e steel
into her, leaving her quite helpless, and then went off to chase
a merchant ship which had been sighted during the fighting and
which, when caught, proved to be the British ship _Buresk_, now
manned by Germans and doing duty as collier to the _Emden_. Returning
to the latter, Captain Glossop saw that she still flew the German
flag at her masthead. He signaled her, asking whether she would
surrender, but receiving no reply after waiting five minutes he
let her have a few more salvos. The German flag came down and the
white flag went up in its place. The _Jemchug_ had been avenged,
and the terribly costly career of the _Emden_ brought to an end.
Von Mueller was taken prisoner, and on account of his valor was
permitted to keep his sword. But the landing party, which had cut
the false cables, was still at large. The adventures of these three
officers and forty men form a separate story, which will be narrated
later.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXVI

BATTLE OFF THE FALKLANDS

The defeat of the British squadron back in the first week of November
had sorely tried the patience of the British public, and the admiralty
felt the necessity of retrieving faith in the navy. Von Spee was
still master of the waters near the Horn, and till his ships had
again been met the British could not boast of being rulers of the
waves. Consequently Admiral Fisher detailed the two battle cruisers
_Invincible_ and _Inflexible_ to go to the Falkland Islands. They
left England November 11, 1914, and on the outward journey met
with and took along the light cruisers _Carnarvon, Kent_, and
_Cornwall_, the second-class cruiser _Bristol_, and the converted
liner _Macedonia_. The _Canopus_ and the _Glasgow_, now repaired,
all joined the squadron, which was commanded by Admiral Sturdee. The
vessels coaled at Stanley, Falkland Islands, and while so engaged
on December 8 were warned by a civilian volunteer watcher on a
near-by hill that two strange vessels had made their appearance
in the distance. British naval officers identified them and other
vessels which were coming into view as the ships of Von Spee's
squadron, the one which had been victorious off Coronel.

During the interval that had elapsed since that engagement these
German ships had not been idle. Von Spee knew that the _Glasgow_
had gone to the Falklands and that there were important wireless
stations there, but he put off going after those prizes and pic