ally forfeit those possibilities for the
equivalent of a few thousand English pounds, in order to be able to
practise vices which had originated in the first place simply through
the possession of so much money that he felt he had to get rid of it
somehow, and so adopted the quickest means available.

But the young English captain had very little time in which to moralise
over Hsi's miserable end; for shortly after his return to the _Chih'
Yuen_, while he was changing into his undress uniform, a messenger came
aboard with a request that he would wait upon the admiral again
immediately.

Wondering what was now in the wind, Frobisher went across to the _Ting
Yuen_, to find the admiral anxiously pacing the deck awaiting him; and
he soon learnt what it was that his superior required him for.

It appeared that a ship had come in but a short time previously,
bringing important news, which her captain had just communicated to
Ting, to the effect that the Japanese had resolved upon the seizure of
the Chinese island of Taiwan, or Formosa, and that they intended to
dispatch an expedition thither under General Oki, in two transports,
each conveying twelve hundred men; and as the intended invasion of the
island was believed by the Japanese to be a dead secret, it was proposed
to send only one gunboat or small cruiser to convoy the transports.
They evidently considered that, the Chinese northern fleet being still
under repair at Wei-hai-wei, and the southern fleet away in southern
Chinese waters, they had little or nothing to fear, and that a very
small measure of protection, or even none at all, would suffice. How
the man had obtained his information he declined to say; but he solemnly
declared that the news was genuine, and spoke so convincingly that he
quite satisfied the admiral of the need for taking immediate action.

Ting therefore asked Frobisher whether it was true that the repairs to
his ship were all but completed; and on being informed that another
day's work would suffice to render the _Chih' Yuen_ ready for sea, if
her services were urgently required, he ordered the young Englishman to
expedite matters as much as possible, get his stores and ammunition on
board, and sail at the earliest moment for Kilung, at the north end of
the island of Formosa, at which spot it was reported that the Japanese
intended to disembark their troops. This disembarkation, said Ting,
must be prevented, if possible, and the gunboat and t