There was much criticism upon this verdict throughout the countries represented upon the Commission; but it was indeed impossible for the judges to determine where the fault really lay. The trawlers testified, one and all, that there was no torpedo-boat present. Certain officers of the Russian ships, on the other hand, testified point-blank to having seen the hostile craft, and the commander of the _Kamschatka_ stoutly alleged that he had been fired upon by a torpedo-boat, and had signalled the fact to the flag-ship, at the outset of the affair. On the whole, the best comment upon the verdict was made by Bob Starr, on the _Osprey_, when he read the despatch in the papers. "It reminds me of the Western jury," said the midshipman, "who knew the prisoner well, and liked him too much to convict him; so they brought in a verdict of 'Not guilty, but don't do it again!'" CHAPTER XXI. THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR. At about the date of the miscarriage of Commander Oto Owari's plans in the North Sea, the regiment in which his old friend Oshima[5] commanded a company was detached from Oyama's army of invasion and added to the forces under General Nogi, besieging Port Arthur. It will be remembered that Port Arthur was completely isolated on land when the Second Japanese Army, under General Oku, captured Nanshan Hill, in the latter part of May, 1904. On August 9th the Russians were driven into their permanent works, the real siege beginning three days later, when shells fell in the streets of the city for the first time. The task before the small brown men of Nippon seemed an impossible one. There were seventeen permanent forts to be taken, forty-two semi-permanent improvised fortifications, two miles of fortified Chinese wall, and a triple line of trenches over eight miles long. The forts were so arranged that each was commanded by several others; and the whole were manned and defended by some of the bravest soldiers the world has ever seen. "You are expected to do the impossible things," was the first order from the Mikado to his troops in the field. The expectation was fulfilled; the imperial edict was obeyed. Ten thousand men, in the face of a deadly fire of shot and shell, trampled the word "impossible" under foot, buried it beneath their torn and mangled bodies; and over them the soldiers of Japan marched to victory.