His suggestion was at once acted on; a French cruiser went out into the Channel, seized the offending ship, took it into port, where a French prize court promptly condemned it.

The proceeding did not cause even a ripple of hostility.

The _Dacia_ was sold to Frenchmen, rechristened the _Yser_ and put to work in the Mediterranean trade.

The episode was closed in the latter part of 1915 when a German submarine torpedoed the vessel and sent it to the bottom.
Such was the spirit which Page and Sir Edward Grey brought to the solution of the great shipping problems of 1914-1917.

There is much more to tell of this great task of "waging neutrality," and it will be told in its proper place.