to the
above cause, combined with the fact that ten or a dozen craft ran a much
greater risk of being picked up by the enemy's searchlights than would
one or two. It had therefore seemed to me that, taking everything into
consideration, the prospects of successful attack by two craft--one to
support and assist the other in case of need--were as good as those of a
dozen craft, while the risk would be very much less, provided that the
attack were made coolly and circumspectly in accordance with a plan
which I had worked out. This plan was, in brief, to run for the harbour
at normal speed until we were practically within effective range, and
then, instead of dashing in at full speed, to stop our engines--the
throb of which was loud enough to be heard at a considerable distance on
a quiet night--and head directly for our quarry, discharging our
torpedoes when the momentum or "way" of the boat had carried her as far
as she would go, trusting to the subsequent confusion to enable us to
escape unscathed. I had fully explained this view of mine to the
Admiral, and had obtained his sanction to put my plan to the test.
Accordingly, on a certain night toward the middle of June, after the
Russians had been let severely alone for some forty-eight hours, the
_Kasanumi_, accompanied by the _Akaisuki_, my friend Ito's ship, left
the rest of the blockaders, with the object of putting my theory into
practice.

It was a splendid night for our purpose; there was a breathless calm,
the water was smooth as oil, and although there was certainly a moon,
she was in her last quarter, and did not rise until close upon one
o'clock in the morning. Moreover, the sky was overcast by a great sheet
of dappled cloud through which only a solitary star here and there
peeped faintly; it was consequently dark enough to afford us a
reasonable chance of getting within striking distance of our quarry
undetected.

When the Russians sent their ships out of harbour to lie all night in
the roadstead, as they did pretty frequently now, it was their custom to
get them out early in the afternoon, after their destroyers had
carefully swept the anchorage in search of mines; and it was my hope
that--we having left them alone for the preceding two days--they would
by this time be getting suspicious of such unwonted inactivity on our
part, and consequently would send out one, or perhaps even two ships, to
guard against a possible _coup_ on our part.

Our mine-lay