d
intends to speak us. See, she has stopped her engines, and is hailing
the _Asashio_! What a jolly, bloomin' chance," (Ito was very proud of
his command of English slang, and availed himself of every possible
opportunity to air it) "to honourably torpedo her! Will the honourable
Swinburne augustly grant the humblest of his servants permission to do
so?"

"Heavens! no, man," I exclaimed, "not for worlds. And I pray that
Matsunaga may also have the sense to refrain from doing so."

"But why, my honourable friend; why?" demanded Ito, literally dancing
with eagerness and impatience.

"Because, don't you see, my honourable duffer, that if we did so the
explosion would put all Port Arthur, and the fleet too, on the _qui
vive_ long before we could get at them, and thus spoil our chances of
bagging the battleships?" I replied. "No, certainly not. Let the
cruiser go; it is the battleships we want. There go the _Asashio's_
lanterns. Hoist away, quartermaster!"

"Yes, yes; I see," replied Ito in crestfallen tones; "you are honourably
right, of course. Aha! there goes the cruiser. The honourable Captain
Matsunaga has evidently honourably satisfied her. He honourably speaks
Russian like a native."

It was an exciting moment; but, tense as it was, I could not help being
amused at the pertinacity with which Ito, like all the Japanese, dragged
in the word "honourable" upon every possible and impossible occasion.
It arises, of course, out of the desire, drilled into them, generation
after generation, to be extremely polite; and doubtless when speaking in
their own tongue, the word is never unsuitably used; but when they
undertake to talk English, it is frequently pitchforked into the
conversation in the most incongruous and even ludicrous fashion, and I
decided that it would only be kind to give Ito a lesson upon the
absurdity of employing it inappropriately. The opportunity came a few
minutes later.

The _Askold_, apparently satisfied with Captain Matsunaga's explanation,
put her helm hard a-starboard and swept on, presently vanishing in the
darkness; and a minute or two later the _Asashio_ made the signal for
the Divisions to separate as arranged, starboarding her helm as she did
so and leading Number 1 Division to the westward, while Divisions 2 and
3 ported and swerved sharply away to the eastward.

"The critical moment is at hand," said I. "Be so good, Mr Ito, as to
go down on the main deck and assure yourse