papers?"

"No, Matt. I've felt too blamed miserable about this _Narcissus_
affair."

"Well, the _Scharnhorst_, the _Gneisenau_, the _Leipzig,_, the
_Dresden_ and the _Nurnberg_ met a British fleet under Admiral
Craddock, away down off Coronel, Chile. The British were cleaned for
fair."

"You don't tell me!"

"I do tell you. And I'll bet my immortal soul that German fleet is
heading for the entrance to Magellan this minute. If I were a
religious man I'd be praying for clear weather so they'll find the
entrance without any trouble."

"I hope they run ashore and drown every man Jack!" cried Cappy
fiercely.

"I do not. You will note that our charterers tried to induce Mike to
go to Montevideo for orders. That was because they expected to lie
snug at Montevideo and be within striking distance of a designated
meeting place in the South Atlantic when the German fleet should pass
through Magellan from the Pacific. Remember that for several weeks the
German fleet has managed to lose itself in the Pacific, but now that
the British fleet has stumbled onto it and forced an engagement, the
Australian and Japanese cruisers will all be headed for the south
coast of Chile to make reprisal. We know the Germans are short of
coal; doubtless some of the fleet have suffered in the engagement with