A quarter of a mile up-stream lay the remains of the much-sought-for raider. Only a few bent and buckled ribs and plates showing just above the water's edge marked the spot whence the devastating explosion had emanated. One of her funnels, looking like a distended concertina, had been hurled ashore and had lodged against a clump of palm trees. The mud-flats and the adjoining banks were littered with fragments of metal twisted into weird and fantastic shapes. Down-stream lay the _Paradox_, now swinging to the young flood. The bore was not now in evidence, since it was the period of neap-tides, and the alteration in the direction of the tidal stream was scarcely perceptible. The _Paradox_ had come off comparatively lightly. To all outward appearances she was intact, with the exception of her wireless gear, the wreckage of which was already being cleared away. Beyond a certain amount of breakage of glass and half a dozen of her crew sustaining slight wounds, the damage done was not in proportion to the danger to which she had been exposed. The _Crustacean_ had suffered severely. Her fire-control platform and wireless gear had been swept out of existence. There were four deep gashes in her funnel, which was only kept in position by the chain guys. One half of the bridge had vanished; the remaining portion resembled a scrap-iron heap. Her boats had been badly shattered save one, and that exception was the sea-boat, which was on her way back to the monitor when the explosion took place and escaped injury. Every bit of steel work exposed to the destroyed ship was pitted and blistered, while a heavy mass of plating from the _Pelikan_ had embedded itself in the monitor's quarterdeck. Below the water-line she was undamaged. On taking soundings in her well no abnormal quantity of water was found. With the assistance of the _Paradox_ it would be a comparatively easy matter to release her from her mud berth at high water. But other work was imminent. Every minute Kapitan von Riesser and the remainder of the _Pelikan's_ crew were increasing the distance between them and their foes. Without delay steps had to be taken to bring the treacherous Germans to bay. CHAPTER XXIV The Landing-Party No one could accuse Captain Holloway of tardiness. He had the reputation of being an alert and promising officer, and on this occasion he excelled himself. Within an hour after sunrise the landing-party from the flotilla was on its way to tackle the remnants of the _Pelikan's_ crew; for almost as soon as the raider had been swept out of existence the British senior officer was drawing up his orders that the unexpected turn of events had necessitated.