"And should occasion not arise," thought von Riesser, "I will make it pretty hot for these young cubs. Once safely in port in our African colony, I will show them what it means to thwart a Prussian officer." With these sentiments in his mind and a smile on his face the kapitan dismissed his prisoners. During the afternoon there was a thick haze. It was impossible to distinguish anything beyond a distance of about a mile from the ship. Sea and sky were merged into an ill-defined blurr. The glass, too, was falling rapidly. That and the presence of the mist betokened an imminent change in the weather. Suddenly there was a rift in the curtain of vapour. At less than two miles away on the _Pelikan's_ port bow were two vessels, one being in tow of the other. The subs were quick to recognize the leading craft. She was a British cruiser of the "Eclipse" class--a vessel of 5600 tons, and with a nominal speed of 19 knots. But the craft in tow was a puzzle to them. She was low-lying, with a raised superstructure amidships, one funnel, and a tall mast fitted with a fire-control platform. From her for'ard turret two huge guns, seemingly out of all proportion to the rest of the ship, protruded. The muzzles, instead of being inclined upwards, were depressed. Although Denbigh and his companions could not distinguish details owing to the distance of the vessel, the German officers, by means of their telescopes and binoculars, could see that the muzzles of the guns were resting on large chocks bolted to the deck, while the protruding part of the weapons were additionally secured by stout hawsers. The mysterious craft was apparently deserted. Everything was battened down, for the decks were swept by the long Atlantic waves. "By Jove!" ejaculated O'Hara. "She must be one of our monitors. Now, where is she off to, I should like to know? There's something in the wind." [Illustration: "BY JOVE!" EJACULATED O'HARA, "SHE MUST BE ONE OF OUR MONITORS."] Kapitan von Riesser could have answered the question. He stood on the bridge, glasses glued to his face and rage in his heart. There could be but one solution. The monitor was bound for the Indian Ocean, to take part in the forthcoming operations against the Germans in East Africa. "Donnerwetter!" muttered von Riesser. "These accursed English. They may throw away their opportunities on land, but they know how to do things at sea." "Shall I carry on, sir?" asked the officer of the watch. "No, port helm," ordered the kapitan. Then realizing that the carrying out of this command might arouse the suspicions of the British cruiser, he had the _Pelikan_ steadied on her helm. The course would bring her within a mile of the cruiser and her tow. "The cheek!" exclaimed Stirling. "Old von Riesser's going to play a game of bluff." "I vote we semaphore," suggested O'Hara impulsively. "We'd do the trick before they could stop us."