t, in a
hollow a few miles to the west of the station. They also discovered a
time-table of the Oregon Railway in the wagon, with a note in Japanese
characters beside the time for the arrival of the local train from
Umatilla. This time-table had evidently been lost by the leader of the
party on his flight. Soon after the police had returned to the
Swallowtown station that same evening, a Japanese military train passed
through, going in the direction of Pendleton. The train was moving
slowly and those within opened fire on the policeman, who lost no time
in replying. But the odds were too great, and it was all over in a few
minutes.

By Monday evening the enemy had secured an immense quantity of railway
material, which had simply poured into their arms automatically, and
which was more than sufficient for their needs.

The information received from Victoria (British Columbia) that a fleet
had been sighted in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca, whence it was said
to have proceeded to Port Townsend and Puget Sound, was quite correct. A
cruiser squadron had indeed passed Esquimault and Victoria at dawn on
Sunday, and a few hours later firing had been heard coming from the
direction of Port Townsend. The British harbor officials had suddenly
become extremely timid and had not allowed the regular steamer to leave
for Seattle. When, therefore, on Monday morning telegraphic inquiries
came from the American side concerning the foreign warships, which, by
the way, had carried no flag, ambiguous answers could be made without
arousing suspicion. Considerable excitement prevailed in Victoria on
account of the innumerable vague rumors of the outbreak of war; the
naval station, however, remained perfectly quiet. On Monday morning a
cruiser started out in the direction of Port Townsend, and after
exchanging numerous signals with Esquimault, continued on her course
towards Cape Flattery and the open sea. It will be seen, therefore, that
no particular zeal was shown in endeavoring to get at the bottom of the
matter.

A battle between the Japanese ships and the forts of Port Townsend had
actually taken place. Part of the hostile fleet had escorted the
transport steamers to Puget Sound and had there found the naval depots
and the fortifications, the arsenal and the docks in the hands of their
countrymen, who had also destroyed the second-class battleship _Texas_
lying off Port Orchard by firing at her from the coast forts previously
storm