Cambronne one morning, and then her captain noticed the crowd
of prisoners on the ship's deck. He was a cautious soul. It looked suspicious.
The steamer turned and fled at full speed.

There remained the case of Captain Lecoq of the La Rochefoucauld,

who had broken his word to me and whom I had promised not to release
with the other prisoners. He tried to dissuade me. He was aghast at the
thought of being kept aboard the Seeadler throughout her long cruise, the
end of which no one could foretell. He vowed by all the saints that he
would keep the position of the ship's magazines locked sternly within his
bosom. I would not listen to him. I told him that the others would go but he
would remain. I intended to hold him until we had caught and released our
next batch of prisoners. He enlisted the other captains to intercede in his
behalf. They came and asked me to relent.

"Gentlemen," I replied, "I have just now rested the safety of my ship on
Captain Mullen's word. You are all ship masters. You know a captain's duty
to the vessel he commands. Very well, I know that Captain Mullen's word is
good. I have taken the others of you at your word, and you have not failed
me. But Captain Lecoq broke his word. Can I trust him not to break it
again?"

They argued so hard for their unfortunate fellow skipper that I finally
gave in. After all, even if he did break his word again and tell of the
position of my magazines, it did not necessarily mean disaster. I made him
sign a promise and made the other captains sign as witnesses to his promise.
Then I gave orders that he should go with the rest.
 We paid our prisoners off, just as if they had been working for us. Each
received wages for the time he had spent aboard, and each was paid the
wage he ordinarily received from his shipowner. By Joe, that made them
happy. We had a final banquet. The sailors feasted in their quarters. I
entertained the officers and ladies in my cabin. Toasts of champagne were
drunk, and at the end there were cordial handshakes. We transferred the
crowd to the Cambronne in boatloads, and each boat, as it pushed off, gave
three cheers for the Seeadler.

Evening was coming on. The Seeadler lay watching while the
Cambronne raised sail. Now the stately barque was sliding through the
water. Hands waved and farewells were shouted. The two ships saluted each
other. With her snow-white canvas bellied out by the brisk wind, the
Cambronne sailed toward the horizon. Aboard the buccaneer, we watched
till the last tip of her mast disappeared below the skyline.

We had been away from port for eight weeks and had sunk eleven
vessels, representing a total of more than forty thousand tons of Allied
shipping. The Atlantic had given us its share. Now to the Pacific. And God
save us from the cruisers.

XX

THE BATTLE OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS

Through an oily sea we sailed south and west toward the Falkland
Islands. Many a time had I passed this way in the old days when bound for
Cape Horn. These islands of the South Atlantic have long been the base for
whaling schooners. But to every German the Falklands will be forever
memorable as the scene of a one-sided naval engagement in which one of
our best beloved admirals was overwhelmed by a British fleet.
 Had you seen our deck as we sailed south during these days, you might
have wondered what we were about. Along with other plunder, we had
looted captured ships of several great sheets of iron. We had ripped them
from iron walls and roofs of forecastles and stowed them on our deck. Now
the mechanics of the Seeadler's motor crew got busy with acetylene
torches, and from those sheets of metal they welded a great iron cross, ten
feet high.

We drew near a spot on that lonely ocean just a bit to the east of the
Falkland Islands. My navigation officer and I figured out the point carefully
on our chart, and when our instruments told us we were there, I called all
hands on deck. Somewhere far below on the floor of the ocean were the
bodies of hundreds of our comrades and the battered hulks of a once proud
German fleet. It was in these very waters that our gallant Pacific Squadron
under Count von Spee sank in three thousand fathoms. For here it was that
our light cruisers, the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Nuremburg, and Leipsic,
with odds against them, fought it out with a more powerful British
squadron.

