d the
inner harbor. In the semi-darkness of the early morning the Russian
took her for the British cruiser Yarmouth, which had been in and out
two or three times during the previous week and did not even "query"
her. Suddenly, when less than 400 yards away, the Emden emptied her
bow guns into the Jemtchug and came on at a terrific pace, with all
the guns she could bring to bear in action. When she had come within
250 yards she changed her course slightly, and as she passed the
Jemtchug poured two broadsides into her, as well as a torpedo, which
entered the engine room but did comparatively little damage.

The Russian cruiser was taken completely by surprise and was badly
crippled before she realized what was happening. The fact that her
Captain was spending the night ashore and that there was no one on
board who seemed capable of acting energetically completed the
demoralization. She was defeated before the battle began. However, her
men finally manned the light guns and brought them into action.

In the meantime the Emden was well inside the inner harbor and among
the shipping. She saw the French torpedo boats there, and apparently
realized at once that unless she could get out before they joined in
the action her fate was sealed. At such close quarters (the range was
never more than 450 yards) their torpedoes would have proved deadly.
Accordingly, she turned sharply and made for the Jemtchug once more.

All the time she had been in the harbor the Russian had been
bombarding her with shrapnel, but, owing to the notoriously bad
marksmanship prevalent in the Czar's navy, had succeeded for the most
part only in peppering every merchant ship within range. As the Emden
neared the Jemtchug again both ships were actually spitting fire. The
range was practically point-blank. Less than 150 yards away the Emden
passed the Russian, and as she did so torpedoed her amidships,
striking the magazine. There was a tremendous detonation, paling into
insignificance by its volume all the previous din; a heavy black
column of smoke arose and the Jemtchug sank in less than ten seconds,
while the Emden steamed behind the point to safety.

No sooner had she done so, however, than she sighted the torpedo boat
Mosquet, which had heard the firing and was coming in at top speed.
The Emden immediately opened up on her, thereby causing her to turn
around in an endeavor to escape. It was too late. After a running
fight of twenty minutes the Mosq