the captain and the first mate on the bridge, and all
three leaned against the railing and tried through their glasses to
discover the fires of the Golden Gate through the darkness; but not a
gleam of light was to be seen.

"I don't believe we'll be allowed to enter the harbor at night," began
the first mate again, "more especially as our instructions are to reach
the Golden Gate at noon."

"Yes, but if the engines won't work properly, how the devil can they
expect us to be punctual!" grumbled the captain.

"Look," cried Wilson, pointing to the blinding flash of a searchlight in
front of them, "they've got us at last!" A few minutes later the
brilliant bluish white beam of a searchlight was fixed on the _Port
Elizabeth_.

"We'll keep right on our course," said the captain rather hurriedly to
the man at the helm, "they'll soon let us know what they want. Wilson,
you might get the ship's papers ready, we'll have visitors in a minute."

Scarcely had Wilson reached the captain's cabin when a bell rang sharply
in the engine-room, and soon after this the engines began to slow down.
When he returned to the bridge, the masts and low funnels of a ship and
a thick trailing cloud of smoke could be seen crossing the reflection of
the searchlight a few hundred yards away from the _Port Elizabeth_. Then
a long black torpedo-boat with four low funnels emerged from the
darkness, turned, and took the same course as the freighter. A boat was
lowered and four sailors, a pilot and an officer stepped on board the
_Port Elizabeth_.

The captain welcomed the Japanese lieutenant at the gangway and spoke a
few words to him in a low tone, whereupon they both went into the
captain's cabin. The Jap must have been satisfied by his examination of
the ship's papers, for he returned to the bridge conversing with the
captain in a most friendly and animated manner.

"This is my first mate, Hornberg," said the captain.

"An Englishman?" asked the Japanese.

"No, a German."

"A German?" repeated the Jap slowly. "The Germans are friends of Japan,
are they not?" he asked, smiling pleasantly at the first mate, who,
however, did not appear to have heard the question and turned away to go
to the engine-room telephone.

"And this is my second mate, Wilson."

"An Englishman?" asked the Jap again.

"Yes, an Englishman," answered Wilson himself.

The Japanese officer looked at him keenly and said: "I seem to know
you."

"It is not impossible,"