With flag at half mast, we stood at solemn attention. The sky was gray
and melancholy. The sea rolled with a gentle swell. In our mind's eye we
could picture that disastrous day when, outranged by the guns of the great
British warships, our cruisers, two large and three small, had fought a losing
and hopeless fight. One, a scout cruiser, escaped. The others went down.
Pounded from the distance, they trembled under the blows of the shells that
rained down upon them. Exploding projectiles raked the decks and pierced
the hulls of the ill-fated vessels. As if in a last struggle, trying to keep afloat
for one more shot at the enemy, they staggered, lurched, and then, one after
the other, plunged into the depths, entering port on their final voyage far
below on the ocean floor, eighteen thousand feet beneath the surface. Every
man aboard three of the ships was lost. A high sea happened to be running
at the time, so the victors had little chance to rescue the men from the
doomed ships. Two hundred and fifty members of the crew of the
Gneisenau were picked up and got to the Falklands alive.

As if in a dream, I thought of the last time I saw my friend Count von

Spee. It was in the days before the world went mad. The Navy Yard at Kiel
was in gala mood. Every warship in the harbour had sent three hundred
men. They stood at rigid attention while Von Spee and his staff strode by.
Then he addressed them.

"By order of the Emperor, I am to take command of our cruisers in

Chinese waters. My officers and men sail with me to-morrow."

The sailors all give three cheers. They think the Admiral and his men
are merely going for a pleasant vacation to the Orient. It is in 1913. No war
is in sight. Yet a darker note intrudes: Even then military and naval men
were unable to escape the thought of war:

"We are leaving home and country for two years. We who part from you
to-morrow will do our duty, knowing that every man at home will do his. If
war should come, we will be across the world and you will be here. We will
be too far away to lend a hand to you, and there is little that you will be able
to do for us.

"Ours is a young navy, but we have had a great teacher. When England
built her mighty fleet, she taught us how to build ours. The English have
great naval traditions, and both their fleet and traditions have been our
model. If war should come before we meet again, we along the far-off
China coast may be but a few ships against many enemies, but from you of
the High Sea Fleet we expect great deeds."

We of the German Navy knew and constantly gave expression to the

thought that Britain was our guide on the sea. Her great seafaring tradition
was our conscious and admitted pattern. We German naval men liked the
English and were in sympathy with them. Our navies were alike in spirit.
The French Navy was somewhat different. Its morale was perhaps not so
good. French naval officers all come up from the ranks. The British and
German come from cadet schools and are recruited mostly from the first
families. That is best. It provides a finer corps of officers. I, myself, came
up from the forecastle, but I believe that, unless you have officers and men
from different worlds, your men will have little respect for their
commanders. It must either be that, or your officers must inspire respect
with their fists as in the old sailing-ship days. The French Navy no longer
has a rich tradition. It is true that the French had far greater sea fighters than
we in past centuries, and they had their fine old naval traditions. But during
the Revolution the old Royal Navy of France was swept away and remained
abolished for twenty years. At the end of that time, a new navy was formed,
but by then the fine old French traditions seem to have been forgotten and
new traditions had to be formed. We Germans, with a new fleet, took over
the old, solid tradition of the British and made it our own. We did
everything we could to implant it in our men, and make it a real, living
thing ingrained in our people. Our sea leaders understood the importance of
a tradition. That was why we were determined to keep a fleet after the war.
When our great ships went down at Scapa Flow, our Socialists favoured the
total abandonment of the naval arm, but fortunately enough of our people
came out of their post-war trance long enough to prevent such a fatal error.
Perhaps it might be only a few small ships that we could retain, but it would
serve to keep traditions alive until we could again build up a fleet as great
or even greater than the one we lost.

Von Spee was a sailor's admiral. He was a seaman by temperament,

open, honest, and jovial, uncomfortable on land and only himself when on
the bridge of his flagship. Too many of our professional fighting men, I
regret to say, were more ornamental than useful. They were good at wearing
gold lace and that is about all. But not Von Spee. He was at his best on a
quarter-deck in a storm. I still can see him pacing back and forth, with his
bushy brows and piercing blue eyes.

The day after he said auf wiedersehen to us at Kiel, he and his officers
and men left by transport for the Orient, there to relieve the officers and
men aboard the cruisers of our small Pacific Squadron at Tsing Tao. What
was to have been their two-year term overseas began as commonplace,
quiet routine. It ended under the salvos of British guns off the Falkland
Islands.

