" roared Frobisher down the speaking-tube, forgetting
that the order was in English. The engineers understood--perhaps the
command was expected--and slowly the _Chih' Yuen's_ destroying ram
withdrew itself from the gash in the other cruiser's side. In less than
a minute, so deadly was the wound, the _Surawa_ rolled heavily to port,
settled sluggishly on an even keel once more, and then suddenly heeled
over again and capsized, her boilers exploding as she did so, and down
she went, carrying with her over three hundred of Japan's bravest
hearts.

Frobisher, emboldened by success, looked round for more prey. The
_Nagasaki_, wounded to death by her sunken sister, was slowly settling
down; she could be left. Ha! why not try for bigger game--why not try
for the flagship, the _Yoshino_ herself? If the _Chih' Yuen's_ ram
crumpled--well, she would surely destroy the _Yoshino_ as well, and the
sacrifice would be worth the gain. By Jove, he would try it! The name
of Captain Frobisher should be on men's lips that day, or he would know
the reason why.

A hideous wreck above her gun-deck, with funnel pierced, both masts
tottering to their fall, guns dismounted, and planks stained red with
the life-blood of many a gallant Chinaman, the _Chih' Yuen_ quickly
gathered sternway, piling the water up in a white, foaming mass under
her round counter, while the vengeful guns of the Japanese squadron
never ceased to thunder their hatred of the destroyer of two of their
ships. Frobisher himself was obliged to relinquish the command to Drake
for a few minutes, while the surgeon bound up a bad scalp wound which
was blinding him with blood, this having been received from a fragment
of flying shell that had managed to penetrate through the observation
slit of the conning-tower.

Then, quite by accident, the cruiser added another success to her roll
of destruction that day. The enemy's destroyers had for some time past
been hovering round, in the hope of getting home a torpedo which would
send a Chinese ship to the bottom, and one of these had considered the
opportunity favourable when the _Chih' Yuen_ was entangled in the wreck
of the _Surawa_. She had stolen up astern, and had come to a standstill
a few hundred yards away from the cruiser, intending to send a Whitehead
into Frobisher's stern; but the air-chamber proved to have been leaking,
and it became necessary to pump some more air in before the torpedo
could be discharged. Her m