As far as the fleet was concerned, Guild was very confident that he understood. The whereabouts of the British battleship fleet was not known, had been carefully guarded. Without a doubt Lough Swilly was its rendezvous; and the German spy system in England had discovered it and was sending the information to Berlin with a suggestion that submarines "follow the birds," i. e., take that dotted course around the northern Scottish coast, slip south into Lough Swilly, and attack the first line of battle squadron where it had been supposed to lurk in safety, awaiting its call to action. That was as clear as daylight, but the Japanese figure he could not understand. * * * * * He was utterly unable to sleep. After an hour's staring into the darkness he rose cautiously, opened the stateroom door and stepped into the lighted corridor. Here he lighted a cigarette against regulations and began to pace up and down. Presently the sharp nose of a steward detected the aroma of tobacco, and he came prowling into the corridor. So Guild nodded and tossed the cigarette out of the open port at the end of the corridor. "We ought to dock by nine," he said. "About nine, sir." "We're lucky to have run afoul of nothing resembling a mine." "God, sir! Wasn't it awful about the _Wyvern_! I expect some passenger steamer will get it yet. Mines by the hundreds are coming ashore on the coast of Holland." "Have you had any news by wireless?" asked Guild. "A little, sir. They've been fighting all night south of Ostend. Also, we had a wire from London that a German light cruiser, the _Schmetterling_, is at Valparaiso, and that a Japanese cruiser, the _Geisha_, and a French one, the _Eventail_, have been ordered after her." Guild nodded carelessly, stretched his arms, yawned, and returned to the stateroom, knowing that now, at last, he was in possession of every item in the secret document. For the Japanese dancing girl was the _Geisha_, the fan in her hand was the French cruiser _Eventail_ and the butterfly fluttering about her was the German light cruiser _Schmetterling_--which in that agreeable language means "butterfly," and which no doubt had made an attempt upon the _Geisha_ and had been repulsed. And this warning was sent that the _Schmetterling_ had better keep her distance, because the _Eventail_ had now joined the Japanese ship, and the two meant mischief. As for the drawing of the Pike, perhaps on the German naval list there might have been a vessel named the _Hecht_. He did not know. The symbol of the most ferocious fresh-water fish in Europe was sufficient to indicate the nature of the craft even had the flight of the "birds" not made it unmistakable. There could be no doubt about it that the Hecht with the three little Hechts following had been explicitly invited to cruise in the North Sea and have a look-in at Lough Swilly. And that was quite enough to understand. * * * * *