“Captain Inaba and his ships must be nearly down to Formosa by this time,” Phil said thoughtfully. “And if so he will soon be trying to get the Chinese squadron by wireless.”
“By to-morrow night if the Chinese ships are near Singapore, he might possibly get them,” Sydney replied after a few minutes of thought upon the distances. “To-morrow we shall be within talking distance of the shore stations in Luzon.”
Phil nodded his agreement with his companion’s calculations.
“But if I can be sure that I am far enough ahead of Captain Inaba,” Phil declared earnestly, “I shall not try to call up our admiral, but steer for Singapore Straits direct.”
Sydney looked up in astonishment.
“I have been thinking over this plan for some time, Syd,” he continued quickly. “You see, if we wire our admiral and he starts out with the fleet he might run afoul of Captain Inaba.”
“But how can you be sure as to where Captain Inaba and the Japanese fleet are?” Sydney asked, much mystified.
“Only by running some risks, endeavoring to sight them and count the ships, and find out the speed they are making,” Phil replied; “and if by bad luck we are chased by a vessel faster than we are, then maybe O’Neil’s work may help us to make them think that we are only a harmless gunboat, after all.”
Sydney opened his eyes in astonishment.
“That certainly sounds like a very dangerous plan,” he said, shaking his head doubtfully, “but go on.”