There was just a little swish as the sea rushed in to cover her, two of her capstan bars came shooting out of the water, and poor old "No. 1" had disappeared. I felt rather snuffy, and I knew Tommy did too. We soon were aboard the _Strong Arm_, and down in the gun-room they all crowded round and asked questions. It was not till then that I discovered that my cap was missing, and found too that my hair was all matted together with blood. Tommy searched and found a cut about an inch long, and felt rather annoyed, I think, that he himself hadn’t anything to show. You can imagine I felt jolly proud to have been wounded, though it did rather take the gilt off the ginger-bread not to have known it at the time. It was probably a piece of the shell that smashed the anchor-securing chain. It must have delayed the _Strong Arm_ nearly an hour, to stop her engines alongside "No. 1" and to get all of us aboard, and by that time the pirate cruiser was only a cloud of black smoke on the horizon, with the three little destroyers which had again come out of the bay steaming after her at full speed. *CHAPTER XI* *The Action off Sin Ling* The Action Commences—Casualties _The Report submitted by Commander Richard Hunter, R.N., Captain of the "Strong Arm"._ The report of the proceedings which Commander Richard Hunter, R.N., the Captain of the _Strong Arm_, subsequently submitted to Captain Helston, is so terse and yet so graphic, that it is inserted here. * * * * * "H.I.M.S. _Strong Arm_, "Hong-Kong, 9th Jan. "SIR, "I have the honour to report that, in accordance with your signal received at 8.30 A.M. on 8th Jan., I immediately raised steam in fifteen boilers. One hour later I was able to slip from the buoy, and proceeded southwards to the rendezvous indicated in your orders. "By 10 A.M. I was making fourteen knots, and at 11 nearly nineteen, which speed was gradually increased to twenty as the remainder of my boilers raised steam. "At 12.35 P.M. the island then being in sight, the mast-head look-out sighted a cruiser and three destroyers steaming towards it from the west, and almost immediately afterwards sighted destroyer ’No. 1’ leaving the island. "The cruiser was apparently heading to cut off ’No. 1’, whilst the three destroyers disappeared under the land. "We then saw ’No. 1’ head straight for the cruiser, which thereupon opened a vigorous fire from her small guns. ’No. 1’ disappeared behind her and apparently fouled her stern, for she came away steaming but slowly and steering in a very erratic manner. "She was now under a very severe fire, and a considerable explosion occurred nearly amidships at 12.45.