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d been received from a Chilian spy in Arica to the effect that the _Huascar_ and the _Union_ were to call in at that port in about three days' time, and that they would be detained there for about a week in order to effect certain repairs. Therefore, should the Chilians sail immediately, suggested the telegram, they would be almost certain to catch their prey without difficulty. It was also within the bounds of possibility that the _Pilcomayo_ and _Manco Capac_ might likewise be there; and in that case, since the opposing forces would be pretty evenly matched, there was every prospect of a general engagement being fought, a prospect which aroused the keenest enthusiasm of every man in the fleet, and more especially that of such young hot-bloods as Jim and his friend O'Meara, to say nothing of Lieutenant Montt, who was being transferred, to his great gratification, from the _Covadonga_ to the _Blanco Encalada_. A few minutes after Captain Castello had come on deck the bugles shrilled out, "Clear lower deck. Hands up anchor!" and the seamen came tumbling up from below, happy and eager as a parcel of schoolboys off for a holiday. A string of signal-flags soared aloft to the _Blanco's_ mainyard-arm, and half an hour later her screw began to revolve as she led the way out of the harbour, with the other ships following, in column of line ahead. It was five o'clock in the afternoon of October 1, 1879, and the cruise had begun which was to prove so eventful for at least two of the ships comprising the squadron. As they passed out to sea with ever-increasing speed the forts on either side of the bay fired a farewell salute; and the spectacle of the sun sinking over Monte Bajo and the Centinela Alto, coupled with the lurid flashes of flame and clouds of white smoke from Forts San Antonio, Bueras, Valdivia, and the Citadel, constituted a picture the grandeur of which Jim never forgot. A very careful look-out was maintained during the progress of the fleet up the coast, and Commodore Riveros took the precaution to look into Chaneral Bay, Cobija, and Iquique, to make quite sure that the Peruvians--who might possibly have got wind of the expedition--should have no chance of escaping by lying hidden until the Chilians were past, and then making a sudden dash southward upon the comparatively defenceless ports of the lower coast. There was, however, no sign of the enemy anywhere in any of these places, and all the news tha
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