s. At a pinch he could get
thirty-two knots out of the _Greyhound_, and here was this quiet,
determined-looking young man, who had created a vessel of his own, and
had reached the rank of captain by sheer genius over the heads of men
ten years older than himself, talking calmly of forty-five knots, and of
the sinking of destroyers and cruisers, as though it was a mere matter
of cracking egg-shells. Wherefore there was wrath in his soul when he
went on board and gave the order to cast loose. Erskine went with him.
They shook hands on the deck of the _Greyhound_, and Erskine went aboard
of the _Ithuriel_, saying:

"Well, Hawkins, I expect I shall meet you coming back."

"I'm damned if I believe in your forty-five knots," replied Captain
Hawkins, shortly.

"Cast off, and come with me then," laughed Erskine, "you soon will."

Inside three minutes the two craft were clear of the _Diadem_. Erskine
gave the _Greyhound_ right of way until they had cleared the squadron.
The sea was smooth, and there was scarcely any wind, for it had been a
wonderfully fine November. The _Greyhound_ got on her thirty-two knots
as soon as there was no danger of hitting anything.

"That chap thinks he can race us," said Erskine to Lennard, as he got
into the conning-tower, "and I'm just going to make him the maddest man
in the British navy. He's doing thirty-two--we're doing twenty-five. Now
that we're clear I'll wake him up." He took down the receiver and said:

"Pump her out, Castellan, and give her full speed as soon as you can."

The _Ithuriel_ rose in the water, and began to shudder from stem to
stern with the vibrations of the engines, as they gradually worked up to
their highest capacity. Commander Hawkins saw something coming up
astern, half hidden by a cloud of spray and foam. It went past him as
though he had been standing still instead of steaming at thirty-two
knots. A few moments more and it was lost in the darkness.

CHAPTER XIV

THE EVE OF BATTLE

In twenty minutes the _Ithuriel_ ran alongside the _Britain_, which was
one of the five most formidable battleships in existence. For five years
past a new policy had been pursued with regard to the navy. The
flagships, which of course contained the controlling brains of the
fleets, were the most powerful afloat. By the time war broke out five of
them had been launched and armed, and the _Britain_ was the newest and
most powerful of them.

Her displacement was twenty-tw