n and satisfy myself by personal observation that
the work was being properly done."

"Which it was, I presume?" remarked the Admiral.

"Which it certainly was, sir," I replied.

"Good!" said Togo. "That being the case, you are free for another
service. How would you like the chance to get a little fighting ashore,
by way of a change?"

"Jove!" I exclaimed, "that would be splendid, sir. Are you going to
land a naval brigade anywhere?"

"Well--no," answered the Admiral, "hardly that, I think; at least, that
is not my present intention, although circumstances may possibly render
it desirable, eventually. The matter stands thus,"--turning to the
table where a map of the Liaotung peninsula lay unfolded upon it.

"This,"--pointing to a certain spot on the map--"is where General Oku
landed, the other day, with his army. And this,"--pointing to another
spot--"is where he is now. His object of course is to march south and
lay siege to Port Arthur. But at this point, some two and a half miles
south of Kinchau, which, as I suppose you know, is a Chinese walled
city, the isthmus is only about two miles wide; and in and about the
city the Russians have established themselves in force, prepared,
apparently, to dispute Oku's passage of the isthmus to the last man.

"This mountain, so prominently marked on the map, is Mount Sampson. It
is more than two thousand feet in height and, as you will readily
understand, dominates the entire district. Upon this mountain the
Russians very strongly established themselves, scarping the heights and
constructing formidable breastworks behind which to shelter themselves.
Of course it was necessary for our troops to take this mountain, since,
until that could be done, to pass the isthmus would be impossible. I am
glad to learn that the mountain is now in our hands.

"But here, just to the south of Kinchau, is another range of hills,
known as the Nanshan Heights. They form a sort of backbone to the
isthmus, and occupy almost its entire width, their crests completely
commanding the narrow strip of low ground on either side. On these
heights, too, the Russians have very strongly established themselves; so
that although Mount Sampson is in our hands, the isthmus remains
impassable. The unfortunate fact, so far as we are concerned, is that
General Oku has no heavy artillery with him, otherwise he would be able
to shell the Nanshan Heights from Mount Sampson, and drive the Russians
o