, at the same time shifting our helm, so as to get into the wake
of the submarine. We managed to do this before quite losing sight of
the disturbance made by her passage through the water; and, this done,
we regulated our pace by hers, maintaining a distance of about fifty
fathoms between her and ourselves. She shifted her helm several times
in an evident attempt to baffle pursuit; but, thanks to the tell-tale
swirl she raised, we were able to follow her; and at length, after a
chase of about three-quarters of an hour, she rose to the surface, the
watertight door of her tower opened, and a man's head appeared.

He looked greatly astonished to see us within a biscuit-toss of him, and
instantly ducked out of sight, leaving the hatch open, however, and we
heard him shouting something to some one in the boat's interior. A few
seconds later another head appeared, stared at us fixedly for a few
seconds--during which young Hiraoka, who had a very fair knowledge of
Russian, hailed him to surrender--and he, too, disappeared. Then, while
we were patiently awaiting further developments, the submarine, which
was still going ahead, suddenly inclined her bows and, before we could
do anything, _dived with her hatch open_! The brave fellows who manned
her, evidently taking a leaf out of their opponents' book, had chosen
death rather than surrender, and had deliberately plunged to the bottom
rather than yield their vessel to us! For, of course, the craft was
never seen again, nor did any of her crew come to the surface, although
we hove-to for an hour or more, and got our boat out in readiness to
pick up any one who might escape from that steel coffin.

I was quite prepared to hear a loud cheer of exultation burst from the
lips of my crew when they realised what had happened. But no. There is
nothing that the Japanese admire more than courage; and such a
deliberate act of devoted self-sacrifice for the honour of one's country
and flag as they had just beheld, called forth merely a low-spoken
murmur of intense, almost envious praise.

We arrived at our destination without further adventure, and dropped
anchor in the roadstead just as the sun rose above the horizon, flooding
the rocky shores of the Elliots with gold, and were heartily greeted by
the few craft which we found lying at anchor there.

Looking back upon our adventure with the Russian submarine, I could not
help regarding it as almost providential that we had encounte