y have further distinguished himself and gone far, had
he lived.

Just before we arrived at our rendezvous that night, our high-pressure
cylinder developed a bad crack, possibly through some unsuspected flaw
in the casting; and as there were no means of repairing it, except
temporarily, where we were, and as in the meantime the boat was useless,
I received orders to have the crack patched-up as far as possible, and
then to proceed to Sasebo, to have a new cylinder fitted. This mishap
involved an absence of the _Kasanumi_ from our rendezvous for ten days;
but, as events proved, it did not matter in the least; for the Admiral,
doubtless for good and sufficient reasons, now permitted a period of
inaction to occur, during which nothing happened beyond the usual
watching of Port Arthur harbour. I availed myself of the opportunity
thus afforded to have my little ship docked, scraped, and repainted;
while my engineer took his engines entirely to pieces, subjected them to
a thorough overhaul, and replaced a few brasses and other matters that
were showing signs of wear. He also overhauled the boilers, and fitted
quite a number of new tubes; so that when at length the boat left the
dry dock she was in first-class condition, and ready for any service
that could be reasonably asked of her.

I found awaiting me at the post office quite a nice little batch of most
cheering and encouraging letters from my friends, the Gordons, to which
I duly replied at considerable length, giving them--and especially
Ronald--full particulars of my adventures up to date; and the receipt of
their letters made me feel that while a man had such staunch friends as
they had proved to be, the world was not such a bad place, after all.

We got back to our rendezvous at the Elliot Islands on the afternoon of
9th April, the little _Kasanumi_ looking as smart and spick-and-span as
a new pin, her hull, funnels, mast, guns--everything, in fact, except
her deck--painted that peculiar tint of medium smoky-grey which
experience had proved to render her almost invisible, even in daylight,
and absolutely so at night; and the moment that our anchor was down I
proceeded aboard the flagship to report myself, and also to deliver
mails for the fleet and dispatches for the Admiral, which I had brought
with me.

There did not seem to be very much doing at the rendezvous when I
arrived, beyond the rebunkering of such craft as needed it; but I
noticed a rather smart-loo