Before Takishima could reply a shiver passed through the frail vessel, and both men saw at once that the engines, which had been only turning over slowly, had suddenly been set to full speed. Impey, forgetting the promise he had been so anxious to obtain from the Japanese naval officer, suddenly hastened to the deck, and gazed about him. His eyes encountered a wall of fog into which the yacht had entered. Off on the port bow he heard a deep throated whistle, apparently from the scout cruiser. His pulse beat high at this sudden and joyful deliverance. He forgot the young Japanese and the duplicate letter to the Chinese admiral. CHAPTER XXII PLOT AND COUNTERPLOT Phil and Sydney were on deck early in the morning. The fog had continued during the afternoon and night, and Captain Bailey had skilfully shaped the “Sylvia’s” course through the Formosa Channel. The night had been uneventful; no vessel had been sighted. The Americans continued their watches on deck, still distrusting a conspiracy between Impey and his friends to get control of the yacht. But one incident had marred the happiness of their miraculous escape from the Japanese scouts. Takishima had been found in the wireless room by O’Neil and Marley, attempting to wreck the plant, and before he had been discovered and marched back docilely to his stateroom, he had managed to put the wireless of the yacht temporarily out of commission. With the able assistance of Randall, who was luckily a skilful electrician and whose aid was enthusiastically given, the wireless gear would soon again be in working order. The avenue of escape from Takishima’s cabin through Impey’s was thereafter sealed by removing Impey to a cabin at the other end of the saloon. “We’re now off Hongkong,” Phil exclaimed as he saw the penciled position on the chart. “In two days we shall be nearing Singapore, and then for the success or failure of our plans.” Sydney’s face beamed with pleasure, but a cloud crossed it as he thought of poor, dejected, disappointed Takishima in his cabin below. “I wish we might win Taki over,” he said charitably. “He takes defeat so bitterly.” Phil remained silently thoughtful.