Von Spee's plan, when the war caught him 15,000 miles from German
waters, was to harass the Allies in the Pacific and then try to slip back
through the North Sea to Kiel. Lady Luck smiled on him for a little while
and then deserted him. After crossing the Pacific, he caught Craddock, the
British admiral, off the coast of Chile. Von Spee's star was in its ascendancy
at this time and Craddock's on the wane. A German secret agent in Chile
flashed a wireless to Von Spee giving him the information that Craddock
was waiting for the arrival of the big but old battleship Canopus that was
rounding the Horn. Without the Canopus, Craddock's forces were weaker
than Von Spee's, and Von Spee instantly dashed to the attack so as to engage
Craddock before the Canopus came up. Craddock and his men met their
fate like true British sailors. Outgunned, the British cruisers continued to
fire until they sank. Only one, a small boat, got away. But their conqueror's
days were numbered.

Von Spee now began his long race toward Kiel. Only two routes were
possible, one by Cape Horn and the other by the Cape of Good Hope. Of
course, he knew the British would be laying for him at both places. He
knew also that they would be after him with swifter and more powerful
ships than his own. His one chance was to beat them to Cape Horn, lose
himself in the broad Atlantic, make a run for it, and probably fight his way
through the blockade.

By now he was short of both munitions and coal. A wireless from

Germany brought the good news that a supply ship had slipped through the
blockade and was now on its way out to meet him. What a tremendous
voyage he might now have made! What a hair-raising dash at the Allied
blockade line he might have made! But he never got the chance.

As he rounded the Horn, Dame Fortune tempted him, and he made what
proved to be a fatal error. He stopped a British collier and took all her coal.
This delayed him for three days. Meanwhile, a fleet of Britain's mightiest
battle cruisers had arrived at the Falklands. He still might have run by them
unnoticed had he not determined to shell and destroy the wireless station on
the Falklands. Thus he stumbled into that nest of battle cruisers. He tried to
run, but they caught and sank him. That day the British had their sea giants,
the Indefatigable, the Invincible, the Indomitable, and along with them a
number of other battle cruisers, that later were to fight gallantly at Jutland,
and then find their way to rest on the floor of the North Sea.

Only one of Von Spee's ships, the light but fleet cruiser Dresden,
showed her heels to the British leviathans and slipped back around Cape
Horn, But the Fates were merely playing with the poor Dresden, and a few
days later she was sunk by the more powerful British cruiser Kent off San
Juan Fernandez, Robinson Crusoe's island, in the Pacific. She was lying in
neutral waters and should have been sheltered by the laws of war. Her
captain signalled to the commander of the Kent:

"We are in Chilean territory."

"My orders are to sink you on sight," replied the Kent, "and no matter
where you are."

The captain of the Dresden blew up his ship, and with his officers and
crew swam ashore. The island was not quite so deserted after this shipwreck
as it was in Robinson Crusoe's day!

That in brief was the story of the plucky Von Spee and his gallant men.
Hence this dreary waste of waters off the Falklands was sacred to us. We
hove to, and from my quarter-deck I presided over a brief memorial service
above the watery graves of our comrades and their ships. First I told my
boys the story of my friend Count von Spee and his men, and every one of
us knew that we, too, might soon be on our way to join them. But with the
difference that we might not even have a chance to fight it out.

On German ships, the captain is also the chaplain. Every Sunday aboard
the Seeadler we had our hour of prayer and song. When we had "guests"
aboard from enemy ships, we invited them to join with us in the worship of
the Great Ruler of the Waves. Our service followed the ritual of no
particular creed. It was as simple as we simple seamen could make it. The
table which bore the ship's Bible was draped not only with our German flag
but also with the flags of all the Allied nations whose ships we had captured
and under whose colours our prisoners had sailed. I wanted to make our
prisoners feel that the service was as much theirs as it was ours, and that we
did not feel ourselves any more a chosen people before the Altar of God
than any other people.

