of protective booms. As it happened, I did, having once
been actively employed upon the construction of an experimental boom
which was afterward stretched across the mouth of Portsmouth harbour.
When, therefore, I told the Admiral this, with his usual directness of
purpose he at once appointed me to superintend the construction of the
long boom; his orders being that I was to remain in hospital until the
doctors should discharge me; when I was to resume the command of the
_Kasanumi_, and with her as flagship, proceed to the Elliot Islands, in
charge of the torpedo flotilla which he would leave behind for that
purpose, escorting the steamers into which he would tranship all the
materials necessary for the construction of the long boom. And upon our
arrival there, I was to discharge the steamers--or, rather, supervise
the discharge of them, landing the materials at the most suitable spot I
could find; and then, still supervising only, proceed with all celerity
upon the construction of the boom. He briefly gave me his own ideas as
to how the boom should be constructed, but left me with an entirely free
hand to introduce any improvements that might suggest themselves to me,
so far as the materials at my command would permit. The task was one
that strongly appealed to me, for it gave some scope for the employment
of a certain inventive faculty which I believed I possessed; and I
undertook it with avidity.

That evening, about half an hour before sunset, the transhipment of the
materials for the boom having been effected, the transports containing
Oku's Second Army got their anchors and started for Pi-tse-wo, escorted
by a portion of the fleet under Togo, while the remaining portion,
consisting of the light, fast cruisers and a detachment of destroyers,
proceeded to Port Arthur, to make assurance doubly sure by keeping an
eye upon the Russian ships there. I subsequently learned that the
latter appeared to be quite inactive, although the sounds of frequent
loud explosions proceeding from the harbour indicated that the Russians
were already busily engaged upon the task of attempting to blast a
passage through the obstructing wrecks.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

THE RUSSIAN SUBMARINE.

By dint of wheedling entreaty and the most lavish promises on my part
that I would on no account attempt to do any actual work, I succeeded in
inducing the doctor to discharge me from the hospital on the second day
after the departure of the Ad