zealous commander of the yellow
fleet to do. And besides we have special orders from Washington to draw
Magdalen Bay as little as possible into the maneuvers, so as to avoid
all unpleasantness with Mexico and not to attract the attention of
foreigners to the importance which the bay would assume in case of war."

A lieutenant stepped up to Captain Farlow and reported, saluting: "All
attempts to establish connection with Magdalen Bay have failed."

"Well, let it go," grumbled Admiral Perry, "Crane seems to have deprived
us of Magdalen Bay, but the commander of the _New York_ will reap a fine
reprimand from Washington for this."

With these words Admiral Perry left the bridge, steadying himself by
holding on to the railing on both sides of the steps, as the sea was
becoming rougher every minute.

The increasing northeast wind tore through the rigging, whistled in the
wires, howled through all the openings, screamed its bad temper down the
companionways, pulled savagely at the gun-covers and caused the long
copper-wires belonging to the wireless apparatus to snap like huge
whips. The bluish-gray waves broke with a hollow sound against the sides
of the six battleships of the _Connecticut_ class, which were running
abreast in a northwesterly direction through the dreary watery wastes of
the Pacific at the rate of ten knots an hour.

There was a high sea on. A barometric depression that was quite unusual
in these sunny latitudes at that particular time of year had brought
nasty weather in its train. During the night violent rain-storms had
flooded the decks. Now the wind freshened and swept low-hanging clouds
before it. The sharp white bow of the _Connecticut_ with the pressure of
16,000 tons of steel behind it plowed its way through the water,
throwing up a hissing foaming wave on each side. The wind lashed the
waves on the starboard-side so that they splashed over the forepart of
the cruiser like a shower of rain, enveloping it in a gray mist. The
thick, black smoke pouring out of the three long funnels was blown
obliquely down to the edge of the water and hung there like a thick
cloud which shut off the western horizon and made the passage of the
squadron visible a long distance off. The small openings in the
casemates of the armored guns had been closed up long before, because
the waves had begun to wash over them, and even the turrets on the upper
deck had received a few heavy showers which had flooded their interior