I remained on board this vessel for more than a month. The Chinese, of
course, were prisoners of war, but there was no ground for detaining
me as such. I related how I had been left behind by the _Columbia_ at
Port Arthur, without, of course, giving any hint that she had been
engaged in supplying China with war material. I thought this would
satisfy my captors, but I was not long in finding out that they
entertained their own ideas as to my character, for one day I was
plainly asked whether I was not a military or naval instructor of the
Chinese. I was able to conscientiously deny that I was any such thing,
but the query took me very much aback, as the naturalness of the
suspicion was obvious, and I foresaw no end of trouble in clearing
myself of it. The commander of the gunboat, a consequential and rather
surly personage, shook his head, and said he would have to take time
to consider the matter.

Time he certainly did take, and plenty of it. We were, however, well
treated, chiefly through the kindness of the French-speaking officer,
Lieutenant Hishidi, with whom I struck up an acquaintance, he being
in fact the only one of the gunboat's crew with whom I could converse.
He caused a small separate cabin to be extemporized for myself and Lin
Wong, and looked to our comfort in other ways. My friend Lin, I should
say, had received a nasty graze on the ribs of the right side from one
of the machine-gun bullets, but otherwise was all right, though in a
very chop-fallen condition at being made prisoner. He and I were
allowed more liberty than the other captives, and apart from the
detention had little to complain of.

I was naturally much interested at first in looking round me and
taking stock of the Japanese sailors and their vessel. She was in
superb fighting trim, beautifully clean and well found in every part,