ave him overboard!"

The crew, who had shown a good many signs of uneasiness since my
coming over the side, seemed to think this last hint worth attending
to. They slunk forward to their duties, leaving the captain and
myself to pace the quarter-deck alone.

We steamed swiftly through the darkness till we began to see the
search-lights of the Japanese fleet like small white feathers
fluttering on the horizon.

"Come up on the bridge," the skipper advised. "Got a revolver handy?"

I showed him my loaded weapon.

"Right! I ain't much afraid of the Japs, but we may have trouble with
some of that all-sorts crew I've got below."

By and by the white plumes became bigger. All at once a ship lying
dark on the water, scarcely a mile away on the weather-bow, spat out
a long ribbon of light like an ant-eater's tongue, and we found
ourselves standing in a glare of light as if we were actors in the
middle of a stage.

There was a howl from below, and a mixed body of Lascars, headed by
one of the Germans, rushed toward the helm.

"Back, you milk-drinking swabs!" the skipper roared. "As I'm a living
man, the first one of you that lays a hand on the wheel, I'll fire
into the crowd.

"Hark ye here!" their commander said with rough eloquence. "In the
first place, it don't follow that because you can see a flashlight
the chap at t'other end can see you. Second place, no ship that does
see us is going to sink us without giving us a round of blank first,
by way of notice to heave to. Third place, if we do get a notice, I'm
going to stop this ship. And, fourth place, you've got five seconds
to decide whether you'd rather be taken into Yokohama by a prize crew
of Japs, or be shot where you stand by me and this gentleman."

The crew turned tail. Before five seconds had elapsed, not a head was
to be seen above decks, except that of the man at the helm, who
happened to be a Dane, to be first mate, and to be more than
three-parts drunk.

Needless to say the warning shot was not fired.

We steamed steadily on through the fleet, every vessel of which was
probably by this time aware of our presence. The search-lights
flashed and fell all around us, but not once did we have to face
again that blinking glare which tells the blockade runner that the
game is up.

But there was another peril in store on which we had not reckoned.
The sea all around Port Arthur had been strewn with Russian mines!

Unconscious of what was coming, we ste