A week passed and all remained quiet.
Then came news which was calculated to fill the stoutest heart with dread.
A fleet of fifty Chinese, Japanese and Russian warships had set sail for Asiatic waters, bound, so it was surmised, for the western coast of the United States.
The fleet would probably try to enter the Golden Gate and bombard San Francisco and Oakland!
These twin cities now rivaled New York in size and their commercial value was enormous.
During the past ten years thousands of Chinamen had been driven from San Francisco and other cities of California, and this made the Celestials wild to gain a footing in what had once been their beloved Chinatown.
Soon came a message for Captain Oscar Pelham:
"You are wanted immediately on the pacific coast. If you do not come we are doomed.
"Chester."
Alvin Chester was the Admiral in command of the Pacific Squadron of our navy. He was a fighter to the core and had been well acquainted with Oscar's father.