CHAPTER XXII
The Monitors in Action
All that night the monitors lay, with lights out, off the outer bar of the Mohoro Lagoon. A council of war had been held on board the Paradox, when a fresh plan of action was drawn up. This was in consequence of the information Denbigh, O'Hara, and Armstrong had brought concerning the enemy's defences.
"This chart is radically wrong," declared Denbigh, when a chart of that part of the coast was shown to him. "The bend in which the Pelikan is lying is not shown. Apparently the topography is from an old survey."
"It is from the latest available information," remarked Captain Holloway, loath to deprecate the work of the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty.
"Available as far as the Germans would permit," corrected the sub deferentially. "They've had full control here for years. I'm not referring to the lagoon, but to the river. The depths, too, are inaccurate."
"I suppose you wouldn't object to a job to-morrow?" asked the senior officer, after he had listened intently to Denbigh's explanations and descriptions of the details of the Mohoro River.
"Not in the least, sir," replied the sub promptly.
"In a sea-plane?"