My life has not been altogether a pious one. On the contrary, it had been
decidedly blasphemous. My character was then, and still is, far from saintly.
However, I may not have been wholly unfit for the office of ship's chaplain.
I am religious at heart, easily swayed by sentimental appeal. Had I not been
a member of the Salvation Army in Australia? Those testimonial meetings
in Fremantle were still vivid memories to me. So I was not exactly a
greenhorn at conducting a prayer meeting.

Before concluding our little memorial service, I addressed our comrades

three thousand fathoms below us. No mounds were raised over their graves,
no green grass or kindly flowers had been placed to cheer them on their
journey to the land from which no traveller has yet returned. Only the
waves of the sea. I spoke to them as though my voice could somehow find
its way to their resting place among the mountain ranges at the bottom of
the South Atlantic:

"Glorious fallen comrades, we bring you a message from home. Your

comrades have kept their promise to your commander. On sea and on land
they are fighting for the Fatherland. We of the Seeadler salute you and
solemnly swear that we, too, will endeavour to live and die as gloriously as
you. We, too, are hunted on the sea, even as you were. So perhaps it will not
be long ere we join you down there in Davy Jones's Locker. If we do, our
one hope is that we will be able to fight our last fight as gallantly as did
you."

I then led the sailors in a prayer that we repeated aloud, and while the
chorused invocation travelled southward on the winds that blew toward the
Antarctic, four men came forward bearing the great iron cross.

"A decoration for the graves of heroes!"

At this signal from me the massive emblem slid into the water with
scarcely a splash and flashed swiftly down, down, three thousand fathoms,
to carry our message to Admiral Count von Spee and his men.

XXI

RACING THE ENEMY AROUND CAPE HORN

 "Ahoy, shipmate," I said to Leudemann, "you are the fellow who likes
yacht racing. By Joe, it's to be a race now—a race to see who gets to Cape
Horn first."

We knew that, as soon as our former prisoners made port, the news of
our presence in the South Atlantic would be flashed abroad. Then the
British would send their cruisers on the double-quick down the coast of
South America to keep us from doubling the Cape. To be sure, we had taken
care to give ourselves a mighty good start. But in a race of windjammer
against swift cruisers, what is a start of a thousand miles or so? With decent
weather, we had hopes of making it. So far we had had fair winds and had
made good time. But the most difficult stretch of sea in all the world now
lay before us. The storms for which the Horn is famous often delay sailing
ships for weeks.

"And then," responded Leudemann, "even if we do get to the Cape

before any cruisers that may be sent down from the North, they may have a
cruiser or two nosing around at the Pacific end of the Straits. Unless we
round the Horn before those chaps reach Rio, the jig may be up."

Just south of the Falklands, we caught a wireless from a British cruiser,

a warning message to Allied merchantmen.

Steer clear of Fernando Noronha. German cruiser Moewe reported there.

"Moewe" means "sea gull" in German. "Hail to you, far-distant Sea

Gull, may you fare as well on your warlike flight as we hope to fare in our
Sea Eagle!"

A feeling of homesickness for the old Moewe came over me, as it does
over any sailor at the mention of a ship on which he has sailed. My service
aboard the Moewe had been neither long nor eventful, but already she had
made for herself a heroic reputation. I have always regretted that I was not
with her on her raids. She made several, slipping out through the blockade,
sinking quantities of Allied shipping, and stealing back into German waters.

She was built just before the war, and originally designed to carry the
exotic banana from Southwest Africa and "German East" to Hamburg.
Plans had just been made to flood Germany with them. Her sister ship in the
banana trade was the Wolf, and she, too, became a famous raider.

All manner of ingenious devices were invented in fitting out the Moewe
for her career as a raider. She was altered so that she could disguise herself
and change disguises while steaming at full speed just like a quick-change
actor. One day she would be a three or two funnelled steamer, the next she
would look like a slow tramp with one funnel. The line of her deck could be
changed in a few minutes also. She also had fake superstructures that could
be raised or lowered at will. She could even be made longer or shorter in a
few moments by means of a fake section that slipped out from her stern.
One day she would be a tramp, the next, with fake bulls'-eyes, a liner. These
startling metamorphoses were a great success and enabled her to dodge
many an Allied cruiser.

