The three boats were soon side by side. "Let them chase us," said the Prince; "and do not move too quickly to deprive them of all hope of catching us." A few shots were fired; several soldiers fell, and were immediately thrown overboard, to lighten the boats. An arrow struck Raiden in the shoulder; but its force was spent; it merely pricked him, and fell into the canoe. "That was well aimed," said Raiden. The moon was in mid-heaven; but the polished mirror was dimmed as if by a breath. It soon assumed a rosy tint; then became cottony; then was nothing more than a white cloud. The blue and silver color of the sky was shadowed by a tinge of pale amethyst, which spread rapidly from the horizon; violet lights shimmered over the sea. It was day. Behind the promontory, the Prince's fleet had heard the shots which were to be their signal; they at once left the shore and spread their sails, which assumed the lovely hue of peach-blossoms in the first sunbeams. As soon as they were within reach of his voice, the Prince of Nagato, standing up in the canoe, shouted with all his might:-- "Surround those long-boats! Cut off their retreat! Capture them!" Loo danced with delight. "After sinking the big craft, we confiscate the little ones," said he. The soldiers saw their danger; they put about, and tried to escape. But how could they contend in a trial of speed with oars against those great sails swelling in the morning breeze? The boats were quickly overtaken, then passed. The soldiers gave up all for lost. By steering straight upon them, and with a single blow, one of those large vessels could sink them in a second. They hastily threw their weapons into the water, in sign of submission. The men were hauled on board; then the long-boats were swamped and sunk. "Go seek your monstrous mother at the bottom of the sea!" cried Loo, as he watched them go down. The three canoes then joined the flotilla. The Prince and his sailors boarded the large vessels. Loo related to those who had been left behind how they had swamped the enemy's junks, how he got drowned in a hole, then was brought back to life again, to wear a sword like a lord. The prisoners were counted as they stood with heads bent, resigned, and waiting for their fate. There were fifty of them. "Our bold plan succeeded better than we could have hoped," said the Prince; "I am still lost in amaze at its realization; but since Marisiten, the god of battles, the divinity with six arms and three faces, has been so far favorable to us, do not let us rest from our labors yet. We must now surround Dragon-fly Island, and cut it off from the rest of the world, until the Shogun's army comes to our relief." "Hurrah! hurrah!" cried the sailors, made enthusiastic by their recent victory. "How many soldiers are there on the island?" the Prince asked one of the prisoners. The soldier hesitated; he looked up and down, then right and left, as if asking advice. All at once he decided to speak.