, notwithstanding her possession of the two powerful battleships.

He was aroused from his somewhat gloomy reverie by observing a signal
fluttering up to the signal-yard of the flagship. Running below to his
cabin, he seized his telescope, and, hurrying up on deck again, read off
the communication, which he was enabled to do by means of his Chinese
secret naval code book, a few copies of which had been prepared with
English translations for the use of the British naval officers in the
fleet, of whom there were several.

The signal read: "Captains to repair on board the flagship immediately",
and Frobisher then knew that the time for action was close at hand. A
council would be held in the admiral's cabin on the _Ting Yuen_, and the
admiral would inform his captains of his intended plans, and be willing
at the same time to receive suggestions. It was to be, in fact, a
Council of War, and Frobisher looked forward to it eagerly, as being the
first actual war debate he would ever have attended. This would be his
first introduction to war as a reality. Hitherto he had only taken part
in sham naval battles; he was now face to face with the stern reality,
and he rejoiced exceedingly.

Calling his interpreter to him, he had his gig ordered, got himself
quickly into his full-dress uniform, handed over the ship to Drake's
charge during his absence, and in a few minutes was being pulled across
the quarter-mile stretch of water that lay between the _Chih' Yuen_ and
the flagship.

On his arrival there, owing to his ship lying farthest away, he found
the remainder of the captains assembled, only awaiting his presence to
commence business. He was greeted very cordially in English by Admiral
Ting, with whom Wong-lih had already been in communication, and received
a few very courteous words of condolence upon the disaster on the
Hoang-ho. Then followed his introduction to his fellow captains, among
whom was Prince Hsi. With this one exception, he was very warmly
welcomed by them all, especially by his compatriots, Captain Foster, of
the _Chen Yuen_, who, as a matter of strict fact, was a Scotsman, and
Captain James, of the cruiser _Shan-si_. These were the only other
Britishers present being captains; but there were several others in the
fleet in the capacity of first and second lieutenants, and especially in
the engineering department. In fact, with one exception, the chief
engineers of the ships were all either Englishmen