Of course, the British soon got on to the Moewe's quick-change habits,

and were not to be fooled by them. On one of her adventures, the Moewe
was trapped off the eastern coast of South America. The British cruisers
Glasgow and Amethyst were warned by wireless that the Moewe was
steering south from Fernando Noronha to take coal. So they rushed out
from Rio de Janeiro to trap her. Presently, the Glasgow spotted the Moewe
on the horizon. The German ship had on one of her innumerable disguises,
and the captain of the Glasgow could not recognize her. He was wary,
however, and on to the Moewe's tricks, so he wirelessed her to stand by to
be searched. The Moewe turned and ran south. The Glasgow could make
twenty-five knots and easily outrace her. The Moewe was well armed with
guns and torpedoes and would fight, but she would be no match for an
armoured ship. The men aboard the Moewe seemed as good as at the bottom
of the sea. The Glasgow knew that the fleeing ship must be the long-sought-
for raider, and prepared to sink her.

The two ships steamed with straining boilers, and the Glasgow was fast
creeping up on the Moewe. When almost within range, the hunted raider ran
into one of those sudden rain squalls that sweep over the ocean. Like the
Biblical cloud, it hid her from the pursuing cruiser. Of course, the Glasgow
followed her into the squall. But as the Moewe ran through the swirling
storm, she passed another steamer, this one steaming north. The cruiser saw
emerging from the squall this new ship. She had three masts. The Moewe
had had but two. The captain of the Glasgow thought only of the Moewe's
ability to disguise herself. He presumed that the Moewe had taken
advantage of the squall to run up a third mast and then double back on her
trail in the hope that the Englishman would not recognize her and that she
might pass safely and even have an opportunity to torpedo the Glasgow.
The cruiser instantly opened fire, and blew the poor, inoffensive cargo
steamer out of the water. It was only when they examined the wreckage that
they discovered that they had made a mistake and sunk a British freighter!
Meanwhile, the Moewe had escaped once more.

Nor was that the only ship the British sank by mistake. They shelled two
harmless sailing vessels to pieces, mistaking them for our Seeadler. It all
came about because of one of those familiar war rumours, a rumour to the
effect that we were already somewhere off the Australian coast. An
Australian cruiser encountered a Scandinavian three-master, and they
seemed to think she was behaving queerly. Word had been passed around
that the Seeadler carried torpedoes. So the cruiser thought she had better not
run any chance of being blown up. She opened fire at long range. Only ten
men aboard the Scandinavian ship were saved. Later on, the armoured
cruiser Kent[1] sank another sailing vessel under similar circumstances in
the Pacific.

[1] See Note B, Appendix.

Sailors since Magellan, by Joe, have talked about the storms around
Cape Horn. Sea stories usually have something about the tough times
rounding the Cape. I had seen those storms myself when I had sailed in the
forecastle, and as a naval officer I had many a time told tales to my brother
officers of gales and tempests I had witnessed in an old windjammer
rounding Horn. But our trip this voyage was to be the most unusual of all. If
the storms held us back, the cruisers would be almost certain to catch us.
We had sailed south in fine time, and if we made a quick passage round that
boisterous tip of South America, we might slip into the wide Pacific and
continue our raids.

Well, we ran into the dirtiest weather off the Horn, gales and hurricanes.
Why, there were days when even with our motor running we could make no
headway at all. It took us three weeks to beat our way through the gales and
around the point. By that time, the cruisers lay there in wait for us, not just
one or two, but a whole half dozen of them.

Ordinarily, a sailing ship tries to hug Cape Horn as closely as it can,

keeping quite near land. If you veer too far to the south, you run into
icebergs. Navigating among icebergs with the wind whistling through your
rigging is enough to give any skipper the chills. So the storms had held us
up, and now our best chance probably would be to steer as wide a course to
the south as possible, whether safe or not. The mountains of ice were there,
and a hurricane was blowing. But we considered the ice the lesser of two
evils. The British watch to the far south was bound to be less vigilant than
up nearer the Cape. We must try to sail around them. So, ho for the
Antarctic!

On our way through the blockade, we had steered into the Arctic. Now
here we were heading into the Antarctic.

