It was now twenty minutes past ten, and the character of the future action was already determined. For the Germans it had become instantly clear that their only hope--if such it might be called--lay in flight; and, on the British side, the order had been signalled for a general chase at full speed. Gathering pace, the two battle-cruisers from the north soon overtook and outstripped the _Carnarvon_ and _Kent_, the position at eleven o'clock, with the squadron as a whole making about 20 knots, being as follows--the _Glasgow_ was still leading, but had been ordered to remain within two miles of the flagship _Invincible_; next came the _Invincible_ herself, with her decks flooded by hoses to prevent fire and wash away the last of the coal-dust; the _Inflexible_ followed behind her, on her starboard quarter, with the _Kent_ falling away from her astern and aport, followed by the _Carnarvon_, with the faster _Cornwall_ reluctantly obeying orders to remain upon her quarter. Left behind in the harbour were the _Bristol_ and _Macedonia_; but, just at this moment, on the other side of the island, a lady watcher at Fitz Roy, Mrs. Roy Felton, had seen and reported three other German vessels. Two of these--the third made its escape--were the colliers, already familiar to us, the _Santa Isabel_ and _Baden_. The coal on board these vessels {68} had been obtained from various sources since the action off Coronel, some from the _Valentino_, a French prize, and some from the British vessel _Drummuir_, captured on December 2d; and the _Bristol_ and _Macedonia_ were at once ordered by Admiral Sturdee to deal with them. Between nine and ten miles to the south, on a course east-north-east, von Spee in the _Scharnhorst_ was travelling at full speed, followed by the _Dresden_, the _Gneisenau_, the _Nürnberg_, and the _Leipzig_, in the order named.