"I imagine she has gone around the Horn into the Pacific."
"In that case," said Jack, "the Dresden has probably gone to join her."
"By Jove!" exclaimed the commander of the Glasgow. "I believe you are right. What do you think, Lord Hastings?"
"I believe Mr. Templeton has hit the nail on the head, as usual," replied the commander of the Sylph. "Therefore, I should say that we had better head in that direction."
"Agreed!" returned the commander of the Glasgow, and, after some further talk, he put over the side and returned to his own vessel.
Several hours were now spent on board the Sylph repairing the damage caused by the German shells and getting the little vessel in shipshape again. Then, at last, the Sylph was once more under way, beading for the Pacific.
A mile to the stern followed the British cruiser Glasgow. For two days and nights, after rounding the Horn, the two British vessels sought some trace of the Karlsruhe and the Dresden. They put into port after port, but could get no trace of her.
But at last they came upon the German cruiser. It was the fourth day after rounding the Horn, and the German ship was just putting out of a little Chilean port. The commander was not unaware of the presence of the British ships outside, for it had been reported to him; but he had already been in the port for twenty-four hours, and the laws of neutrality demanded that he either put to sea again or that his ship be interned.
Captain Koehler, of the Dresden, was a man of action. Therefore, he spurned the suggestion of having his ship interned. And his last words to the German consul, as he stepped aboard his ship and ordered that she be put to sea were:
"We are going to join our comrades!"