To make it pleasant, by Joe, the weather, which had been quite decent to
us on the way south, changed in order to give us a regular Cape Horn
welcome. It turned into a veritable hurricane. Nevertheless, we were
determined to carry as much sail as possible. Risky, but we had to take
chances in the hope of getting through. As the tempest increased, not even
the Seeadler dared carry more than a rag or two of lower sail. With this we
tried to hold our way. Through the mist we saw a great wall. It came
moving toward us. A vast wall of white, an iceberg. The wind was driving
this white spectre through the water, and we had to veer off in order to
avoid collision.
 To the north were the cruisers, and here, but a few hundred yards away,
an equally relentless enemy bearing down upon us, as though determined to
turn us into the arms of our pursuers. A shout to the helmsman. Determined
as we were to go no farther north, we knew we could do no more than hug
the Antarctic ice field.

The mountain of ice nearest us seemed coming closer and closer—nine

times as much ice below the water as above. As every schoolboy knows, if
a berg looms up two hundred feet above the waves, its base extends
eighteen hundred feet below the surface! How far its sharp hard edges and
spurs may extend on either side you never can tell unless one of them rips
open your hull. The best way to avoid running into a spur is to turn and run
the other way. An iceberg carries neither lights, lighthouses, buoys, nor
sirens. She is a cold, calculating, merciless Circe, and the wise mariner
gives her a wide berth. Some of us thought the berg was six thousand feet
long while others thought it much more than that. We were so near it that
we could hear the clattering and squawking of the thousands of sea gulls
that swarmed around the ice mountain. In the wild, heaving sea, the berg
rolled like some mammoth ship. There were cracking sounds as the heaving
ice strained and split. Once, under the stress of the movement, one whole
vast corner broke off with a tremendous rending and tearing. The block, as
big as a skyscraper, crashed into the sea, and before it could start off on a
cruise of its own the waves dashed it into the berg with a noise like thunder,
and this continued time and again as the parent berg drove its husky
offspring before it.

Suddenly, there came an even more ominous scraping sound. The

Seeadler quivered, and our blood fairly froze. We had grazed a submerged
snout of ice. In such a sea, there would have been no chance to launch
lifeboats. Although we had not staved in our hull, nevertheless, the ship had
sprung a leak. No matter who was captain. Everybody to the pumps. I took
my place with the sailors in the hold, and we all fought to keep the water in
check. The brush with the ice was a warning. We veered a bit more to the
north, and with pumps working madly, passed the berg. The wind wrenched
us, the waves struck us hard, but we kept on, beating our way to the Pacific
and pumping.
 "Cruiser ahoy!"

I saw through the storm a 23,000-ton auxiliary cruiser. I believe it was

the Otranto, a converted passenger liner, fast and well armed, capable of
blowing us out of the water before our little gun could throw a shell
halfway to her.

"Hard aport," I shouted.

The ship shook as the helm was forced over, and the wind nearly turned
us bottom side up. Storm or no storm, we were all dead men if that cruiser
ever caught us.

"Set all sails."

We must risk it and run with all our canvas before the hurricane, and
perhaps, somehow, we knew not how, in the shelter of the storm, we might
be lucky enough to evade the cruiser.

Only men who have been to sea in windjammers can imagine what it is
to set sail in a hurricane. The canvas whipped as though a devil had taken
hold of it. The masts bent under the force of the wind as it blasted against
the sails. The ship and its rigging creaked and groaned as though crying out
against the sudden strain.

"The cruiser is coming," Leudemann shouted in my ear. "She is making

straight for us."

"More sail on, by Joe," I sang out to the men aloft.

Never mind the hurricane. To the south we go. We'll bury ourselves in
the Antarctic ice before we let them catch us, if the wind doesn't snap off
our masts.

So, with the combined force of the gale and our 1,000-horsepower
motor, we scudded southward. Suddenly, a flooding rain broke over us, a
providential squall if there ever was one. It was like a gift of heaven. It
blotted us out from the cruiser, just like the squall that rescued the raider
Moewe.

"It is the hand of God," I shouted. "Our hour hasn't struck yet."

