edly glad to see me. Of course we had a tremendous lot to say to
each other, and I was most eager to learn what he had been doing since
we parted company; but when he learned that I was fresh from Kinchau,
and had actually assisted at the battle of the Nanshan Heights, he
positively refused to say a single word about himself until I had given
him a full, true, and particular account of all the happenings of that
terrible yet glorious day. His enthusiasm and delight, as I endeavoured
to describe the final irresistible rush of the Japanese up those
heart-breaking, shot-swept slopes, were supreme; he seemed to literally
swell with pride; and when I spoke of the thrilling Japanese cheer as
his fellow-countrymen finally carried the last line of the Russian
defences and routed the defenders, he leaped to his feet and repeated
the shout of "Banzai!" again and again, while his eyes shone like stars,
and tears of joy and pride rolled down his cheeks.

It was some time before I could turn his mind away from the events of
that strenuous day; and when at length I succeeded in doing so, and
could get him to talk about himself, it appeared that, stirring though
the events seemed to be which were nightly happening before Port Arthur,
they were all flat, stale, and unprofitable, compared with such an event
as the storming of the Nanshan Heights. And so, as a matter of fact,
they were, as I soon discovered for myself; for the duty of our
destroyer flotilla consisted simply in steaming inshore every night
industriously laying mines in the roadstead and at the harbour's mouth,
which the Russians as industriously strove to remove next day. True,
the sameness of this work was occasionally relieved by a more or less
exciting episode, as when, for instance, the Russians would suddenly
turn their searchlights upon us and all their batteries would open fire.
Then we simply had to scuttle for our lives, for, of course, the shore
batteries mounted very much heavier and longer range guns than any that
a destroyer could carry; and there was no sense in attempting, as a
general rule, to oppose our 12-pounders and 6-pounders to their 6-inch
and 11-inch guns.

Yet we by no means allowed the Russians to invariably have it all their
own way. There were times when, under cover of the darkness, one or two
of us would creep right into the harbour entrance and, getting so close
under the cliff that it became impossible for the Russians to depress
thei