Negotiations between Russia and Japan had been broken off. Every man on board knew that, and recognized that this was inevitably the prelude to war unless Russia should do what no one could imagine her doing—yield. The sudden order to sail indicated that Admiral Togo had received instructions to deliver, or at least to threaten, a blow at the enemy. More than this no one knew. A Russian squadron was lying at Chemulpo, the port of Seoul, in Korea; another, the strongest fleet Russia had in Eastern seas, was at Port Arthur; a third was at Vladivostock, far to the north. The Russians were known to be filled with vast contempt for the "dwarfs"; they would surely not allow their insignificant enemy’s fleet to approach their much-prized harbours without first meeting them on the seas; and it was with the expectation of a terrible fight, ship against ship, that the Japanese went out fearlessly towards the unknown. Out into the sea, due westward, sailed the fleet, the _Mikasa_ and her sister ships proudly riding the waves, the smaller vessels driving their bows through the water and rising like dripping seals from each encounter. The battle-ships kept line behind the leader, each holding on her course with unerring accuracy; and as they moved majestically on amid the surrounding cruisers and torpedo craft, they seemed to Bob like ocean leviathans accompanied by a brood of young. [Illustration: Map of Korea and part of Manchuria] In the dusk, soon after passing between Quelpart and the southern extremity of Korea, Bob noticed that part of the fleet had disappeared. He remarked on the fact to Sub-lieutenant Yamaguchi. "Yes," he replied; "some of the vessels have gone off northwards, to Chemulpo probably." "Where are we going, then?" "I don’t know, but I should guess to Port Arthur—the place the Russians robbed us of nine years ago." "Well, I hope that if there is to be any fighting we shall have first shot. What are the chances?" "Port Arthur is nearly a hundred miles farther away than Chemulpo. If the Russians come out from Chemulpo, Admiral Uriu is bound to open the ball. But you needn’t envy him that. Port Arthur is the nut to crack; the Russians have been spending heaps of money on fortifications, and, of course, if we can get past their fleet we shall have to bombard. Then you’ll see what our gunners can do: and you’ll come in there with that range-finding instrument." "But you’ll have to fight the Russian fleet first. You can’t expect what we call in England a walk-over, you know." The Japanese smiled. "Come and have a game of ’go’ in the cabin," he said. Bob had already been initiated into the intricacies of ’go’, the Japanese equivalent of chess. He played, and took a beating with a sang-froid that the self-contained Japanese themselves could not excel.