Under cover of the squall, we got away from there as fast as we could
go, and after a few hours we felt certain we had given our pursuer the slip.
In reality, we had not been pursued at all. The cruiser hadn't even seen us,
and our lookout had been sharper than hers. We learned this from later
reports. The ironical thing now would have been for us to have impaled the
Seeadler on an iceberg in that mad sprint southward. But luck was with us
again. The storm blew itself out.

Still, we were not out of the danger zone. Days went by before we were
safely out of that boisterous region and spreading our wings on the broad
expanse of the Pacific. Cruisers were still watching for us, and we had to
keep a constant lookout. Our problem now was how to put them off the
scent.

The Seeadler carried twenty lifeboats and a corresponding equipment of

life preservers. These were much more than enough for our crew. We had
taken ten of them off captured ships to accommodate our prisoners in case
of necessity. Now we threw all these extra lifeboats overboard, taking care
that on each boat and each life preserver was painted Seeadler. Our hope
was that some of them would be picked up, and that the report would then
be sent out that we had gone down off the Horn. That was exactly what
happened. Two days later we picked up a wireless. It carried the news that a
coastguard cutter had found one of our little boats. Later, two more were
picked up. Then three. All along the coast of South America we were now
given up for lost. The cruisers abandoned the chase and steamed north.

This left the way clear for us, and now we sailed out to continue our
adventure on the greatest of all the seven seas.

Fourteen days after rounding the Horn, we picked an interesting and

rather puzzling wireless out of the air:
 Seeadler gone down with flags flying. Commander and part of crew
taken prisoners and on their way to Montevideo.

"What's that?" I thought. "By Joe, Johnny Bull is telling a whopper."

Now, when old John Bull tells a fib, you can bet, by Joe, that he has
good reason for it. We tried to figure it out, and came to the conclusion that
it had something to do with the scare we had created. The news that our
prisoners had given out at Rio had sent Lloyd's rates skyward and caused
many ships to lie in harbour until the danger from the German raider had
blown over. The British, in order to bring Lloyd's rates down and to liberate
all the shipping that had been tied up, took pains to spread a highly coloured
report of our disaster dressed up with suitable imaginative trimmings to
make it more convincing.

"Well, Johnny Bull," I thought, "we'll fix you."

Our wireless operator, a very capable fellow, worked out a scheme with
me. "Sparks" sent out the following message purporting to come from a
British ship:

SOS—SOS—German sub....

He cut the message short, as if interrupted, to make it seem as if at that

moment the ship had been torpedoed.

After a suitable interval he sent out another call, this one merely
reporting German submarines off the coast of Chile.

Did Lloyd's rates go up again? And did those ships that were getting
ready to put to sea put back to their berths? Well, you can bet your boots
they did. And we sent out other submarine warnings every so often just to
keep our little joke alive.
 These were all small injuries, but we had been sent out to harass the
enemy, and this was one way of doing it. What more could you expect of a
lone windjammer? And then, it's these injuries all added together that more
often than not win the day. It was good sport for us, anyhow.

XXII

RAIDING THE PACIFIC

The wireless continued to be interesting. We picked up many messages

from the cruiser Kent,[1] which was right in our waters; in fact, much too
close for comfort. Our course was northward, with the Chilean coast and
the Andes almost in sight. We steered almost to the Galapagos Islands, and
at Robinson Crusoe's island, San Juan Fernandez, we trimmed our sails and
turned our bow west. We sailed for weeks on the broad expanse of the
Pacific without sighting a ship. Except for the occasional crackle of the
wireless, we were alone in the world.

[1] See Note C, Appendix.

Our wireless antennæ kept us in touch with the latest phase of the
international situation. Nor was it particularly pleasant on those long idle
days at sea to sit and meditate on the fact that the United States was going
into the war against us. We sailors knew better than some of our people at
home the tremendous power of the great republic of the West. There were
closeted statesmen and generals who might talk as they pleased about the
American lack of military preparedness and the impossibility of American
troops being mustered and sufficiently trained in time to be of any service
in the critical hour of the war. We sailors had travelled. Many of us had
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

testbankmall.com