Then with a terrific roar a small cruiser steaming about two cables' length on the quarter of the _Donetz_--Bloch's flagship--burst into a thousand fragments. Admiral Hobbes hailed this success with as much delight as if it had been the sinking of one of the enemy's super-Dreadnoughts, for the vessel had been recognised as the _Hekla_, a mine-layer of the most aggressive type. Thus the losses on the side of the Triple Alliance outnumbered those of the British by one. This, Admiral Hobbes knew, was good, but not good enough. Should the action be continued with the same proportion of losses the allies would come out with a balance of eleven ships to the good--and that without taking into consideration the as yet invisible division of Vice-Admiral Neboff. By noon the rival fleets, covering a front of eleven miles, were in the vicinity of the Lizard. The British commander hoped that some of the units left at Devonport might make a flank attack on the enemy. His wireless gear had been swept away, and consequently he was cut off from communication with the shore. Then instead of the expected reinforcement one of the scouts came within signalling distance with the grave news that another hostile division was closing in on the British starboard quarter. Half an hour later Admiral Neboff's division opened fire. Admiral Hobbes realised that his position was hazardous in the extreme. Cornered between two powerful fleets he had either to beat an undignified retreat or to fight to the death. Quickly he made up his mind; he would hammer and be hammered as long as a single ship remained afloat. At this juncture a grey cruiser, cutting through the water at an inconceivable speed, was seen approaching from the south-east. Eagerly, though hardly daring to hope, Admiral Hobbes watched her approach through his glass. As she passed within a mile of the partially disabled _Hertzog_ the foreigner imprudently let fly an 11in. shell. The mysterious cruiser returned shot for shot, but one only was sufficient. Like a cardboard box the _Hertzog_ appeared to crumple up, and amid a thick cloud of steam and smoke she disappeared beneath the waters. "Thank Heaven!" exclaimed the British admiral, fervently. "'Tis the _Olive Branch_." [Illustration: chapter XXVI] CHAPTER XXVI THE VINDICATION OF THE "OLIVE BRANCH" FOR three nights preceding the arrival of the _Olive Branch_ on the scene of action Captain Brookes rarely left the deck. Content with two hours' rest a day he seemed to be independent of a desire to sleep. Yet the enormous physical and mental strain was beginning to tell. "I shall have rest in plenty after this business is done; my lifelong task will soon be accomplished," he replied in answer to Gerald's remonstrances. "But now I must see the prisoners personally. Will you please accompany me?"