"Captain von Mueller must indeed be a capable officer," said Jack.
"He is," said Lord Hastings. "But to continue. After sinking the City of Winchester the Emden steamed into the Bay of Bengal, five days later, and sent two more British vessels to the bottom. Within three days she had sunk four vessels there. She was accompanied by the Markommania, a converted liner, as a collier. The collier was sunk off Sumatra October 16 by a British cruiser.
"Leaving the Bay of Bengal, the Emden sank three British steamers in the Indian Ocean on September 14. September 22 she appeared off Madras and shelled the city, and, extinguishing her lights, disappeared when the forts replied. Then she renewed her activity in the vicinity of Rangoon, where more British ships fell to her prey. Where she is now I don't know."
"How large a vessel is she?" asked Jack, greatly interested.
"She has a complement Of 361 men," replied Lord Hastings. "Her armament, besides the ten 4-inch guns I referred to before, consists of eight five pounders and four machine guns. She is also understood to be equipped with two submerged 17.7-inch torpedo tubes. She displaces 3,600 tons. She is 387 feet long and has a beam of 43 1/3 feet. She was built in 1908. That's about all I can tell you about her."
"And Captain von Mueller," said Frank, "is he an elderly man?"
"No," replied Lord Hastings, "I should hardly call him that. I don't know his age, of course, but he is under forty. I understand that the Germans are bailing him as the modern Nelson and Paul Jones, in memory of two of the greatest sea fighters of all time."
"Well they may," declared Jack, "for he must be a man of exceptional ability. I should like to see him."
"So you may, with good fortune," said Lord Hastings. "It is my hope to see him again before he has done further damage to England."
Lord Hastings' account of the brief history of the Emden made quite an impression on Frank and Jack. The brief though active career of probably the greatest of German sea fighters interested them greatly, as it should all young readers.