over them, in their own
vessel's forecastle, the scuttles of which were closed and screwed home
with a spanner, so that no outcry of theirs could reach the other ship.

The fires were banked and the steam pressure was low, but by an
extravagant use of oil a working pressure was soon raised. Frobisher
wisely waited until he had a full head of steam before slipping his
cable, lest he might be chased by the store-ship before he had power for
full speed; but at the expiration of an hour all was in readiness. The
word was given, the cable slipped through the hawse-pipe with a roar,
the screw revolved, and the _Satsuma_ swung round in a circle and headed
northward for Wei-hai-wei.

The sound of the cable running out alarmed the crew of the store-ship,
and the concert ceased abruptly. But that craft might as well have
hoped to catch a streak of lightning as the _Satsuma_, when once she was
well into her stride; and two days later the destroyer, now flying the
Chinese flag, steamed proudly into Wei-hai-wei.

But, alas! pride soon had a fall, for the harbour was full of Japanese
war-ships! Matters had been progressing while Frobisher was a prisoner
in Formosa, battles had been fought on land and sea, and China had been
humbled in the dust. Her men, both in the Navy and the Army, had fought
like heroes; but, alas! it was always the same tale. Victory, dearly
bought, but still victory, would have been theirs in nearly every case
but for the peculation of the mandarins and other high officials, who
supplied everything of the poorest to the unfortunate men whose duty it
was to do the fighting. Poor weapons, poor food, cheap boots and
clothing, faulty ammunition were the cause of China's downfall--nothing
else.

The remnant of her fleet, under Admiral Ting, had fought another
bravely-contested naval action, and had been destroyed, with the
exception of one ship, the _Chen Yuen_, which had been captured. Her
southern fleet had been bottled up by another Japanese squadron, and
Admiral Wong-lih had gone to Tien-tsin to see whether he could be of use
there. The army in Korea had been crushed by an enemy superior in
numbers and in everything else but bravery; and at the moment of
Frobisher's return the peace envoys were in the act of concluding the
treaty of Shimonoseki.

The higher Chinese naval officers, broken-hearted at disgrace which was
none of their own fault, had one and all committed suicide, and the
Dragon's teeth